#The One That Got Away
As we all gathered at our friend's funeral, one thought ran through our minds..a strong disapproval we all shared but nobody voiced out..Jide should have never gone back to the village! Not after everything that had transpired..Jide should have known better! You see, Jide's village was one of those remote communities steeped in tradition and idol worship. Jide grew up as the last born in a family of four..his father was a poor widower who died in his sleep leaving jide and his siblings to cultivate their overfarmed plot of land..one by one, Jide's siblings died under mysterious circumstances until only Jide remained..The superstitious villagers avoided him as they patiently waited for death to claim the last survivor of the Ajanaku family..
However, divine providence stepped in, in the form of Jide's school principal who had closely followed Jide's brilliant progress in academics and recommended him for a local government scholarship. Shortly afterwards, Jide left the village to begin school in the city. From college to the university, Jide performed excellently and quickly rose to positions of leadership. Barely after graduation, he had a federal appointment waiting for him. Jide's rise to fame and success seemed to be some sort of divine compensation for his unfortunate childhood as he recorded achievement after achievement. It was only a matter of time before word got back to the village that the unfortunate offspring of the Ajanaku family had cheated his fate and was living in affluence and wealth.
A delegation was dispatched to Lagos to meet with this illustrious son of the village..Jide Ajanaku..The one that got away. It was a pathetic sight that greeted Jide's eyes as they filed into his office..their faces told a story of hardship and deprivation..their sunken cheeks and bony shoulders wailed of malnourishment..eyes filled with reproach, they accused Jide of abandonment..his father's house was in disrepair they said..his nieces and nephews were starving..how could he have left them to their misery? "Haba Jide! " they groaned..
A rainbow of emotions flashed through Jide's mind..He felt pity at their condition..Joy that he had escaped their fate..shame that he had forgotten his blood relatives still wallowing in abject poverty..anger at their sublime rebuke..but there was one emotion that was stronger than the others..even after he had sent them off with half of his savings..even after he had done all he could to improve the lot of his kinsmen..even though Jide knew he deserved to be happy..all the same this strange emotion haunted him..and drove him back to the village
So here we were..at Jide's funeral..The one we thought had gotten away..Sadly,Jide hadnt gotten away away afterall..and as we grieved..we shared a little in what Jide had felt when he met his folks from the village..it was a feeling of shame mixed with self-reproach..a dangerous emotion which we knew we had no right feeling but we felt all the same..The fact remained..Jide didnt make it but we did..We were alive and well..Jide wasnt..So that nagging feeling remained..and it still afflicts many today..no matter how hard they try to fight it..regardless of how many times they remind themselves that they deserve to be blessed and happy even if others aren't..Its a disease of the soul that afflicts the fortunate..its called SURVIVOR'S GUILT
Are you suffering from Survivor's Guilt ? Is it something eazily noticed? How do we recognize the signs? How do we fight it? Or better yet, how do we avoid it in the first place? Lets talk some more about this next week..See ya
#Boomsha
As we all gathered at our friend's funeral, one thought ran through our minds..a strong disapproval we all shared but nobody voiced out..Jide should have never gone back to the village! Not after everything that had transpired..Jide should have known better! You see, Jide's village was one of those remote communities steeped in tradition and idol worship. Jide grew up as the last born in a family of four..his father was a poor widower who died in his sleep leaving jide and his siblings to cultivate their overfarmed plot of land..one by one, Jide's siblings died under mysterious circumstances until only Jide remained..The superstitious villagers avoided him as they patiently waited for death to claim the last survivor of the Ajanaku family..
However, divine providence stepped in, in the form of Jide's school principal who had closely followed Jide's brilliant progress in academics and recommended him for a local government scholarship. Shortly afterwards, Jide left the village to begin school in the city. From college to the university, Jide performed excellently and quickly rose to positions of leadership. Barely after graduation, he had a federal appointment waiting for him. Jide's rise to fame and success seemed to be some sort of divine compensation for his unfortunate childhood as he recorded achievement after achievement. It was only a matter of time before word got back to the village that the unfortunate offspring of the Ajanaku family had cheated his fate and was living in affluence and wealth.
A delegation was dispatched to Lagos to meet with this illustrious son of the village..Jide Ajanaku..The one that got away. It was a pathetic sight that greeted Jide's eyes as they filed into his office..their faces told a story of hardship and deprivation..their sunken cheeks and bony shoulders wailed of malnourishment..eyes filled with reproach, they accused Jide of abandonment..his father's house was in disrepair they said..his nieces and nephews were starving..how could he have left them to their misery? "Haba Jide! " they groaned..
A rainbow of emotions flashed through Jide's mind..He felt pity at their condition..Joy that he had escaped their fate..shame that he had forgotten his blood relatives still wallowing in abject poverty..anger at their sublime rebuke..but there was one emotion that was stronger than the others..even after he had sent them off with half of his savings..even after he had done all he could to improve the lot of his kinsmen..even though Jide knew he deserved to be happy..all the same this strange emotion haunted him..and drove him back to the village
So here we were..at Jide's funeral..The one we thought had gotten away..Sadly,Jide hadnt gotten away away afterall..and as we grieved..we shared a little in what Jide had felt when he met his folks from the village..it was a feeling of shame mixed with self-reproach..a dangerous emotion which we knew we had no right feeling but we felt all the same..The fact remained..Jide didnt make it but we did..We were alive and well..Jide wasnt..So that nagging feeling remained..and it still afflicts many today..no matter how hard they try to fight it..regardless of how many times they remind themselves that they deserve to be blessed and happy even if others aren't..Its a disease of the soul that afflicts the fortunate..its called SURVIVOR'S GUILT
Are you suffering from Survivor's Guilt ? Is it something eazily noticed? How do we recognize the signs? How do we fight it? Or better yet, how do we avoid it in the first place? Lets talk some more about this next week..See ya
#Boomsha
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