… I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
And I take no credit for that.
I never really wanted for anything growing up.
In fact, all I needed to do was ask, and if it wasn’t given to me, it wasn’t because it couldn’t have because they didn’t have, but simply because they didn’t believe I truly needed it.
I always had a roof over my head without my paying for it or worrying about how the rent for it will be paid.
In fact, I always had my own room in the house of my parents and when I had to live outside of my parents home during university, my parents always paid for my accommodation, hence I never suffered the indignity of the homeless or the embarrassment of the evicted.
I never thought about where my next meal will come from.
In fact, there was always a cook, a maid, someone there to make as many meals as I wanted to have so I never suffered having to sleep with an empty stomach or to suffer the faint of a starved or the gnawing of the constantly hungry.
I never paid a dime from my own pocket for any school I went.
In fact, I went to private schools and even the public schools I went to, where tuition paying ones, all of them well funded and of high quality, with the fees always coming from my parents, so unlike some others, I didn’t need to work to pay or to fear that I would be kicked out, because I couldn’t pay.
I always excelled in my studies, topping my classes in every grade I was in.
In fact, I had private tutors come teach me during after school hours and vacations and this always put me in a better stead than all those who didn’t have anyone to add more intellectual fuel to their fire.
I grew up tall and strong, with the full complement of all my faculties being of sound health and mind.
In fact, I always had the best medical attention at my beck and call, and well-balanced nutrition to aid my growth unlike those who suffered ailments untreated and thus were stunted developmentally in all kinds of ways.
I always knew what was expected of me, and was clear as to what I wanted and how to go about getting it.
In fact, I had parents who lived a life that was exemplary. They raised me with clarity and nurtured me positively. I had siblings who taught me through their actions and their achievements thus, I always had an abundance of positive role models and attentive caring souls, who corrected my mistakes and steered me away from making even graver ones, unlike the unfortunate who are like a rudderless ship in the murky waters of life, because of absent parents or dysfunctional family circles.
I always had a concept of God and knew what it was to live morally upright.
In fact, I was born into the Church, raised in its dictates and rites, with parents who taught me to always pray and give thanks, whether it be for a meal, or an exam passed or a wish granted or a desire needed, unlike the spiritually jaundiced who are forced to inherit the spiritual prejudices of their forefathers that caused them not to understand the divine law or action and reaction, sowing and reaping and thus have been morphed into social misfits.
I have never suffered a trauma so deep that it destroyed my sense of identity, disfigured the very essence of my future, poisoned my nature and thwarted the positive trajectory of my destiny.
In fact, the neighbourhoods I grew up in, the friendships I kept, the family I was born into, the nation I grew up in and emigrated to and the circumstances I have found myself in, have always been one of peace, positivity and good neighbourliness, hence war, rape, natural disaster and unfettered crime have stayed clear of my path.
I have always had a good dose of self-confidence and a handsome amount of self-worth.
In fact, because I was born into abundance and was always provided for materially, emotionally and psychologically, without suffering unhealthy comparisons, envious deprivation and unmet needs, therefore my true person within and without, has always been built on the quadruple positive foundations of – Yes You are, Yes You Can, Yes You Will and Yes You were.
I know what it is to be patient, loyal and long-suffering.
In fact, I had parents and siblings who were patient with my short-comings. Who always stood by me at every turn in life, whether those turns be good or bad. Parents and siblings who never gave up on my failures and false starts. Who would shower me with words and actions of positive reinforcements and boundless hope.
I know what it is to share what I have and give what I can.
In fact, I was raised in surplus, with parents who were charitable and generous, and because of that, I learnt what it meant to bless others, and feared not that what I have will be exhausted if I shared or gave it to others, since dire want and scarce resources were alien to me.
I know what it is to love and be loved.
In fact, I was born into love, with parents who I saw loving on each other. Parents who never raised a hand against each other. Parents and siblings whose every action and words were guided by and moulded with love. I was surrounded with so much love, that being able to show it, recognise it and receive it, is second nature to me.
And today, I am what I am and who I am not just because of my own efforts but because of the upper hand life has always given me, without my working for it or deserving it or asking for it.
Life simply birthed me into good circumstances and thus has given me a head start in the race of life.
The fact that I am running it ahead of others in terms of achievements and fulfilment is not entirely owing to the works of my hands or the imaginations of my mind but also majorly because the circumstances of my birth and nurturing has been one in which, the stars have always aligned in my favour. And this fact, I can never take credit for.
And so since today is Thanksgiving Day here in the pleasant shores of Canada…
I want to truly give thanks to the Most High, for this truth and so many more because I know it is not I who chose but it is I who have been chosen…
Not for anything I deserve but for everything He has found deserving of me, for reasons I can never know…
And that I am totally humbled by and receptive of His upliftment…
Hence, as I walk this pleasant and fortunate personal life which I have been born into, I will never think myself better than another soul or blame another entirely for the circumstances of their life…
Since I know that Fate can be kind and unkind, and no one truly has control of the way the dice of life will roll…
And thus, it is not because of the lack of effort, that misfortune has befallen any soul…
Today even as I give thanks for the positive roll of the dice of life in my favour, I rededicate myself to the onerous task of selfless love and continuous charity…
Knowing fully that the best way of actually thanking the Most High, is to pay forward the love undeserved that has been shown to you…
And may the love I show to my fellow human, not just be of mere words or passive thoughts, but of ceaseless action.
May I meet them at their point of need.
And be to the starving man, not abundant words of comfort and superfluous prayers, but a loaf of bread.
I aspire.
Happy Thanksgiving
