Tyler Perry’s new show on the OWN Network deals with the privileges of the rich and the misfortunes of the poor. Aptly titled #TheHaves and The HaveNots, the script of the show is based on experiences that differentiate how life challenges are played out in the contrasts of opposing circumstances.
The haves have more than enough and still crave more. The have nots are destined to lives of basic existence, at the mercy of their richer counterparts.
The ordeal of living the life of the have nots may be deemed unbearable and unworthy by those accustomed to being the haves . Whether misfortune occurs by incident or malady, there are jewels of discoveries that are hidden behind the hardship veneer of the “havenots”.
In a world where having is being, labels are used to define what constitutes having and not having. There are many who have been richly endowed with talents of wealth and material worth. The imagery of security and professional titles are the claims to having worth. In the amusement of having, what is overlooked and lost in translation, are core values and talents in the invisible of nothing.
While to have is a privilege, there are the greater opportunities that can only be found in the gifted space of not having. There is bounty in different measures that seeds quality manifestations. Buried in the wreckage of struggle and despair are transformative revelations. Generosity in human interactions emerge as promised rescues. Acts of spontaneous kindness are demonstrations of goodness, that surface in the darkness of despair moments. Healing concern and encouraging support are restorative and soothing ministry of shared fellowship. Token acts of civility convey greater resource and lasting bounty, when shared in mutual sincerity and wholesome respect. These are the intangibles that are worth more than material value.
In the dichotomy of life, ‘not having’ recognizes that there is no security in material values associated with having. The measure of self worth is not based on acumen and worldly treasures. Worth has little to do with having. There is dissonance and incongruence in the struggle between the haves and the have nots. Ultimately, having is not being.
The distinction of Being comes in times of harvest and manifestation. When the well of resource is emptied, the material tangibles are superficial in content and value. Out of nothing, something of greater value unfolds. The capacity to Trust the unknown is a practice that can only be derived in the absence of security. The resilience to endure hardship is an intangible that is discovered in perils of obscurity. The exploration of new frontiers of self discovery is earned in the disruption of limitation.
With the experience of the nothing, immediacy succumbs to patience. Problems and challenges are the toiled with perseverance and endurance. Value and self worth are built with stable resolve and informed compromise.
Everyone does not seek out the life experiences of Have Nots. Rather, it is more comfortable to bask in the comforts of the Haves. Why would anyone want to deliberately subject themselves to social, emotional and financial ruin? The error of having nothing is not an ambitious elective. However, there are insights to be found when faced with the encounter of Nothing.
When unforeseen or unexpected circumstances occur and life changes are radically disruptive and unsettling, there is the invincible respite that is gleaned in the solace of nothingness.
Be grateful in “having” for there are blessings of abundance and bounty. Be also intimately assured that the treasures of lifetime rewards are rich in the purse of the “have nots” The value of self worth is built on merits earned when you have grasped the rewards of Nothing. The realization comes that in Nothing we find lasting reward.
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