Challenging the Norm - Life on God's Terms

I made a commitment to post something here this week that would help even if it's just one person and that is why you are reading this. Now the question I've been asking myself is what direction I really want this to go and then I decided I'll make it as random as possible........you know nothing too serious *Winks.

So there's something that has got me thinking for close to two weeks now and it's the fact that an average person could spend nothing less than 70 years of their lives living for someone else. Think about it, most of your choices growing up were influenced by your parents, guardians and even some of your siblings, sometimes not directly but somehow you just find your self doing something to measure up to someone or make someone ''proud of you''..........don't get me wrong I'm not saying you should go through life making choices that won't make your loved ones proud of you o! Lol...

All am saying is take sometime out to do something that expresses God through you and not anyone else, the next time you desire something make sure you want it for you cos it adds to the overall reason for your existence, like you know make sure your rush to be married is not because all your friends just happen to have crossed that line, make sure it's a choice that you are making because you finally found out that you know longer want to do things on your own anymore and that life would be so much more fun having someone to share it with apart from your immediate family and friends.

Ok I know I promised not to make this serious so pardon me if it already looks like it is. Truth is we are all strangers here trying to find our way so the next person may just be as confused as you are or even worse so you might want to keep that in mind the next time you feel like living life on somebody else's terms.

However you can never go wrong living on God's terms, you are his product, who knows better about a product than the one who fabricated it so while we all need each other we need him most.

I would like to suggest that you read a book I read a while back which am also presently reading again-its titled "The Purpose Driven Life" all this book does is to point you in God's direction for your life using scriptures. It's available in E-book, Audio Book and you can get a copy in any standard bookstore

On a lighter note though, I just found out about my love for Country Music I mean I love music but I've never really paid attention to Country until I started watching this TV Show Nashville which is basically about the life of Country Musicians.......its really amazing you should try it. Allow me give you a sneak peek......there are these two adorable real life sisters Lennon and Maisy Stella who also play sisters in the show.......OMG their voices are out of this world! Make sure you watch out for them in Episode 16 of Season 1.

xxox..............

Arise O Compatriots

ARISE O COMPATRIOTS

I find it quite ironic that the Nigerian Anthem begins with these words glorifying the country with its rich vibrant culture and heritage and yet it happens to have no atom of our cultural heritage as regards the melody, I mean don’t get me wrong we do have a rich culture and  I personally feel it's an amazing anthem as regards the lyrics, but I also believe one of the major reasons why an average Nigerian especially the younger generation can hardly remember the lyrics of our Anthem is because it's not in my opinion "A call to Arise "but more like "A call to sleep".

So out of my curiosity, I found out that though our National Anthem sounds like an old hymn, it really does not have to sound like that for it to be an effective one, we are a people of rich culture and a diverse one at that but it is so amazing that not one tribe or culture in Nigeria can identify with our Nation's Anthem when it comes to the way it sounds.

We’ve almost all heard the saying “If purpose is unknown, abuse is inevitable”, a nation’s anthem should promote patriotism, so people feel good about their country and generally complain less, it is also supposed to promote unity, so people stop arguing with different ethnic groups and embrace the fact that they're stuck on the same piece of land for the rest of the foreseeable future. Now with all that said I guess I will be right to say our current National Anthem does not do that at all.

No I don’t think we should  have all our languages in our Anthem but I feel it should ultimately carry everyone along and make us feel a sense of belonging and we can achieve that by making it less western and more Nigerian with a bit of a traditional feel to it. Before you are tempted to feel like this write-up is totally uncalled for, have you ever wondered why it is so easy for an average Nigerian to respond to a random danceable song and yet almost doze off the minute the National Anthem comes on. IT IS BORING THAT’S WHY! Need I remind you that we are Nigerians and we don’t do well with boring? I mean there’s an “Owambe” (Groove) around the corner every weekend and that just goes on to show the extent of our heritage and our love for fun……..We are a happy people, Its part of our DNA and that’s just who we are! “GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT NATION”

So I would like us all to consider this a wakeup call to question the norm and embrace change which happens to be the only constant thing and begin to think  of having an anthem we can all feel great about and be committed to, that is when we would love it enough to consciously memorize the words and then begin to consciously do what it says.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA

In a world filled with standards.........the ones we hold ourselves to and most of all the ones the society and enviroment we find ourselves hold us to the Ultimate Question becomes how exactly do we measure up to these standards? There's always a constant pressure we place on ourselves about measuring up to certain standards and fitting into some circles and there's nothing wrong with that cos pressure naturally brings out the best in you but it has to be the right kind of pressure I mean the one thats required for you to be who you were made to be.

Now am sure we've all heard the saying ''Life is in phases and men are in sizes'' I know there's been a lot of misinterpretation in that saying as you've probably seen people use it to support their lack of vision or ability to expand their minds and dream big so NO thats not what am talking about truth is we are all destined for greatness........born to do great things in this world but we've been presented with different opportunities to do that and the earlier you realize your race is different from that of your friend who has a PHD at 23 and is happily married to that handsome freaking rich guy the closer you'll be to finding yourself and realizing there's more to life than the things we see even though they make up a very important aspect of life

The concept of a Superiority Complex here is not about been better that the next person but its about understanding that there's only one standard that its important you measure up to and thats God's now you just stopped and frowned like this is one of those spooky writeups but NO its not! Think about it this way, would you rather allow the world hold you to standards which you cannot possible meet up with or would you just follow the manufacturer's manual which has everything about the product and how it can be at its ultimate best! Yeah now I got ya, the sane thing to do is the latter yeah?

Now that product is you! and the manufacturer is God am sure you figured that out already and the manual is the Bible.........wait! before you get all defensive let me finish, most of the time you never realize the full potential of a product because you didnt take time out to read the manual right? Well thats the same way you can never really understand your full potential if you ignore your product user manual........and yes it has all the standards you need to measure up to. So this is where am going with all these, before you allow that pressure in your career, business, relationship, marriage and even raising kids get the best of you, what you really should be doing is looking into your product manual cos it has all the standards you will ever have to hold yourself to in every area of your life.

I'm going to wrap this up by sharing what has become one of my favourite quotes of all times, its something I scribbled down a while ago when I felt like the world was going to come crashing down and it goes ''My Superiority Complex comes from knowing I am yours and you don't do inferior products'' In the midst of all that I was passing through that day I realised that been surrounded by things that would constantly want to break me didnt matter as long as I belonged to the ALMIGHTY ONE and that my strenght and superiority is in knowing he does nothing inferior.

There are really no bad days........yeah only victory days depending on whose side you're on!