By Sharon Emephia
Sometimes, the people who rally around you when tragedy strikes are the same people who watched you struggle to build your life and did nothing. They witnessed your efforts, saw your frustrations, and perhaps even heard your silent cries for help, yet offered neither encouragement nor support, but the moment disaster strikes, their compassion suddenly finds expression.
Some people will watch you struggle to build a business, pursue a career, fulfil a calling, or create a better life, yet judge you for not succeeding quickly enough. Instead of offering a helping hand, they label you lazy, unserious, or incapable. Then, when life deals you a devastating blow, they appear with donations, sympathy, and comforting words.
Why must someone suffer a tragedy before others recognise their need for help?
Of course, not everyone who cannot help is unkind. Some are fighting battles of their own or simply lack the financial means to offer assistance. However, compassion goes beyond money.
A word of encouragement, a referral, a useful connection, your presence, mentorship, business patronage, or an opportunity to showcase someone’s talent could be precisely what they need to move forward. Sometimes, what costs you little could mean everything to someone struggling to find their feet.
Personally, I believe we must rethink how we demonstrate love and compassion. We should not be more willing to help people bury their dreams than to nurture those dreams while they are still alive. It is troubling when we find it easier to contribute towards the consequences of someone’s struggles than to offer the little support that might have helped them overcome those struggles in the first place.
Sometimes, what a struggling person needs is not a touching condolence message after everything has fallen apart, but someone who believes in them enough to offer a little support while they are still fighting to succeed. They may not need you to solve all their problems; they may simply need you to give them a chance, open a door, share an idea, recommend their work, or remind them that their efforts are not in vain.
Galatians 6:2 reminds us to “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” Those burdens are not limited to grief, sickness, or loss. They also include the daily struggles of survival, personal growth, business development, career advancement, and the pursuit of purpose.
Sometimes, the burden someone carries is the weight of trying to build something meaningful with little or no support. Being there for such a person is also an expression of love.
So, before you get excited about donating to someone’s tragedy when it happens, ask yourself whether there is something you can do to support an upcoming entrepreneur, a struggling professional, a talented individual, or someone trying to build a better life today.
Before you prepare to sympathise with their failure, consider whether you can contribute to their success.
Rather than judge someone’s slow progress, consider whether you can offer guidance, encouragement, an opportunity, or a helping hand.
Do not merely show up when life breaks them; show up while they are trying to build it. Do not wait until their business collapses before offering advice, until their dreams die before acknowledging their potential, or until they lose hope before reminding them that they matter.
Let us become the people who help others rise, not merely those who gather when they fall. Don’t wait for a funeral, a failed dream, a broken business, or a devastating tragedy to prove that you care. If you can make a difference in someone’s life today, do it today. NOT TOMORROW!
Sometimes, the greatest gift you can give someone is not what you contribute after tragedy strikes, but the support you offer today that could help prevent tomorrow’s tragedy. Your timely intervention, kind words, open door, or little act of generosity might be the difference between someone giving up and finding the strength to keep going.
Remember: People need support while they are building their dreams, not just sympathy when those dreams collapse.
Let us stop waiting for people to become tragic stories before we become part of their success stories. Be the reason someone makes progress, finds hope, or gets another chance. You may never fully understand how much your timely support means to them, but its impact could last a lifetime.
Support people’s dreams, not just their disasters!
You feel me?