#POVERTY: ARE WE REALLY POOR?

"If you are in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They are the only ones that'll help - the only ones"...John Steinbeck

Whats your flavour?

While growing up, our parents were so stern, constantly reiterating we read our books every time so much that it seemed like a taboo to play with the other children. The phrase 'work hard' was continuously drummed into our ears so much that it seemed like a vague stereotype. If the only way to be successful was to work hard, and by work hard it meant read hard, then I thought to myself 'what would become of the guys that weren't smart in class? There had to be another way for them to be useful or respected for their ego's sake. Well, naturally some were good in sports, some had extremely good looks, some were peaceful, while some were just practically incorrigible bullies.

My point here is that society tries to determine who we are, streamlining our perceived values to the boundaries of their insecurities and fears, we all do have different skills and talents, how we believe in and discover ourselves with self love and confidence, we can hone our skills which eventually diminishes the tendencies of being financially poor, well of course there is more to the story.

"We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without"...Immanuel Kant

Talent is not enough


Have you ever heard a song which is so very pleasant to your ears, heart and soul so much that it gives you goose pimples that actually made your head swell with a maximum height of excitement? I have, and when it happened to me I wished that it was I that sang the song. Same thing applies to other people in sports, acting, speaking and even modelling.
All the people we admire doing great things that we wished we also could do are usually talented, but for their talent to be worth it, they had to pay a high sacrifice, nurturing it.
Talent however becomes overrated when less talented people make more progress than the extremely talented ones. The state of mind that controls the psyche and laid down principle here is the emigrant's attitude. The less talented guys make more effort literally burning their bridges to focus on an art or a trade so as not to remain poor.


"Some people are so poor, all they have is money"...Patrick Meagher


Success

Success is probably the most relative word, term or state ever. This is because success means different things to different people, perhaps depending on your location, culture, temperament and opportunities.
Some people believe they are successful when they have say one billion dollars, some believe it is when they can afford expensive cars to show off while some people believe that they are successful when they can take care of their family's basic needs. Some other different breeds of people actually only feel alive when they positively impact on the lives of total strangers in dire need.

"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of"...Confucius

What are we missing?



One thing is for sure, we haven't quite figured out all the mysteries of the world, another thing is that there are enormous mass of secrets which privileged people protect from us, either way we are generally susceptible to whatever the world has in her bosom to offer us, danger of haven.
How many times are we going to peacefully protest to government for better infrastructure to enhance our lifestyles which we deprived of for obscure reasons while the police torture us in return?
Who are the government by the way for them to run the nations in isolation and yet intimidate us as they wreck the economy?
We cry that corruption is destroying us, but we all know that we're hypocritical about it. Our dishonesty and lack of political will is fast plunging us into the dark pit of failure and destruction. Our selfishness is causing unlimited confusion so much that we have reasons to be insecure about the future of the coming generation.

"I know that a man who shows me his wealth is like the beggar who shows me his poverty; they are both looking for alms from me, the rich man for the alms of my envy, the poor man for the alms of my guilt"...Ben Hecht


How do you get your fish?

Have you ever heard of the saying 'If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a life time?'. Upon this very saying a large chunk of humanity's survival depends.Sometimes there seems to be no love among us all with the ways we treat each other. We exhibit some form of ego over people we refer to as poor just because we have the unmerited opportunity of acquiring wealth. We intimidate and trample upon lower people due to their pitiable circumstances instead of helping them up thus reminding them that we are all equal.

Annoyingly, it amazes me how some nations boast withe population they have without outlining or planning a strategy of how the nation can use the natural principle of leverage to maximize the possible potentials that they can offer to add value to life.
No doubt corruption is everywhere, but it trends even more aggressively when nothing is done to discourage it's existence and resilient proliferation.

"Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity"...Coco Chanel

Are you rich or poor?

In the beginning of this write-up we talked about man not been able to solve the mysteries of the world, well...it gets better. Napoleon Hill in his best seller 'Think and grow rich' encouraged people to have a positive mental attitude, having faith that we can accomplish that which we seek.
The most successful people are daring people that have unrelenting courage, taking the plunge even into unfamiliar terrains armed with faith that they'll succeed. Even if they encounter failure, they never quit, and ironically they fail more than their less successful counterparts.

I get sick to the stomach anytime government says they want to alleviate poverty bla bla bla. This is because they are not facing the main issue. You can discern a great and serious nation by the ways they treat their lowest citizen. Great nations are futuristic, and this way education and empowerment goes into their future trajectory, planning in ways where shared vision and mission definition is clearly communicated and dwells in the minds and hearts of the stakeholders of the nation.
I have met a man before who constantly complained that he was poor, then when he got lucky and hit a jackpot, he was happy only for a while, why? He squandered the money and even fell into more debt.

This simple but familiar scenario is a reminder that poverty is actually a state of mind. I know a lot of folks that don't have luxurious cars and apartments, but when they speak, you'll notice that they have rare content to offer, the kind that money cannot buy.

So are you rich or poor? Well its relative, it depends on your definition of both. One thing is for sure though, it is imperative for you to have a positive mental attitude, love yourself, and plunge into the darkness of uncertainty striking out the fear of the unknown, hoping for the best and psychologically approach or usher in glory, your choice, but if indeed we are really poor, it is just the poverty of the mind.


Thank you.

Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@gmail.com)


Sources:

Google
Brainy Quote
Good Read
Wikipedia
Think and grow rich
Rich Dad, Poor Dad