Everyday I go through my Facebook and Instagram pages, looking for inspiring stories that can inspire me and also stories I can write to inspire you as well.
I saw a post shared by one of my friends, about a story of a young man who is below 30 years who had listed a number of his family members who he was supporting on his own from his little monthly salary he receives from his work.
What is moving and and most amazing about this is that not only had he listed to give his own money every month to his 4 brothers and sisters, he had also added the names of his grandparents who, according to him are too weak to do anything for themselves.
So he has to take care of them too.
Mind you, from the story he does this every month non stop.
As I read, I began wondering to myself, doesn't this young man have dreams or goals to achieve in life? What is making him do this selfless act of service all on his own continuously without considering his own interest and does he even have enough money to continue to do this.
This is the best conclusion I could come up with based on my own experiences in life.
Taking on responsibility to care for others is a choice you make, and not something you have to force yourself to do.
I may not know, but if you are taking up responsibilities because people are asking you to do it or because you might feel like if I don't do something good to help people close to me, other people might think I'm a bad person or I'm insensitive. Then you don't really understand responsibility.
Taking up responsibility for anything, whether is taking care of other people or taking care of things is a calling.
Something you feel like doing from your heart because you have empathy or compassionate experiences.
You must first understand why you are doing this and what lead you to do or start doing this in the first place.
From the little experience I have, people who are kind and selfless do take up responsibility for others and things because they also had other people do same for them in the past when they had nothing.
During my days in university, after I closed from lectures and went home, I used to go sit in the hot sun every afternoon and call out a woman who sold fried plantains and beans just a few metres from our house.
She will bring me my fried plantains and beans for me to eat for lunch. I will then pay her and go back inside the house .
A few months later, I was given a booklist to get some business books for my next semester class. So obviously all the money I had and my little savings all went into buying books and study materials for school.
So you can imagine how I felt going back to this same woman every afternoon to buy my lunch without money... really embarrassing right???
But here is what the woman did for me instead. When she realised I didn't have any more money to pay her for the food, so she told me to take lunch from her on credit.
And I should pay her when I finally have money. So I had planned to pay her for every lunch she gave me for free after three (3) months. Which was also the time my semester will end and then I can have money back again as well as start saving again.
After 3 months I calculated the amount of money I owed her and went to pay her.
But instead of collecting the money,
she looked at me smiled and said this to me;
Kwame, i believe you should know by now, I'm not going to take that money. Keep it and continue your savings. Consider this as a kind gesture I have done for you, as my little contribution to your education.
Her name was Aunte Akua
I tried convincing Aunte Akua to take the money, at least half of it, so I will feel good coming to buy food from her again. To avoid any embarrassment.
But she still said No and insisted and I save up the money for my education.
What did Aunte Akua's kind gesture and daily responsibility to give me free lunch everyday teach me??
It taught me to consciously care about other people even when they are not near or close to me.
I should be able to have an empathetic heart and be matured to understand when some people go through certain challenges in life, and help them out if I can. That is, only if I can. I must not be forced to do so. But willingly accept or decide to help them without a grudge or ill-feeling in my heart.
The very moment I have an ill-feeling or mumur towards the good I'm doing, I should stop doing it. As it will not be a genuine responsibility with a blessing.
After graduation, I got a job to work for a telecommunications company in Ghana as a customer service representative. I later sent her airtime from my salary so she can make free calls on her phone to all her loved ones.
I did the airtime transfer everytime from my office phone so she wouldn't know who exactly the call credits were coming from.
Because I knew very well that if she got to know I was doing that to pay her back for her kindness to me years ago, she will ask me to stop sending them to her immediately.
I loved hearing her talk to me about how generous telecommunications company in Ghana had become these days, because she was getting free airtime to make free calls to people everyday.
I must say that It felt really good for me that I could also do something little to say thank you to her.
I continued doing this until she passed on (died) sadly in 2013.
Now you know, that part of my responsibilities for doing good and showing act of kindness is because of people like her.
I have a million stories to share of other amazing people too who have done same for me. I guess I will do that another time.
To end, here is my question to you;
Who and what is your responsibility??
What are you truly called to do in this life
And who are the beneficiaries of your responsibility or duty?
Is it to your family, children, the needy and poor, God or other strangers that you don't even know.
I must again repeat this that It is not by force.
For some responsibility may mean caring for others so they can feel loved. For others, it can be seeing to it that the right things are done always.
Here is what you must know, if you are taking up some responsibilities of some sort, do it well and dilligently.
And make sure to teach all your beneficiaries the pain and the benefits in taking up such responsibilities in life. Because it is not something very easy to do.
So they don't end up taking your hard-earned sacrifice for them for granted, but rather appreciate them deeply from their heart.
Kwame Sarpong | Freelance Writer:
Nyansa365
e: nyansa365@gmail.com | w: nyansa365.blogspot.com
m: +233205832364 | p: +233205832364
f: Otumfour Kwame Sarpong
t: @kwamesarpong25
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L: Kwame Sarpong
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