HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

I remember a story I heard a long time ago of a guy who was able to “hit the ground running”. He was not held down by his challenges but kept finding new ways and opportunities to make life better. Actually, it might be a dream but then……………………..

Their once was a man whose wife went into labour and gave birth to a healthy baby boy, however, before the mother could get to know her child she died living her husband with a new baby with nothing to feed the child with. All the man had back home was a pregnant goat and the vegetable farm he had inherited from his father. His immediate challenge was how to feed the baby and how to move on.
He took his Son home and checked on the goat, it had given birth to two kids, seeing the kids feed an idea came to his mind, “the goat can feed my baby” and feed the baby it did.

HE HAD HIT THE GROUND RUNNING!!

It is said that this man eventually became one of the richest men in his own time. (Don’t ask me where I heard the story from). Why? He discovered that milk from animals is also good for babies and turned it into an opportunity to make baby food. He solved his own problems and that of a lot of motherless babies.

It is typical for us to wake up tumbling out of the bed or like a song said, “To wake up with the world on top of you”. But when you do tumble out of your bed and land on the floor, do you remain on the floor? Most would remain dazed for a longer period than is necessary, some would nurse the pain of the fall the whole day, some would simply go back to bed while some would see it as an opportunity to start the day wide eyed and ready to go.

Pain would remain if we continue to dwell on it and give it room to fester. The man could simply have blamed the fate that took his wife from him and his new baby, he could have looked at the child and blamed him for his problems, or he could have looked at the goat and its kids and seen additional problems.

“BUT INSTEAD OF DWELLING ON HIS PAIN AND SEEING ALL THE BAD SITUATIONS THAT HAD COME HIS WAY, HE SAW OPPORTUNITIES AND MADE GOOD USE OF THEM” THIS IS HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING!!

How do you hit your own ground? Do you hit the ground and just stay there not knowing what to do next? Or do you apply speed and keep moving in spite of all? Opportunities abound everywhere but most importantly opportunities are most seen in our most trying times.

LOOK, SEE THEM AND MAKE GOOD USE OF THEM!!

OUR DESTINY, YOUR DESTINY, MY DESTINY

Destiny?! A great word with the simplest of meaning, the meaning is so near you that we tend to fail to see it.

Destiny is like cake in the oven, beautiful and delicious, filling and satisfying. However, without the right heat the cake would not turn out as we expect. So is our destiny!

Destiny is like a well-laid out business plan, one that investors read and get moved to risk their money. However, without the right mindset, skills and motivation/innovation to implement and make it a success, the business plan is a waste of effort.

Destiny is like beautiful lyric to a song, it makes good sense and touches the soul. But without the voice and personality to carry it the beauty of the song is lost and has no value.

Destiny is like a well-written constitution that covers all the areas of importance to a nation and takes it people and their will into consideration for which it is written. But when the people have refused to read and understand it, or have no respect for it then it is of no value.

Destiny is a properly drawn out plan of a house, drawn with specification for a structural masterpiece. However, without workers and builders to translate the drawn out plan into a dream house, the house cannot turn out as it is on the plan or as the architect had drawn it.

Or maybe it’s like a building in which the contractor has decided to cut corners? The house would invariably crumble and maybe kill or injure people living in it.

Destiny is like a bundle of cloth that has been laid aside for a Princes, she decides the design and style that the cloth should be cut into. This she wears and must be proud of. THE CLOTH IS HER’S.

Destiny is like a beautiful clock bought and set in a place of prominence to mark time and sound the alarm but the owner forgot to set it to the right time. The clock would mark the time wrongly and wake its owner up at the wrong time.

Destiny is like a road to a magnificent house that has been left to crumble and overgrown by the owners, it becomes difficult every time they embark on a trip out and back to their magnificent home.

Destiny is like the ugly duckling, an eagle living with ducks. His life would be limited by the surrounding and environment he finds himself and it won’t be able to fly until it is among its own.

Destiny is like a talent that each and every one has, a talent like the proverbial guy in the bible who took his talent of gold and hid it in the ground, it would not multiply and yield fruit.

Destiny is like a beautiful lady who decides to not take care of herself because people have said she is beautiful believing that without care her beauty would continue to remain, and then wakes up one day to look in the mirror to see a fat and ugly woman instead of the beauty.

Therefore let us all remember that even though we have all come to this world with our own destinies, destiny is what we make of it. We have a choice to make good of it or make it bad. The life of man is like an open book and we have been given the pen to write the story of our lives. What you write in that book is dependent on you alone and no one else. NOT EVEN GOD CAN HELP YOU WRITE YOUR OWN STORY. Remember it is your destiny, your life and your story to tell.

Make your destiny your own today and take the choices that would take you on a journey of fun, success and the envy of everyone around you!

