Every day, they say, is a new day… I pause to think about it, Hmmm! What if it came with so much familiarity and nothing felt new with each break of dawn… What if each day was a reminder of things that had happened hitherto and would keep on happening even as the next days unfolded…

I take a peek at life, and indeed I get perplexed at how plainly simple it is and yet we have so complicated life with our complexities and our inordinate crave for optimal and selfish interest and satisfaction. They say, my right ends where another does begin… Much more so, I have to live and let live… whatever that means!

Hold my hands and I will take you on a short trip to a place called ME, MYSELF AND I.

Selfishness is one thing that has indeed come to stay in a society like ours. We might be quick to dissociate ourselves from this, but if we took a cursory look at it, we will then see that it lives with us every day and has really eaten deep into our fabric!

It’s always about “I need a new pair of shoes to match my new belt”, “gold jewellery”,  “I need to change my car”, “I need to start saving for a mortgage”, “I need to get the latest of Mac, Mary K make-up( from colours...501, 201..etc,) Can you beat that?…

When will it ever be about… “I could give it out some of my free time to help someone with Math”, “teaching in the church”… “I could give voice coaching, piano lessons for free”, “I need to make someone feel good about himself?” We can even donate blood…! The list is endless.

Seriously, whatever happened to being our brother or sister’s keeper? What happened to brotherly love and sorority? Why can’t we do things without thinking of ourselves first? Why can we no longer offer selfless services without a resort to compensation? Have we swept all that under the rug too?

We talk about how corrupt our country is... I absolutely agree with that...But hey! the first step to curbing it, would be to think less of ourselves and remember the Almajirin in the streets of the north, who goes about with plates in his hand; we could get these kids back to school, come to think of it-- it’s free for the first  9 years…

When next we are thinking about so many largesses and generally having a swell time unwinding with our friends (not that there is anything wrong with that…come on! We need to take a load off sometimes), we could decide to give a tenth of what we’d spend to the orphanages and several homes scattered all across us… Cos hey! Some of them haven’t had decent meals in a VERY long time!

You can imagine how much some of us spend on the weekly TGIF, when we’d lounge with friends and generally just have a swell time… let’s reach out and give more!

A preacher once said that the best way to getting blessed is by our giving… I couldn’t agree more.

Some of us pray for kids…yeah! As much as I believe that “there shall be no barren in the land”, we can still, with all of our wherewithal adopt children, even before God blesses us with our own….

 Come on! We can put smiles on people’s faces every day; it doesn’t really take so much… a kind smile, a little thank- a warm compliment--- “hey! Nice shirt”, what a wonderful tie!”, “Gosh! I love your hair”… the list goes on…

Let’s see the good in others, for that’s the only way we can see some goodness in ourselves…

I really wish we could just take a time out and do something that costs us something to someone, who might not really be expecting it, but would appreciate it in a very long time to come…

We will be leaving an indelible imprint on the hearts of people, and that would be a good legacy to be remembered for…. It starts now. Try and show some love to the guy, kid next door, for it goes a long way….!

 It sure begins with you… Seriously!!!

Written by Justin Akadonye