Taking Life For Granted

image from: 4.bp.blogspot.com 

I worry and complain lot... I worry about the littlest things. I worry about my career and where I am headed, i worry about the future.. I worry about things I feel like i have no control of, I guess I'm used to being in control. I used to dream I'd be so many things, an ambassador for my country topping the list, a motivational speaker, an accomplished writer, a voice to be heard and a force to be reckoned with, yes, i have dreamed of the famous life. Then i worry about money, I need lots of it! heck who doesn't right? I want to be able to give people around me or even strangers without looking at my account balance. I complain about not having a car and struggling to get around even though I've never been beaten by the constant rains and I can afford to sit comfortably at the back of a cab everyday.. I complain about not being able to travel because I can't get a bloody visa because some western embassy officer in their myopic and twisted mind believes I wont return to my country!! (of course with the stereotyped belief that the grass is greener on the other side) haa!! As if i want to remain in a foreign land dodging the po-po and immigration and doing menial jobs to make ends meet?! I'm not that desperate and my country ain't that shitty!
Realizing my worrisome habit and nature has made me realize that I take life and the blessings I have for granted. In other words, I have not adopted the principle shown in the picture above, that My ALTITUDE is not determined by My APTITUDE but by MY ATTITUDE!
In the last few weeks, i have read and heard saddening true stories of torture, illnesses, tragedies and misfortune people have had to face in the hands of this thing we call Life! I'll fill you in on what i mean exactly; is it the story of the now 21 year old girl who for the last 5 years, after over 70+ surgeries, has been in a battle to salvage what is left of her skin after the horrendous plane crash in Port Harcourt left her badly burned? Or the story of the child whose intimate part was mutilated by some insane ritualists and left for dead, but crawled her way to survival? Or the 14year old boy who is battling cancer and in tremendous pain from chemotherapy and needs jut N300000 ($2000) to complete treatment and can't afford it? Or the hundreds of people displaced from their homes and their already derelict properties lost in the recent Lagos flooding? Or the kids who've had to quit school because their parents cant afford to continue to pay their fees? Or the foreigner who lost both his legs to malaria because he refused to take an antimalarial shot? (whereas to me having malaria is like having the flu). I can go on and on but i'll stop here... Now can you see what i mean? I'm humbled by these stories. All true and quite sad and a big reminder of the many blessings we take for granted.
I have a house, a job, money in my bank account, food to eat, clean water to drink, opportunities to take holidays in different parts of the world, over 50 pairs of shoes (don't judge me), clothes up to 6 cases full, friends and family who love me and can help me should I hit rock bottom, etc.. I have all this and yet i'm not completely satisfied, I want more. Doesn't a scripture in the bible say "be content with such things as you have for he has said he'll never leave us nor forsake us"? (Hebrew 13:5), and yet I dare to speak or think covetously? May God forgive me...

No wonder scripture says "....to whom much is given, much will be demanded (Luke 12:48)".. I've been given much and much is demanded but I haven't started paying back or at least not as much as i should, because I've been so warped in my own cocoon of self-preservation and fulfillment that I've forgotten to be my brother's keeper.
So If you're reading this post, it means you can afford a computer with internet connection and you're most likely doing so from your desk at work which invariably means you have a job and you have money in your account and therefore YOU'VE ALSO BEEN GIVEN MUCH and MUCH IS EXPECTED OF YOU. So i urge everyone this week to reach out and touch a stranger in need and help them live a little!

Live and let live people....

Coco-C