Right from the time of Adam human beings have been in the business of offering excuses for myriads of issues we are plagued with. From genuine to ridiculous excuses, even some excuses that would want to make you puke or tear your hair out in frustration.
Not all excuses are bad though; some are borne out genuine and contrite spirit and should not be lump together with frivolous ones.
’Great men are not born great, they grow great’’ – Mario Puzo.
The Excuse of attaining Greatness
Now to the purpose of this treatise, some excuses are just totally unacceptable. Take for example lack of education; I am talking about formal education in this context. Should this be a barrier to achieving greatness? Should lack of formal education be an impediment to exploring your God given talents?
Examples abound of people who achieve greatness without passing through the four wall of educational institution. Thus the acquisition of formal education is just an added advantage.
Our God has imbibed in every one of us talents and skills with which to excel in life. So, acquisition of formal education is just an added advantage and should be treated as such, (Matthew 25:14-30).
In the same vein, we constantly hear of people giving poverty as the reason (excuse) for dabbling into crime and corruption such as prostitution aka “Runs”, fraud (419, yahoo Yahoo, yahoo plus), kidnapping, hired killing, armed robbery etc.
The question to ask here is whether this is the only option open to those who seek end to their poverty. Whichever way we choose to look at it, somebody is being hurt and ruin by this nefarious activities.
On the flip side whilst flashing back into the past, I recollect this story I can’t flush out of my memory no matter what happens. It has been permanently etched in my brain due to its significance. On no account should anybody use poverty as an excuse to go into crime or debase oneself.
There was a family of nine that I used to know and envied for the silliest of reason whenever I visit their compound. Being indigent and large in number, they were placed on strict ration of garri and sugar for lunch with eba and soup for dinner. It was never altered on any occasion. The only time they enjoy any form of variant was breakfast time and this was because of money given to them when going to school.
No Excuses, Happiness comes from contentment
I used to admire them a great deal for their ability to cope under that grinding poverty and still maintained their dignity. I envied them for that garri and sugar which I was not allowed. Children are innocent and so amazing. The joy this family displayed then was such that even family and friends come to their house to eat or pass night. I remembered vividly they even adopted a young chap that was living with them and they all eat from the same pot.
The parents never engaged in dirty dealing or tarnished their reputation because of their financial handicap. To them integrity is key.
No Excuses: Quick fix is a recipe for disaster
On the other hand you see other families with the same financial background that cannot manage their condition because they want to be like Joneses and took to all sorts of crimes. Now using poverty as an excuse here is highly untenable because it was due to their lack of contentment and wanting a quick fix. But history is replete with the fact that quick fix always end up in disaster.
Honesty and hard work pays no matter what some would say. There used to be a saying that cut your coat according to you size but I will strongly recommend you cut your coat according to your cloth.
Loads of middle and lower class people strive so hard to train their children to become great in the society while some people hide under the umbrella of poverty and destroy the future of their innocent children.
Let me quickly chip in the story of this 15 years teenager that confided in me. As young as she was at that time, she has lost count of men that have slept with her. Her mother who was in her forties then, and able bodied depends on her for their up keeps, payment of bills and other financial responsibilities from whatever she makes from sleeping around.
This disgusting aspect of this pathetic story is that she was engaging in this nefarious activity with an active connivance of her mother. She was the one who actually encouraged her to go into the business. She even took it to the next level by taken her around for diabolical and spiritual powers to get money off her victims.
The question here is how do you expect such innocent child to see life? I don’t need a soothsayer to tell me that unless by divine intervention she would end up like her mother. Please don’t get me wrong, poverty is not a way of life, but this is just a piece of advice that we should not trade our dignity or potential because of our financial status. It is not an excuse to debase ourselves.
No Excuses: Trust in God always
Being born as a pauper doesn’t mean you die wretched. You are who you say you are, the way you picture your future is the size you get in reality. Poverty may never be eradicated in the foreseeable future, but can be managed, don’t be comfortable with your present position and at the same time shun desperation, strive hard to cross the bridge of greatness. And most importantly trust in God!
From His Pot of Wisdom!
Anointed!
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