Let us challenge ourselves today and be quite honest. When are we just complaining and when are we truly challenged? When are we just not comfortable and when is something seriously a problem?
Life happens at many levels – and what may be a pin-prick for one could be the end of the world for another, depending on where you find yourself in the circle of life.
For one person having a flat tyre on his new swanky vehicle may be a major crisis; for another person losing R100 000 on the stock market may be a calamity; while another might be faced with spending his last coins on buying a loaf of bread and wondering where the next meal will come from.
In each of the above cases people have the ‘right’ to complain and to feel challenged – but the level of discomfort is relative, don’t you agree?
When are you so consumed in your own suffering that you think you are the only person in the world with problems? Are we focussing so much on keeping up a certain lifestyle and focussing all our energy on that that we forget that there are persons in our community who are living below the bread line every day?
It is a fact that one person may be devastated because he/she could not afford that new flat screen television this month, while his next door neighbours might be wondering if they would be able to keep their house and continue to care for their children. When we complain about the petrol price – we should think about being grateful that we can still afford fuel or that we still have a car to fill up.
There are many levels of tolerance or intolerance, comfort or discomfort.
Consider your reaction when you don’t like the way your colleague talks to you. How do you react? Do you think that there may be something bothering your colleague that he/she may be in some kind of trouble or may be worrying about something? A friendly, sympathetic, helpful word may solve the situation far better than a reciprocal and nasty word.
Do you realise that people who seem to have ‘made it’ today, may have come through treacherous times in their youth? Many may have gone to school without food in their tummies and worked through seriously adverse circumstances to be able to own that big BMW today. So next time another driver irritates you on the road, try and be gracious and be happy for them for being blessed with a nice vehicle. And the next time you get angry at the robot because you think the person should rather be working than begging, ask yourself if they have perhaps tried but to no avail.
In these tougher economic times, we as South Africans are going to have to learn to help and support one another rather than find fault with one another. We should ask ourselves what we can do to ease the lot of others who are not as fortunate or comfortable as we are. Being kind does not always involve giving money.
Get involved in making someone else’s day a little brighter. Make that phone call. Send that friendly note / sms / email to show you care. Spend some time in a Hospital Ward or Children’s Home of Facility for the Disabled – and bring some attention and good cheer that will give meaning to their day. On the other hand, there are places where small luxuries and consumables will help tremendously to ease the lot of persons caring for orphans and the disabled – there are many organisations for the less privileged in outlying areas of our town.
Moral of the story: No matter whether you are ‘rich’ or ‘poor’, we all suffer discomfort and challenges at times, and we all need help sometimes in one way or another. Are we willing to bear a little discomfort to relieve someone else’s suffering? Or are we simply too self-indulgent? Are there those amongst us who do not wish to let the sun shine on others more (or less) fortunate than ourselves?
Challenge yourself today to discern between pointless complaining and hardship.
