Humanity wins

This post is inspired by a post on Investment in friends by Justyn Love . It is a rather lengthy post but bear with me. The greatest religion I dare say is Humanity.The quality or state of being human joined together by their common humanity. Be it as a virtue, humanity is the reason we are kind to one another because of the Ubuntu Philosophy. Friendship is a type of human relations which is characterized by a bond, affection which is always reciprocated between the two individuals. There are many things that bring humans together be it work, school and there’s no obligation to become friends,it just happens which is why it needs tending and watering to grow up and prevent it from withering and therefore friendship requires hard work!

I’m writing at a stage where I am reaping my Return on Investment and it is high. Maama used to say to me,” haza ogire obuntu,nibukukuha abantu haza abantu bakuhe ebintu”Literally meaning,”exhibit humanity,it will get you people and these people will get you things. Alan Jackson sings in the song, ‘The Older I get’,”The Older I get the truer it is,it is the people you love not the money and stuff that gets you rich”. Sometimes I wonder what it is that I did right to deserve the kind of friends and love that I have gotten. The simple answer lies in humanity. I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing but it turns out, I was.Friends held a fundraiser for my rehabilitation and continue to stand with me in this journey with stroke.

May was the darkest month, I lost a dear friend and the irony of the it is that she lost life as she was bringing on another life. I have never felt morose and sullen in my life, I wrote something about her as a way to keep the memory. Writing helps me deal with grief and this was my way. I realized that disguising grief is not good for our mental health especially now that I am dealing with a brain attack. The next day, I called the Sister of the deceased and this prompted this letter so I write not only to show my empathy, but because I do the best I can since I can’t move to grab a taxi or make a phonecall because of my speech impairment. While growing up, I loved the enclosure of walls because I could read a book. Fate is a great joker, now I find myself enclosed by walls not being able to move and I put my thoughts on the blog.

Talking about Rejoicing, this is the period where most buddies are getting married and as a great and supportive friend,I have to be happy for them, Recently I was an acting Secretary on the Wedding Committee of a good comrade. This was easy, we were in lockdown so most meetings were virtual and my job was to record the contributions and fulfilment of pledges.I have made a mental note to self that the world has to move on as I engage on the struggle to get better.I can’t burden the world with my issue because the world owes you nothing when trouble comes. It’s only friends that will be there for you. When Job faced a test, it is only friends, not the whole Israel that came to be with him.I also call friends on their birthdays to just wish them well, not that the speech is audible or great, but I want to show that I am with them. So even in my illness, friends have always mattered

Love in Pain; Sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend in pain is to be there with them that is empathy. Most of my friends are lawyers and given their nature of work, they’re busy. So most people would plan to check on me in their free time, but great people free their time to come and check on me and that’s priceless. Yesterday Morning,Chrispus came by and as usual, he made sure I tell him everything I said repetitively in order to get whatever I was saying and that’s empathy, wanting to walk in my shoes and know how I’m holding up. He made and freed time for me.

Am I any better, no, I simply reasonated with Justyn’s post on how to water friendships and to show that mine is bearing fruits. Dear reader,Iam showing you how humanity is key in watering friendships. I used my examples to illustrate the point. There are numerous lifelessons to take away. I am where I am because I was human and friends stand with me because I would perhaps have done the same if it were not for the illness. Humanity wins.