Lessons from 2016

Denis Waitley once said "Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

2016 came to us as a new bride: sweet and beautiful but then it began to unfold; pouring out its mysteries. We had pain, laughter, heartaches, love, regret and all other life presents. 

Many people spent hours, days on things that shouldn't matter while other merely lived as they know how to all in the pursuit of happiness and comfort. 

2016 has taught me many valuable lessons, most of which are from family and friends and others, from experiencing life.Here are 15 of 2016 most valuable lessons I learnt:

1. Not every gift is tied with a bow. my life isn't!
2. Memories make the heart grow fonder.
3. Being wrong sometimes doesn't make me stupid.
4. There are miracles all around.
5. No knowledge is a waste.
6. People lie, forgive them.
7. Change is constant and good.
8. People are going to talk, let them.
9. You cannot tell me when to be happy.
10. Life is like food, prepare it well and you will enjoy it.
11. Count your blessings.
12. Debt is frustrating.
13. Stop complaining, start doing.
14. Do whatever the heck you want to do.
15. Even this too shall pass.

I hope you take this lessons, ponder on it and make your 2017 a great year. 

What are some of the life lessons you’ve learned in 2016 and how have they changed or going to change your life? Please share your ideas and experiences in the comments below.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a splendid New Year!

While I Procastinate

If you have been following this blog, you would notice that I am one of the worst bloggers ever to exist on planet earth (not true). I write a blog post like once in every month and that's if I write at all. The problem isn't what to write about (although sometimes it is) but how to start writing. I cannot say it is procrastination because even procrastinators get the job done.

Early this year, I wrote the blog posts "Making New Year Resolutions" and "How to Make Your Resolutions Stick" to help us overcome the pitfalls of saying one thing and doing another (but oh was I wrong). I made plans and resolutions, I had targets and strategies, prepositions and all that stuffs showing how prepared I was to make 2016 the best year ever.

Then this happened:
Just like an athlete that started a 5000m race with maximum speed and realised that he could not make to the end of the race with that speed, I have come to the realisation that my speed has come to its minimum but I must finish the race.

I focused more on getting results that I forgot there were processes, activities and techniques I had to follow to achieve my dreams or reach my goals. Every progress I made within the first few months went down the drains when I decided to skip few steps to achieve one goal.

Deep in thoughts about getting back on track, I forgot my family and friends, how much they cared about me and how much they will be willing to help me grow. Pride, fear and distrust destroyed me even before I started.

The change:
The most important thing I have come to realize is that no matter how low I fall or how high I rise, my family and (real/fake) friends are always there with me. I can trust them and can rely on there love and hatred to make me stronger.

Been committed to a thing is not bad but I will make sure to raise my head every few minutes and enjoy the beauty around you. The world and everything in it is beautiful, close your eyes and feel it, open your arms wide and embrace it.

Learn to express emotions, whether love or anger, sadness or laughter, disgust or pleasure, pride or humility; your emotions help people understand you better. It makes you light: gets things off you chest/shoulders and you learn how to control this emotions faster than you can realize.

I am back on track now, and hopefully this time will be better.

“The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it...” 
― Nicholas Sparks, At First Sight

“‎Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning... Anyone can start over and make a new ending.” 
― Chico Xavier

“We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking.” 
― Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” 
― Corrie ten Boom

I want to know more about your New Year's Resolutions and how far you have come, leave a comment below or send me an email and I will be happy to respond.

Happy Father's Day

I know we celebrate our fathers everyday but today I want to specially thank my fathers (biological and spiritual). 

To my father on this Father's Day 

My father, my hero

Always ready to listen

Patient to a fault 

Loving like no other

I love you

You are more than a father

My google map 

For your directions are right

My safe haven

Away from heart ache and troubles

I will never forget

running into your arms

And hearing those words

"My beautiful"

Always and forever my love

A hundred thousand miles apart 

But you're still close by

Your ways are in me

I still hear his voice 

Directing me 

I cry, you cry

I laugh, you laugh

For all you want is 

to see me happy 

I love you

I still feel your hand of discipline 

I can still hear your voice of rebuke 

When I misbehave 

But your warm embrace

Is the best of it all

My father, 

May God bless you for me

May God guide your way

And keep you

My father, I love you...

Happy Father's Day to every father out there. We love you!!! 

How to Make Your Resolutions Stick

       It has been over two weeks into the new year and I bet some people have already forgotten their New Years resolutions. Those who already forgot are mainly in these categories: 

- they wanted to join the conversation about the trending topic #newyearsresolution

- they wanted to tell the world about their new plans

- they want to change but ...

       Forgetting is very easy but we can remembering our plans even more easier. If you really want to make your New Years resolution stick through out the year, here are some fun ways to go about it.

Make it a Picture

        You know how we take pictures of our loved ones or of ourselves, print it out, put it in a frame and keep on our desk or beside our bed? You can do the same to your New Year resolutions. Write it down on a paper (colorful paper will work just fine), take a picture of it, print it out and put in a picture frame. You can put the paper inside a picture frame without taking a picture and printing it or even more better, use Microsoft word with a nice font style. Put the frame were you can see it when you walk in and out of the house everyday, that way you know you have something important you have to accomplish before the year runs out. 

