Hello Mi Neighbour| Would you be proud of your life’s book?

If you were a self-authored book, what would you title yourself? What message would you convey to your readers?

• How To Navigate Life Successfully?

• How To Be Healthy, Wealthy & Wise?

• How To Prepare For Heaven?

• How To Guarantee A Successful Marriage?

• An Amazing Dream?

Guess you would determine your own title and content, eeenh? It would be interesting to see what you came up with! Would you want to be a bestseller read by everyone, everywhere? No doubt. A bestseller is described as having a “powerful, universal hook, with highly relatable characters facing intense conflict, a fast pace, and strong emotional resonance”, which keeps readers eagerly turning its pages to see what’s next. Social media has a knack for that, but that’s another “book” for another time. And, on the matter of packaging and marketing, you would want to consider a professional strategist to ensure that public interest was captured as you sought to spread your message.

But, here is a serious question: what if one day you discovered that some undercover culprit, who had been following you all along, documenting every decision you made, every action you took, every transaction you made, and all the conversations you’ve had, was now ready to publish a book on their findings? Would it be time to call the police? Quite likely that book could be a bestseller! Would you grant permission to publish such a work even if you were offered $1 million per page? You’re thinking about it? A reluctance to offer such permission is understandable.

MISREADINGS

By the way, I don’t want to shock you, but all along you’ve been a “book” being read by many avid readers. Of course, there may be misreadings and misinterpretations here and there, but these “readers” know far more about you than you would imagine. The little tricks you often play, thinking that they are big secrets, may be public knowledge waiting to explode. Those places where you often turn up, thinking that no one is seeing you, could also, to your surprise, be public knowledge. Hello, every move you make is being read by someone! This is the real world! Get real! Someone may be reading a sentence from your life as we speak, or when you enter the supermarket today or the restaurant tomorrow.

Parents, leaders, everyone, stop a little. Your life is like a book being read by your children and your followers. Every decision you make, every corner you cut, every lie you tell, every time you short-change someone, you’re speaking to others like a book. Think twice. A publisher may surprise you one day!

Everybody may not know everything about you, and some may not care two hoots about you or what you do, but it is instructive to note that your life is like a book being read by many people every day, and you don’t know which chapter, paragraph, sentence or line may work against you some day. Now that you know that your life is like a book being widely read, as you go forward, PLEEEEASE ensure that the content of that book reflects only what you can be proud of.

If you would like to be a book that will not hang its head in shame at a public reading, please take my advice.

Be a person of integrity.

Let your word be your bond.

Earn trust by telling the truth, admitting your mistakes, strongly avoiding gossip, and treating everyone with respect, regardless of class, colour or creed.

Admit failure quickly, apologise sincerely, and do not shift blame.

Tell the truth plainly; avoid small deceptions.

Do not allow disagreements to destroy your relationships.

Do not practise two-facedness.

Lest we forget, “bestsellers” CANNOT be bought: they ARE NOT FOR SALE!

All the best.

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• Stove

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• Bed

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• ­­Help with medication

• Financial assistance to start a small business

To help, please call Silton Townsend at 876-649-9636 or 876-884-3866, or deposit into account #351 044 276 NCB. Alternatively, send donations to Hello Neighbour, c/o 53 Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston 10; PayPal/credit card: email: zicron22@yahoo.com. Contact email: helloneighbour@yahoo.com. Visit hellomineighbourja.blogspot.com. Townsend exclusively manages the collections and distributions mentioned in this column and is neither an employee nor agent of The Gleaner.