We are officially out of the lukewarm season generally referred to as “winter”. I have had laughs about people that forgot to change their clock settings……. I wasn’t a victim though…… very clever I am indeed….my time was never changed from last year (laughs).
We are officially on Easter break from University. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Almost every one I knew was on the verge of a breakdown…. myself inclusive…. We finally broke down ……albeit in laughter……to what a term it had been.
We are officially celebrating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Everywhere I turned to, someone was talking about the slave trade. My curiosity began to grow and I went all out in search of the details. I was aghast at the things I read, I couldn’t help but feel the pain, the shame, and the inhumane treatments the slaves received. Feelings of hopelessness, where the dawn of a new day is not something to wish for……
weeping may endure for a night…..the morning only brings more sorrow.
People dug in deep to stay alive…… but death they received…… by being thrown into the sea…… they couldn’t stay afloat.
The church also was a culprit in this scandal….owning a slave farm at the time.
200 hundred years on…… after the heroics of Wilberforce and everyone that fought for the abolition, we, the generations after still do not know what to do with ourselves.
Are the perpetrators meant to apologise? ….. are the victims meant to forgive and forget?…… should we celebrate?…… should we put our heads up?…..down? ….. or should heads roll? …… and whose head?
One major positive about the openness of this discussion is......now we can be healed…… all us….. from guilt, from pain, from anger.
On the morning of 25/03/07 (1807)…. The slaves that were alive would have confirmed these words of hope
“Weeping may endure for a night…..but joy comes in the morning”
The same is true for your life….. Who would have thought that the whole world would stand.... put their hands up and turn to their inner selves and set the slaves free for ever ……but they did.
Your problems do not need the whole world to solve it …… Have hope, have faith…… joy is on the way.
It may look bleak…… just hold on…. Easter is only a few days away…… JESUS DIED AND HE ROSE……. So we all have hope…..for ever.
HAPPY EASTER
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
RIVER SERIES (FINAL PART)
Evaporation is a natural occurrence and to a normal river, it is negligible but for a river that has forgotten its source, evaporation becomes a major problem…. water molecules leave the surface of the river…. So the river goes dry more quickly. When the sun (something that is generally seen as good) comes out, the rate of evaporation increases, and that spells more bad news for this river. Doing good becomes a difficulty for this river. Every time someone takes a drink, the river plunges into deeper darkness…..
YOU: You may argue that in your case there is no evaporation…..but everyday, you have to give something…… to your kids….to your family, to work…. physically, emotionally, materially…. (Name it)… and they do not really care if you are on top performance or below par…. You always have to deliver whether you get fed or not.
I wonder why some people never feel happy about doing good. I use to think they are inherently bad…. But now I have a new line of thinking… they probably have no source… what they have is all they’ve got and they know it.
“What makes me is not what I have, but who I am. When what I have is gone, what is left is who I am”
– Ibukun Onitiju
For these people, when what they have is gone, they are nobodies again.
From my stand point, I’ll agree with Kahlil Gibran when he said
“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need”.
We all have needs and we all need help. There is always that little extra that we can do with.
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
– Sir Winston Churchill.
Science tells us that everything around us is in motion. It is not very obvious because you are moving along with it. The day you decide to stop, you will not only stop, you’ll be moving backwards
“He who moves not forward goes backward”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If you embrace the reality of who you are and frequently get in touch with those things…. People…..events…e.t.c that gives us the required push to stay alive and active,
If you adopt the mindset of the living, and revoke the temptation of the dead,
“If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.”
Gail Sheehy
At this point, I would have ended up joggling your intellect about those things that you classify as being your source. But are they really your source?...... Or better put, are they worth being your source in life?
Your identifiable sources as you may think… may be taken away from you. Your knowledgeable grandfather will one day pass away…. Your ever present mother that can re-write the words of Maya Angelou can be taken away from you…..the lovely chain that gives you inspiration can disappear without warning…..
I remember a few months ago, one of my mentors died and that came as a big blow to who I see myself to be. Did I die with him? ..... No I did not…..but I had to re-visit my source to keep focused. Therefore, what exactly is worthy of being your source in life?
In his words, Bill Beattie said
“The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.”
So I say: Your True source lies in your ability to identify what is needed for your progress at any one time. The will to die not (I don’t mean physical death) should be stronger than any other thing.
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. - Marilyn vos Savant
Remember “As long as there is life, there is Hope”….. Progress that is.
Question: What is my source?
Answer: The will to stay alive. (Active)
It should be yours also……
YOU: You may argue that in your case there is no evaporation…..but everyday, you have to give something…… to your kids….to your family, to work…. physically, emotionally, materially…. (Name it)… and they do not really care if you are on top performance or below par…. You always have to deliver whether you get fed or not.
I wonder why some people never feel happy about doing good. I use to think they are inherently bad…. But now I have a new line of thinking… they probably have no source… what they have is all they’ve got and they know it.
“What makes me is not what I have, but who I am. When what I have is gone, what is left is who I am”
– Ibukun Onitiju
For these people, when what they have is gone, they are nobodies again.
From my stand point, I’ll agree with Kahlil Gibran when he said
“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need”.
We all have needs and we all need help. There is always that little extra that we can do with.
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
– Sir Winston Churchill.
Science tells us that everything around us is in motion. It is not very obvious because you are moving along with it. The day you decide to stop, you will not only stop, you’ll be moving backwards
“He who moves not forward goes backward”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If you embrace the reality of who you are and frequently get in touch with those things…. People…..events…e.t.c that gives us the required push to stay alive and active,
If you adopt the mindset of the living, and revoke the temptation of the dead,
“If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.”
Gail Sheehy
At this point, I would have ended up joggling your intellect about those things that you classify as being your source. But are they really your source?...... Or better put, are they worth being your source in life?
Your identifiable sources as you may think… may be taken away from you. Your knowledgeable grandfather will one day pass away…. Your ever present mother that can re-write the words of Maya Angelou can be taken away from you…..the lovely chain that gives you inspiration can disappear without warning…..
I remember a few months ago, one of my mentors died and that came as a big blow to who I see myself to be. Did I die with him? ..... No I did not…..but I had to re-visit my source to keep focused. Therefore, what exactly is worthy of being your source in life?
In his words, Bill Beattie said
“The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.”
So I say: Your True source lies in your ability to identify what is needed for your progress at any one time. The will to die not (I don’t mean physical death) should be stronger than any other thing.
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe. - Marilyn vos Savant
Remember “As long as there is life, there is Hope”….. Progress that is.
Question: What is my source?
Answer: The will to stay alive. (Active)
It should be yours also……
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
River Series (Contd)
Hi everyone, I am still continuing on the issue of the river. In my last blog, I highlighted what a typical day for a river looks like. This week we'll look at how this process is affected when the river forgets its source and its relevance to you.
How is this process affected when the river forgets its source…..and how is this related to you and me?
1.) When a river forgets its source (in reality, the different sources), it means the rivers does not take contributions from meaningful tributaries anymore. It has isolated itself from the supplies that ensure its existence. Though the river is still flowing, it is not being replenished and that spells disaster.
YOU: In the early days when you’ve decided to forget those things that makes you you…. things will not look bad at all… You are still as intelligent as before, still as rich… the jobs still keep coming… everyone still keeps applauding you. In fact, there are times you’ll tell yourself … “It’s not as hard as I thought it will be”…. In carefully crafted lines… under your breath… you say “I’m not lonely, I’m just alone”……
A fact is, you are not being replenished and that spells disaster. A young promising athlete will read about other successful athletes, go to training night and day…. and in a short while (after a few years)….the medals will start coming in. If at this point, this before young, but now old athlete decides that training does not matter anymore and that the coaches are rip-offs… then it won’t take long before the self destruct button gets activated.
Life does not entertain complacency. Martin Luther King Jr. said and I quote
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
Are you a dead man walking? …. Or simply put ….are you on the way down?…..check yourself.
2.) Along the way, these things now happen
a. It still carries the fishes and other aquatic animals with it…they may have reduced in number…..but what the remaining ones do not know is that due to no fault of theirs, their days are not just numbered, but the count down has already started.
YOU: Not just will you continue to live life as a normal person in the early days; you will also be given responsibilities as before. Your friends will still come to you for advice, and as before like the river, the fishes of life will still look up to you to transport them from where they are to where they are suppose to be. One thing they will most times not know is that…. You are running on empty…..and if you don’t realise early enough, as you go down… you are not going down alone…. The echoes of your fall reverberates in the hearts of those who put their hopes in you.
b. Disappointment is on the way for as many people who use the river for different purposes and like wise, disappointment is on the way for as many that put their hopes in you...... (To be continued).
Evaporation is part of a natural cycle..... Learn how it matters to this dying river.... .All next week and Mother's day Special.... Stay Paged.
How is this process affected when the river forgets its source…..and how is this related to you and me?
1.) When a river forgets its source (in reality, the different sources), it means the rivers does not take contributions from meaningful tributaries anymore. It has isolated itself from the supplies that ensure its existence. Though the river is still flowing, it is not being replenished and that spells disaster.
YOU: In the early days when you’ve decided to forget those things that makes you you…. things will not look bad at all… You are still as intelligent as before, still as rich… the jobs still keep coming… everyone still keeps applauding you. In fact, there are times you’ll tell yourself … “It’s not as hard as I thought it will be”…. In carefully crafted lines… under your breath… you say “I’m not lonely, I’m just alone”……
A fact is, you are not being replenished and that spells disaster. A young promising athlete will read about other successful athletes, go to training night and day…. and in a short while (after a few years)….the medals will start coming in. If at this point, this before young, but now old athlete decides that training does not matter anymore and that the coaches are rip-offs… then it won’t take long before the self destruct button gets activated.
Life does not entertain complacency. Martin Luther King Jr. said and I quote
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
Are you a dead man walking? …. Or simply put ….are you on the way down?…..check yourself.
2.) Along the way, these things now happen
a. It still carries the fishes and other aquatic animals with it…they may have reduced in number…..but what the remaining ones do not know is that due to no fault of theirs, their days are not just numbered, but the count down has already started.
YOU: Not just will you continue to live life as a normal person in the early days; you will also be given responsibilities as before. Your friends will still come to you for advice, and as before like the river, the fishes of life will still look up to you to transport them from where they are to where they are suppose to be. One thing they will most times not know is that…. You are running on empty…..and if you don’t realise early enough, as you go down… you are not going down alone…. The echoes of your fall reverberates in the hearts of those who put their hopes in you.
b. Disappointment is on the way for as many people who use the river for different purposes and like wise, disappointment is on the way for as many that put their hopes in you...... (To be continued).
Evaporation is part of a natural cycle..... Learn how it matters to this dying river.... .All next week and Mother's day Special.... Stay Paged.
Friday, March 02, 2007
YOUR SOURCE (RIVER SERIES)
CRY ME A RIVER
Last month, we had extreme makeover (heart edition...) and I enjoyed myself such that I always come back to read the blogs.
We have learnt (I hope) about what makes relationships work…..the diversity in love and the need for expressions.
This month, we are heading in a different direction but not anywhere far from thoughtful???. I’m gonna blog about the usefulness of a river …. “wait for it”….. When it has forgotten its source…
It may seem farfetched but in our lives… we have roots…. we have those core things that define us….. and also serve as our dependency in times of trouble….
It may be a mentor….. a higher power….. God for some people…. Your family….. you can name a host of other things….
As good as these things or people may have been to us or as useful as they may have been or will be…. Sometimes we get to a stage where we think…. Now I need nobody….. now I can stand on my own….. Now I can go it all alone…. The road from here is just straight forward and we break ties with whoever or whatever has been … in my words…. “Our source”…..
Most times it is our pride that clouds our thoughts…. At the end we make decisions that are not right…..and it doesn’t get better because we get too cocky to go back and admit our mistakes…. The pride grows and grows and grows until we finally fall….
