What is in a life that little heed is paid it and it is constantly violated without conscience?Are the hundreds of millions suffering around the world not enough incentive for the attitude change we so badly are in need of to come about? We need to start taking responsibilities for our actions and stop blaming everyone but ourselves. The truth whether we are willing to accept it or not is that someone will always not relate to you or not particularly be of an affectionate nature towards you, maybe due to reasons such as cultural or social divide, covetousness or some other emotion. What’s important is to nurture the nature of survival. No matter how many times you are trampled upon, passed over or put down, you need to dust yourself off and try again. The only power others have over you is that which you relinquish to them.
Do you have an inkling how much courage it takes for some to simply get out of bed everyday? Plagued by illness, disappointment, heartbreak, discrimination, or poverty, they rise up and do what needs to be done anyway, because they have to, That’s the spirit of true determination, a toughness bourne out of necessity.
Take a moment to meditate on the plight of this woman from Rwanda during the genocide era. Out of kindness, she took some shelter less people into her home and trusted them with it and her family. She counted on them. Yet they turned her selflessness against her, murdering her brothers and sisters. She had to flee because she would have been next. Orphaned and on the run, she boiled over with bitterness for the people who had betrayed her in the worst way imaginable. Yet, through the outreach of a faithful Christian, who drew her into the loving embrace of a congregation, she found strength in God and finally, the gift of forgiveness. That is truly phenomenal!
In India, children are blinded or disfigured in some way and in some cases by their handlers. In other cases, those who have been kidnapped are set back on the streets to beg for alms, which go to their handlers. Women are forced to prostitute themselves by their husbands and if they refuse, are tortured. The global wars are daunting yes but they are well documented. Being harmed by those one would think would defend, protect and always be loyal to them is the devastation so close to home that has far reaching effects. Such are often times the voiceless victims. Who defends them, who protects them and yet they go on. So if they can considering, what excuse do you and I have?
In our everyday lives, we grapple with our own personal demons and hopefully triumph. Women have always had to fight to make their presence felt, to be given their rightful due for their contributions. They may be construed as the fairer sex but weak? No! True strength is not in physical prowess; rather it is on the inside.
We are our best yardstick for our future. Do we honestly believe the future is not in any way dependant on the present? I say this because we may say one thing but our actions relay something completely different. In a generation where so many are un-willing to take the responsibility of their every move, what can we hope to achieve? Life is a case of tit for tat. An individual who receives must expect to you give back, to family, society but above all, to our Creator and Redeemer.
We all deserve equal opportunities but that is not usually the case, is it? Some simply have to work harder than others, whilst others have it handed on a silver platter. It might not be ‘fair’ but that’s the reality, and we have to deal with it. The great icon Mother Theresa once said, “Life is a challenge, meet it.” That phase couldn’t have been more apt. They just keep coming and the tough in nature forge through and ahead. One will not always succeed but the key is if you lose, do not lose the lesson because there is inevitably always one in there.
The worst emotion we can indulge in this life is self pity. It gets us nowhere yet because we gave it power, robs us of what we could achieve, all because we choose to wallow in the self destructive pit of ‘if only’ or ‘I wish’ and ‘what could have been’. Get tough and get going. There are opportunities to be had, challenges to be overcome and lives to live.