LESSONS IN LIFE

Hello friends, this week I have had some interesting encounters which have taught me a few life lessons which I thought I share with you.

I will share them to you in the form of a story so you can follow exactly what happened.

Two days ago as I was on my way to work, I got on a bus and the bus driver leaned to talk to me as I was just getting on the bus. Mind you the society where I find myself living here, is one where rarely people talk to each other be it on a bus stop, in the bus, in the cafe or anywhere. It's a society where everyone minds their own business and are never bothered about the person next to them or next door. So with this mentality, the gesture of the bus driver talking to me made me think, "has my ticket expired?" or "what is he up to?". Whilst I was still trying to sort the questions in my mind, the driver asked me a question which took me offguard. He said to me "have you used this bus route before?" I answered "yes I have", then he continued " could you please direct me which way I have to go from here because I am confused and the map I have is old." I thought for a second, he must be joking, then I answered him and explained to him how he has to drive to get to the last stop which was also my stop. I noticed as he continued driving that he was telling the truth he did not know where he was going and all he was doing was trusting the directions I gave him that he, will take me and the rest of the passengers in the bus to our right destination.

This story taught me one big lesson "Never assume". Honestly I had all reason to assume that a bus driver knows it all when it comes to directions. Here he is driving the bus all around the city why should he ask me for directions. I realised how much I may have hurt or not been of help to so many people because I assumed they knew what they were doing or where they were going.

Friends it is very easy for us to fall into the "assumption trap", let us be cautious of ourselves that we do not miss an opportunity to help someone or let someone end up in trouble because we assumed they knew.

Another interesting twist to the story was that the bus driver trusted me when I told him which direction he should drive. Trust is an important virtue in life, if we have to survive in this world we have to trust atleast in a few people otherwise nothing will work. No man is an island, we all need someone to stand by us or walk along with us whichever direction we are taking in life. Sometimes even if the future seems bleak let us trust as the bus driver did.

Another lesson I got from this story is humility. Can you imagine how humbling it must have been for the bus driver to ask for directions from a passenger? I am sure he should have been thinking about it for a long time and he was prepared for whatever reaction he was going to get from the person he was going to ask for the directions. But he did it anyway.

Sometimes life demands that we humble ourselves in order to get to what we need or what we want to achieve. Can you imagine if this bus driver did not humble himself to ask?

I wish you a great a nd blessed weekend as you ponder on this story.
Until next time, God Bless