THE PLANET NEXT DOOR

 

At the wake of 2019, we were greeted by the news of rampant suicides, cutting across the entire country, setting every heart agog. Honestly, ever since, you can relate that suicide has become order of the day. As sad as this reality is, one can’t but ask how did we get here? How did we lost the sanity and sanctity of life to the point that we are taking our own lives by ourselves? Well, these and many other related questions beckons on urgent life-saving answers. 

As of September 2019, World Health Organization reported that across the world, one person takes their lives every 40 seconds, and as of June same year, Africa Check ranked Nigeria 15th in the world for suicide and the 7th in Africa. Forgive me please, I am not a prophet of doom, however, judging from the way things are going and the reality of life especially in this part of the world, there is little or no indication that the situation will change or improve overnight. Hence, we need to really buckle up for hard times ahead. 

We all are fighting battles, we all are going through stuffs, and we all experience tough times at different point in time of our lives. These variables may be different and carry diverse shapes and forms, but the reality remain that they have in them the capacity to make or break us; our ability to respond to them aright defines where we go from there. This proves through what John C. Maxwell once said: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to what happens to you”. 

You may be reading this piece and all is going well with you, or you may be going through these words trying hard to pull through a situation, maybe you are thinking hard what life holds for you like me here, good news is, you are not alone. We all live in our different yet equally important and relevant planets, and in these our different planets are various forces trying to pull us in many different directions, and we are all torn in between: demands, expectations, hopes, plans and anticipations. We have gone through hurts, pains, shames, heart aches and heart breaks. All these and more, constitute our different planets. 

Ending last month, one of the most popular African-American actors Boseman Chadwick Passed on, he died with a colon cancer after battling it for almost four years. We all know him as the hero and the front man of the favourite movie “Black Panther”; however, he was going through a lot in his own universe. While he was thrilling us with entertainment laced with top notch action, he was truly fighting the real Wakanda war deep inside his planet. It was until his last breathe before we got to know about his health woes and struggles. 

Worthy of note here is the fact that there are so many Boseman Chadwiks out there, putting up a great show for us outside that they are strong and alright, but deep inside their little world, they are at the fore front of different kinds  of battles. While they flow with the crowd daily trying to be strong, they are breaking from the inside. In fact, some are wounded, others are hurting and screaming from the inside for help constantly shouting SOS – is anybody out there? Can anyone hear us? Is anyone listening? 

Let us bring this home, we have so many people living close to us but in their different planets. Yes, we may hang out with them every day, interact and even go places with them, but deep inside, they are in their own universe. He may be your next door neighbour, but he is as far from you as the east is from the west. She may be your roomie, but you may be in Mercury and her in Pluto. They may be your colleagues or even business associates, but the reality of their battles are entirely alien to you. Succinctly, you never can tell the distance of the universe the person close to you is living on.

More practically now, when was the last time you really reach out to that young man next door to you? When was the last time you truly ask after the wellbeing of that lady you have been thinking about lately? That your long time no see friend, have you called or even messaged to enquire of his or her welfare especially in this hard times? Times are hard, things are tough, people are daily withdrawing deep into the cocoon of their universes, nursing their wounds in alone and even dying in silence. 

No man is an island, there is no better time for this statement to be true than now, we all need each other, we all need to be checking up on one another and we all need to constantly watch out for one another so we can  reach the finish line all together. We should all kick familiarity out of the way and cultivate the habit of checking on our neighbours, our siblings, our friends and acquaintances. Let us be deliberate about knowing how they are faring, asking about their challenges and helping where we can and when we can. 

Let’s live while we can, love while we can and reach out to others while we can. Life is short and we have to live it well making every moment count. There is a planet next door to you, learn to be part of that universe in love and harmony of communion. Again, we all need each other. Let no one die in silence in the universe next door to you.