It Takes Courage To Live

On Monday morning this week, I was reading a CV that didn't seem like the owner should be applying for the post of a driver. I would have thought him an executive (Just by his dressing) if he didn't open his mouth to say he was applying for the job vacancy. If I was HR, I don't think I would have had liver to employ him as a driver. I can't help thinking what unfortunate factor caused his present situation. But that's not what breaks my heart.

Waiting to be called for final test driving, he makes a call and at the other end of the line is the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. "Are you back from school?...Do you have any money with you?" He asked.

"No" she answered. He mentioned something about her going to meet someone then the call ended. He excused himself to use the convenience...I got teary eyed.

The thing is, it's not everyone that has to courage to live after life throws a big stone into their stable pond. I don't know what office this man held before coming to apply to be someone's driver, but what one thing I know he has is 'Courage'. That is what makes a man do something about the suffering of his family, throwing aside pride, ego, and shame. Not every man does this, that I'm sure of, so I celebrate the ones I see.

Cheers! To this man of courage.

NB: This is not his picture.

 

The Parable Of Leverage.

Once upon a time there lived a very great teacher, he had great wisdom and performed signs & wonders. He also had ardent followers he called 'disciples' and sought to teach them as they lived from day to day. He taught his followers and listeners mostly in parables but one day he sought to teach them in a practical class.

They were on one of their crusades, he had taught and ministered to them, it was getting closer to dusk and he perceived the crowd that had been with him would be hungry by now. His disciples perceived alike and said to him to send the crowd to nearby farms and villages to feed themselves, but the teacher refused and asked them to do something about it. Though he knew what to do.

One of the disciples said "Even if we worked for months we won't get money that may feed this multitude." Another disciple found someone's lunch, five barley loaves and two fish, just after the teacher had asked what they had and for the multitude to be numbered "But what can this do for Five thousand men?" He wondered aloud as he handed them over to the teacher. 

The teacher asked his disciples to get the multitude seated, when that was done he lifted the lunch and his face heavenward and gave thanks, then he broke the lunch passing it on to his disciples to serve the multitude. Everyone ate, when they were satisfied, the teacher asked the leftover be gathered. When the leftover was gathered it filled twelve baskets. Once again it was another wondrous work, but did they learn the lesson?

This is the parable of leverage; using what you don't own to get what you want.

I hope you can read between the lines too.

Rich Kid Vs Poor Kid.

Just the other day, I was talking to a man about the Richest Black Woman and made mention of her having a wealthy family background. He said she was business smart, contrary to most rich kids who place no value on money and squander it.

I opposed.
Yes some rich kids do waste money, but there's a higher possibility for a rich kid to end up rich than a poor kid ending up rich.

He opposed.
When all they do is inherit the family's wealth and don't know how to manage it, they don't stay rich. Poor kids know the value of hard work, work for money and value money when they get it.

I agreed but not totally.
Even if rich kids lose money, it is not entirely the 'end of the road' for them.
Rich kids grew in environments that taught them not to fear money, poor kids learn to fear money and their owners.
Rich kids learn business studies in practical situations better than poor kids who may be struggling to understand the theories taught in class, because they don't find it applicable around them.

Rich kids observe the importance of relationship for leverage and learn how to use them to their advantage faster than poor kids who have learnt to base most relationships on sentiments.
Rich kids learn, to take risks, take opportunities and take action, from their parents and relations who do the same as opposed to poor kids who are gravely discouraged from taking any risks or attribute all life's circumstances to the hand of God.
And who says hard work alone has guaranteed wealth for anyone?
Rich kids just have a higher probability of getting financial and business intelligence.

"With these few points of mine, I hope I've been able to confuse you and not to convince you that..."

 All in favor of poor kids who do get rich, please drop your ThotsToShare. ;)

SOS : Six and Molested.

There are a lot of incidences that occur to people everyday that indicate that the world is ailing and would still be, but it doesn't mean that nothing should be done about the world's ailments.

