Isn’t it gracious when a choir exercise their vocal cords and belt out sweet music? A choirmaster may be tempted to lead the choir in his or her favourite hymn every now and then. I was once in a choir and we sang one particular song until it stuck in our minds and flowed from our tongues without effort. But in my case, the choirmaster was not one individual but many who had joined forces to make sure we sang the song successfully.
During my time at university our lecturers, who I have labelled choirmasters lead us in the song called sustainable development. These buzz words were drilled into us in almost every unit, and the choir members memorised the definition to perfection. Sustainable development, as we were taught is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
My understanding of the word sustain is to keep something going, to strengthen or give someone a fighting chance. So how do we sustain friendships, relationships, businesses, careers, and so forth? How do we revive what seems dull, quicken what is stuck, and strengthen what is weak?
In my days of singing the song of sustainable development, I realized that the actions we take now have an effect on how future generations will interact with the environment and the consequences are theirs to bear. I realized the resilience of anything is pegged on what we do, at what intensity we do it at and the consistency we do it with.
Ezekiel 36:27
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
This is a promise to those who believe that their faith will be sustained by the Spirit of God. When one feels weak, dull, or dead as a log and they need revival and strength, they have a promise that they can rely on, they have someone to cry to.
Every aspect of our lives needs to be sustained, supported just as we would cultivate crops in a greenhouse or an open field with continuous care and attention. Unfortunately, crops will not match your efforts in taking care of themselves but when it comes to relationships, friendships effort should be reciprocated. As most of you reading this right now will confirm that this is not always the case.
I came across someone’s New Year resolutions that they had shared on social media. One which caught my attention read, “Make only new mistakes.” Life is too short, why should we waste it with making the same mistakes? I believe that most of us are making the same mistake over and over again with how we interact both with strangers and loved ones.
It’s not hard to come across a post on social media of someone saying how they have cut a particular person from their life and others bragging how sustaining friendships is a bore and how they don’t bother. Yes, in some instances it’s best to remove ourselves from environments where we are being exploited, manipulated, and held back. But are we taking the time to assess if we are the problem and there are aspects we can improve so that the friendship can flourish?
Another mistake we are constantly falling into is the illusion that interaction on social media translates to connecting with someone. We have become programmed to giving responses to a situation without emotionally connecting; it might be a bereaved friend, someone going through a situation. We prefer sending money and a message and not following up to now how the person is doing. This has made us present in people’s lives and yet be emotionally distant. I do agree that it is impossible to be there for everyone and in this social media era, we are bombarded with groups and interactions on a daily basis. But we can definitely do more to reach out to that one friend.
This leads us to mistake number two we are constantly making. This trap makes us believe that our numerous interactions on social media translate to friendships. Many have shared personal issues on social media not realising the masses don’t care or will use it against you in the future to win a trivial internet argument and some are just mean who will make fun of you because they have insecurities in life. We should know our audience and who a true friend is so that we can understand who we should open up to and who we should make an effort to keep in touch with.
I have a few years of experience being an adult and one thing I have come to appreciate is the consistent love and care that my parents gave me. I appreciate it now more because as a human being in the early stages of adulthood I understand there are times in life where you are down, demoralised, and being there for another human being is not usually top of the agenda. This is precisely why we need to cultivate love and strong relationships because we all need someone to be there for us. May God help us because being selfless and sacrifice doesn’t come easy.
I might be a helpless romantic, but I usually love stories by couples who have been married for many years sharing how they’ve done a particular activity for years since they met each other. Time sometimes erodes the zeal we had in doing some activities in our lives. Usually, people around us notice this change and it sacks the energy out of them too. Careers and businesses also respond to these changes with a dip in results or stagnation. The motivation we have when we start a business or first share vows might fade. The politeness, the love we first had, the effort we started with should be sustained and when it fades should be revived swiftly.
I’m sure you’ve noticed the times you’ve begun losing interest in things you once gave priority. If it’s justified quit whatever it is but if it will cost you something dear to your heart and life, seek to revive the motivation and interest. If you have become dull and faint spiritually, cry for the Holy Spirit and remember the promise, “I will put my Spirit within you.” Ezekiel 36:27.
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