It’s never too late to go back to your source….and that is a lesson we must all learn…
Take a ride with me as we analyse the situation of the river in the old saying “A river that has forgotten its source will go dry”
My favourite definition of a river is this
“A large natural stream of water emptying into an ocean, lake, or other body of water, and usually fed along its course by converging tributaries.”
A river is fed…. So that it can feed….. One of the main characteristics of a river is the actual flowing that represents feeding and being fed….. A river has to flow so as to be called a river…. And even after it has supposedly forgotten its source…. It must still be flowing to be called a river…..
That is typical of you and me, the fact that we forget those things that really matter to us does not kill us…. We still sleep and wake up and live life like every normal person…Everybody thinks we are doing fine... but it is just for a short period of time…. before it shows that we are dead men walking....
Back to our river,
What is a typical day for a river like….
1.) It takes contributions from tributaries at different places… and heads (what I call its life journey) towards the main ocean where it empties itself. In essence… making its own contribution to the general water world
2.) Along the way, a few things happen….
a. It carries fishes and other aquatics animals with it
b. Men use it for different purposes…. Such as irrigation and other water needs
c. By the process of evaporation, water molecules leave the surface of the river … It happens all the time…. But it happens faster at higher temperatures (i.e. when the sun is out)… in short…. In very little bits, some water is leaving the surface of the river…. But on a normal day… this is very negligible.
3.) The river empties itself into the ocean…. And makes its own contribution to needs of the bigger world
How is this process affected when the river forgets its source….. and how is this related to you and me.
Find out next week……TO BE CONTINUED
Last month, we had extreme makeover (heart edition...) and I enjoyed myself such that I always come back to read the blogs.
We have learnt (I hope) about what makes relationships work…..the diversity in love and the need for expressions.
This month, we are heading in a different direction but not anywhere far from thoughtful???. I’m gonna blog about the usefulness of a river …. “wait for it”….. When it has forgotten its source…
It may seem farfetched but in our lives… we have roots…. we have those core things that define us….. and also serve as our dependency in times of trouble….
It may be a mentor….. a higher power….. God for some people…. Your family….. you can name a host of other things….
As good as these things or people may have been to us or as useful as they may have been or will be…. Sometimes we get to a stage where we think…. Now I need nobody….. now I can stand on my own….. Now I can go it all alone…. The road from here is just straight forward and we break ties with whoever or whatever has been … in my words…. “Our source”…..
Most times it is our pride that clouds our thoughts…. At the end we make decisions that are not right…..and it doesn’t get better because we get too cocky to go back and admit our mistakes…. The pride grows and grows and grows until we finally fall….
It’s never too late to go back to your source….and that is a lesson we must all learn…
Take a ride with me as we analyse the situation of the river in the old saying “A river that has forgotten its source will go dry”
My favourite definition of a river is this
“A large natural stream of water emptying into an ocean, lake, or other body of water, and usually fed along its course by converging tributaries.”
A river is fed…. So that it can feed….. One of the main characteristics of a river is the actual flowing that represents feeding and being fed….. A river has to flow so as to be called a river…. And even after it has supposedly forgotten its source…. It must still be flowing to be called a river…..
That is typical of you and me, the fact that we forget those things that really matter to us does not kill us…. We still sleep and wake up and live life like every normal person…Everybody thinks we are doing fine... but it is just for a short period of time…. before it shows that we are dead men walking....
Back to our river,
What is a typical day for a river like….
1.) It takes contributions from tributaries at different places… and heads (what I call its life journey) towards the main ocean where it empties itself. In essence… making its own contribution to the general water world
2.) Along the way, a few things happen….
a. It carries fishes and other aquatics animals with it
b. Men use it for different purposes…. Such as irrigation and other water needs
c. By the process of evaporation, water molecules leave the surface of the river … It happens all the time…. But it happens faster at higher temperatures (i.e. when the sun is out)… in short…. In very little bits, some water is leaving the surface of the river…. But on a normal day… this is very negligible.
3.) The river empties itself into the ocean…. And makes its own contribution to needs of the bigger world
How is this process affected when the river forgets its source….. and how is this related to you and me.
Find out next week……TO BE CONTINUED
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