Be A Human With A Humane Heart By Abimbola Abatta

Yesterday, I was strolling through the streets of Twitter, and I stumbled on two different suicidal tweets. One was cyberbullied while the other needed job and food. 

I am just twenty plus a few years, but life has given me more than a million reasons to seek death. I have played and replayed scenes of near-death experiences, wondering what it would feel like to end it all with a drink of poison. But I never had the strength to act on the content of my imagination.

Later on, I would mull over people who commit suicide, wondering what could have pushed them into it. I know how it feels to be hopeless and hapless. You feel like nothing is working anymore. You don't care about your dreams. Your perfect dreams and lofty ideas suddenly stop fascinating you. The prospect of greatness seems farfetched. It can be really depressing.

Some were sympathetic to these two people while others were outright indifferent. My heart was lost in thoughts. I asked myself: “Where is our sense of compassion? Who stole our humanity? When did we become so clueless and cruel?”

Oftentimes, I cringe at the deterioration of humanity. It seems we have flung emotional intelligence to the dogs. It is sad. Yes, it is. Someone’s life is a mess, but we often end up saying, “If you know what other people are going through...” 

As much as nothing justifies suicide, we should be humane enough to understand that our mental capacity differs. What you consider insignificant can be a source of headache for another. Just as our storms vary, our coping mechanism varies as well.

We body shame people. We call them names. We bully them. We backbite and backstab. We shoot them with insensitive words. When our friends dare to share their struggles with us, we fail to listen. We dismiss their burden; we assume they are attention-seekers. We hate when we should love.

If only we can be more compassionate. If only we can listen more. Do you know that silence is laden with sorrow? Do you know that some sighs have deep meanings? Never trivialise what others are going through. If you don't have words of hope for them, keep mute. Never tag their vulnerability as cowardice.

This is a call to anyone who cares to listen. Love is missing from this world. Deep-seated hatred has kidnapped the love of humanity. Let's return to the place where genuine love abounds. Everyone needs to be encouraged. We all do. In your words and actions, be a true human with a humane heart. 

Don’t be the reason the world loses a soul. 

©️Abimbola Abatta