Hello mi neighbour | Learning from our mistakes

Hello mi neighbour! Had you paid keener attention to that 11-letter word, your present predicament could have been averted. It was unfortunate that you left everything to that six-letter word! But how could you, when you could have learnt fromm the mistakes of others? Oh, you weren’t so observant!

Joyce Myer observes two learning options available to everyone:

(1) Your own mistakes.

(2) The mistakes of others.

Though option two is more economical and less time-consuming, many choose to learn from their own mistakes.

Years ago in the days of ‘three-card men’ in the city, a market vendor from the country who was enticed by the prospect of doubling her income from her farm produce, in the process, learnt a lesson and paid a price from which she did not recover.

A friend once said, “People who always want suppen fi nutten usually end up nutten fi suppen.” Gamblers can attest to that. Every week, for decades, a relative of mine has been buying tickets to win the jackpot, but millions by now would have gone down the drain. Mmmh.

So, this market vendor, having sold all her farm produce, met these ‘three-card men’ and decided to gamble with them. Of course, they showed her how winning was simple, and even gave her a sample. With all the winking and clearing of throats from those around, trying to signal to her that the men were tricksters, her greed and gullibility got the better of her and within 25 minutes all her, money was gone. That was the last time she came to market, having been made disabled by a merciless farming husband for gambling away his hard labour in the field. And he did labour hard behind bars for a while. Sad.

‘Preparation’ and ‘chance’

So, what have we learnt from those mistakes? People who live by chances are taking too big a chance with their lives. And yes, we must take chances, but they must be calculated: limiting our losses/disappointments by entering into agreements with full knowledge of possible outcomes, and fully prepared to withstand their consequences.

And I would not deny that with all our calculations and preparations, circumstances have a way of blowing us away at times. See why as human beings we will always need one another? Hence the biblical imperative: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. We do not know when.

Being observant readers, by now you would have surmised that the ‘11-letter” and ‘six-letter’ words ‘from paragraph one are ‘preparation’ and ‘chance’.

In short, preparation is a principle whereby people get ready for a success. Benjamin Franklyn said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” As a founding father of the United States of America, he was a successful writer, printer, political philosopher, politician, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist and a diplomat, etc. Here’s the no-brainer question: were these achievable without preparation?

Now for the conclusion. By failing to prepare for life, we have left it to chance – a sure path to failure and frustration. Prepare!

Would you be kind enough to help someone from list below who might have missed the 11-letter word and got picked up by the six-letter word?

Thanks to neighbours

1. Joan, St Andrew – for donation of clothing and school supplies.

2. Neighbour, St Catherine – for household items.

3. Yummy Baking Enterprises – for act of kindness.

Neighbours’ requests

- Winnifred, St Andrew – senior citizen asking for a few pieces of board and four sheets of celotex to repair house.

- Grandmother – asking for a barber chair for unemployed grandson.

- Caula, Manchester – single mother of three, asking for hairdressing equipment; wants to open a salon to generate an income.

- Merdella, St Elizabeth – single mother living in one room with her four children that leaks badly whenever it rains; asking neighbours for second-hand ply and zinc to repair.

To help, please call Silton Townsend @ 876-334-8165, 876-884-3866, or deposit to acct # 351 044 276 NCB. Alternatively, send donations to HELLO NEIGHBOUR c/o 53 Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston 10. Paypal/credit card. Email: zicron22@yahoo.com. Contact email: helloneighbour@yahoo.com. Visit hellomineighbourja.blogspot.com. Mr Townsend exclusively manages the collections and distributions mentioned in this column and is neither an employee nor agent of The Gleaner.