In the military world, intelligence is as critical as weaponry. The size of what you know is as important as the size of what you have. Indeed, your intelligence is counted as part of your resources because what an enemy is ignorant of can be the weapon one can exploit. Great intelligence is knowing what others do not.
The art of war is strategy. Nations win wars because of strategies. The best strategy almost always wins. Imagine a military that publicizes its strategy before it even goes to war. Their defeat is certainly assured because their strategy can never come to fruition.
Life is war, and every piece of good news is like a military strategy. The more people know, the weaker our strategy becomes.
Privacy is power. In your secret place lies your advantage over others. What is kept behind closed doors is your strength. What you know about yourself that others do not… is your weapon. What everybody knows about you… is their weapon. It is a weapon that will be unleashed on your day of weakness.
Before you share that beautiful image of your children, ask yourself if it could be somebody’s weapon against you tomorrow. Before you announce your promotion in church, be certain that it cannot be used against you someday. It may be good news indeed, but some people are allergic to anything good!
In this age of social media, there is a constant urge to feed the curious, information-thirsty eyeballs out there. Many of us seek validation from people we do not know to please people we do not know. The applause may give us the numbers, but the cost may be too much to bear. Mind you, not every eyeball wishes us well.
A (wo)man who runs to the market square every day to trumpet the good news in their home will someday dance to a dirge in that home. People who cannot keep mute about the good things in their lives carelessly hand them over to those who are filled with envy. Learn to save some good news for yourself. Some open doors are not for other ears. They are only for your eyes.
To share or not to share? Not every good news is for public consumption. Not every open door deserves to be announced. That innocent announcement could be a public invitation to your enemies.
You owe nobody an update on your life. Some happenings in your life are better muted than shared. When you share every detail about your life with people, it becomes a weapon they can use against you tomorrow. If you update them on every happening in your marriage, they will discern that a week of silence means the marriage is getting weaker.
When seeds are buried deep in the soil, no bird can see them. A farmer’s seeds are safe as long as they have been planted properly. When a seed is shabbily planted, it gets spotted by birds… and it soon becomes food.
Birds can only eat exposed seeds, which is why we need to keep some seeds of good news secretly in our closets. No bird should see or hear of it. Until it has matured into a big tree, it must be treasured as fragile.
People cannot destroy what they do not see. People can only assume when they do not know yet. When the privacy of a man is public, his every move is predictable. When every detail about a woman is public information, strangers get to know her more than she knows herself.
Have people wonder. Do not let them know everything about you. A (wo)man becomes vulnerable when they have no privacy.
You just got pregnant? Do not be quick to tell the world. It may be all that somebody needs to set a trap for you. Were you just delivered of a baby? Do not be in haste to share the good news. That good news may be the shovel that will dig your grave. You discovered a new bridge? Cross it first lest your enemies go wait for you at the other side of the river.
Always resist the urge to post about it online. Before you share a public testimony, pause and reflect. Many have unknowingly dug their untimely graves because they have let out too much about themselves. If every footprint of yours is known by everybody, it will not be hard to plan your funeral.
Not every applause of men for you is borne out of sincere appreciation. Some are sponsored by passionate hatred for not only you but anything that belongs to you. Some applauses are riding on the waves of jealousy, and they cannot wait to drown you.
Some are only clapping for you because your good news has triggered their demons. It is about time those demons got to work. Your open door has reminded them of who and what they can never be. It is a stark reminder of how life has always smiled at you and frowned at them. The battle line has been drawn because your progress keeps stoking their rage.
In this life, learn the art of building in silence. As much as you can, control your lust to share every good news that comes your way. Some open doors shut too soon because the wrong ears heard about them. Some people have invited upon themselves battles they did not have the capacity to fight… just because they prematurely set a table in the presence of their enemies.
Celebrate your successes. Do not hide your craft’s progress. Do so, however, measurably. Talk less. Listen more. You need great wisdom to know when to say what, where to say what, and how to say what. Not everybody is happy you are happy. It is better to hide and flourish than to go live on social media and perish!
Congratulations!
By Kobina Ansah
The writer is the Chief Scribe of Scribe Productions (www.scribeproductions.com) and Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com). His playwriting masterclass is slated for Saturday, March 28th and Sunday, March 29th, 2026.