Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 13, Issue 26: Turn Failures Into Lessons

While out for my walk at 5 o'clock this morning, a young lady stopped me. She didn't know where she was. She remained disoriented even after I told her the name on the road we were on and the name of the adjacent road. I asked her where she wanted to go, and she asked me for cash to go there. I didn't have cash on me and I advised her to wait for daylight to figure out her bearings but she was displeased and walked away.

As I continued walking, I kept asking myself how I could help her, but nothing else came to mind. After I finished my walk, I found her inside my estate gate talking brashly to the guards, demanding to be helped with money to go home. I now noticed that she had socks on but no shoes, and I heard her say that all she had with her had been stolen during the night. I didn't stop, I continued thinking that her best solution is to wait for daylight. I assumed she would stay on at gate until daylight, at which point she would have many opportunities to be assisted by any of the people going through. I also made a mental note to go back to the gate after daylight to see how to assist her.

But as I got ready to take a shower, it occurred to me that she must be cold. So I hurried to get a warm jumper and a pair of shoes and rushed downstairs to take them to her to wait in as she sobered up, awaiting daylight. Unfortunately she was already gone. The guards had sent her away. I walked back to my house dejected. I had failed that young lady. I hadn't been a good samaritan to her.

Finding her at my gate after my walk was my second opportunity to help her. But I missed it. I felt I should have thought of the stuff earlier and requested the guards to let her stay while I went in to get her stuff to keep warm in. I could have encouraged her to stay on until she was sober enough to remember a contact to call from my phone for someone to come get her, or found cash for her.

This experience taught me that I may have failed to get it right this time, but I now know what to do the next time something similar happens. After ascertaining my safety around the stranger, I would pay close attention to their appearance and body language to register what they need, consider how I can meet the need and communicate the same.

Can you think of a time when you failed? If you were to review the experience in a more useful way as opposed to putting yourself down for failing, what would be your narrative? What would the experience teach you?

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi