What I like even more is when I receive positive feedback from avid readers. (Aren't avid readers smart and intelligent?) Since I started updating my Goodreads connections about new stories on this blog, I have received quite a number of encouraging feedback messages. One lady from America, for instance, told me last year that I have a wonderful way of telling my stories. Another lady recently informed me that she enjoys reading the spiritual and human-interest stories I post on this blog.
Updating my Goodreads connections about new stories on this blog has not all been moonlight and roses though. A number of them have sent me discouraging comments. On the evening of last Sunday for example, two Goodreads connections sent me messages, asking me to desist from bothering them with whatever I am doing on this blog. Their messages hurt me like hell. I was full of gloom the following day (Monday).
Well, I have learnt from my readings never to take anything personally. But man, those two negative messages I received on Sunday depressed me for sure. I had to keep requesting God to restore in me the joy of His salvation.
Given how those two Goodreads connections depressed me, I wish they had unfriended or blocked me on Goodreads without my knowledge instead of sending me hurtful messages. Truly, the Bible is right when it says in the book of Proverbs that reckless words pierce like a sword.
The depression I felt on Monday as a result of those two negative messages made me reflect on the times I have uttered careless words to others, especially when angry. I remembered the time in 2007 when I curtly told my kid brother Symo that he wasn't bright while he was reading a book in the house. (Symo is actually a bright chap; I just hope he forgot my denigrating remark.)
I also remembered the afternoon in 2017 when I furiously rebuked my elder brother Bob Njinju, and then a few days later, I took him on a guilt trip by reminding him about all the times he had wronged me. As I gave Bob a piece of my mind, I was just thinking about myself and not considering the distress I could have been causing him with my arrogant rebukes.
And I remembered, too, the time in 2016 when I begged my immediate elder brother Paddy for some money for posting letters to several Fortune 500 companies headquartered in America. When Paddy sent me the money after I had already posted the letters, I complained in a Whatsapp group of my siblings about his untimely assistance.
My eldest brother Joe Kagigite, in his reaction to my complaint, advised me to just appreciate the money I had received from Paddy, however late it came, instead of grumbling. Joe was right. Again, I was just thinking about myself. Maybe Paddy had sent the money late due to work or personal problems.
At Starehe Boys' Centre, a prestigious institution in Nairobi where I had my high school and college education, we had a school rule that stated:
A Starehian respects authority and is dutiful, polite and considerate of other people's feelings.How I wish the whole world would live by that Starehe rule! Especially being considerate of other people's feelings. People need to learn and understand that their actions are not just about them. What they do, say and write affects others as well.
Which is why I have resolved to be kind to others and say only what is helpful in building them up. Should someone wrong me, I will try to point out their sin without destroying their self-esteem. In short, I will strive to live by the Golden Rule so aptly stated this way in the Bible: "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you." (Matthew 7:12)
My beloved reader, I beseech you to also respect other people's feelings. Before you tell someone to desist from sending you emails or text messages, pause and consider the emotional pain you could inflict on him. Be considerate and always keep in mind, as my high school piano teacher Matthew Brooks once told me, that "it doesn't hurt being kind." Ciao!
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story about respecting other people's feelings, you might also enjoy another one on "Rising Above Negativity" that I wrote sometime back. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
