Sometimes all we need is a PUSH!!

I have often heard people say no man is an island, that somehow we are all created to be beneficiaries of each other’s God given talents and gifts. In a society however which promotes a culture of “every man for himself” it is rare to find people nowadays who are able to see greatness is others and then make it their priority to ensure that they enhance it or provide a platform for that gift to flourish.

There is a question that I challenge myself with daily, which says: Whose success has become my priority, whose life has become better because of my existence?” If there is something that I fear most is to become so great that I forget that the greatest calling is to serve .I have learned it is in serving ,giving your life tirelessly   for those who can’t return the favor,that true love is expressed and the UBUNTU ideal made a reality.

While travelling in a taxi the other day I met a young man who taught me a valuable life lesson without even being aware of it. In our conversation he expressed his desire to one day be a lawyer, despite his family financial problems. He was now on route to his part time job of cutting grass, just so that he can get money to cover his fees for the next term.

What struck me about this young man, was his determination to fight for his life. I found myself struggling to hold back the tears as he explained how for many nights in the past term he had gone without food, or just on a slice of bread, these just a few of the many challenges that he was currently facing. As I was listening to him, desiring so much to just give a huge cheque to cover all his needs, yet knowing in reality that all I had in my wallet was a lousy R2.00 and what can that do?

Eventually after he was done, I got the courage to speak, still not sure what to say when the words “I believe in you and I know you can do it” came rushing out. Where I got the boldness to say that to someone I hardly knew still amazes me , but it came from a sincere place. He then burst into tears, and there I am looking at him, thinking ok did I say something wrong? He sobbed for like a good five minutes and we girls know there’s nothing more painful than seeing a man. Trying so hard to fight the tears, he explained that all his life, he had never heard someone tell him that. All his life he longed to find someone to believe in the possibilities of his dreams. His last words as he walked away.. “You have given me hope.”

I left that day moved and so inspired and like Oprah I had an AAAAAH moment and it hit me as I watched him disappear at a distance that “sometimes all we need is a push. “At times  all people need is the assurance that they have the inherent power in them to overcome. When you expose people dynamic and transformational power of love, you give them reason to believe, to hope, to live. I  have come to know that the human spirit understands one thing love, its born of  love , for love, to be loved. Once it finds this love, it thrives, lives and believes.

Let me end by leaving you with this to ponder on: The true character of a man is measured by the way he treats those who can do nothing for them. Be love, spread love, live love!