Greetings!
Everyone living on this earth is not the same. We have different reasons for living, different reasons for waking up daily and going out to work. For some, what's pushing them to keep going is making family members happy or being in good health, while for others, it's just having food to eat on a daily basis.
One of the things that keeps me pushing hard is the fear of being poor.
Anytime I think and somehow imagine myself being poor, struggling to feed daily, or begging to feed my family, my brain adjusts easily. If I were being lazy at that time, my body needs no other catalyst to urge me to get up and start working.
Just like I was telling someone, poverty has no respecter of anyone. The day you start being lazy and stop working, managing, or producing wealth in the smallest way, it will crawl in with its ugly head. That's why even rich people who decide to live carelessly and stop maintaining their sources of wealth will eventually face poverty. No doubt, there are rich people that have made money to the extent that their children can smell poverty. The truth is that, if this source of wealth is not maintained or well managed, poverty is certain to crawl in one day.
Some months ago, when we had electricity (we haven't had power for a while now), I had an ironing table in my house. Whenever the power came on at midnight, I would wake up to iron clothes. Often, I would stay up ironing until the next day. Sometimes I felt tired and didn't want to iron, but whenever I remembered the amount of money I saved on fuel by doing so, I felt the urge to get up and work. My friends advised me to take it easy and not overwork myself. I know it's a good advice, but whenever I think about what I might not achieve or save if I don't do it, I feel the urge to work...every money counts.
Early last month, I met a man in his mid-thirties who was begging to feed because he had no work. I kept imagining myself in such a situation and could only say, "God forbid!" Begging to feed in this tough economy is not something anyone should have to do because it's going to be messy. Although I blame the man for not doing anything to earn money, even a small amount, because we actually talked, and he said he couldn't do jobs that paid peanuts as a salary. His situation is something I can't imagine for myself. I know how much I'm spending to feed every day, especially now that the cost of food is so high. Imagine begging for every meal or borrowing without a means to pay back. Oh my God!
The fear of poverty should be added as one of the ways to motivate oneself to become rich.
Thanks for reading.
This is my entry to Hiveghana prompt of the week