At
times it just takes the death of someone really close to you, especially a friend
,a peer for you to reflect on the
seriousness of life. Often we spend a greater part of our lives chasing things
that are no of any value, things that make us appear better than our friends, our
siblings, our workmates, yet forgetting to reflect on the seriousness of life,
you will find out that at the end of the day the things we spend a major part
of our time chasing do not bring any spiritual fulfilment on our lives
whatsoever, we just move about an spiritually empty lot. We make plans and even
plan months and years ahead yet we forget that we are mortal beings whose days
are numbered. We act like we have keys to this life, we are guaranteed that
next week we will be alive yet in actual fact tomorrow is not promised us, the
fact that we are alive today or tomorrow is because of God’s grace. Whilst we
plan life is happening, yes because remember life is what happens when you are
busy planning other things. In this makeshift called life we tend to forget to
appreciate the smaller pixels that build up the bigger picture called life. You
know just sitting in that funeral service of my former classmate and friend, hearing
all those beautiful testimonies of his life and on how he had made a positive
impact on people’s lives really got me thinking about what i have been doing
with my own life. You know funerals have this way of knocking sense into people’s
lives, well at list for those few days during and after the funeral. Going back
to the beautiful testimonies that were said in the funeral service of this fine
gentleman my friend made me question one thing, well my question is ,did all
these people, me included ever bother to show appreciation for the wonderful
stuff he did in our lives or when he was alive we were too busy to notice he
was doing all the fabulous stuff, we just took it for granted that it was
entitled to us after all he was our friend, church mate or sibling what more
could he have done. Of what use is showing this appreciation now, when he is
already gone and not there to see or listen to it? An occasional whatsapp
message, facebook inbox or text message would have done the trick, to call and
check up on him, to call and say hie ,how have you been and thank you for
inspiring me in a, b, c ways. To find out how he is doing and most probably
celebrate his personal achievements, most of all to be there to be his friend. Now
what is left are the constant eulogies that we sing in his absence, of what he
did in our lives. The death of this friend also allowed me to reflect on my
life its direction or its lack off. Just hearing the beautiful things he had
done for people in his church, all of which were true considering I really knew
the kind of character he was, just then, sitting on that Church bench, it
suddenly hit me, I am going to die one day, scary right?, well I know the whole
me being locked up in the casket scares me but what I mean, as in one day my
life and yours too will end. Will people celebrate my life and feel the loss of
losing someone so dear to them, or will it be just be my family mourning , mainly
because they have biological links with me and the mourning will merely
be out of a sense of duty. Will all the
people I have encountered in my twenty something years of existence from my high school days, teaching days and varsity
days have something positive to say about me ,or will they just stammer and say
something more abstract like “Chris was just a complicated character that was
misunderstood, may his dear soul rest in peace, all will they write a long
epitaph whose length fill a volume of bond paper as thick as an oxford
thesasaurus .You see life should be lived with an impact, it should not just be
about “me, myself and I, but it should be about me and the community, I mean
after all we are Africans, the spirit of ubuntu
comes in to play, “umuntu ngumuntu
ngabantu”,I am because we are. In my view ones success amounts to nothing
if that individual has not made any positive impact on people’s lives. Remember
its never really about the song’s lyrics but it has to do in great part about
the way the choir tunes their voices and their right emotional application in
giving that melodious feel to the song, it’s never about the useless rhyme in
the poem but the emotion and message that the poet conveys to the reader of the
subject matter being discussed. Maybe I am confusing you, after all these are
just random thoughts, anyway all am saying is that life isn't about just living
and sucking all the earth’s oxygen. Life is about making change in the world, to
people, doing something meaningful that leaves people’s lives better than you
found them. It doesn't really take too much effort like building an Ark like
Noah, or writing a great inspirational speech like Martin Luther King, or you
staying in a prison for a long period and forgiving the people that
incarcerated you like what Nelson Mandela did, No!!!!,it just takes you using
you time and effort in making the people around you smile and feel better about
themselves. It takes you speaking words of encouragement to those that need
them, sparing a minute to those that are alone that merely need to be listened to, in brief
just making a positive lasting impression on people’s lives. To me living a
life that has a positive impact on people is a life well lived. Above all life
should be lived in close connection with the creator Jehovah God. Constantly
thanking him for the little that you have, the precious life that He grants you
every day, trust me it’s when you have encountered people that lead worse off
lives than yours that you will see that God is at hand. I talk a lot; let me
stop here lest I confuse you even much more about the images you had built in
your small little minds about life. In conclusion stay strong no matter how
difficult it becomes, fight on and never give up on life!
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