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Gratitude lagos traffic life lessons

DON’T MISS OUT ON THE BLESSING – THE SILVER LINING

“Good afternoon aboki ina”, I flashed a tired smile to the group of truck drivers huddled together and conversing in fluent Hausa language.

They all turned to stare at me, with just one responding to my salutation with, “hey”!

I kept smiling at them while explaining the little favour I required of them.

“A good smile always breaks barriers and open doors!” My boss would always emphasize.

I politely requested each driver to move their trucks and trailers to give way for me to maneuver through. They were a total of four truck and they all agreed to my request. You can call that luck! But I chose to call it my blessing!!

The traffic situation this week has been exceptionally terrible. With a lot of roads in Lagos (Nigeria) under-going repairs and many others in deplorable conditions, commuting from one part of the city to another has become a horrific experience. Contending with countless trailers en-route their diverse destinations has further added to the dread.

In spite of these odds and many others, I had earlier on resolved to always search for the good in the challenges I face. I have conditioned my heart to look out for blessings in everyday life happenings and encourage others as we transverse this path called LIFE.

So today, when I emerged from the car park and discovered that the two-lane road in front of our office was filled up with trailers parked bumper to fender completely blocking any movement. The bleak situation and the exhaustion from a busy day could have wearied me out, coupled with hunger and my desire to get home on time for mummy duties.

I came out of the car and engaged the trailer drivers who incidentally were together in a spot (social distancing is not for them), explaining with my ‘limited’ Hausa language how a little move forward could create a path for me to drive through.

To my joy, they agreed and engaged each other until a path was created just enough for me to drive through. That experience taught me never to write off anyone, to imagine that these drivers were kind-hearted men, irrespective of being encumbered with the hard task of driving fearful looking trucks/trailers transporting goods from the ports to their different destinations and vice versa amidst bad road, unfriendly security operatives, etc. The experience showed me that people still have good hearts, even when the situation/condition presents otherwise.

I can never imagine how difficult the work of a trailer driver is – queuing in a never-ending and sometimes standstill traffic, having to stay in a hot vehicle under the sun awaiting their turn, contending with impatient cars that perceives them and the vehicle they drive as a menace. It’s not a very enjoyable job, at least to me. But they play a vital role in the supply chain of our livelihood.

And when these same drivers saw an opportunity to make it easy for another person, they willingly obliged.

As I drove off, I flashed another smile thanking them for their kindness, appreciated God for His mercies, and gladly recognize this to be my silver lining for the day. I felt His favor wrapped around me as a shield.

Look out for your silver lining?

 

 

 

Image Credits – Google

 

 

 

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