Be Grateful

While Kelly lamented, “What I wouldn’t give to have Ama’s perfect figure! Just look at her striding majestically down the street. I’m guessing she should be about 35 yet she has the body of a 20 year old.  I on the other hand look like an inflated balloon thanks to my kids. Having 3 kids took a great toll on my once amazing figure. I truly love my kids but I wish I had Ama’s figure as well”.

Ama was envious, “I get so green with envy whenever I see Kelly with her family. She has a loving husband, 3 beautiful kids and a good job. What do I have? Just a job, I have no one to come home to, no kids to call me ‘mummy.’ Almost all my friends are married with kids yet here I am, a spinster at age 36. How I would like to be Kelly for a day, just to know what it feels like to have kids and a loving husband.”

And while Joe says, “There goes Mr. Nkum, owner of a conglomerate and one of the country’s millionaires. Rumour has it that he is so wealthy he can buy Maserati for all 26 million Ghanaians and still have more than enough to last him a life time. Ha! What I could do with just a fraction of his wealth. I am the C.E.O of a carpentry shop. Yeah! Even if I have only 2 workers I’m still the boss so I am a C.E.O too! I haven’t had a contract for the past 3 months. The chamber and hall I call home keeps getting smaller with the birth of each child and guess what?  Baby number 6 is on its way. It wouldn’t hurt to be in Mr. Nkum’s shoes at all. With all that money I am certain my family and I would finally know what true happiness is”.

Mr. Nkum reflects, “You only realize how limited money is when it cannot buy life. I have barely 3 months to live and it kills me to know that there is nothing I can do to save myself. I used to think poverty was worse than death but now that death is staring at me in the face, I beg to differ. I would gladly be Joe, the carpenter down the street and live in abject poverty, rather than die. Waiting for death is worse than death itself”.

And while Jane moaned, “Months into the semester yet I haven’t been able to afford a decent weave or braids. I almost never have enough money. The worst part is that I have to constantly sit in class with Ewurabena who changes her hairstyle every two weeks. Goodness! Her braids look so beautiful. That must have cost at least 100gh. That amount of money could do wonders for my hair. Really! I could braid twice (yeah, my ghetto hairdresser charges very little).  This world is simply unfair”

Ewurabena laments, “I am the epitome of ‘brenya’ (local slang for someone who has little hair) . It’s as though my hair grows a quarter of an inch every 6 months. Jane is so hairy! She has such silky straight hair she could sell it to the less fortunate like me. Braiding and wearing weaves all year round is hard work. The heat is unbearable! If I had such fine hair as Jane, I would never cover it up!”

Sometimes the shoes you are dying to be in are much tighter and uncomfortable than they actually look. The grass that looks so green on the other side might just be an illusion. Nothing is perfect, we all have our challenges. Be content. Wear your shoes and keep walking, they might get comfortable with time. Be Grateful.