The John Wesley Hardin draw

Doing things unconventional might bring you onto a path where you find yourself walking alone or only a few walks with you. Being unconventional makes you become somewhat of an outsider, though not in your eyes..It is in the eyes of the beholder.

In the streamlined beholders view, the unconventional walker is something strange, unknown or even dangerous. The unknown is something that most people fear, the unknown is the unpredictable factor where you will never know what is coming around the corner.

JWHs draw was unconventional, he had developed an unusual cross-draw method of pulling the guns. With one swift move, he crossed his arms and yanked out his revolvers, shooting in the motion, high accuracy, always lethal. It was considered to be the fastest and most lethal draw in the West. Known as the Hardin’s draw.

Yesterday I met a woman who has been traveling within Africa for more than 15 years, over 24 countries. She was determined to give Africa solar power before she died. She had been in Tanzania to sign one deal, and then off to Entebbe to sign another one. Determined. She told me she would rather live one day as a Lion than 100 as a lamb. Once she uttered the words, flashbacks came over me. That was my mother talking to me when I was a kid; ”Robertino, meglio un giorno da leone che 100 da pecora". Meaning, better die a hero than live a coward.

My mother was a ”crossdrawer” herself, unconventional.

Swedish Ebola aid workers returning to Stockholm, are treated like something that the cat dragged in. Their kids has been banned to return to the schools. Landlords wants to evict them and so forth. Education anyone?

The streamlined beholders show their fear. It is OK to be afraid, but it is not OK to be ignorant. With brains comes common sense, with common sense comes knowledge, with knowledge comes responsibilities, with responsibilities comes obligations. Obligations to use your brain.

JWH was not a psychopath or mentally unstable, he was a gentleman, well educated, literate and intelligent. Gifted with an abnormal ability of fast reflexes. Calm, cool and  collected when it came to stand offs.

Leaders has to be unconventional and ice cold, collected when the moment has come. The moment where you need to make a difference.

You can spot a ”crossdrawer” yourself. There a few out there, unconventional in their draw, yanking their revolvers in one motion, and firing at the same time, never missing their target. You spot them by watching how their hands are slightly leaning towards the body, thumbs inwards, always ready to draw, a dreamy look into their eyes, a look beyond the horizon.

To one ”crossdrawer” to another; in loving memory of my mother and  JWH, fastest man in the West.

Attention

Dear readers, let me introduce myself.
A lost sheep in Africa, to be more precise, East Africa. Today Kenya, tomorrow Tanzania, Uganda etcetera.

So what do I, a Mzungu, do here? Well, I do everything that I need to do to make a living.
My profession? A problem fixer, a genuine trouble shooter. Been doing it more than 20 years now, and have become quite savvy. Been doing it in Europe, Middle East and now East Africa.

Do I like it? Yes, the kick when you have cut the deal, solved the problem is an adrenaline rush that can't be described by words..it's a feeling of being on top of the world. Invincible!

Most men have have a secret dream, whether they admit or not;

To always be the ”right one” in ”the right” moment, to be the one who puts order in place, the one who makes the correct decision, the only decision. The one who has higher goals in life, to lead and support, the one who plants seeds for other to harvest. True leadership.

The Real Man who men seeks to be, women crave for. The lonely hero who rides off in the sunset.

Lonely is the correct word; who can a hero be married to, who can marry a hero? Movies are full of these characters, they are drowning us in the movies about the gender roles, and we walk out from the theaters, full of hormones, back to home, doing your woman, imagining that you took her to heaven..her own hero, even if it is over after 4 minutes, because you just want to get off.

It is lonely in the middle of the night, when you wake up in another hotel room, and there is no one to call, no one who will comfort you, when you are suddenly doubting yourself; "will I make it or not?" Then you wake up in the morning, looking yourself in the mirror and getting a minor shock..but then, as a miracle, your face changes, the glow in your tired eyes comes slowly back, the pale skin starts shining..and then you utter the magic words, as you have done the last 20 years, looking yourself in the mirror; "Who is the king? Looking good today". 

The inner strength that makes you stand up, the inner strength that makes you forget about "why" you chose this career, the inner strength that makes your blood rush through your body like nuclear power. The daily come back, the 7 am routine.

To change, to make a change, also means that you have to follow a path and be taught the most important of all wisdoms: to follow your heart, to read the signs of the path of life, and first and foremost, to follow your dreams.

Signing off from a steamy Dar Es Salaam.