Climbing Up

My life has been a very eventful one. Somehow I usually don’t miss out on the events; they have a way of sticking with me. Sometimes I think it’s just my hyper-active analytical mind, always processing events. So today I was having a discussion with a senior friend and it made me go down memory lane to one of my many life changing and defining experiences.

It was sometime in the year 2003, we were on an endurance trek. I remember some of the instructions clearly; Take only what is necessary and make sure all you have are necessities like your water bottle, money if you need to buy anything on your way and a purse to keep things like money, camera, phones etc. that can fall off.

I did not realize the power of traveling light until after about thirty minutes of walking. In a matter of time, the water bottle seemed like lead on my shoulder because of the stress of the journey. I wonder now what others who ignored the instruction must have felt like.

As the walk progressed we took a path that kept going up and up, I really didn't realize what was going on, I observed so many crying, saying I am tired, I cannot go any further. Interestingly I never looked back nor understood what their complaint was about, I just kept going, and by the time I got to the end of the journey and looked back I realized we had just climbed up some land-form that seemed like a hill. When I looked back I was in awe of what I had just done. Something I could never have accomplished if I tried to figure out what the whole walk was about from the beginning.

Here are the Lessons in Bullets

·         Keep going on towards your destination or goal

·         Don’t try to figure everything out

·         Forget about the noise around

·         Travel light; un-forgiveness is a big burden in the journey of life. Forgive all and forget.

·         Listen to the voice of the one who knows more about the journey you are on.

Peace!

Contentment

Contentment, the destination very few ever arrive in a life time.

We all want more out of life!
I asked myself, would that mean we are not contented? Am I lacking in contentment because I want a bigger shop, house, better life style? Who exactly is contented?

AND I FOUND……….

Being contented is being happy with what you have. It is the feeling that what you have is what you need to get what you want out of life.
Sometimes it is when you have found your own course or race in life and you have settled into it. You are no longer distracted by what others have or are doing. You become comfortable in your own Skin.
Only then do you feel like a fish in the Sea!

Being Content is not being lazy and definitely does not mean you don’t want more out of life.

Contentment is being happy about what life has served you and working hard to use it to get what you want out of life.

A lot of people wish they ……

·         had better parents

·         came from richer homes

·         went to better schools

·         married someone better

·         worked in a better office

·         had slimmer waist lines (laugh)

And so much more.

And I say be HAPPY with who you are now and start making you better, remember a BETTER ME! Very soon you will realize in you is all you ever need to be and the CONTENTMENT sets in!

Finally Only Godliness with Contentment is GREAT GAIN!

Much LOVE!

Life a Series of Points!

I don’t know why I am wired the way I am but this is just me! Always evaluating, analyzing life. At some point in my life, I thought life was a journey, and then I thought life was a dream and now, at this point I think life is a series of points. Mathematically speaking, life is a series of points which equate to a line and when the line is formed, you get to the other end of eternity.

I have come to a conclusion that every point in life is just a point! Like my people would say "no condition is permanent"! Whatever point you find yourself today, it’s just a point. Be it a good or bad point, it's just a point!

So today if you are the Belle of the World, making great hits, getting the cheques signed, it’s just a point still! Be humble about it, celebrate it, you need this memory for the days ahead.

And if you are at the bad or not so good point right now and it seems like everything is taking their turn to crash like a pack of cards, yet rejoice! Learn the lessons! I heard a quote recently which I feel is most appropriate for you, Adversity is a great Teacher! Please learn the lessons of today! Never waste your pain! When life tries to crush you, make sure you release some juice!

Always remember, every point is just a point and very soon they will add up and things will get clearer!

Much love!

One Year After……

Yesterday in Nigeria we remembered the air crash that claimed the life of many Nigerians. It was not just loss of lives but for some hope. For Nigeria it was a great blow as too many young upward mobile intelligent people where in the crash. For me I was trying to get out of the shock when my Father Slumped and died about ten days later. It was a knock- out of a sort, just when I thought I understood what the Families were going through my own share of pain began.

This write up is not about me but about those left behind by the crash victims. They are the real victims of the crash.

The many times you called their cell phones to confirm it’s really true your loved one is no more.

The thought of your loved on in pain, fear, agonizing, screaming.

The last moment shared, Words not said and Words said. Some you wish you could take back, some you wished you had said.

Oh! The void, the financial stress, emotional support no longer there.

It’s a mix of sooooo much! The thought that you could not have made it through the weeks to come, but here you are today counting the first year. It’s amazing how much we really are able to bear.

