Even In Terrible Things...

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Yes, this is the continuation of the post I shared yesterday "Even In Little Things..." And I changed the topic this time around because of the experience I wanted to share for this post but it is still on the concept of gratitude.

This is a personal experience and most people around me knows that I am not so freaked on other people's things. I would rather avoid it if I can when I can so that's why I don't get freaked with other people's things. I have like a father figure who dropped his car in my house and even though it's a fancy car to have around and cruise the town with, I hardly touch it except to keep it warmed up. I know a lot of people have asked me why I just leave the car parked there and they have told me what they would have done if it was the other way round. I just like being careful especially over things I can avoid.

In my former place of work in my former city where I grew up; Ibadan in Oyo State. My former director told me he wanted me to add to my accounting role at the office the sales representative tag, so there was this new drink my company produced then and they wanted me to help them drive the sales.

So, on this fateful day, I was forced to go out in the company's car and I had another staff beside me. We moved around and introduced the drinks to quite a few people so we called it a day. I dropped the other staff member on the way while I headed back to the office. The junction to my office, the entrance to it was terrible because of the bad patches there so you had to be extra careful to enter.

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I was close to it and my pointer had been on even before I got there, so as I slowed down, two trailer trucks were speeding alongside each other as though they were in a race. Anyone familiar with how trucks work in Nigeria can attest to how crazy they could be. I was almost out of the road when I heard a big bang from the back of the car. I had my foot on the break else I would have been knocked over to the ditch that was right in front of me. I noticed many people were clutching their hands to their chest and others with their hands on their heads, I didn't even know what damaged had been caused. I was scared, angry and didn't even know whether to cry and I think that was my second time ever driving that car...not sure.

I knew I stood motionless in that car, confused and worried and I can't even place what I was feeling at that moment. I just turned and then went straight into my company's building and that was when I saw the damage. The boot was gone, the back windshield had been shattered and the left side of the backlight had been damaged too. We were close to salary day and I knew my salary would definitely suffer for it that month because I would have to take responsibility and fix it.l

When terrible things happen, the first thing that plays in our head is always what we could have done to avoid that thing rather than to be grateful. I know it's hard to be grateful in that moment especially when you are in shock but I sooner learned that I should be grateful instead rather than be worried. Replaying the incident won't change what happened but I can surely learn from it while still being grateful. Gratitude gives you clarity and it makes learning faster.

A lot of people who saw me at the junction rushed to the office to see me and the only thing they were saying was "We thank God for life. That's how those useless truck drivers behave". Then they drew my attention to how close I was to the ditch in front of me when I was hit. It began to dawn on me that truly I should be grateful rather than getting worried about the backlash or even the money I will cough out of my pocket.

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Most of the time the things we worry about are not really worth it. I anticipated I would spend quite a fortune to fix it but God showed up. I got the back windshield cheap, I got the left rear light almost at a ridiculous price and it was the only one this seller had, I had the panel beater stretch out the damaged backline and the only thing I didn't do was the painting because I quickly fixed it before I could tell my director and when he showed interest in picking up the car, that was when the manager told him and he was genuinely worried that I should have told him even though he didn't refund me 🤣🤣😂😂🤣. A lot of people told me the parts were scarce but I got them quite easily and cheaper than their projected prices too.

I would have painted it had it not been that he needed the car urgently and maybe if I had told him he would have made provision for other cars but he had his mind set on the one in the office while making his plans for that weekend which was why he dropped his cars at home.

What was I trying to say, nothing is as bad as we first feared. Fear takes our focus away from what we should be grateful for. Yes, I lost some money in fixing it which should have been avoided but I gained life which means I can make more than what I think I lost in fixing the car.

We need to always reassess every situation and look on the bright side of things. No matter how bad a situation is, there is always that bright side no matter how little the light is, there is always hope hanging around there, somewhere.

What are you going through? What have you gone through that messed you up so bad? What is making you lash out rather than accept those in your circle? Be grateful for those experiences because you won't know when you'd need them. Stop pushing people away because you are unhappy about the things you went through. Show gratitude and you'd be shocked how better you'd feel.

I watched the video where @MarcDeMesel explained how they bombarded his house because they suspected he was financing terrorism and other shady deals. They even had his girlfriend caught up in the whole mess and it's okay if he was bitter about it but the truth is, it could have been worse because I have read how these people can do terrible things to others unchecked but there, I was grateful for his life at least, he was the one who made the video afterwards.

So, I ask everyone, what are you grateful for? Take a step back and see the bright side...

Don't forget to follow me on Noise.Cash... I am trying to engage more with people and connect with everyone with this account. I look forward to seeing you there... You can say hello to me there so we can get familiarized as well. Click here.

Thank you for your time.