If there’s one thing I learned from life early on, is that it’s much better to get along with people than to be at each other’s throats. Don’t let the world have you thinking that the ‘cut off’ game is better than the power of reconciliation – it’s not.

At some point in life, we come to realise that life is not as straightforward as we would like to think. It’s not as simple as it’s advertised or even as easy for that matter. There is not really a guidebook for living, so the rules of life vary from person to person. Everybody is writing their life’s story as they go along.

I have come across a lot of people who have come into and out of my life throughout the years. Some (very few) today are my closest confidants and friends, some are just acquaintances and others I consider useful relationships. These people in my life serve me well; it’s a beneficial reciprocal relationship for everyone involved. That is the reality of life’s relationships and it’s okay.

Some people who come into one’s life are not always there to your advantage; some can be cancer and cause some undesirable turbulence in your life or infect you with their misfortunes and negativity.

The auto-response to such people is to cut them off; they are dead weight and should be dropped from your life immediately. At least that’s what the quotes and ‘self-centred motivation’ on the internet are saying. On paper, it does make sense but

in reality, though not so much, it’s not really just simple to cut someone off or out of your life. It doesn’t really work like that. It takes a lot of courage and emotional power to do that.

We are humans and we tend to be more wrong than right. Just as someone might be bad for us, we could be bad for someone we consider good for ourselves.

The irony of life

People take time to come into themselves; some go through a million errors before they realise their life needs to change for the better; some can change at the first sign of trouble. We are not the same in that regard.

The journey of life is long and unpredictable and having good company along the way makes it much easier and better. So, mend broken relationships because, in real life, it’s people who make your time on earth worth it.

- Olavi Popyeinawa

Twitter: @olavipopyeinawa

Email: olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com