One Day, One Deed in One’s Life
by Anna Atsu
Why make the common mistake of counting from zero?
All starts from ONE.
Today marks the first anniversary of the untimely death of Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu. On this solemn occasion, I find myself reflecting on the significance of ONE: one person, one day, and one deed.
To pay tribute to Christian let me start with his ONE DAY difference.
Christian Atsu's ONE day:
Christian Atsu, a seasoned footballer with a career in the English Premier League with clubs such as Chelsea, Newcastle, and Everton, was caught in a moment of euphoria just before a devastating earthquake struck southern Turkey a year ago, while Atsu was there.
Reports indicate that Atsu had booked a flight departing at 11 pm on that fateful day. However, after a stellar on-field performance where he scored a goal, the Ghanaian athlete made a spontaneous decision to cancel his flight. Tragically, the earthquake struck at 4 am, just a few hours LATER, claiming Atsu's life and countless others.
“The former Newcastle United winger became trapped in the rubble with some of his Hatayspor teammates after the apartment block they were staying in collapsed on February 6. The devastating news of his passing was confirmed almost two weeks later by his agent, Nana Secehre, on social media.
"It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce to all well-wishers that sadly Christian Atsu's body was recovered this morning," a Twitter post read. (…)
Beloved by football fans around the world, Atsu was also an ambassador for Arms Around The Child, an organisation supporting disadvantaged children. He also paid thousands in bail money to free Ghanaians who had been jailed for stealing food.
Previously talking about his role as an ambassador, Atsu said: "Whenever I go home, I am happy. You never forget the person you were before you left. I survived but I don't forget.”
"I know where I came from so will always be grateful and try to give back to the community. I feel like everyone has to be happy and has the right to be happy. Before I reached this level, I was supported," he said. "People need support in life to chase their dreams."
Christian Atsu
Walter Benjamin's ONE day:
In a parallel narrative, we encounter the ONE-day story of Walter Benjamin, a Jewish intellectual, writer, and critic, whose life took a sombre turn during the tumultuous times of World War II. He was horrified by the war and left the country to study in Switzerland, where he received his doctorate from the University of Bern in 1919. He had difficulty finding an academic job after he returned to Germany, but he continued to write in a wide range of fields, including art, translation, poetry, history and literature. Given his background as a failed academic, he might have appeared unlikely to become an influential figure, but his critical ideals in the humanities, and skeptical vision of modernity, led him to become important not only in literary criticism but also in Critical Theory. Posthumously recognised as one of the most celebrated intellectuals of the twentieth century, he faced a crucial decision during the German occupation of Paris in 1940.
Reluctant to abandon his collection of books and unable to fathom a life outside of Europe, Benjamin left his 'flight' to the very last moment, abandoning his Paris apartment the day before the German troops moved in. Warned by friends to leave Paris, Benjamin hesitated until the Germans were on the verge of entering the city. Along with a group of friends, he attempted to cross the border at Portbou, Spain, with plans to reach New York. However, the rules had changed overnight, and Benjamin was apprehended by the police, who informed him of his impending return to France, where the Gestapo awaited. Ailing and desperate, Benjamin chose to end his life with morphine in September 1940. Unbeknownst to him, the border crossing opened the very NEXT day, allowing his party to escape to freedom.
Do not fear, I will not stop here on a parallel between the circumstances surrounding Atsu’s near escape from tragedy and the tragic fate of German intellectual Walter Benjamin, whose stories I've been exploring today. I do not tend to make you pause before you rebook your next flight. Maybe you will rather pause when feeling desperate to face another day. Both men indeed faced critical decisions that, in a single day, determined their destinies, compelling us to ponder the meaning of ONE day, but at the same time their lives were not about that ONE day.
If you are sceptical about technology because it is difficult to comprehend get inspired by the work of Walter Benjamin he was carrying in his suitcase. When the Germans took his work “they didn’t know what they were taking.” You might be confused about your first steps with a particular medium but it always starts with that ONE day when you decide to play with something you don’t know how to play with. This is how Michael Rosen comments on Benjamin’s radio works for children in terms of the necessity of exposure to a multitude of new, unknown ‘toys’.
"The more someone understands something and the more he knows of a particular kind of beauty, whether it’s flowers, books, clothing, or toys, the more he can rejoice in everything that he knows and sees and the less he is fixated on possessing it, buying it himself, or receiving it as a gift."