Make it a Business Card 

        Business cards are beautiful, fun and easy to handle. You can make one using a cardboard paper or any thick paper, write your plans on it and put it in your wallet. Anytime you open your wallet you get a reminded of what you have to accomplish this year. 

Make it a Poster

         If you are an artist or you just love hanging things on your wall, you will love this one. Get an A5 paper, write your New Years resolutions and draw some designs on it. Put  it anywhere in your room. It will remind you of your years plan and also  add colour to your room. 

However you choose to remember your resolutions, faith, hope and prayer are great motivators and will go a long way in bringing your goals to life.

Let me know other ways you use to remember your new year's resolutions. Have a great week.

Making New Year Resolutions

I don't know what it is that make people feel they have to change every new year. Every 1st of January people start hearing and saying things like NEW YEAR RESOLUTION, New year, new me or new life or something else (help me out hear people). 

I don't mean to say it's a bad thing, NO, it is very good to make list of things we want to change and things we want to incorporate in our lives. The problem is out of 365 (+/-1) days in a year, we use only one or two days/weeks to deliberate on our New Year's plan. Most people go as far as writing it down (which is good), others  just say or post it on their social media pages on the 1st of January. 

If you want to make a plan, find a way to stick or don't make the plan at all. If you want to change, change! Telling the whole world you want to change won't make you change. 

What are some changes you want to make this new year? How would you be making this change?

Celebrating Nigeria at 55

Celebration mean different things to different people. To some people it means coming together as a family, singing, dancing and to others it means freedom, a means of thanksgiving, a medium of reflection of the past and a mirror into the future.

Today, celebration to Nigerians all over the world has a similar meaning: FREEDOM. Freedom from one political party always ruling, freedom from polio, and from Ebola to say the least.

We celebrate our freedom, we celebrate our lives, our choices, our Greenlands, our diversities, and our cultures. We have so many things to be thankful for, but let us not forget in our celebration, those that are poor and those that have lost everything because of Boko Haram. Those that lost someone because of the Ebola virus and other deadly diseases. Let us not forget those that cannot join us in our celebration today because of pain and sickness. 

Today we celebrate Nigeria, a blessed nation with beautiful people. We have almost everything you can think of. Please let's not think mainly about the negative things happening around us, let us dwell on the positive things that makes our lives worth living.

Long live the president 

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria 

Happy Independence Day NIGERIA!!!

Change is always Constant

Change is one thing that remains constant in our life but change keeps changing. It can be gradual or sudden. It can happen in a matter of seconds or it could take months or even years.

It can be a gradual and continuous process. People say things like "when did you start becoming this way and that way, when did you start liking that song and when did that become your favourite colour " this is because change happens gradually until it becomes something significant that people around us start noticing. Many times we don't know we are changing until it is brought to our attention by people around us. 

Change is terrifying, to ourselves and others around us. We fear that we will  become something we said we wouldn't be and sometimes we fear that we are becoming someone better than we use to be. We fear because we are loosing friends, we fear because we are becoming less focused, we are loosing important things and important people that matter.

Change is uncomfortable, it can be tedious if people pleasing is your thing as it makes you think of what people will say about you and how people will look at you when you walk pass them. 

Change can choose for you. When there is change, people tend to leave but the good ones stick around not minding if the change is good or bad. Your friends will either stay or leave depending on the kind of Change you make and the kind of people they are. 

Instead of being scared of change, become aware of it. If brought to your attention about a recent change in your life; positive or negative, take time to weigh its benefits and costs to you first because you are the most important person in your life.

Change should not stop you from been a better person or a person worthy of love so quit been terrified of change and Change for good. 

People change for different reasons; love, anger, anxiety, boredom and so on. What is your reason for changing? 

It's your world

The world is yours for the taking

I guess we have all heard this saying

“When life gives you lemons, you can either complain about it or make lemonade”

Sometimes, how we see things determine how high we rise up. When life fucks you, just change position and enjoy it.

Each time you fail at something,

You should see it as an opportunity to learn another way of reaching your goal

You are not a failure until you stop trying

Repeat that task not until you get it right

But until it becomes impossible for you to get it wrong

In life, sometimes we stumble, other times we fall

Yet we need to find the courage to rise up after each fall

We need the strength to go farther after every hindrance

We never realize how good we have it until we meet other people who have had it worse

All we need is a conviction and a goal, we are trying to attain

Its not every time you would have someone who would give you a pat on the back

Most times, no one would encourage you

At such times, pat your self on the back

Encourage yourself

Rise up when you fall

You need to realize that

The world needs you

The world is watching and waiting for your ingenuity

Be the best you can be

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.

If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing,

it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.

On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it,

I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

The world is yours for the taking

Only if you do not give up on your dreams and aspirations.

Oluwalonimi, Brenda (c) 2015

Judgement

Why do we judge people for doing whatever it is they have done? 