It tells me no matter how dark the night may be, the morning must break. For some it might take another year or decade for the morning to break. Our healing is in our will not to move on. We definitely cannot to forget our beloved one! But we can remember them in a happy way. The beautiful moments shared, the person they were when they were around! This for us is our treasure. The scars will always be there but they will never hurt like that anymore.

It’s time for us  left behind to start building great memories, so that when we are gone, we are remembered in happy way only missed for the blessing we were in our lifetime.

To Nigeria which is everyone of us! Please do something positive in your little office! Life depends on it. May be someone could have stopped the flight but did not. May be someone should have maintained the planes better but was too disgruntled to have done so. It’s about time we realize our smallest office is our own seat of influence!

Corruption is literally eating us up! Please wake up! It’s time for leadership to arise too. You never know who will be the next victim. It does not necessarily have to be a plane crash, it could be a building collapse, a medical mishap, uneducated genius hawking the street, lack of water to put out a fire, no power to save a life and so much more.

Please think about these things and Share the message.

God Bless Nigeria!

A Better me!

Many times I have tried competing with people and failed.
Many years ago when I was a student in the University, I learnt I had only one person to beat and that person was the girl in the mirror whenever I looked into the mirror.

This knowledge transformed my life completely! It made me a friend to everyone, no bitterness, no foes! I sought each day to be better in everything I did. I shared willingly my discoveries in the library with friends and I was never afraid of anyone doing better than I did!

This attitude landed me on top of the mountain! It did not give me the best grades in all subjects, but it made me feel good with myself when I did well and also made me kick myself when I did not do so well. And I knew I got the best grade I worked for!

When I think about the fact that we are all unique and all can do things uniquely, I conclude that there is no competition! The only challenge is being the best person we can ever be!
Beat yourself to it, when you want to sleep a little longer than you know you should, because a little sleep, a little Slumber, a little folding of hands ...........
Resist the temptation to eat a little more than necessary! Take only what is required. (This is my battle believe me)
Take the hard road of self discipline! Every successful person has done this. Whoever will master anything must master himself first!

Learn you weaknesses and conquer them! Identify your strengths and build on them!

There can always be a better you and ME!

Much love!

Beauty of Small Things!

How I love small things! Most people often hunger for the big things in life and they make people like me feel small and unambitious, but I have learnt better. In the search for the big things of life we ignore the small things that hold the key to big things.

We are so into getting the next big job and fail to appreciate our current job which is the key to the next big one.

We are so eager to get into a relationship and get married! We miss out on being ourselves and enjoying the power of being in control and figuring ourselves out!

And when we get married! We miss out on our marriages because we want to make more money to make the home comfortable.

We miss out on our children’s childhood because we want them to have a great adult life. Meanwhile their great adult life is locked in the quality of childhood we give them. I must mention that a great childhood has nothing to do with void luxurious lifestyles but quality time and teaching right values.

People want to have big faith without small faith, yet Jesus said, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you will say to the mountain move can be ye cast into the sea and so it shall be!

We live in a world that has lost the value of taking comfort in the small things money cannot buy. So we are constantly living under the pressure to make it BIG!

In all of these things I have taken a back seat to re-evaluate things and my conclusion is that I love small things!

I love Small Things because;

·         Small reminds me of beginnings; and though my beginnings may be small surely my latter end shall be great!

·         Small reminds me of Seeds, no seed is as big as the tree it carries inside. The Mustard seed is a proof! And you know what, Seed time and Harvest time never ceases!

·         Small speaks to me about potentials, potential to grow.

·         Small gives room for mistakes that are manageable.

·         Small is the time to mature into managing BIG when it finally comes.

·         Small gives memories that make you stable when you get big.

I just love Small Things!

Peace!

Start Anyway!

Now, for a longtime I have been toying with the idea of blogging about life lessons I have learnt along the way, hoping that one day someone will stumble on my thoughts and find some light.

So today at one of my lowest point in life, I decided to start! Start anyway!
Do you have a small idea you have been toying with and waiting for the best opportunity? The time is now. Start anyway, get at it, don't wait for the perfect moment it may never come.

Start small, its easier to make your mistakes when you are small than when you have invested all into it and it flops. Build from the scratch, there are so many lessons to be learnt on the way to getting the big idea done! Make your mistakes and learn from them.

Practise is done behind the curtain, the stage is owned only by those who have done rehearsals behind the curtain.

So just like me start anyway!

Peace!

God Bless!