HOW BLESSED WE ARE

Second week of lecturers and all I've been doing is moaning because of this and that and getting irritated with having to attend classes. Today in one of my evening classes I sat next to a lady who is blind. At first I was annoyed that I wanted to pass to a seat next to hers and she wasn't making way for me.

A few minutes into the class as she turned to ask the guys behind us if her voice recorder was on, I realised that she was blind. My first reaction was that of sympathy, which was feeling sorry for her. Then I remembered that just last week in one of my classes, we were taught the difference between sympathy and empathy.

Empathy is more than just feeling sorry for another person. It is trying to imagine life from their point of view, to try to put yourself in their shoes and see things from their perspective. I may lie and say I could put myself in her shoes but the truth is, I couldnt for a second imagine what it's like. To come to class and not be able to see the people you are interacting with, to have to rely on people reading to you what was being discussed in class (that is what I did when we were told to discuss questions put on the projector.

So many times when we see someone with a diability, our reaction is that of sympathy. And that clouds our judgement, we are not able to see passed what they "lack". I realised that alot of these people may have physical disabilities but make up for it in tons with talents and skills that they have. While discussing questions given in class with her, I was in awe of her critical thinking ability ad reasoning and it hit me then, why sympathy is disabling us people who do not have physical disabilities. There's so much more to a person, than what they lack that we have.

I also realised that everyday, we should thank God for our lives and all that we have. How incredibly blessed we are and how we take that for granted like it is owed to us. We moan and complain about this and that but fail to acknowledge that life could've been worse, I guess that's why even the Bible teaches us to be thankful in all circumstances. The truth is no matter how bad it seems, we always have something to be thankful for, something that should remind us of how truly blessed we are.

Today instead of feeling sorry for my blind colleague, I wanted to thank her for her resilience and the fact that despite her circumstances, she was sitting next to me in class trying to beat the odds, trying to make something of her life, choosing not to remain a slave to her disability. And in the process reminding me of how truly blessed I am and all the things that seem small at the time that I could be grateful for. That I should be thankful for.