Life Though

This week has been a very emotional one for me and to think it’s not even the middle of the week yet!

If you reside in Nigeria, then by now, you’ve heard of the recent act of suicide by a Doctor who told his driver to park somewhere on Third Mainland Bridge (Lagos) and then jumped into the water. Sadly again, I just heard of a woman who also jumped into a Lagos Lagoon but thank God she was rescued in time.

It makes you wonder about life, no one wants to be so choked up with issues that you can no longer breathe and choose death as the only way out. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought and I REALLY wish I could help everyone, including myself sometimes. Even if all we do is gather round, keep drinking cups of the most satisfying coffee until we’re numb to every issue that weighs us down. But it’s not possible to wish problems away, so one way or the other, we must face what’s in front of us or around us.

With that in mind, I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you “Here are 5 ways to blah blah blah” or “You just need to do these three things and you’re blah”. No way, it isn't always so simple.

However, I care a lot about you and wish you much joy, so I’ll leave you with these stories I found on the internet. I hope they inspire you to keep putting one foot in front of the other or (and my earnest wish), put a soft smile on your face.

Here they are:

ONE DAY A SMALL GAP...
One day a small gap appeared in the cocoon, through which the butterfly had to appear. A boy, who accidentally passed by, stopped and watched how the butterfly was trying to get out of the cocoon. It took a lot of time, the butterfly was trying very hard, and the gap was as little as before. It seemed that the power would leave the butterfly soon.

The boy decided to help the butterfly. He took a penknife and cut the cocoon. The butterfly immediately got out, but its body was weak and feeble, and the wings were barely moving.

The boy continued to watch the butterfly, thinking that now its wings would spread and it would fly. However, that did not happen.

For the rest of its life, the butterfly was forced to continue dragging had its weak body and wings that wouldn’t spread. It was unable to fly, because the boy did not realize that an effort to enter through the narrow gap of the cocoon was necessary for the butterfly, so that the life-giving fluid would move from the body to the butterfly’s wings and that the butterfly could fly.

Every butterfly has to first learn to struggle out of its shell, so it would become stronger and would be able to grow and develop.

If we were allowed to live without meeting difficulties, we would not be viable. Life gives us challenges to make us stronger.

 

KEEP SWIMMING

Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl.
One was an optimistic soul.
But the other took the gloomy view.
"We'll drown," he lamented without much ado,
and with a last despairing cry,
he flung up his legs and said "Goodbye."

Quote the other frog with a steadfast grin,
"I can't get out but I won't give in,
I'll just swim around till my strength is spent,
then I'll die the more content."
Bravely he swam to work his scheme,
and his struggles began to churn the cream.

The more he swam, his legs a flutter,
the more the cream turned into butter.
On top of the butter at last he stopped,
and out of the bowl he gaily hopped.

What is the moral? It's easily found...
If you can't hop out, keep swimming around!

MY FRIEND JERRY…
My friend Jerry was one of the most positive people I had ever known. He was always in a good mood and always had something encouraging to say.

He was a manager at a restaurant. If his employee had a bad day, Jerry always helped him to look on the positive side of the situation.

Jerry‘s attitude truly amazed me. So one day I asked him: „How can you be so positive all the time?“. He replied: „You see, every morning I tell myself, that I have two choices for that day – to be in a good mood or in a bad. I choose the good one. And when something wrong happens, I can be sad and angry or I can learn from it instead. I choose to learn. Thus I choose the positive side of life“. I said: „It is not that easy“. He replied: „Yes it is. Life is all about choices. You can choose how people or situation will affect your mood, your life“.

One morning Jerry left the restaurant‘s back door open and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. He tried to open the safe, but his hands shook due to nervousness and he slipped off the combination. So the robbers shot him. Fortunately, Jerry was quickly found and brought to the nearest hospital. After many hours of surgery and long intensive care, Jerry was released home.

When I met him, I asked what his thoughts were during the robbery. „I thought that I should have locked the back door“, he replied. „Then, when I was lying on the floor, I remembered about my choices in this case: a choice to live and a choice to die. I chose to live.“

I asked, if he was scared. Jerry continued: „When they wheeled me into emergency room and I looked at the faces of doctors, I got truly scared. I knew that I need to do something. So when the nurse asked me, if I was allergic to anything, I replied „Yes“. Doctors and nurses stopped working as waited for my answer. I took a deep breath and yelled „Bullets“. They started laughing and I said: „My choice is to live, treat me as I am alive, not dead“.

Now Jerry is alive owing to skills of his doctors, however his amazing attitude played an important role too. I learned from him, that every day we should choose to live fully no matter what.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD Dears, KEEP MOVING FORWARD. 

Whatever it is that might be stealing your happiness now, it shall soon pass by God's grace. Amen.

With Love.