*Funsho who is not able to cater for the education of all his children turns to his siblings for help, and his idea of help is scattering his children across his siblings' families so as to get them educated. *Queen moved to stay with her aunt when she was Four years old so she could get educated, but she has been handling responsibilities far from her age's capability. Now she returns from school everyday to wait for hours outside the house, hungry and unattended to, till her aunt returns from her shop with her cousins who attend a different school and are dropped to be with their mum till they retire to their home. *Queen is now Six years old and not just waiting after school unattended to, a neighbor has sighted her in the mallam's shop being molested by the pervert. *Queen denied it when she was asked what happened.

I've not been so settled after hearing this story, these happenings are the foundations of the promiscuous girls of tomorrow. I wondered if there was a rescue operation body out there that can save Queen from the neglect and abuse she's experiencing everyday..

You can say this is not my business, but I'm on her case would still be on her case till there's a way out for Queen.

How many more bent trees do we have wait to get from twisted saplings?

"What Do You Say?"

Remember when you were growing up and learning manners, when someone gives you something and you receive it in your mother's presence, seconds after you hear her ask "What do you say?" and then you reply "Thank You"?



I've been trying to write a post on gratefulness and gratitude and I'm still on it, but this morning I came across a Facebook post shared by one of my contacts who shared someone else's thoughts, so I decided to share it with you. What does that make me? :)

All protocols duly observed as I post exactly what I saw how I saw it. I think it's okay I don't share his picture at least you know that this is genuinely from fb.

Omotola Afolabi Abimbola

2 hours ago via mobile · 

• Freddy Ogugua Esenwa wrote: (I also strongly believe)
  
  This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen, and it really puts things into Perspective..
  
  I had a dream that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, ‘This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.’
  
  I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.
  
  Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section..
  
  The angel then said to me, ‘This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.. ‘I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.
  
  Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. ‘This is the Acknowledgment Section,’ my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed ‘How is it that there is no work going on here?’ I asked.
  
  ‘So sad,’ the angel sighed. ‘After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments .’
  
  ‘How does one acknowledge God’s blessings?’ I asked.
  
  ‘Simple,’ the angel answered. Just say, ‘Thank you, Lord.’
  
  ‘What blessings should they acknowledge?’ I asked.
  
  ‘If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy .’
  
  ‘And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.’
  
  ‘If you woke up this morning with more health than illness … You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .’
  
  ‘If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation … You are ahead of 700 million people in the world.’
  
  ‘If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world. ‘
  
  ‘If your parents are still alive and still married …you are very rare .’
  
  ‘If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you’re unique to all those in doubt and despair.’
  
  Ok, what now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
  
  Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are....and indeed we really are blessed!

  
  

  

  
  

  Source

  
  

  
  

  That's it. Touche. How much of what Mummy tried to teach you then is being practiced by you now?

Actions Speak Louder Than Intentions.

source

We were preparing Sunday lunch, and I'm still trying to recall how the discussion started. 

Ok! Triple A stepped into the kitchen wanting something to snack on before lunch was ready, he asked if the cereal was for our nephew who was around with his mum.

Mobbie said it was for everyone.

Triple A thought out loud that it was adult food that the baby would still grow to eat.

Mjady said if it was for our nephew, it won't be bad for him to eat it, that he would just be eating ounje omo (I don't know how to translate that to English in two words)

Triple A replied that it was okay for a child to eat the food for adults but not the other way round, and the same thing with clothes.

Mobbie and Mjady argued with Triple A playfully, that it's just ounje omo, as a parent you would j'ounje omo, especially as a mother, what if the baby doesn't finish the food? You wouldn't throw it away now, and there's no big deal in it afterall.

Triple A retorted that we were wombiliki, wobia. Then he opened the door of the refrigerator, picked up the half drunk up Caprisonne he saw and sipped, then asked to whom it belonged.

Mobbie replied that he was taking ounje omo , we laughed at him.

Then he said "You see that's how life is o, people don't see your intentions, they only see your actions."

WERD!! (Pun intended)

When you stand for something and you've bragged about your standing, you may fall into traps that make your actions contradict your intentions.

Let he who stands take heed...

Making Your 2013 Resolutions Work.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY 2013!

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At the start of each year, we perceive new beginnings, we give ourselves new opportunities to be better at one thing or the other. So we set goals called 'New Year Resolutions'

You may have set new year resolutions in the past and not seen yourself accomplish them, so you have given up on the 'resolution' thing. But hey, if you aim at nothing you would hit it every time.

