By Mutryce A. Williams
IN our culture we like to say, “News don’t need no messenger.” We take people’s business and make it our business. We take people’s problems and make them our problems. We take people’s enemies and make them our enemies. “An old pan only got to knock” or we may “smell” confusion and like a moth to a flame we appear ready for battle. We don’t even want to know what the problem is or who is at fault; we jump in wildly and “start to throw our blows” or words, because this is who we are. We are like junkies. We live for tumult.
There is no peace to our souls. Nothing positive or refreshing ever flows off of our lips. We are always “looking to find fault with someone or something”. There are no compliments to be rendered; however, we are quick to dish out the most caustic criticisms. We say things like, “You look good for once though” or “I would tell you you look good but I don’t want it get to you head so me a keep it.” Some of us may be bitter, warring enemies one day but best friends the next, because we have found out that we have something in common and often that may just be our animosity for another, so we form an alliance. We have a new quest and this is to annihilate the object of our hate.
We always seem to be making a mountain out of a mole hill. We take the positive and make them negative. We are never satisfied unless our mouths are running a mile a minute with no good intent but malice. We are like the evil minions in Pandora’s Box, always seeking to make trouble for other people, always stirring up some ants nest because this is how we thrive; this is how we find happiness by trying to make other people miserable, by dragging them down to the pits of hell where we reside. We are always sleuthing around some bend hoping to snatch up some gossip so that we can run with it, and the thing that get’s me is that 99% of the times we distort it to suit ourselves and our venomous purposes. We are always ready to chop down those and label them dissenters who dare challenge what we deem to be our truths. We are like a destructive force of nature using our wiles to discombobulate those in our paths, and again the thing that gets me is we have no remorse for our actions.
I often sit and wonder what fabric some of us are made of. I often wonder about how heartless we are at times and the fact that we give no regard to the wanton and irresponsible lies that role off of our tongues, all with the intent of causing harm to others. These lies are formulated with the intent of destroying that person’s reputation, with the intent of causing tumult within that person’s circle and with the intent of bringing down that person. We pay no credence to the parable: “If you can’t say anything good about somebody say nothing at all.” We surround ourselves with likeminded people and inch by inch we size others up and then break them down. I ask, is this life? Is this what we were put on earth to do? Is this how we want to spend our stint here on earth? Is this what we deem living our best lives?
It pays to spend time in reflection and revaluation. It pays to spend time in wondering how we can possibly be the best persons we can be; wondering how we can use our lives meaningfully to effect change; and wondering what our legacy would be. It pays to surround ourselves with others who are positive, likeminded; others who have used their lives to effect change; others who have done something with their lives; others who chose to live as opposed to exist; others who genuinely try to do good and see themselves as agents of change. It pays to surround oneself with people who are genuine and supportive. It pays to find something that we enjoy doing or something that we are good at and share it with the world. It pays to realise that we are not immortal. We all have our little burdens to bear and, knowing this, we should all try to make this life a little easier for each other.
It pays to realise that the last thing that someone needs on his climb to achieve or in his quest to achieve is a mob of warmongers at the base of the tree throwing stones, waiting for him to fall so that they may pounce at him. An old lady once told me that each time I said something negative to or about someone, each time I wished someone ill as opposed to God’s speed, each time filth rolled off of my tongue, I was ‘sooting’ up my soul. She went on to say that, as with anything, this would become a practice or habit and eventually it would become me. This always stuck with me.
It pays to realise that this time may better be utilised in doing some good, because contrary to what we may have been told about ourselves or what we believe about ourselves, we all possess some good. We all have something to offer. In our culture we tend to not only criticise but often resent others for trying to live their best lives. We often remark, “Boy she again…Wha he playing eh…She like be in too much things…well is only he one they could find to put in things…boy she nuff see…” There are even times we see these individuals and remark, “Boy me aint like she at all you know,” and when asked to support our remark, we simply reply, “Me just no like her or she a play more than wha she be.” Have we ever sat and asked ourselves why we make these remarks? There are even those of us who seek out and befriend these people only to exploit them and reveal their weaknesses to the masses. I have seen it happen.
I believe that we are here to build one another up, that we are here to be sincere, genuine even and not to tear each other down. Instead of using our time destructively, we should look introspectively and find that little gift that God has given us and share it with the world. And if we need help or ideas on how to go about doing this, we should seek out someone who is positive, someone who is living his or her best life, and ask for best practices.
