Think You've Got a Problem?

“Every man thinks his burden is the heaviest…” – Bob Marley.

It’s silly how too many of us worry ourselves “to death” over mundane stuff. If we are not “crying and whining” because we are broke, we will be having negative attitudes over some perceived insult or disrespect. That was my mood all through yesterday… until very early this morning when I heard about the sad incident that befell a guy.

And, suddenly, I felt stupid!

This scenario aptly reminded me of the story of a man who went into a bush with the aim of committing suicide over a minor disability – he was deaf in one ear and had been the butt of jokes in his neighborhood. The poor man was just about to sling a rope over his head when he heard someone whistling joyously nearby. For a moment, he took off the noose around his neck to check out the source of joy in such a dreadful environment. And to his consternation, he realized that the joyous sound was coming from a man with neither fingers nor toes and his body bent over by the ravages of a leprosy disease. For a few seconds, the deaf guy wondered “What the heck…?”

“For God’s sake if that leper could be so happy…” the man finally declared as he scrambled out of the bush. “I must be dumb to have considered suicide…”