Michael Rosen
ONE Life:
The title of the film “One life”, directed by James Hawes, refers to the quotation:
"He who saves one life, saves the world entire."
This quote, attributed to the Talmud and also found in the Qur'an, is aptly represented in the true story of Sir Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton. A young London broker, Nicky rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis in the months leading up to World War II.
“You’d need a heart of stone not to be touched by this extraordinary true story of Nicholas Winton, the “British Schindler”, and by the simplicity and heartfelt directness with which it’s told by screenwriters Nick Drake and Lucinda Coxon and director James Hawes. It’s a story of wartime Europe and postwar memory, and also a noble and inspired moment in the history of British popular TV.”
CWB NEWS DEPARTMENT on 29/12/2023
What is also true in the film is a struggle ‘Nicky’ lives with for decades after hitting the sombre truth of that ONE day.
“Blank pages? - asks a French journalist looking into Winton’s eyes, holding his scrapbook.
“It was the last train” - explains Nicky.
“Something happened to that train?”
“It was the day when Hitler invaded Poland”.
Do we think he would act differently if he knew the date of Hitler’s invasion? He knew that the time was running out but he could do as much as he could do. He was driven by hope:
"Let’s not give them false hopes” - advises another activist.
“We have to believe this might be possible" - says the man of reason and hope, a finantial broker and son of a beautiful woman who as an immigrant only implanted in him a sense of humanity.
This is where the title of the book written by Winton’s wife comes from: ‘If It’s Not Impossible”. Winton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003. He died in 2015 after meeting many beautiful people he brought to life.
ONE deed:
“But one year a severe drought hit. We went for days without food. I was so weak with hunger that I was unable to move. I thought I was going to die. And then a miracle happened. This girl (…) found me and gave me a bowl of porridge. It saved my life. (…) I wanted to be just like her, so that one day I could maybe save lives of others in a way that my life had been saved.”
Elizabeth Nyamayaro
The author of these words is a political scientist and former senior advisor to Under-Secretary-General and executive director for UN Women. Elizabeth Nyamayaro is also the head of HeForShe, a movement founded by UN Women to empower all humans, especially men and boys, to have a voice and take action to achieve gender equality in their lifetime.
Nyamayaro was born to a Zambian mother but she was raised by her grandmother in a village in Zimbabwe ridden with HIV and famine. Rather than attending school, she did household chores and looked for food wherever she could.
This is how she recalls her childhood:
“I was brought up by my gogo, my grandmother and it was a very lovely childhood. We all took care of each other.”
Elizabeth Nyamayaro
Why did I want to share these four stories? They prompt us to reflect on how decisions made in a single day, by a single person, can alter the course of a person's or people’s lives. Atsu's cancellation of his flight and Benjamin's ill-fated attempt to escape Paris, Nyamayaro’s ‘bawl of porridge,’ and Nicholas Winston’s ‘last train’ also highlight the fragility of human existence and its unpredictability. They also teach us the importance of concerted efforts that shape our destinies, no matter what scale is in view. And finally, but not exhausting the topic, we see the importance of cherishing every moment.
So if you are not too busy this month, take ONE friend from your list of friends to a cinema. No matter if they are “treadmill” or “sofa friend”, they might appreciate the film and your silent presence, even if they don’t need your shoulder to cry on.
In a dark movie theatre where no one sees,
You will share tears of pain, beauty and humanity.
If you are working intensely,
find a moment ONE day to watch a movie
By yourself.
For who knows, with a “strike of luck”
(and many punches)
You might get ONE day a free ticket
To a cinema.
Where will you sit?
In the very centre or
Will you be
In someone’s corner
To see
The movie based on their “history”.
Now, dear friend, it’s time to GO.
It’s time to make a difference in ONE’s life.
And if you don’t know where to start
Make a difference in your OWN life.
However SMALL it might seem,
It is an important ONE.
DON’T WAIT FOR LATER
START COUNTING FROM ONE!
“A person is only a person throughout other persons: we are all connected by our shared humanity." - Elizabeth Nyamayaro comes from the same country and shares the same language as the author of the words “There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that’s less than the ONE you’re capable of (….)” - Nelson Mandela.
Whichever “silence”, “country” or “language” you share with others, it sounds GOOD!
It is GOOD!
Have a good day!
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Amazing article. Thanks Anna