Gratitude is a weapon

When was the last time you were truly thankful for what you have.

The greatest weakness we have as humans is ingratitude.

We always want more and when we get more, we want even more. Humans are insatiable so that is understandable.

If you think about it like this maybe it would make a bit more sense: The clothes you no longer wear because they are faded or worn out, those clothes that you have dumped in a bag or closet or even thrown away will be someone’s best outfit.

That food that tastes a bit off so you would have to throw away is the best meal some would have had in their entire life.

That car that is so old and makes you ashamed to be seen in, will be someone’s pride and joy. They will not only look forward to taking it to church and to visit friends and family, they will use it as a source of income…Uber or kabukabu.

My mum used to always say “WASTE NOT, WANT NOT” repeatedly. I never bothered trying to find the detailed meaning till today.

PROVERB: if you use a commodity or resource carefully and without extravagance you will never be in need.

When I give these talks, I try to keep them away from religion as much as possible. They should be seen as human exercises that strengthen our heart and lead us to kindness towards others.

I always marvel at the scavengers who rummage through thrash and find treasures that they can convert to cash. These are things that we have condemned.

I guess this is the psychology behind recycling.

I usually go to a recycle centre in my neighbourhood to throw stuff away and I see all sorts of items being binned. From old TV’s and fridges to clothes and old beds and mattresses.

I often wonder if these wont be useful to many people in Nigeria and wish I could just press a button and land them in a random city in Nigeria.

These things that are being thrashed, will create serious fight scenes as people in the lower income bracket scamper to get what they can.

Away from the material, let’s look at the other stuff that we get for free that we don’t even remember to be thankful for…

Who can breathe unaided?
Who opened their eyes this morning and could see?
Who got up to go to the bathroom and could pee this morning?
Who can walk, talk, see, hear?

I can…and I hope you can too.

There are many people who did not wake up today even. They died in their sleep or did not make it through the night.

We did…and so we should be grateful.

The power of gratitude is immeasurable. It cannot be quantified. What is more important is that it help us appreciate what we have even more and also understand the suffering of those who don’t have.

But it should not only stop at gratitude, it should extend to helping others.

I have often told those who complain about being broke or struggling to think of someone worse off than them. Put them in your current situation and tell me.if they would not feel.like they had won the lottery.

I know someone whose rent is like N50,000 a year, and she struggles to pay it. Yet you have a phone that costs N50,000 and you say your life is bad. I know someone whose children’s fees are 10k a term and cannot pay it…yet you complain that you are struggling to find 500k ro pay fees for one child and think your life is shit.

One exercise I usually do is this…when I am looking for 500k and have 250k…I see someone in need of 20k…my default setting is I need 250k more to solve my problem. But I condition myself to give that 20k and need 270k to solve my problem.

The way I see it is simple. I cannot solve my problem, but I can solve this other persons problem with a fraction of what I have. So I do that especially if their issue is a crucial problem…it is not easy to put others needs first especially when you have needs yourself but then no one said life was easy.

I wish you all a pleasant Sunday. Thank you for reading this.