RENE AND MAGELI

Women of magnitude/ two of a kind but poles apart
Weaving-in out of life /Webs and intimate intricacies
That makes existence an ultimate challenge
Though they started young /Weaving mirrored glasses
That magnifies things in rainbows
And bestows the ideal of everlasting summer
On their believes and outlooks
They came out of a world in which they were born
To find themselves and conquer the world
Not knowing that without removing
From their faces the mirrored glasses
The world would continue to deal them a terrible blow
And after two terrible bangs on the frame
It breaks and falls off /the great trumpet is blown
The mighty wall of Jericho is fallen
As in the bible no one would be able to build this wall
And so the new ideals start /from the debris and rumbles
Come a rambling magnificence /A fortress that cannot be equaled
This is the result of gradual work /Painstaking decisions
Sacrifices made for essence of survival
And since life must go on /they do nothing but go on living
In a life in which they refuse to be
Nothing but the actors, directors/ producers
Refusing to be spectators /or viewers on the outside looking in
At an early age they learn /that life, truly, is not a bed of roses
Lavishly they court the true essence of living
Fighting and winning a war never started /Always on top of whatever it is That life decides to dish out to them /and as we look on and marvel
At the goodness and beauty of it all /we fail to realize that sacrifices have
Been made in lieu of happiness /in their race they have been able
To do what most would not do /they have made a name for themselves
Overcome all odds and become over comers
We need not contemplate /Lives of two never known to the other
But fighting hard without relenting
Retreating and coming back to win /Never vanquished
They stand out among all /and forever will remain a legend
To be admired from race to race
And generation to generation /they stand out among many
And never cease to amaze
Neither is there a chance /of them not been able
To surmount all obstacles

THE BEAUTY OF OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM!

June 30, 2010 I was at a program and at the end we had to sing the second stanza of the national anthem. Some days before at another function we sang both stanzas and when while I was proud that I could actually recite the lines with faltering and feeling the anthem I realized that most of us can't even remember the lines of the national anthem of our country.

If that be the case then what is it that we are fighting for? Why is that we are clamoring for a better place when we don't even know what our anthem says about a better place? How will we be able to serve with heart and might? How can we build one nation that is founded in freedom, peace and unity?

I was so happy that I could remember all the lines and that in my own way was actually working out the words of the anthem that I joyously laughed and said (loudly) to myself "I remember!" Some people took at me like "and so what?" For me it was a big deal.

How many of us have the ability to arise? or are we still sitting down waiting for miracles that won't come? Are we compatriots or just citizens? Do we even hear Nigeria's call much less obey it? How many of us actually serve our father's land? I aint talking about lip service we pay online towards service or that criticism against the people in power. I am talking of actually rising up to serve and do it with love, strength and faith. A lot of Nigerians don't even believe that Nigeria will be better, they don't have faith in their own individual strength and we no longer love our neighbours.

Now I see that the labours of our fore fathers, heroes that have gone by (no matter how bad we think they did it, they fought for independence) is now in vain. Some days ago someone was saying it would have been better if we were still a colony. Imagine!!

No one have a good vision, we are not collectively reaching for greater heights and with the corruption and the constant fight for who gets what we can't even see the lofty heights we must attain therefore we have remained a country. Instead of us building a nation were peace and justice reigns we have continually worked towards chaos and injustice. A country were the judge can be bought and justice can be perverted because of power and position.

Even though Nigeria has more churches than a lot of countries or nations combined, we have removed God from nation building. However the start of the second stanza asks God for direction. How many of us are noble? How many of us have noble causes? We don't pray for our leaders because we don't give God his place in nationhood. Most of our youths don't know the truth about what is happening; only what they hear on the news or read in the papers (if they read) and that is what they rely on. Without truth it is impossible to see the light.

It is important that we go back and memorize the words of our national anthem and live by it. If we can do this then Nigeria would be better.

Power of the people

Today I saw first hand how Nigerians can as a force collectively work together to achieve a positive growth!!

I had planned my day but somehow I had to add to the plan so I could make time to meet another responsibility. Like most changes, it required additional resources even though I had looked at what I had and assumed that it would be okay.

After leaving the last place of appointment (the added appointment), I got to the bus-stop to realize that the Transporters had tripled the fare. It was crazy!! It is not new that their was a crowd at the bus-stop no. What I found fascinating was that this people actually refused to pay above the normal rate. Even though some would come and board at the inflated rate, the others refused.

Out of nowhere came this Patriotic Nigerian dressed in suit and looking quite elegant, he insisted that no one should board any of the vehicles. The park touts took it up with him and suddenly the others on the outside looking in joined and it was the passengers against the bus drivers and touts. It was a sight to behold. No fighting just an insistence that the fair should be brought down.

I had to leave the bus-stop for a while cos I had to go meet someone but when I got back MAGIC!! The fare was back to the normal price and their was no longer a crowd at the bus-stop. I was proud to be a Nigerian. Like my people would say, "e sweet my belle say dis kain tin fit happen"

Reflecting on this I realized that collectively we can have the change we want if we want it enough. Today this people realized that it is their right to dictate the price and that they could if they worked together. One person stood up to lead a group of people with a common goal and the others followed in his quest.

