RESOLUTIONS; I WILL NO LONGER......

    It is the end of another day, the end of another week and definitely the end of another month. Wow! Six months gone already this year. It may sound cliché to say “time flies” but really it does (especially when you are actually doing something with it). I remember those Passover services we normally have on the 31s of December every year. Every year it’s the same tale in church…… “I will no longer do this, I will no longer do that”….blah, blah, blah. You would see a lot of people confessing their wrong doings and prophesying into the New Year (yes, we are all guilty).

At such services, you hear confessions like these:

From someone who drinks a lot: I will no longer drink again, I will never look at alcohol again……..

From someone who smokes; I will not buy a stick of cigarette this year. This year I will not smoke, if I smoke let me…..

From a lady who sleeps around with different men; I will no longer sleep with men again, this year I will keep myself till I get married……

From a gossip who talks about what did and didn’t happen; this year, I will mind my business. I wil no longer gossip….

From an armed robber; I will never steal again. I will never carry a gun again. This year, I will not rob again…..

Let’s not even go far, lets come down to the level of a university student who procrastinates in almost everything that he does. He postpones the reading of his class notes, doing of assignments….e.t.c.   Towards the end of the year, he looks back at what he has achieved and he is not impressed. There and then, he draws out a list of things he wants to achieve in the coming year and says to himself “I will no longer procrastinate, I will do things at the right time……..”

…..yeah right. ‘yimu’ as my warri friends will say. I’m not going to say the popular sayings like-à it’s easier said than done, action speaks louder than words, talk is cheap and the rest (oops I said it……loool). Alright, we are all guilty (including yours truly) but isn’t it funny how we plan things the way we want them to go and in the end they go another way sometimes even worse than we planned it to???...pretty sad. When we were coming into this year, a lot of people had mapped out strategies with which they will use to succeed this year but now half way into the year, there has been little or no progress. Some are even regressing. It’s bad enough that some people are not where they expected to be but the pressure around, from peers and family is even more depressing. For every cloud, there is a silver lining. It’s never too late to start afresh as long as you still have breath in you. Concerning the resolutions, a lot of people went back to their old ways even on the third day of the year. Needless to say, their resolutions flew out the window. There are some that tried (and are still trying) to keep their resolutions and its been working for them.

It’s never too late to start afresh, we still have six months to the end of the year and anything is possible. You just have to re-strategize. Here are a few points;

-write out some positive messages/inscriptions or what you hope to achieve on a piece of paper or cardboard and hang it in your room, or even paste it on the wall by your bedside. This way, it is the first thing you see every morning.

-set reminders or even an alarm on your phone for specific times/ activities . This way you are reminded of what you ought to do even if you drift away.

-most importantly, you should have a friend and a confidant (preferably GOD) who can set you back on the right track if you are going off track.

Tomorrow 1/7/2012 marks the beginning of the remaining half of the year. You might say you ‘I have done it before, it did not work’ well maybe something was missing then. Try again, but this time with faith (belief in what you hope for) and I tell you…the year will end on a fabulous note for you. My fear now is that after reading this, some People will still make the same mistake again…*sigh*. Well don’t disappoint me (yeah I’m talking to you too STEHLLAR!) LOL.

GRACIAS!!!

CIVILIZATION; Before & after

I was alone at home one evening watching a movie and i was really enjoying myself because I was tired after the day’s work. I must confess I was a bit shocked when I got home and discovered there was light (knowing the kind of country we live in, this is a luxury) …but hey, I felt it was my lucky day.

As I was enjoying myself, PHCN struck!

People in the neighboring compounds rushed off to put on their generators, plants et all. I was about to do the same and then I started thinking and asked myself…what if there was no electricity in the first place?? What if we were not civilized????

 Civilization according to the English dictionary, is defined as an advanced stage of social development. Note the key words ‘advanced’ and ‘development’.

BEFORE CIVILIZATION

This was the era our fore-fathers lived in. It is also known as the ‘old school’ era. In this era, electricity, technology, media, health-care,   machines, mobile phones et all were nowhere in sight. As children, the boys learnt how to work on the farm, plant and harvest crops e.t.c. In those days setting animal traps, climbing trees and firing catapults were some of the things they did for fun. The girls learnt how to plait hair, wash clothes and fetch water from the stream. In the night, the children would gather at the village square under the full moon and listen to folk tales from their grandfather or an elderly man in the village.

During this time there was nothing like sickness, illness or disease (at least that's what they were made to believe). People lived till their 90's or  even if they died as children, they were termed 'outcasts'

To make money, the man would have to farm and set animal traps and sell his produce at the market so he can feed his family. The women in this era had no other duty than to cook, clean, wash and raise the children. Each time the children did something bad, the man when reporting them to his wife would refer to them as ‘her children’… Here, the women cooked with firewood and stored drinking water in clay pots. One important feature you should know about the people of this era is that they were not poor….there was just no CIVILIZATION!

…..Slowly, this era began to fade.

AFTER CIVILIZATION

Hmmm… Say hi to the ’new school’. This is the era we now live in.

 This era has brought in a lot of advantages and it has come to stay. We now have electricity, internet, media, laptops, smart phones, medicine, machines and all sorts of gadgets. The children no longer play outside anymore, its all about play-stations and Barbie dolls. Parents now read bedtime stories to their children (as opposed to folk tales of mbe the tortoise and okoro the hunter that were told in the past). With civilization, came 'Ground breaking' diseases like cancer, H.I.V, tuberculosis...e.t.c Now, there are different ways of making money because of all the technology and media we are exposed to. People now do businesses online(e-business), play football and do other stuff and at the end of the day, they smile to the bank. Who would have thought that people actually get paid for talking(i.e commentators and mc’s) ???...the wonders of civilization…lol

The women no longer sit at home and raise children….they work. They also go out to seek daily bead for their family just like the husbands do. With all the advantages we see, there are also disadvantages. People are now getting lazy, addicted to smartphones, media et all (most of us are guilty #lol). Lets not forget the harm the fumes from generators, cars e.t.c  is causing to our environment.

I sat on my chair in the balcony thinking about all these as I was enjoying the cool breeze. I felt like a free being as I stared at the sky and saw how beautiful the moon and stars are. I was still enjoying the serenity of the evening when I heard a knock on the door…my parents were back. I came back to reality and put on the generator…I didn’t want them walking in the dark.

I have lived a great part of my life in the city and I have had the chance to visit the village (during the holidays) and I can actually say both places are cool. The former has a lot of gadgets and technology but it also has a lot of noise and congestion while the latter has no technology but in most cases there is peace and serenity. I’m still not sure of the one I prefer.

The world as we know…is a global village. Which do you prefer?? Civilization or un-civilization??

GRACIAS!