Don’t Give Up!
Don’t give up!
These are hard times for most people in the world right now. If you live in “The West”, however, you still have it better than most people on the planet. I’ve been talking to some of my friends that live in far away lands from myself and, goodness me, I thought things were bad here in the UK - it’s nothing compared to what others are going through.
A friend of mine that lives in Kano, northern Nigeria, told me of how his town is yet to recover from the (mostly unnecessary) lockdowns of the past years. It absolutely devastated local businesses and the economy generally. To add to that, the new government removed the subsidy on fuel, taking the price sky high. The price of fuel, as you know, affects the price of everything.
Nigeria is one of the world’s largest oil producers and a prominent member of OPEC, yet past bad management and corruption has run the infrastructure to the ground. They are now also dealing with the security issues related to the political goings on to their north in Niger. There are very uncertain times there right now.
I also have a friend in Pakistan who lamented equally dire times, albeit for slightly different reasons. For home and his family, it’s hand to mouth at the moment. Sometimes the hand doesn’t quite reach the mouth even. Unlike here in the UK, there are no social safety nets there. If you don’t earn, you don’t eat. It’s as simply as that.
I’ve head similar things from my friends in Cuba, Venezuela and even parts of the United States. People are really struggling.
Having said that, I don’t only have poor struggling friends. I know someone, for instance, that’s currently on an all-inclusive luxury holiday in the Seychelles. Granted it’s probably cheaper than usual due to low traffic right now, but they at least have the bandwidth to be on holiday rather than juggling 2 jobs to make ends meet.
So here’s the positive part. Despite the predicted doom and gloom, I do believe that the worst is now over. I think things have started to turn around. People might not feel it now, but I think we’ve survived the worst of this down turn. Unfortunately, though, this is the point where most people give up - just before the recovery. So if you’re reading this and you’re struggling with hard times, don’t give up and hang in there. The good days are coming soon.
Peace & Love,
Adé