So here is a simple way of setting goals and achieving them.

Be aware of your thoughts and eliminate negative thoughts by not paying attention to them e.g Don't think I would not be sick, think I am healthy.

Write your goals as a list of things that you want, instead of a set things you MUST do. Adding necessity introduces pressure and fear. After all goals are a finish in sight we would love to see.

Don't shortchange yourself, dare, take risks, go out of your comfort zone with what you want.

Don't be afraid to plunge in and take opportunities in achieving these goals, in the process you would learn from your successes and failures.

Cultivate the habit of gratefulness, see every goal as accomplished and give thanks to God everyday for them.

Try these method faithfully and you would be happy with the results you get.

This year I want to be unsensationally sensational. Watch me as I get there.

Mjady.

Celebrate By Reaching Out To Others.

Her husband died last year and her daughter this year. Anna was not sure of how the year was going to end for her, because she has three more children to stay alive for.

Surviving everyday has been nothing but God's grace, living from hand to mouth from the petty sales of snacks and drinks to auto mechanics. Anna's business can hardly grow bigger than what it is because of her overwhelming responsibilities.

Truthfully, it saddens me to hear that reservations for an entertainment event cost a fortune that could be the answer someone else's life problems. We go ahead everyday living like, 'since situations like Anna's do not affect us directly, they are not our business'.

Circumstances like Anna's may not be our problem but we can be their solution. We could be an arm of comfort for someone whose child within has been threatened by life's storms.

Am I a sadist who says people should not invest in entertaining themselves? No.

Six couples paid Anna's family a visit and provided her with food stuff and her children with schooling materials that they need. They spend almost half a day with her family sharing material and immaterial things. Afterwards they head for the beach to have more fun.

Anna is truly grateful some aspects of her burdens have been lifted by people who decided to be an outstretched part of God's hands.

Celebration is what we should do everyday for one reason or the other, but we are not to be oblivious of the sufferings of those we pass by everyday wherever we may find them.

Reach out this season of celebration, put more than a smile on a family's face, make someone keep their hope alive and grateful that you exist.

I hope you take a cue.

5 Ways To Win Your Private Battles

"You will not have a glory without a story, no victory without a fight. The surest ingredient for expansion is adversity. Until you are tested, you can't be trusted. Trials bring triumphs and giants are signposts to Canaan. No Goliath, no king David!"

 

This is a quote from someone's post on a social media platform and it just spoke to me so much that I wanted to share my thots on it.

 Before public victories are won private victories have to be won first. There are territories in your life that you have to take over before you can confidently fight to win and be an attested conqueror. 

There are certain territories you have to win privately, they are:

1. The territory of external influence: Coming to place where you are in control of what force and giving access to forces that influence you in one way or the other.

2. The territory of perspective: This is the way you see yourself, others, what you desire and situations that bind you and these things in one way or the other.

3. The territory of fear: I guess you have heard that courage is not the absence of fear. It is the dwelling on our fears that brings what we fear to reality.

4. The territory of thought creation: This is a lot of work but it is expedient for the winning of any battles at all, because battles start from the center of our thoughts. That's why winning the territory of external influence is important too. Thoughts create what you see and the truth is you can control your thoughts to aid your journey.

5. The territory of persistence and perseverance: This is continual action in other words, this is not easy but all these territories are intertwined and have to work together.

Tests and examinations come before certificates. Read the quote above again.

These are thotstoshare as I live learn and love.

TURN THE LIGHTS ON: LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX

Do you think something that is addictive is a problem?

The assumption in today's world is that sex is just another biological drive that must be gratified, and everything is beginning to center around sex.

I would like to know, has anyone ever died from not having his sexual urges satisfied?

It's either condom use or masturbation that is encouraged for those who can't abstain. A good stand on abstinence is avoided like a plague in anything that is supposed to influence people's lifestyles as in everything like fashion, electronic and paper media.

Everything is centered around sexual gratification and perversion is more convincingly seen as nature

Not because I'm confused or not sure about my stand on this, in fact it's very far from that.

I just want to know, if man is so weak that devices have to be created to always cushion the weakness.

Must everything center on human sexual gratification?