I travelled to my brother's place earlier in the week for the naming of his newborn baby boy. It was on a Wednesday but I travelled with my family on Tuesday. It was a stressful journey because of the traffic and the rain but we got there past 9 at night despite leaving the house around 4:30 pm. It was end to end journey because we both stay at the extreme ends of Lagos...at least his house from mine.
The naming ceremony went well and it was just a sitting room arrangement but it was lovely. We had laughs and watched a lot of movies too. They usually don't have light in that part of Lagos and he runs on a generator mostly. They can't boast of 8 hours of light a day and it was strange to me because where I was coming from, the least of the electricity that we use is around 20 hours daily...sometimes more.
We all adapted and it didn't stop our fun and bonding. Most of the time I've had to go into the car, sit down there and put on the AC of the car because the heat was too much and there is little the fan can do.
It was on Friday night he got back after going for a job. He is into fumigation and I love how detailed he is with his job. He pays so much attention to it and everyone loves giving him jobs even with his after service customer support. He got back and I saw him with a lot of gifts; pampers and all sorts. I thought he went to buy it until he narrated what happened.
One of his customers shared her status update, sharing her account details and asking people to send her money as Davido's friend did to him. (I wrote on this already and you can read about it here: Who Are Your Friends?.
After sharing her status update during the time my brother's wife gave birth and they were still in the hospital, my brother decided to send her a thousand naira ($2). She posted another status afterwards and cited that my brother was the only person who sent her money and even though it was just a thousand naira, it was the thought behind it that matters and she was happy.
Another friend of this woman saw the second status update and asked her who the guy (my brother) was. She told her that my brother is into fumigation and that was how she said she would love to fumigate her house and she wants my brother to do it. She reached out to my brother and he said he would first come over to inspect her house and it was on that Friday he went there to inspect. Lucky for him, her area was close to the place they went that day for a job.
My brother went there and met with her and her husband. They got chatty and she mentioned what she saw on her friend's status update citing that my brother indeed has a good heart and that's why she decided to call him to do a job for her. My brother apologized for not coming earlier citing that his wife was still at the hospital because she had just given birth. The woman was shocked. She said the time my brother needed money the most, every kobo and every cent, that was when he decided to even reach out to help others?
The husband heard and went into their store, asked his wife to pack all the baby diapers (pampers) they still have and gift my brother. From the image below you would see all he was gifted, even to baby socks. She wanted to give him all the baby wipes too but after checking the dates they had expired so she left them in the store, to be thrown out later. My brother thanked them, scheduled a day for the fumigation and came back home to us.
It was an important lesson I picked up there. The thing is we can't wait to have everything before we help others and despite my brother needing money himself, he reached out. Most people want others to pity them, use their condition to gather help but we shouldn't live like that. We don't have to have everything before we help others and the truth is we can't have everything. Giving is sacrificial and it means a lot more when out of the little we have, we give out. Giving is not giving until we give to those who might never be able to repay us. We need to take focus away from ourselves and do something nice for others, for once.
Another important lesson is that one good turn deserves another and goodness always spread. It all started from doing a good job for someone and then gifting as little as $2 to the woman. Her testimony brought in another customer for my brother and also gifts. We don't know where the good deeds we are doing would go. We don't know those who would blow our horn and speak of the good things we have done. We don't need to overlook anyone and maybe the woman who joked on her status and got the money from my brother isn't influential, you never know the kind of people she might have in her circle of influence.
We always reject people at face value and we need to stop doing that. Do good to others because you don't just know when your day of reward might come. Sometimes it takes longer, keep at it and sometimes it comes quicker, don't stop spreading the fragrance of your goodness and throw kindness around like confetti.
Thank you for your time.
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In the end, being good always pays.