I Don’t Take It For Granted

Dear lovely people,

I was in Ghana recently where I went to a restaurant for a quick lunch. Sitting at the next table to me was this gorgeous lady and her beefy boyfriend enjoying their meal. At one moment, a waiter came with their bill, the girl was quick to ask how much and the waiter replied 1,000 Ghana Cedi equivalent to $259. The girl then opened her purse and gave the waiter three clean $100 bills telling him to keep the change. Honestly, my mouth was wide opened and my eyes popped out in total disbelief.

When the waiter was gone, the guy asked her "baby why didn't you allow me to take care of the bill?" It was then the girl said something that really impressed me. She told the guy that she's not after his money and that the only thing she needs from him is his love, care and attention. At that point, I almost fainted. I wondered aloud if such girls still existed in Africa, let alone Ghana. Then I got my answers, I heard a commanding voice ''cut, cut, cut!!” and I shouted "Okayyy, so you guys where on set, goodness! So it was all a movie in the making? No wonder!!

 

They were on set for sure but what about you? Is your life a movie scene? Whether in our love or professional lives, many are the times people take certain things for granted. It’s almost customary to find a man paying the bills on almost all outings with a lady to the extent that when it happens the other way round, eyebrows are raised and so you can understand my bewilderment at that particular instant.

 

Anytime you receive something on a regular basis, you quickly develop a tendency to take that something for granted over time. I remember when my friend Paul, had his first job. He truly felt elated each and every time he received a paycheck. In fact, he used to save all of his paystubs and I remember him proudly displaying his first paycheck on his desk at home. It didn’t take very long for those feelings to fade. Only after about 2 months into his first job, he stopped thinking about getting paid altogether and just expected money to show up in his bank account every month end.

Paul became complacent with his job and his lifestyle. He lived in a fairly expensive part of town. His house rents where exorbitant and he without a doubt was heavily indebted and more to it, he was the sole bread earner for his family as well.

Then he got fired from his job one fateful day and because he took his steady paychecks for granted, he completely lost it when all of it was suddenly taken away. How was he going to cover the expenses and the debts? How was he going to provide for his family? Taking things for granted is a perfect shortcut to utter desperation.

Now let me ask you, in troubled economies such as those most of us live in, do you really want to be dependent on a single income in which you have no control over? Are you spending in anticipation of your next paycheck? This might just be the time to review many aspects of your quest for success if you truly mean it.