Grateful Beginnings

Every now and again, we come across certain tweets and posts that turn viral for various reasons. In my humble opinion, I have discovered that most posts become viral because they seem to strike a chord with many readers.

People are more likely to forward on something they find interesting, funny, inspiring, pathetic or simply annoying. I for one, enjoy looking at several posts, as a way of relaxation and learning   because most times, even after laughing, I find my analytic mind over processing things and bringing up more writing ideas.

So, some Decembers ago, there was this tweet where someone was lamenting about her/his single status. You may have come across it but no worries if you did not but it was a certain Tweet questioning the writer’s relationship status as at the Christmas before (2015) which was Single and that year -Christmas (2016) which was Single, Single BSc (Hons).

I initially laughed at the message and then thought that most likely behind this message was someone expressing disappointment for yet another year gone by and no change as it were in his/her marital situation. It seems like surely 365 days is enough for Baba God to try and be merciful and remove one from the most un-coveted position in the universe (I mean these days it seems people would rather be divorced than Single single!).

Somehow just the status alone depicts the picture of not being good enough or perhaps of having done some evil in the past or the one the Church is most likely to pin down –“generational curse”. It is not that it cannot be due to any of these reasons  or much more  but honestly, what happens when you know you have been good (Santa note please )  and  have been to every possible  deliverance meeting(hopefully you haven’t) and it seems  nothing  is happening.

I am not in anyway judging the Tweet but the honest truth is that although a particular situation of a single status remaining so 365 days was the fact, beyond it is the reality that there are several other things that happened or didn’t happen that he/she could be grateful for and tweet about. And we are all sometimes guilty of this.

As human beings, it seems we have been set on a default mode to complain and it can be hard work sometimes not to whine. A married woman can be easily caught complaining about how much cooking she has to do  for her husband while an unmarried one is just crying to have a man to cook for. We  all tend to suffer from selective amnesia and are used to magnifying the current challenge like God has not done anything for us lately(Remember the song “What have you done for me lately”).

 Hopefully the pandemic helped a lot of us  put things in the right perspective. We  are all learning   to appreciate the big  picture  and see that several things we thought really mattered were overrated.

In short, at the end of last year. the general tweets and consensus seemed to be although it may not have been what I envisaged, I am happy I made it through and I am alive.

And it is this attitude I would like to encourage us all to carry into this year with full gusto. We all just need to make sure we are consciously looking for things to be grateful for and expressing our thanks to both God and man (no mind reading).

If you have a family, be grateful for them. There are some people who are alone in this world without parents or siblings. If you have a job, be grateful there is somewhere you can be productive and get paid. If you have some friends in your life, don’t wait till the inevitable happens, before you appreciate the gift of friendship you share.

If you have children or a child, I don’t need to remind you of the awesome privilege it is, for we surely know some people who would do anything to have a child of their own. I heard of a lady who  even prayed  that  God should just allow her to be seen as pregnant. whether or not the child lives, just to take away the shame of barrenness!

Finally, do you have that special person in your life-spouse, partner, significant-other who has the uncanny ability to irritate you the most and yet love you with reckless abandon, be grateful and treat them kindly. always, knowing it is a privilege to love and be loved.

Something about gratitude changes the atmosphere of our relationships and that is something 2020 reinforced for me.

Every one of us has something we would rather see changed but it should not hinder us from appreciating what we already have or do not have .Let us imbibe and practice the attitude of gratitude and Thankfulness.

Coming from 2020 into 2021, let us begin gratefully for grateful beginnings can help lighten the load all year round.