28/07/2023
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I BORROW?!
One morning while working from Mpika, I stood by the roadside waiting to be picked up by the office bus. To pass time as I waited, I had my headsets on listening to Mumba Yachi songs.
No sooner did I start enjoying ‘squeeze my lemon’ as it was the next song to play than I saw 2 ladies in what seemed to be a heated argument. I put Ama Yachi on pause and concentrated on the 2 ladies inspired by Catherine phiri.
The ladies cursed, told each other the unprintables and almost got into a boxing fight before we intervened. Now guess the cause of the altercation? Debt! (INKONGOLE).
So, the borrower was like “teti ulentukanina pali K10, walishiba indalama nkongola ine” (“you cannot be insulting me over a K10, do you know how much I borrow?”).
Why should one boast of borrowing more or huge amounts of money? Well, forgot to get the answer from her.
One thing I know for sure is that debt is bad no matter the amount, it brings enmity, broken marriages, mental sickness, and poverty just to mention but a few.
“The question you want to be asking yourself when you start to get frustrated or angry is – ‘what am I afraid of?”’ – Tony Schwartz
Poor planning, laziness, pleasure, having one source of income and living beyond one’s means are the major causes of indebtedness. The good news is, where there is a problem, a solution is present or can be found.
For the solutions, I won’t say much but quote the Bible and other people.
1.PLANNING
“An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan.” - Warren Buffet.
“Following a plan is just like following a map. You know where you have reached, how far you are from the destination and how long you will take to reach your goal. Your exact position helps you decide what actions will best suit your goal.” - Dr. Vivek Bindra.
Luke 14:28 NIV- ‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Wont you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it.’
Proverbs 6:6-11 NIV ‘Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.’
2. WORK HARD AND LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS
Hard work done consistently always pays off, ALWAYS! Get your hands on anything legitimate as long as it gives you money. Ecclssiastes 9:10 NIV ‘Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead where you are going there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.’
Hebrews 13:5 NIV ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”’
NB: it does not matter how much you earn but how well you manage it.
Proverbs 21:17 ‘Whoever loves pleasure will become poor, whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.’
Proverbs 22:7 NIV ‘The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.’
“Progressing successfully through a lifetime should be a matter of progressively setting and achieving goals, one after another, each a little better than the former.”- Earl Nightingale
