All in the mind

Hey all,

Sure your week has been good and all the bank holidays fantastic! Speaking of holidays, I think the mood somehow found its way into my mind and I've been getting up later that usual in the last two days. Having finished most of my business, I slept last night setting my alarm for 7.30 am this morning. The alarm went off, I got it but somehow slept back only to wake up at 11.30am! OMG, I jumped out of bed wondering why no one has called me at this time of the day (which would have woken me up) and then started scolding myself. A couple of days ago, I was still pushing the phrase 'a little sleep, a little slumber...and poverty will come on you...' into my head and now this!

Anyway, I decided to start my day and put on my laptop only to check the time on it and it was 8.24am! I checked my phone to confirm and it was positive! Yes, it was later than when I should have got up but not as bad as I thought. Then I remembered that the wall clock stopped working last night! Phewwww! I narrated this to my friend and he said 'now you'll agree with me that it's all in the mind'. He says this a lot but never agreed with him but for a second this morning, I thought about. It was what the clock communicated to my mind that made me jump out of bed!

What are you allowing into your mind through your senses - hearing, seeing, feeling etc ? What kind of materials do you read, watch or listen to? What you feed your mind with or allow to sip in influences your actions and what you think about yourself . A man is as he thinks in his heart so

let's be mindful of what we allow through. You might say 'I listen to and watch the right things' but how do you respond to things flying around - someone talking you down and probably calling you a failure, violence, poverty and so on? The responsibility is ours to sieve what we allow in. We should throw the negatives out filling our hearts and minds with words of encounragement and the word of God which is able to build us up. I bet we'll surely be better for it! I am continually working on this aspect of my life 'cause it affects every other thing!

Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life (Proverbs 4: 23 NLT).

See ya!

InSpiratioN

Ok, I know it's been almost two months that I published a post last. I already mentioned in my first post that I am not so good at keeping diaries and things like that but here I am again. I didn't just decide to write today, nope. I was reminded that I had a blog by reading another guy's blog. It was good and so I got inspired.

Speaking of inspiration, where do you get yours from? I watched a movie yesterday titled 'Invictus'. The major character in that movie, who was imprisoned for 27 years before his release and subsequent election as president, mentioned that whenever he felt like giving up in the prison, he drew inspiration and encouragement from the poem written by William Henly in 1875 titled Invictus. I'm sure we all draw inspiration from different sources. I'll be glad if you could share yours with me in the comment section.

I can not deny the fact that I am a believer and without sounding cliche, my number one source of inspiration is the Holy Spirit. Many a time when I really need a bright idea, He drops it in my mind either through a verse of the scripture, something I have read, heard or watched. It's amazing.

When I was in Uni , I used to take walks to quiet places around the campus and engage in deep thoughts to crack something. It worked! It worked almost all the time. Come to think of it, I haven't done that in a while. I should return to it but that does not mean I have not been inspired lately. These days I just lie on my bed and think prayerfully or think on paper especially for designs for my craft. Some other times, I get inspired from the smallest things like staring at the sky, looking at drawings (I like art) or pictures, staring at a crowd, in a lecture and especially while listening to people. Something about them just drops an idea in my mind. It's beautiful!

Of all these sources, my best is the holy spirit and of course he can do the same for you if only you would invite Jesus into your heart. If you already have, that's the greatest decision you ever made and you sure will understand what I'm talking about.

The most beautiful thing about inspiration is its application. Whenever one sees the result of what one used the inspiration for, it brings great joy - talking from experience. As a final note, don't just get inspired, inspire others!

Alright then, till I get inspired to write again :)

Golding me.

Bad jogging day!

It's my first day 'blogging' and I am already entering a second post! Excitement or what? I wish I could say it's excitement. Nope! It is condition-motivated!

After writing my first post and doing some other things, I decided to go jogging. I am trying to loose some weight and keep fit. Been frequenting the gym lately but today, I decided to jog as I occasionally do. By the way, I am a 'black person' living in 'white people's land'.

As I approached a junction while jogging around my neighbourhood, I saw a white van making motions towards the junction so I doubled up to cross the road. I decided slow down to catch my breath on the other side of the road only for me to feel a fountain of liquid on me! Turning back, I saw that the boys in the van intentionally splashed the liquid on me from a bottle one of them was holding. I was furious but incapacitated. The one who splashed the water on me made faces as the van drove off. I was so dumb-founded I could do nothing! I'm glad I didn't do any silly thing I would have regretted as a believer but I wish I got the van's number or somefin ( as if that would help, right?) When will this end?! When?

I continued jogging after recovering from the shock. And as if that humiliation was not enough, I suffered another before getting back home! At this time, I was jogging by the main road and I noticed that the lace of my left shoe was loosening but because I wanted to hold on more and to prove to the passers-by/drivers that I could endure, I hesitated bending down to tighten it! How foolish!!! I told myself that I would do it once I got around the corner. A few steps from my target, I tripped over the lace and bam! there I was hitting the ground hard! OMG, what a shame. See, I got humiliated again in the very presence of the people I was trying to impress. Meanwhile, I'm not sure anyone one noticed me jogging as I have learnt that you are strictly on your own in this place. Also, the people I passed by did not even show any sign of concern as I hit the ground. Were it in my country, a couple of people would have helped you up. Anyway, back to my gist.

In everything, there's always an opportunity to give thanks. Though a portion of my left knee had swollen by the time I got home, I am grateful to God that I did not sustain major injuries or any open wound because I was told by the nurse when I went for some vaccination yesterday that any open wound I sustained was to be treated as and emergency and I'm in no mood for the hospital!

I remember this quote by Will Rogers:

"Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like."

This summarises my action today in trying to impress the passers-by; though in my case, I do not dislike them cos I don't know them in first place! My experience today points to a bigger lesson- Whatever we do, let's do it right and not just to please or impress others.

" Whatever you do, do heartily as for the Lord rather than men" Colossians 2:23

God bless you.

Never thought...

Being a private person and one that is really bad at keeping diaries, I never thought I'll blog. I just didn't fancy it. But it seems different things make people do what they do as I now have a reason to blog. This sends an important message across to me that I should not criticize people if I do not understand reasons for their action. Of course, this does not mean that every action has a good reason.

Now, back to my own reason...I just want to inspire and be inspired, period!

Since, I am new at this, forgive me if I bore you for the first few right-ups and if I am not frequent. I'll catch up! I salute bloggers who have gone ahead :)

I read a book recently. Though I have read it before, it struck a chord in me when I did again. It's about unconditional love. I searched within me to see if I understood what that means. I bet I don't and I'm sure many of us probably don't even fully understand what love is not to talk of it being 'unconditional'. It's hard but that is what is expected of us.

Here is my summary of the book titled Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers:

In the 1800s, it was time for a young man called Michael Hosea to get married. However, God led him to Angel, a woman who was sold into prostitution at the age of 8. He married her though almost against his will but trusted that there must be a reason for it. Though Angel kept running back and hurting Michael, he didn't give up on her. He loved her unconditionally. Eventually, Angel came to know God's undying and forgiving love through Michael and her own experiences when she ran away the third time.

Angel's story succinctly illustrates unconditional love- God's love for mankind. He loves us despite all we have done and been through and longs for us to come to Him. Can we extend this to fellow human beings? Yes we can but only by first receiving God's.