Ma Ruby on the hard times: The same people I gave everything to laughed at my misery

Actress Slindile Nodangala has shared how, despite her best intentions, she is often alone in her darkest hours, away from the people who she goes out of her way to help.

The star, who starred in Lockdown and as Ma Ruby on Generations, is all about inspiration. In fact, her social media pages read like a motivational bible.

But occasionally Ma will use the platform to open her heart and talk about the issues she faces.

She recently posted a picture of the words: "You do you boo" and explained why she had so often struggled with the concept and how her caring heart had sometimes left her broken.

"Those who know me will attest to this. I’m kind. I’m loving. I’m giving. I’ll go out of my way to help the next person to a point where I have nothing. I want to see everyone around me happy. But, when I’m in need there’s no one around and the same people, I helped with everything."

Slindile admitted that she would sometimes see her kindness as a form of investment which was not returned.

"The spiritual journey requires that you help all of humanity. Without expectation, my problem was I was treating my kindness as a form of investment. I was doing myself a big disservice by doing that because those people were not me they were them and all they needed from me was nothing."

"It was my decision to help them that is why they couldn’t understand why I was expecting them to help me because that was not what they signed up for."

She said that it was her who "signed the humanitarian contract" and she would have to pay, so she quickly learnt to put herself first.

"Do you, Boo. Your first love is you, Boo. Give wisely, Boo. Live smart, Boo. Then this spiritual journey will be a breeze."