Have you ever wondered, after you promised yourself to be a better person by doing the right and appropriate thing, then all of a sudden, you deviate towards the wrong direction?.
So today, on our way coming back home (that is, my colleagues and I) from work, one of them asked for a piece of advice from another and when the other person started giving the advice, a thought occurred to me on how worthy are we to give advice? If I am worthy to give such advice and do I myself practice the advice I am trying to give? I sighed deeply! Then it occurred to me, that I am just only human with flaws, so I will try to do my possible best but I should not beat myself up. That though prompted me to write on this title “Only Human”.
Other times I have been approached by individuals who ask for advices, I always paused at that moment to ask myself if I am on the right path or what gives me assurance to give advice to another, the fear of becoming an hypocrite always and constantly, haunt me. Where I find solace is I reassure myself I will do the right thing and at that moment I get relieved.
Sometimes ago, someone told me a story of an Indian Monk called Gandii and a mother of an eleven year old boy that came to him for advice and the conversation goes like this;
Woman: Babu I have come to report my son who's now 11 year old and like eating sugar, I’ve warned him that eating sugar is dangerous to his health but he won’t listen.
Babu: “thinking deeply as the woman was reporting her son to him, he thought to himself, saying I myself have not considered reducing or stop the intake of sugar so therefore he decided not to give the advice to the woman’s son yet, but until he’s certain he himself has reduced or stop the intake of sugar”. So he told the woman to come back in the next three days and her answer and advice would be waiting for her.
After three days of reduced sugar intake in his meals and diets, he saw wonderful effect on his body. He then decided he is ready to give the woman her answer and advice to the woman’s 11 years old boy.
All I have been trying to say is that even if we wish to do the right things all the time and we find ourselves go astray at times, do not feel discourage for we are only human and not perfect, designed to fail and try again and again till perfection. so keep pressing daily, one step at a time and you will get there.
I will now discuss views I believe if properly harnessed will guide and guard us at all times to do the needful and appropriate. So sit back, relax and enjoy my views:
• Be guided by principles (stand by your words and actions).
• Avoid procrastination (do things now and not later or tomorrow).
• Be flexible (do not be rigid, understand you’re only human no matter the circumstances, don’t beat yourself up)
• Don’t allow pride to take root over your life (understand that pride comes before downfall)
• Enjoy every moment of life (what you have lost today his lost forever).
With these aforementioned! I hope we learn that we are only human, some people and mostly younger ones look up to us learning our characters and actions and this in turn will dictate the path they would thread later on in life. So when we beat up ourselves and they see that expression remember they learn and with that, what kind of generation are we raising or trying to leave behind?
