The Sting of Ingratitude

Humans beings can be so ungrateful at times and it’s not even news anymore. You can literally go to heaven and hell for someone only for them to sit somewhere and say that you’ve never done anything for them before. I’ve heard of situations where people sacrificed so much for those they love and in the end, all they did was to not even appreciate it in the first place. It’s sad, but that’s just how some humans are.

Regardless, this doesn’t mean that there are not good people out there and the fact that some people are ungrateful doesn’t stop some of us from being the good people we are . I always say that, no matter how many bad experiences I have, I’m always going to be better just for the sake of myself and others. You never know how something little you do can impact someone’s life so much. I’ve been in situations where just a compliment from someone brightened up my whole day. And this is why I keep my light shining for the benefit of others.

At times , when you do something for someone out of your heart, that person might be thinking they’re taking advantage of you or you’re stupid. To me, that’s a very low mindset because it’s only people with a negative mindset that would think that way. But funny enough, that’s none of my worry because I am doing it out of the goodness of my heart so you can think whatever you want to. In all my years of existence on earth, I’ve come across so many ungrateful people but there’s one that hurt me the most because I felt so stupid in the end. I didn’t feel stupid for the good I did, but because I kept on doing good to someone who didn’t even realize I was doing good for them.

So, a few years go, I happen to work with a friend of mine from school at a research lab. He was my senior and so he was more like my mentor at the lab and since we already knew each other from school we had that kind of vibe. Everything was going on well until one day , this friend of mine asked me to give him some money as a loan and he would pay me back the next day cos his mom was to send him some money. At that time, I was running my small business on the side which I was making money from. I didn’t have money that day but he told me it was an emergency and so I had to give him some of my business money.

I had never even spent my business money before but because this person was my friend I was like why not? How stupid of me to think that. This guy took the money and the next day when it was time to pay up he acted like he hadn’t even taken money from me. I’m not one to ask people to pay back money they owe me so I decided to give him time thinking he had forgotten. A few days later he came back for another loan from me. I told him he hadn’t even paid what he already owed and now he wants more. Guys, this guy gaslighted me and ended up getting another loan.

Long story short, I asked him to pay up his debt one day and this guy had the audacity to go and tell other that I’m pressuring him because of small money he’s owing me. This is someone who has never even given me a dime before and he has the chest to say this. I was so pissed because the money was actually a lot, say about 50% of the money that was invested in my business. Eventually, I just had to learn my lesson and come to terms with the fact that some people are ungrateful. Since then, I never gave him money again even if he was going to die. He could say all the bad things he wants about me. I really didn’t care.

Honestly, even if he had said oh he didn’t have money to pay, I would have just forgotten about everything cos it’s just money. But the fact that he had to go out there saying all sorts of things was what brought me back to reality. This experience however doesn’t stop me from doing good to others, but now I’m more selective of who I help.

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This is my entry to the #septemberinleo prompt day 2. Read more about it here- September INLEO writing prompt.

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all images belong to me.

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