BE GRACIOUS AND SHOW APPRECIATION

How many of you BIG PEOPLE can boldly and confidently talk about that person who gave you a hand up when you were still small and struggling?

How many times have you publicly or even privately acknowledged the person or persons who helped make you what you are today?

Do you even remember at all that there was a time that you desperately needed someone to show you just a bit of kindness for your to be able to realise your dream – and someone came along in the nick of time?

I see a lot of people who have become big stars and celebrities but never once have been heard honouring the people who mentored them or helped them climb the ladder.

I remember (for illustration purpose only) a friend of mine back in Nigeria when I was a TV ‘star’ (YES) I had an older admirer (one of very many) who was a top guy at Nigeria’s Central Bank and whose wife, a white lady, was a very big shot at one of the major oil companies. Anyway, this friend of mine was an intelligent Petro-chemical graduate from a major Nigerian University and finished with excellent grades but a lack of connections meant he could not access any relevant jobs.

But just a mention of him to my “uncle” and to cut the long story short, my friend was on his way to working in an oil company and before long became a very big boy in Warri.

However, till today – 30 odd years later, I have never received as much as a thank you from this friend…..not once!

There are many people out there who have been assisted to be what they have currently become – but never look back to give as much as a nod in the direction of the person who was used to help them on their way.

Chadwick “Black Panther” Boseman was highly talented and had prospects, but without the intervention of Denzel Washington, he would never had made it through the journey that led him to have become the great star and character we all loved and are mourning so overwhelmingly today.

And Chadwick never tired of talking about Washington’s act of generosity. And he did so as often as he could.

Imagine if he had died without Denzel ever knowing just how much his actions impacted the young man’s life…or how genuinely thankful he was?

Talking at every opportunity about his benefactor did not diminish him in any way. Neither did it stop him from being a big star. In fact, it endeared him all the more to us and made us love him for being so humble and appreciative.

However many of us are too proud, arrogant and big for our shoes to acknowledge the input of others into our success, or to let others know that another human being was used to give us a hand and a leg up.

At the end of the day, there is only one true rewarder of any good deed..and God Himself alone chooses whosoever He pleases as a vessel to carry out His works and deeds.

But recipients of such deeds must always keep in mind that if the particular vessel had been disobedient or selfish, then the deed might never have occurred and your life could have turned out differently.

Let us learn to remember, show appreciation and honor our benefactors. Whosoever they may be.