There are a few odd things I remember from my childhood days and quite a few that I don’t remember. One that is still very fresh in my memory is when my dad used to hit the side of the bed at night, making me believe that one of our neighbours that I dreaded was at the door. I actually believed him until very recently, when I decoded the trick. His aim back then was to get me to stay on my bed at night. Obviously, such tricks don’t work on the e-kids of our generation.
On the other hand, something I definitely don’t remember from my baby days is when I learnt to say ‘Thank you’. However, I have grown to realize that those words can make a lot of difference in relationships. It’s so easy for us to begin to see favours as rights, especially when those favours come our way very frequently. An example quickly comes to my mind; you have a colleague or friend who has been driving you to work every day, for free and for years, so much so that you now see it as your friend’s duty and often forget to say ‘Thank you’.
Sometimes, we can take it to another level. If you are reading this, it means that you are alive, you are breathing unaided, you have eyes that work, you have a sound mind and you are also literate. The list could go on and on. We often take these things for granted. It’s so easy to forget that some people for no fault of theirs were born blind; some others are roaming the streets, while others have not been fortunate enough to go to school. In another case, some people that were not born blind, went to school, and learnt how to read but they have lost their eyes to an accident or to some debilitating disease.
Most times, being able to do these things and many more appears so cheap and trivial that we forget to thank God for them. You have eyes that can see, not because God did owe you a pair of eyes. He just chose to do it and He is God all by Himself. He does not have to prove a point to anyone.
We have a safety slogan at work; “Step back 5 x 5”. It instructs us to take 5 steps back and spend 5 minutes thinking about the task ahead to identify potential hazards. I just want to borrow it and ask you to take 5 steps back and for 5 minutes, think about all of God blessings, including the ‘trivial’ ones and just say ‘Thank you’ to God. I’m sure it will also be a good idea to refresh your mind with these things every day and just make thanksgiving a habit. It’s worth the while.
Chidi Ukandu's Blog 