End of the year stocktaking

by Livy-Elcon Emereonye

The import of stocktaking in business and life cannot be overemphasized.

Stocktaking is the action or process of recording the amount of stock held by a business. It can also mean the action of reviewing and assessing one’s situation and options. It may be performed as an intensive annual, end of the fiscal year, procedure or may be done continuously using a cycle count on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Whichever way it is done, it serves as a guide for the future.

An unbiased stocktaking will present the raw data for comprehensive assessment, which properly deployed will become a directory for result-oriented actions and advancement.

Annual stock taking which is the process in which all items are counted at once is typically undertaken for use in a company’s financial statement or personal stewardship of service in anticipation of a plan. Thus, the 2021 End of year stocktaking is very important for 2022 plans and budgets.

As the year comes to an end with some feelings of nostalgia and palpable fear for the unknown, one may feel bad for dreams not fulfilled and aspirations not accomplished but being alive is a great achievement, so we must not lose focus on things worth celebrating. Bad as it may look, it would have been worse as some people really had hard times.

We are here neither by might nor power but purely by His grace. Many have gone that would have bought their ways through were it to be about riches and wealth. If it were about connections and influence, some would not have died!

This year, the journey was tough if not tougher than the toughest, yet it has its high moments that may be countless when one comes with a genuine attitude of gratitude. Amid the woes is the river of joy fed by torrents of divine partiality! Oh, the favour is priceless, and the blessings are endless because His banner over us is love.

From January to December, many people have had causes to shed tears – and being macho or superstar could not stop the tears from flowing. Some cried their eyes out with no one to console them. Some asked for help that never came yet some got the solicited help that ended up being helpless!

Many things happened, and some in succession that questioning the real essence of life and living became a justifiable norm. The number of deaths and the rate at which they occurred put a big question mark on some belief systems. It beats one’s imagination why certain things happened the way they did.

The destruction of any human life diminishes humanity, but the sudden death of one’s partner extinguishes the light of creativity and erases the hope of fecundity. Apart from the shock inherent in the experience, a part of the business is gone when a partner dies – and it may take time to recover and find a substitute.

Amidst harsh realities worsened by buharinomics – a hopeless economic state with the scarcity of money amid hyperinflation and tough security situation, many people have died prematurely by both natural and man-made causes but ignorantly Wuhan virus remains the silent accuser. Every death now is ascribed to COVID-19 except the politically motivated killings heaped on terrorists, a.k.a. “UGM”. With this ugly development, evil men have field days, perpetuating their wickedness unchecked while COVID-19 gets the blame for their atrocities!

As people die in their hundreds and thousands such news may not be breaking news to those not involved. Unless one is affected, it may look wasteful spending a fortune for burial but when a loved one dies, burying him would become the most traumatic encounter of a lifetime with money becoming not a factor for consideration!

The physical presence of every human being, even a cretin or lunatic, fills some voids and provides some degree of companionship. Conversation and communion through friendship even of a hostile type, add more value to life. But death, when it comes, smears this relationship with irreparable loss, leaving a vacuum that may last a lifetime.

We cannot feel the real hollowness of life until we lose someone close and dear to us. Worse than darkness, such a loss extinguishes the light of hope. And every state of hopelessness results in a further loss of interest in living.

2021 at different times and spaces threw up challenges that questioned the true essence of life and got one unbalanced. Some people that died, and how they died, left one speechless.

We lost business partners, supporting staff and loyal customers and each loss left indelible marks in our lives and businesses. We lost technicians, engineers, mechanics, electricians, and neighbours – and with the vacuum created by such deaths, it is now clear, to me, that indeed everyone exists for a purpose. There is a reason why Nature brings people into our lives.

There may not be an efficient manager without a messenger; without a competent technician to detect a faulty plug and change it, a whole firm might be plunged into darkness. The death of our technicians taught me hard lessons in hard ways, proving that little things can make a difference.

Life is a mystery that needs to be embraced and enjoyed – and in doing so, it is better to be enemies and live than to be alone and lonely with no one to speak with or talk to. The saying that a living dog is better than a dead lion holds in the affairs of men. That person you perceive as a nuisance has his values and plays important roles in your life – and you may not realize this until he is gone. Therefore, while it lasts, whatever you can do to your fellow human being, do. Give the little support you can to that person now that he is alive, bearing in mind that the thing done for the dead is of no value.

As we advance in age with the wisdom of God, appreciate the fact that the breaking of the day is indeed a golden opportunity for uncommon, great exploits that must not be wasted brooding over frivolities and mischief.

With some funny encounters and eventualities, the scorecard might not have been what you expected with dreams not coming through and goals not fulfilled along with the experience of irreparable losses.

However, with an attitude of gratitude, appreciate the gift of life; appreciate your helpers of destiny; appreciate your efforts and achievements; celebrate yourself; and you will be inspired to do more, getting and enjoying the best of life. Rejoice and be glad for it would have been worse!