The Name is Misfortune

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I have often asked myself one question about wealth; what does it really take to be rich?

Hard work, Smartness or Grace? In my opinion, it's purely Grace. Obvious intervention of a Higher Being who decides who the blessing of wealth should be upon.

Some people may argue that hard work pays and that is not in any way wrong. Even the bible says that those who work will eat.

But the point is missed when someone starts to boast by saying, "I work hard for my money!" Who do you work harder than?

At 5am every morning without fail, a certain newspaper vendor comes in his motorcycle to drop off newspapers for my neighbour. He's an alarm clock to most people on the street. 

Recently, it rained quite heavily one early morning.  I remember that I was woken up from sleep by the loudest sound of thunder I'd ever heard and I began to pray for God's protection especially on those in international flights that may be coming into Lagos that morning.

I was grateful to God that I did not have to go anywhere that early and then I remembered the newspaper man whose face I've never seen. I was so sure that he wouldn't make it on that day to drop off the papers. How wrong I was!

I was still deep in my thought when I heard the sound of his motorcycle, it was just ten minutes after five, he was obviously delayed by the rain.

I looked through the window and saw him vaguely but noticed that he wore a rain coat as he stood in the rain knocking and waiting for the security man to come and receive the papers. 

On dry days he simply flung the neatly folded newspapers over the gate into the compound. It was dark but the rays of light from a few houses made me see that the stack of newspapers were well covered in a transparent plastic bag.

I couldn't help but wonder why this very challenging  job was so important to this man. Apart from the rain, there were also many other risks involved. To get to make that delivery at 5am everyday, he must leave home at an ungodly time. I'm sure he needs the job to survive: to feed his family. 

If wealth was based on hard work, this man would be bathing in money and the good life.

Another school of thought may say that wealth is for smart people and again I say not entirely. There are a lot of smart jobless and extremely poor people out there.

I came across a painter some time ago and when I asked for a job quotation from him, he presented the document which was written in the best handwriting ever.

His command of the English language is quite commendable and I could tell he was a really smart person who has been dealt rudely with by life.

He had a good dose of arrogance though; which one may point at as the reason for his misfortune but we all do know some very arrogant wealthy men or women.

How do you explain two smart people who both lose their jobs, one gets another job almost immediately while the even smarter one goes all the way down to live in penury for the rest of his life?

My point is this, if you find yourself on the bright side of life, spare a thought or two for those on the dark side. The name is misfortune. 

In my opinion no one has the formulae to wealth creation, just do the right thing that you have to do. Your best does not always guarantee the best result, Grace does!

A bit of humility and gratitude to the One who made it possible are important. 

~ No one is wealthy by merit, it's purely Grace or luck if you prefer that word ~