Check this out:

Sammy and Glen took a piece of cake from company's fridge but Glen was caught and Guess what Sammy said, he said and I quote "I am disgusted by Glen's action, how could he do such a thing".

What a life we all live. Just because we were not caught doing it and nobody have put our faces on social media with some bad trending stories doesn't make us saints. It just gives us second chances, gives us time to change, time to become a new and better person. 

You have no right to judge anyone because you are just as guilty as they are. We try to say put ourselves in their shoes but it doesn't always work like that because when it's ur turn, you won't behave just as you have imagined.

We give advice to people but hardly take those advices for ourselves. I'm not trying to give an advice, just letting you know that Live is easier said than done. 

A penny for your thought

I decided to eat outside the house today and I chose one of the king's restaurant. This was a very hard decision for me but I wanted to give myself a treat for being strong after two long weeks of bed rest.

My dad would be pissed if he saw me at a restaurant, not because he hates it but because he feels I'm lazy and eating out would make me worse than lazy. Lol, this would be his words "no... You can make those at home. You can even make them more healthier and delicious than them. Do it for me B... Let it be your therapy" what a nice therapy lol. 

I stayed on the line, placed my order and went ahead to pick a drink of my choice from the fridge. With my food, I picked a seat very close to the window. I brought a book along so I don't stair at people when I eat. 

I ate slowly as I read my book, across my table I saw a man eating. He wasn't just eating, he was in pain. I took my eyes off my book to take a good look at him, he raised his head at that instance and smiled. 

That was a good thing right? I smiled back but it didn't feel right within me. I went back to my reading and eating but with a divided attention. I think he noticed that I was watching him and so he would smile anytime our eyes met but when he wasn't looking, he was very sad, I know because the smile left immediately he took his eyes back to his table. He finished eating and left. 

What was he thinking, I thought. What kind of pain was he feeling that he would let the world know how beautiful he is outside but how ugly it was for him on the inside. I felt sad for him and for myself and then for everyone. 

A penny for your thought? 

What would it take to know what your thinking right now? 

What would it take to make you smile inside and outside? 

Would you tell me why your in pain? But even if I know what would I do to help?

Who Am I?

As he was walking to the bookstore he stopped to sit in the empty chair along the hallway and He thought to himself: 

I don't feel comfy or outspoken among my seniors, I don't feel ok with my age mates (I have superiority complex), with those younger than me I feel I don't have to associate with them because they are nosy.

Who am I?

I try so much to fit in when I'm meant to stand out" at least that's what the motivational speakers tell us, but how easy is it to stand out?

I look at those who said they stood out and made it. That's not true, they are forgetting one thing "they never did" they never did stood out they had all the attention and help they needed.

I have come to realize why those young teenagers commit suicide, we tell them to stand out and we leave them alone. They think, they wish, they talk but no one listened, they walked alone, they have people they talk to but no one to call their friends.

You want me to stand out but you stay away from me, you call me names when I walk by, you don't want to be my friend, bf/gf, you don't want to hold my hand, somehow you are ashamed of me and you want me to stand out, be whom you want to be and make a difference?

WHO AM I?

My Thoughts

Today i came to the understanding that peoples opinion don`t really matter. If  you make a good choice, you will bear the consequences and people will share in your joy, If  you make bad choices, you also face the consequences and people will also share in your pain. Therefore be who you want to be and do what you want to do but with the knowing that there are people who will be affected by your choices, Good or Bad.

My Top 10 Series of All Times

So i was talking with a friend about movies including series. We shared a lot in common, our likes and dislikes and i decided to list my top 10 series of all times. yes i`m a movie freak, it is my hobby, interest, a way to waste time and all that. 

and  here they are:

1. How I Met Your Mother https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apRiP2h-O5o

2. Vampires Diaries  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GWtgdAYHMU

3. Grey`s Anatomy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baRfki0-L2Q

4.  Hawaii Five 0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQrXGc7GAik

5. Suits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYUQKm2nZNE

6. Arrow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEZQUcjG6AY

7. Supernaturals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm_UcERAVw8

8. 24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJXaui2v5Ug

9. Covert Affairs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLkMN6K0as0

10. Revenge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHIaORMG-AM

One thing they all have in common is that they all interesting, the actions, and the suspense just makes want to keep watching.

Be warned, once you start, you wouldn't`t want to stop until you are done. 

let me know your top 10 (comment box)

Have fun watching!!! 

All links are from youtube

Everything is Art

Art is everything we see around us. It is diverse and broad, comprising of everything we humans do. the way we dress, the way we style our hair, how we decorate our houses and even our foods. Photography, paintings, sculptures, music, dancing, film and theatre.

Art involves creativity, time, energy. It is a way of communicating or expressing ourselves to the world around us.

A nice piece of creative art of Santa. This piece gives me much smile as it announces yet another Christmas time.








This isn`t me but styling my hair gives me joy. Although it can be stressful but the final result is simply beautiful.

A simple but well decorated house

ART is beautiful, Art is Everything and Everything is ART



all pictures are gotten from Google images.