It’s no one’s choice to be given life or not, it is a natural gift you are awarded with. A blessing you have earned, but an unpredictable journey you have to embark on. Some treasure this opportunity while others waste it.
It hurts to see how the privileged are not happy, how it is the privileged that complain the most. Not considering the basics life has offered them, the future that is at least hopeful and the dreams with a great possibility of becoming a success. The reasons for smiles that surround them, but yet so blinded, they tend to ignore them.
While the unfortunate struggle through life, facing challenges every day, at least their complaints are worth it. It pains me to imagine how you could wake up every day, knowing what you have to go through to put food on the table or some light in the shack. Only hope and faith gives you some reason to hold onto that breath, to not give up and die trying.
These people, the unfortunate ones, smile the most. I bet you it was never their dream to be unhappy, to eat out of bins in worst conditions and to sleep under a bridge. I fail to understand why life turns out like this to some. I’m sure poverty is not a choice but a result of a mistake. The victim can take all the blame, but things will remain the same. Who are we to judge them by their past? We can preach about their flaws but we will never walk a mile in their shoes.
Sleepless nights caused by pain, or an empty tummy. It's unbelievable how they let their dreams be bigger than their fears and their actions be louder than their words, and that’s what amazes me – the strength they portray and the appreciation they convey.
As the fortunate, let's appreciate life. No matter how hard it may seem, there are worse cases out there. While you resent your life, someone is pleading for more time. Let’s count our blessings more than our issues. Stop crying over the past, it's gone. Don't stress about the future, it hasn't arrived. Live in the present and make it count.
In our era too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. Let’s rather consider the needs of our own and those of others. Buy and pay for things that make people smile, that make life easier for others and that give people hope for tomorrow.
Never take the blessing of life for granted, but rather live by the words of Denis Waitley: “Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.”
Olavi Hangula is 15 years old and is a Grade 10 pupil at Gymnasium Private School. He is also the newly appointed Mshasho Youth Ambassador. Email him at hangula.olavi4@gmail.com.
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