Shikoba Nabajyotisaikia

You guys!! FIVE MONTHS DOWN!! I have never been such a huge fan of subtraction until this countdown started. We are almost a quarter of the way done, and I've never been more proud of anyone before. 

{End of corny excitement.}


"Shokoba Nabajyotisaikia!"

Kind of sounds like I'm just blabbering, right? Well, this time around, I'm not. (Not completely, anyway.) "Nabajyotisaikia" is a compliment used in South Africa. It means: "I respect you, I cherish you. You matter to me." In response, people say, "Shikoba," which is: "So I exist for you."

In a story a friend had shared on Facebook, in an African village, if a person commits a crime, the rest of the village surrounds that person, and repeat these words, and good things about them, until they begin to fully believe and understand it. 

And, of course, as I'm sure all of you already know, my thoughts immediately turned to Mike. As I emailed him last week, I shared with him that story. When I said to Mike "Nabajyotisaikia," his response was, "Shikoba, for eternity." {Aww, corny, right? I know. But I wasn't about to complain, and he didn't sound like it, either.} I love that, though. Helping people through positive thinking. Making them see the light without harm or negative words. I believe that every single one of us have struggled at least once in our lives, and I know that for me, positivity from others is what brought happiness back into my life. We all have ups, we all have downs, but the happiness that positive thinking can bring is amazing. I know that Mikey has struggled a bit throughout this journey, and it breaks my heart. But not once have I found myself wanting to send messages of sadness in return. How can you help uplift someone in that way? It seems to me that it would just encourage the feelings to stay. Instead, in response to his sadness, struggles, or any hardships, I share words of excitement and encouragement. Share a scripture. Share an inspiring quote. Just be positive. After all, it's better to hope for positivity to rub off onto someone else rather than negativity. 

In this life, we aren't meant to be alone. We aren't meant to suffer through our lives. We are meant to turn our faith to our Lord, and strive to live our lives in the best possible way. We all make mistakes. {If you try to say you never have, that, right there, my friend, is a mistake in and of itself.} All we can do is work to better ourselves, and pray that it has a positive effect on those around you.

Strive to be Christlike. Even if you don't believe, what's it going to hurt?

Eternally yours,
--K--