Greetings everyone, I’m truly happy to be part of the CrossCulture community.
I often tell my friends that having a good relationship with your neighbors is very important. Without it, it becomes difficult to relate well with people around you. Even the Bible teaches us that we should “love our neighbors as ourselves.” This shows that building good relationships with those around us is necessary for peaceful living.
This topic reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. There was a woman who rented an apartment in our compound. One thing I noticed about her was that she hardly spoke to anyone. Even when people greeted her, she would not respond. Because of this, many people in the compound felt she was rude and unfriendly.
One night, while she was cooking, her gas finished. Since all the shops were already closed, she had nowhere to refill it. She went to one of her neighbors’ doors to ask for help, but the person refused and said, “So you can talk now? When we greet you, you never answer, and now you have the courage to come and ask for help.”
I was on the balcony and saw everything that happened. She looked very sad, and her children were crying because they were hungry. I felt touched and decided to help her. I called her and told her she could come and use my cooking gas to finish preparing her food. She was very happy and grateful when she heard this and took the gas.
The next day, when she came to return the gas, I sat her down and spoke with her. I explained that people are not meant to live in isolation and that life goes beyond keeping to oneself. I advised her to learn how to relate better with others and build good relationships with her neighbors.
To my surprise, she changed completely. She became friendly and started greeting everyone. In fact, even if you tried to avoid her, she would still call you and greet you warmly.
This experience taught me that having a good relationship with our neighbors is very important. Let us all learn to live in peace and love with those around us.
Thank you for reading.
Picture is mine.