ON my way to the office yesterday, I had to pass through the central hospital, to visit a colleague who has been on admission for some days. As I passed through the back of the hospital where the mortuary is located a strange feeling gripped as it dawned on me that there are some persons lying in there.
These are people who were once bubbling with life and optimistic about the future before their lives were cut short by death. Some of them had great status, fame, wealth and faithful in their service to their creator.
Interestingly as I wondered about the thin line that divide the living and the dead and the vanity of life after all the struggles to make ends meet in this unpredictable world. I realized almost immediately one of the problems of man is the inability to appreciate life when we have it, especially when it has to do with being contented with what we are and what we have.
To some persons during their life time, they chase after material things, making it a priority in all they do forgetting that one day, these material things will be left behind. They fail to recognize that the power to appreciate, that is appreciating the free gifts of God, who are your fellow human beings is the cardinal principle that links them to their creator. Even the scripture noted that if you do not love your fellow brothers and sisters how will you say you love God whom you have not seen.
We thank God for material things, the cars, houses, money, the jobs and positions. But most importantly, the best gift are the gift of people. When we do not appreciate people around us or the people we encounter on our journey through life, if we are not careful, God will move them to another place.
Even the father recognizes things that are trying, people that are trying should be encouraged and not criticized unjustly. Therefore we should not just remain arm chair critics of every move made by people, the government and those around us.
You must imbibe the spirit of encouraging those in leadership positions or the people around you because they are not perfect. It is just like a husband and wife who expects him to be perfect. If she was perfect, he would not have married her in the first place.
But there is a need to complete what was lacking, that is why God brought him to her life and she must appreciate it.
They may not have all the money, the position other men have, they should be appreciative of each other. That is why they should never make the mistake of comparing themselves with another couple. This is also the same situation with the leaders in a nation, we should appreciate God for them because if God does not want them to be there, they will not be in position. Therefore if we must criticize it must be done without malaise but with love.
When we encourage a person or our leaders, they will do better. Some time we make the mistake of thinking they do not need encouragement, but the truth is that those at the head need encouragement because the bullet locates them. When you do not encourage them, you expose them to lose value and respect.
Take a dog for example, it is not always very faithful to its owners, rather the dog is committed to where it is feeding from. For example, if the owner lives at No 20 of the street and person that feeds that dog is on No 30, you are going to see the dog more often at No30.
We should understand that there are people in our families, community, the government that God has given to us and we must appreciate them, irrespective of their imperfections. Let us learn to appreciate our boss, our children and human beings in general.
Amongst the most misunderstood people on earth are those in position of authority, like the government in power. Anything these set of people do affects people either positively or negatively, Just as you are condemning them, someone somewhere is praising them because they are benefiting from them.
If we are not careful it is when God has taken those he has given to us away that we begin to regret. That is why most times when we compare an administration with another we are bound to criticize or praise them, depending on which side we belong.
For instance, when you tell somebody you use to be close to a particular person or group of persons, they will say, no it can not be, because if you were close to such person you will not be like this. They wont know that it is because you did not appreciate them.
For your information, appreciating is not buying a gift because you can even buy a gift and yet you do not appreciate.
Appreciation works faster with your words. What are you saying about you leaders, your boss in the office, your kids and the government in power. What you say to them and what you say about them is what appreciation is all about.
What about when you lose somebody, when your relationship is cracking. The Bible in proverbs 18: 19 says “A brother offended is harder to be won than a
There are certain people that you hurt and they have turned their back on you, but you still think they are facing you. My friend, the truth is that they have gone. There are some ladies, your husband is still with you, but he is gone, your wife could still be with you but she is gone because she feels not appreciated.
Let us turn a new leaf by sending a text message, give a call. Just tell that person, I value you, I love you. You are the best, you have helped me and you have done well for me. The person may not have given you the whole world but the little, he or she has done should be appreciated. When you appreciate, it is not only the people that are strengthened but in the realm of the spirit, even angels are strengthened to do better work for you.
Have a blessed weekend.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Eubaldus Enahoro is Deputy Editor with the Nigerian Observer.
08034742291
