Merry Christmas! What Are You Thankful For This Season?

Ah, Christmas! Arguably the best season of the year where everything is just different !! The lights, the sounds, the carols, the giving and receiving of gifts, the holidays, the excitement and time out with family and friends... even the air smells different at Christmas.

Christmas is also a time of reflection, stock taking and thanksgiving. A time when Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ that heralded Joy to the world, peace and goodwill to all mankind.

Joy to the world

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing

 Credits: Chorus of Carol Joy to the World written by Isaac Watts Circa 1719

What does Christmas mean to you? What are you thankful for this Christmas season? Especially having gone through the historic, eventful and very challenging year 2020 characterised by a global pandemic, lockdowns in various countries, job losses, career switches and a general new way of living. Perhaps you experienced the demise of a loved one to the pandemic? Or you lost your job and means of livelihood all in the course of the year. Would you still be thankful? Is there really a reason to do so?

A thankful lady appreciating nature in a snow-covered wood

Thanksgiving reminds me of a story shared by an avid reader of this blog, Mrs Priscilla Oluwaniyi. She wanted it featured as a guest post and I obliged her. Take a listen, please...

I was on a journey and decided to board this bus going to Oshodi from Jakande estate. As is my custom, I quickly took the front seat next to the driver. The bus ride to the next bus stop was 'enjoyable' and you can understand this if you ply Lagos roads using the yellow buses as they are always in a dilapidated state. 

Halfway through my journey, I unconsciously took a look at the driver's shoes. They looked like a well-worn pair of Brogues and I thought to myself -  "nice one!" 

*"How often do you look at a man's shoes..." Shawshank Redemption*

But something else caught my eye - his other foot had no shoe! But why? I exclaimed in my thoughts. Anyway, maybe he feels better comfort that way.

I couldn't help but wonder so I took a closer look at the shoe again then up to his pair of socks beneath  his  black tracksuit trouser and I noticed some inconsistency at the knee. I looked at his other knee and back at his socks that had a few holes in them. It then occurred to me! 

This man is an amputee - he has only one leg! 

Whaaaat! An amputee!! And he is driving me on the expressway!!! 

The emotional and spontaneous part of me wanted to raise an alarm to alert the other passengers on the bus. 

However, the rational part of me held back to avoid causing a scene that might lead to an accident! To calm my nerves, I kept assuring myself that he must have been driving for years. So there is no cause for alarm! Phew!!!

My rational mind kept ruminating on this fact for many days. Here is a physically challenged man who was faced with two paradigms:

• - to be a nuisance to himself, his family and society at large. 
• - To serve society through his disability.

He obviously chose the latter. Instead of whining and complaining of his condition, he chose to serve society by choosing to drive commercially with one good leg and a stick for the other! Despite not being able to afford a prosthetic leg

If only I had seen the physically challenged as people who can lead normal lives, then maybe I would not have been as panicky as I was. The man was obviously thankful that he still had a leg that was useful to him. He considered himself fortunate to have his glass half full instead of half empty. Talk of perspectives.

And here I was wrapped up in my world, worried about the things that I do not have, forgetting the things that I do have. 

Besides, if we can have paralympic gold medalists, why can't we have para-lawyers, para-doctors, para-actors, para-traders, in short para everything and 'we no go dey para on top the matter'. 

That man became my hero as he taught me a very important lesson of life this Christmas.

Again I ask, what are you thankful for this Christmas season?

Have a very merry Christmas from all of us at Lumie Concepts

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. If you enjoyed reading this post, kindly consider subscribing to my blog and do remember to share with your friends.