Every once in a while, I get the energy to go back to church. For a while, I’ll be consistent, Sunday after Sunday, I’ll be there. Unfortunately, I’ll get distracted with other things, and then I’ll start skipping until I make it official, take the longest break that is mostly motivated by the difficulty of starting the routine all over again
Before the Covid-19, I was actually on a good run, going to church with every opportunity I got. Then Covid-19 hit, and there was no going to church for everyone. So I had to stop, disrupting my progress
But I remember this one Sunday, seeing people in my church after they started easing things up, people were now allowed to go to church in small numbers per session. I was coming from Centurion in the morning, and I saw people who were late for the service, and I realized at that time that if I went in, I wasn’t gonna be the only one that is late. So I quickly joined them, and I’m grateful for that decision because I got more than I wanted. I got what I think was the best lesson for that year
As I was coming in, they were singing the last few songs before the pastor took over. Lucky me, I got to blend in, cool down a bit, and adjust my mind to the world I was in at that moment
He started by saying a lot of things in his sermon, and of course, money was one of them, but he caught my attention when he said people want to be important, to feel important all the time. They want high position, they want power, and all sorts of things that put them above others. Ok, where are you going with this? I wondered
He asked us whether we are comfortable when we are treated as less than we feel we deserve. Be honest, he said. Tell me how you feel when people look down on you, don’t notice your expensive clothing, and act like they don’t see you? Do you feel the need to remind them that you’re right there, they must greet or compliment you?
We had mixed emotions because we were not sure where he was going with that
He said, As people, we want to be noticed all the time. You buy a car, you want people to know you bought a car, you got a promotion, you’re pregnant, you got a job, you won a lottery, you want people to know because we don’t know the power of being unimportant
He went on to say, when you are less important, people don’t usually care about what you do, what your plans are. That gives you enough time to do whatever you want without competing with anyone. It takes the pressure off your shoulders because nobody notices that you are doing something. Even when you fail, you can easily start over again. No one will notice that you did it the first time and failed because you only have yourself to correct. You don’t have pressure to impress anyone
He emphasized that you mustn’t be bothered when people treat you as less important. You must just focus on doing the best that you can to improve your life
I found that very enlightening because sometimes we worry about what people think, and mostly, we get disappointed when we don’t get what we were expecting
Here’s what I know, as people, we need to be recognized, that’s our nature. We feel better when we are noticed, seen, and appreciated. When we are not, we get less motivated, we lose interest, the desire to go an extra mile, but again that comes with a lot of unnecessary pressure because when you do good, that’s all we expect from you, the good and keeping up with that is a hell of job because as people, we have good days and bad days and your outputs are mostly affected by the kind of day you’re having
On your good day, showing up is always easy, but on bad days, locking yourself behind closed doors is a wish for most people, except that it is not possible for an adult, considering the amount of responsibilities we always have. The unfortunate part is, people want to see one version of yourself all the time, and that happens to be the good side of you
But when you are less important, you have the freedom to be whoever you wanna be in your good and bad days
Here’s the thing, the hard work to bring anything of good quality to life is done behind closed doors, everybody else is only privy to the final product
Think about your favorite movie, your favorite gadget, your favorite meal, the work and value put into it to be the final product it is, is endless. Get this, it's all done when no one is looking
That made me think, being unimportant is a great thing that we should all celebrate, rather than feel bad about, because of all the benefits that come with it
So next time, when people don’t give you the recognition you deserve, treat you as less important, don’t feel bad, just keep doing your best in silence and catch them by surprise
“It's all about one day at a time, one day at a time.”
Photo #1 by Pixabay on pexels.com
Photo #2 by Emmanuel Nwabufo on pexels.com
Photo #3 by Willian Justen de Vasconcellos on pexels.com
