Wednesday, April 21, 2010

What are you taking for granted?

A nineteen year old boy we know went from being an active, rugby playing teenager to a little more than a vegetable in less than 48 hours of being given a wrong injection. An injection given as a routine treatment. Turned out it was the wrong shot that almost took his life. He now lies on a hospital bed, his vision blurred, his skin almost falling off. He is not the only one - as I type this and as you read it, it dawns on me that most of us take good health, a blessed family and a content life for granted. Sometimes we are not thankful to God at all for the blessing we have. As the old song goes, Count all your Blessings and name them one by one...

If we bother to take a look around us, we'll see the pain behind the mask, the sorrow behind the smile. A lot of people live in misery, whether emotional, spiritual or financial. They may not tell you but often, a little bit of body language gives them away. I remember the e mail I got recently, one of those cheer-me-up stuff that e mail friends send to one another - be patient because everyone is fighting some kind of a battle today. Which brings me to my point - are we taking a lot for granted when we should be thankful to God for every little thing we have? It could all be gone in a blink of an eye or in the most unexpected moment. The tsunami and the lives it destroyed, the havoc it wrecked in all of ten long minutes, is always a good reminder to help us realise just how fragile life could be.

Often you see people turn to various outlets - some unacceptable others tolerable, to let off steam. None of us would know the battles others are fighting - we may sometimes see the surface or guess something is wrong but we would never know the whole story. I have come to steel myself to be surprised at nothing, especially the stories you hear. As someone once said, truth is indeed stranger than fiction and will stay that way.

It is always heartening to notice that when you expose your own fears, your own vulnerabilities a little the other person will always reciprocate and in no time, you have worked on a healthy, two way dialog that can be a wonderful way to let off steam. Sometimes for souls tortured, talking is a wonderful medicine,. For others, long suffering in relationships that stink, or trapped in dead-end lives, some battling with undiagnosed mental conditions others saddled with financial problems, some with aching hearts let down badly by a loved one, one kind word opens the door to a road of recovery that no medicine can bring about.

Visit any hospital anywhere and you will soon want to count your blessings. Sickness can rob anyone of life's joy. Sickness also makes you so helpless - even the mightiest fall. And it can happen in a twinkling of an eye. Counting good health as a great blessing is appropriate when you see the number of people suffering from disease and illness all over the world. Sometimes, more hurtful than physical illness is the mental agony of cheating spouses, ungrateful children and loved ones. We live in a country that does not encourage sharing talking about your problems. No wonder we have a high suicide rate - it always helps to talk, and as the old saying goes, if you have no one to tell it to, tell the lime tree so that you get it off your chest which is the main thing really.

Anything can happen tonight. Or tomorrow. Just look at how a financially solid giant fell last year bringing down with it hundreds of others whose savings of a lifetime was tied to it. To all of us, it should be a classic eye opener on the uncertainty of life. The fragility of what some of us think is forever. Today, some of those so called millionaires have become paupers and those whose monies went up in flames have nothing to hold on to in life.

Which is why we must take nothing for granted. Be thankful to God for everything we have. For we came with nothing to this world and we can take nothing with us when we leave it. What we can take is the goodwill, the kindness, the grace of God others have seen in our lives. And for that, we must be thankful.