Today I was watching a movie and in this movie, there was this woman who was really kind and she tried helping this homeless man who was very difficult and somewhat violent.

She and her husband volunteered at this place where they fed the homeless. Her husband wasn’t as pleasant as his wife to help this man but because she had a dream where she saw him, she was bent on getting through to him despite how he behaved.

It took a while and it took a lot of love, kindness and patience to get through to him and when he became comfortable and opened up, he really had a story. How many of us would have given up? I know I would!

Everyone has a story. I’m not trying to justify bad behavior here but everyone has a story. Here the few things I was reminded of while watching this movie; be kind, be patient, show love and be grateful.

Be kind. People go through a lot in this life and their outward appearance doesn’t even show what they’ve been through. Sometimes, saying something nice or helping them no matter how small or just being thoughtful towards them makes a difference.

Be patient. You know how some people tend to be difficult (maybe even you)? It’s easy to give up on them and let them go. You can get angry at them and frustrated and it would honestly be justified because they are just difficult people.

Everyone loves kindness (except you’re dealing in witchcraft🤷). Maybe you could always be kind to people you find difficult and be patient with them. Eventually, they will come around. People have been through stuff that have made them the way they are. Sometimes that outward appearance of being stubborn; always want to show strength, an I don’t care attitude (BTW everyone cares but that’s story for another day) and the likes are just coping and protective mechanisms and covers.

People sometimes feel like it’s the world against them because they are not understood and it’s frustrating when you’re not understood. So people give up on them and sometimes it takes showing love, kindness, consistency, prayers and patience to get them to let you in to help them or just be there for them.

Think about times when you’ve been so difficult. Where there times people misunderstood you? Where there times where it felt like you were alone? How would it have felt if you had someone consistently being there for you and being patient? Good right?

Now I know that humans are so difficult that it’s frustrating and it’s easy to give up on them. If they are messing with your mental health, you should set boundaries. However you can be there for people while setting boundaries. The world needs kindness. Look at how patient Jesus is with us, how lovely and kind He is to us.

Being kind and patient is an attribute of love. Love encompasses all these things and it can be hard but we should learn to love people. Everyone is flawed but we can still be kind, we can still love, even from a distance.

I once told my family that to love difficult people despite everything is not human. It has to be something more than human because it is just not possible. So I understand if you can’t bring yourself to be kind to someone that frustrates you. Then again, God wants us to love right? So it’s doable, there’s grace and strength for it.

Prayer is also a form of help and kindness to people and it’s quite underrated. I’m a believer in the effects of prayers so you can pray for that neighbor that annoys you or your boss that constantly frustrates you. When you even find yourself praying for them, it reduces all that tension or anger you have towards them. Again, it’s not easy but it’s doable.

Apart from the presence of witchcraft, people didn’t come out to be difficult or insensitive or wicked. I wish we can understand and really see people instead of the disguise or protective cover they put on. I believe everyone has been difficult and some of us still are. I believe it’s mostly as a result of past experiences, our need (not necessarily physical but mental, emotional and all that) not being met or even us being misunderstood.

Lastly, appreciation. We mostly focus on bad things, uncomfortable things that happen to us but if you take a real look at your situation, there’s always something to be grateful for. Even the unfortunate things that happen sometimes have led us into beautiful things, amazing experiences or even meeting the people we care about. Think about it.

I’m doing this thing where everyday, I say at least one thing I’m grateful for. It’s cliche to say you’re grateful for life (which is very important actually). How about little things like eating, being able to see your loved ones smile, that stranger you helped, that meatpie you were able to pay for and eat or even that thoughtful thing someone said to you. All these are things to be grateful for. When you’re grateful, you definitely realize that you are blessed regardless of how bad you think life has been to you.

So today, I’m grateful for my siblings’ smile, the ability for them yo smile is something to be thankful for. They all have beautiful smiles. I’m also grateful for what I’m doing; the opportunity to share a few things I know with you.

So, thank you. What are your thoughts on this?
What are you grateful for?