The stories we tell, the lies we believe, the truths we hide,
I borrowed this title from a series I watched a couple of years ago. Relevance is for those who watched it and those who haven’t, then it’s my hope that what I will write in here will explain the two worlds.
The haves and the have-nots.
The greatest thing about the life we live today is the diversity within the people on earth. This diversity is mostly tied to the two worlds of either having something or the lack of it. Most of the time, our lives revolve around these worlds, even without our knowledge. Where we often know and understand the costs of not having that which we ought to have, and at the same time, the joys of having that which we possess. The feeling of owning and the lack of owning eventually yield to the thirst of possession. And hence why we hold on to the things we hold on to dearly because we know what it means having them or, we also know what it means not having them.
The haves and the have nots,
Rich or Poor, is a label we would place on people most of the time, whether knowingly or unknowingly, simply by observing what they hold or what they don’t have. For me, this is key because sometimes, knowing where to draw the line between drive, desire , ambition contentment, and discernment is what keeps us sane through and through. Sometimes, people have the things they have because they grew up having them. And as a result, in adulthood, they cannot fashion life without them. Which means it only becomes natural for them to acquire them. For instance if we grew up owning a car or cars, then it only becomes natural owning one when I grow up amongst other life comfortable things.
Then, we have those who grew up not having some of those things, and it became normal not to have them. Or it is what drove them to now acquire them. Because they only know what life was without them. And now they, too, can be counted as those who have. Even when growing up, they were classified as those who didn’t have. Same example if growing up we lacked a car, it exposed us to different inconveniences especially where movement was concerned so eventually when one grows up and has the means, it’s only natural they acquire a car too because they know what it meant not having one, and even understanding further the comfort of having it.
So let’s get more practical.
By virtue of the fact that we are living in this day and age, we have certainly interacted with people who have. Either have money, have the looks, have the ambitions, have their desires, have their courage. Anything that’s considered enviable. The have it/them. We know these people; we mingle with them occasionally. And we sometimes are left questioning, what is life like from their side? Their side of having? Assuming you see people affording luxuries, affording things that you can’t even pronounce, or even know what to do with them. An example is owning as chihuahua dog😅. As pretty as it is, sometimes you may lack the means to take care of it. Or even seeing people spending on luxuries yet where you are ,.are even struggling to afford basic needs. What do you do? Do you consider them well off or just lucky in life?…..
Then we have people living in this other world. People who don’t have. People who beg for basics. People who walk by the sides of the road asking for bread or money to buy food. People who look even sicker and would even require medication more than the food they are begging for. When they approach for help, Do we consider them as Sick, failures, or just unlucky in life?
The haves and the have-nots.
As time passes by, I have come to believe that these two worlds exist and somehow co-exist simply by virtue of being in the same society. We eat and dine with them; we worship with them in our different places of worship and commune, we school with them even. People who are classier than us. These interactions over time teaches us that sometimes being content goes beyond envy. It becomes a point of acceptance and gratitude. We learn to be grateful for what we own, even if it doesn’t match up to what we think we do. We learn the gratitude of knowing that maybe it’s just luck, that’s making us better counted as those who have. And one slack at it, our towers might come tumbling down should we stop being grateful.
The haves and the have nots.
The society we live in today. Consists of the two worlds. Sometimes people might do all that it would take them, whether good or evil, to exit the world of the have nots. Some might just choose to then work as hard as they can to make them now belong to the world of the haves, and some, no matter how hard they work, somehow will still stay in the have-not zone. Fate or destiny. Who knows.
Candace Young was a lady who worked as an escort. She targeted mainly rich men, and from her escorting services, she would make her money. Her mum worked in one of the houses of the rich men that Candace went out with as a housekeeper. She did everything by the book to get money for her kids and pay for their food including Candace’s college tuition. As per our narrative here we can say she grew up as a have-not. But she made every deliberate effort to do things that would make her belong to the world of the haves. And as fate would have it, the entire situation became messy, she wrecked the rich man’s home, her mum was let go of her job because I mean the daughter was the other woman, and for Candace, her blackmailing efforts didn’t take her anywhere, because again, the people who have, are usually powerful, and it would take a bulldozer to crush them. They are too powerful to be blackmailed or sometimes can use money to wash down the justice system. I can’t quite remember how it ended, though. Or if it ever ended. Some of these series just end abrupt.
Sometime in the week, we also saw that one gentleman named Jeff didn’t honestly know what Managu was. And the entire internet went on an uproar when they found those videos of him in a low cadre café asking what Managu was where the hotel lady and his companion took turns in explaining that it was just vegetables. Maybe to some of us we wondering whether he’s just pretending or truly he didn’t know what Managu was. This is another practical example of the Haves. Could be true that never in his life interacted with Managu and we might as well excuse him or just accept him. Anyway, such is life. There are people we mingle with on a daily basis who come from extremes. Either extremes of having or extremes of not having. Importance is just to acknowledge that these worlds co-exist and accept.
As I end, I think in a perfect word, there exists a curve. Where for normality to exist, there has to be people on both sides of the curve. The ones that have and the ones that have not. Whichever side you are on, it’s important to appreciate life as it is on your own spectrum. Maybe even wish for better or simply work hard or smart to belong. Or, find ways to give back to those who don’t have, in the most respectable and dignified ways.
The haves and the have nots.
#sensesnhumor
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