If we can come together and find that common goal, work together to see it happen then we would be better off for it. All that is needed is for us to realize that the destiny of the country is in our hands and not those in power!

God bless Nigeria!
God bless Nigerians!!

A BOWL OF PORRIDGE!!

The reason why God is always against gluttony is the fact that too much of anything results in upset, or in other words the inability to be able to withstand pain in other to get our deserved blessings would result in a "BOWL OF PORRIDGE EFFECT"

As I sit down on my bed and think on the wonders of God and why it is important to him that some were born first before the other and they can lead while another set who were born after end up taking the mantle of leadership, my mind goes back to a portion of the holy book (my manual for existence) and I remember two brothers, two nations, two people and "A BOWL OF PORRIDGE".

Some were born to lead (not because of what their parents have) but because they were born before other, some were born to lead just because it is hereditary, some learnt it along the way, some have been moved to lead (because of the society or circumstances around them, or maybe they desired a change) while some have had leadership forced down their throat.

Sorry I digress from the main gist.

It is an open fact that most of us went to the farm and came back home "HUNGRY", we found our brother making porridge and in a bid to satisfy our hunger sold our birthright for "A BOWL OF PORRIDGE". A lot of Nigerians grew up hungry but unlike the story in the bible most of us do not have an inkling for what we hunger.

WE JUST NEED SOMETHING TO FILL OUR STOMACH NOT CARING WHAT IT IS AND WHERE IT IS COMING FROM!!

So some of us have eaten porridge that has kept up going to the loo times without number with no relief in sight!

Leadership is a heavy burden that requires that you must sometimes go hungry and in some instances be able to overlook your brothers "BOWL OF PORRIDGE" and focus on making your own part in life.

Let us remember that getting that "PORRIDGE" means that you have to let go of your birthright and your blessings, things that are naturally yours from inception and from the beginning of creation.

It means that a people that initially came to get from you would be the ones that you would go begging to get from them?

A man was hungry and sold his birthright to lead for "A BOWL OF PORRIDGE" and he later regretted it.

What is your bowl of porridge? What is that thing that would take from you that which will make you who you are and you are meant to be? Search well and ensure that you know, if you are on the verge of selling retract and do not do so!

It is this same hunger that has made it impossible for us to move forward and this that has ensured that we do not, after 50 year of independence, have the right kind of leader we need. Some have decided to sit down and ensure that “THE BOWL OF PORRIDGE” does not get to the next guy. They don’t want it but would also ensure that the guy who not only wants it but can also wash the bowl and make it presentable that he who sees the bowl and its content would envy him and want to partake in the feast, does not get to have it.

It is high time that we refuse to be fed from that “BOWL OF PORRIDGE” that keeps taking from us and not give back. We must learn how to say no and move forward. We have gone hunting and we have the meat at hand, why must we be in haste when we have the food? Why is it that we cannot make the meal even when all needed to do so is right there with us?

LEARN FROM THE MAN FOR A FLEETING PLEASURE AND SATISFACTION OF JUST A FEW MINUTES LOST A LIFETIME OF GLORY!! THE BOWL OF PORRIDGE WOULD NOT LAST A LIFE TIME BUT THAT WHICH YOU HAVE AT HAND CAN GO A LONG WAY! USE IT!!

The Shephard Leader

Show me a Nigerian leader and I would show you a wolf stealing sheep from its owner.

Show me a Nigerian Leader and I will show you a fearful man, one so afraid of mediocrity that he holds money by the throat just to have relevance.

Show me a Nigerian Leader and I would show you a man that is drunk with power and has lost consciousness of moral, social, godly values.

Show me a true leader and I would show you a Shepherd that knows his sheep and who's sheep know him.

The picture image for the note shows a Shepherd carry a sheep and protecting it. That is an example of a true leader.

A Shepherd will stay out in bad whether just to ensure that the sheep in his care are safe and protected.

A Shepherd will go hungry and starve, he will travel a long distance, be a doctor just for the safety of its sheep.

A Shepherd will stake its life for that of its sheep, fighting the wolves and the lions just so they don't get to the sheep.

A Shepherd lives by the code of conduct that my sheep first before every other thing, and so the sheep comes first.

A Shepherd lives his life based on principles and morals that ensures that those under his care are safe and want for nothing as long as he can provide it.

He ensures they have food to eat water to drink a good place to lay their head, a shade from bad whether and protection from danger (both internal and external).

This is what makes a true Leader!

This is the kind of Leader we need.

Someone that will not think of himself but of those he is leading.

A person that would put the welfare of his people ahead of his own.

A man or woman guided by moral principles that are of positive impact to the society, economy, persons, and nation.

A man that is not ruled by the fear of not having money,someone that is confident in who he is that that money is never a basis for judging personal worth.

The leader we need? One ruled by values and principles that shines a guiding light.

A Shepherd is never perfect but one simple thing about a him is that he would never put himself above the sheep because to him, THE SHEEP COMES FIRST!