Whatever little thing you take for granted, somebody else who sees it as a treasure does not have it.
The past couple of days have been rather busy on my end, but not in any way to defend my laxity in dropping a think piece. Opportunities and Challenges: Re-invigorated promised consistency. Hence, I will strive to live true to the words and do exactly that. For new readers, usually I share my thoughts on all the things that inspire or challenge me each new day. Some days are better than others, while some are harder than I could ever imagine. At the end of day, I aim to take time to be grateful regardless.
Sometime in April, I attended an interesting virtual symposium on finance in displacement settings. I made a mental note to mention it closer to World Refugee Day which will be marked on Sunday, the 20 June. Reason being I had been challenged by one of the speakers, a refugee who successfully set up and runs his own business. As he shared his experience, he also reiterated some of the difficulties that refugees often have to grapple with. One of the known setbacks is the limited freedom of movement. As citizens in our home countries, we have the freedom to move around, register and run business entities provided they are legal. We also have access to government services which we often take for granted, this should not be misinterpreted as to imply that we should not question poor governance or mediocricy in service delivery. The world continues to witness new cases of displaced persons forced to flee their homes due to various reasons beyond their control. These reasons include political instability that results in war, clashes, or natural calamities such as the recently experienced Mt Nyiragongo volcano eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Source: Flickr
There are countless things we take for granted when sometimes all we need to do is to recognize that from the moment we wake up, to the moment we retire to bed at the end of the day, it is a blessing for which we should be grateful. Although life is not fair – which I have alluded to in past posts on this site, it is important to take time to be grateful in all circumstances. Because despite the odds, there are things that we can do or experience in our lifetime which other people cannot or don’t experience for factors beyond their control.
If you can afford a plate of food, somebody else cannot. If you can afford medical care or buy medication, somebody else cannot. If you can walk around and run errands, somebody else cannot. If you can see and decide which colour to choose, somebody else cannot. If you can take your child to school, somebody else cannot. If you can talk, somebody else cannot. If you can afford to read, somebody else cannot. If you can laugh, somebody else cannot. If you can sell a product to your customer, somebody else cannot. If you can hear or listen to random noise in your surroundings, somebody else cannot. If you can sit down to write like I am doing this minute, somebody else cannot.
If you can do something, do it – because somebody else cannot! Hopefully, you are doing it for the good of humanity. And be grateful for the fact that you can do it. However terrible things are, we need to be grateful for the gift of life, who we are, and all the things we do or can do every day. The art of gratitude starts with the simply things, many of them priceless.
