Its easy to think lifes a drag wen u crawl along day to day whinging n moaning about a late bus or a missed phone call, forgetting within ourselves we all have the potential for greatness. I write this not to mock anyone's suffering or missed meeting caused by said late bus, but because I myself have realized the failing in my thought process (you know a lot of us have this so stop mean muggin) . Ideas are the main stay of our civilization, Einstein had an idea, Malcolm x had one too and just these two men from differing generations have caused great change in the path of our communal growth as a planet. If just these two men (we all know there are several otheres) can actually change our course as a planet in this vast and endless universe then why cant i? Why cant you? Most of us don’t even dare ask this question because not only are we afraid of how petty our excuses are but we are actually scared we may be somebody. We may be someone more than we have been our whole lives. “Life is the time God gave us to figure out what we want to do for eternity”…I read this somewhere and a life is a long time. Find a 6 year old and tell them the short time they’ve spent on earth is meaningless and the look in their eyes should tell you that no matter how short life is….it is beautiful and full of potential.
We can make a difference, all we need to do is try.
Monday, April 27, 2009
What’s your deepest fear?
In the words of Rick Gonzalez from the movie Coach Carter; “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our dark that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; its in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people the power to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
These words resonated within me as I came to the knowledge that its words were true. We all strive for success in our own different ways but we sometimes use others as helpers. We ask each other for advice when deep within we know what we want to do, we seek approval for things we’ve done even if we are immensely pleased with them to begin with. We are all afraid to shine. Each and every one of us was made in the likeness of our Father God and we are meant to shine brightly but we hold ourselves back.
Some people rely too much on the words of others and can’t move forward until friends or family reaffirm them. Some people don’t believe enough in themselves to move forward with ideas and notions that could change the world. Great people from our past have taken on the challenge to do great things and achieve their hearts desires through sheer force of will and determination. We can do the same. Prove to those that doubt you, by being great. Show them the ideas they laughed at could bear fruit and was a good thing to begin with. If you need reassurance get it from those that are hard to please, it will be hard to earn their praises but it will be more rewarding when you do.
A friend once told me that by sharing ideas we think we’re trying to get reassurance but we are actually showing others that we can be great. We share to prove we are growing by getting one better idea than the last. So we tend to use our friends as benchmarks, but the only way to make this information exchange relevant is to THINK them then DO them. If the idea that’s discussed doesn’t come to fruition then its time wasted.
As they quote above says, “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” So go out and dream big, over come your fear by doing just what frightens you and do it well. Your greatness will show and it should rub off on those around you.
What is my greatest fear?
I fear that I won’t be the great man I’m destined to be but with that in mind I can only strive harder to make my fears succumb to me. I will achieve, I will do well and I won’t have this fear any more. Because as soon as we realize what we are afraid of, we can take steps to overcome them and become better people on the other side.
Take a minute and think. What is your deepest fear? And how can you over come it?
These words resonated within me as I came to the knowledge that its words were true. We all strive for success in our own different ways but we sometimes use others as helpers. We ask each other for advice when deep within we know what we want to do, we seek approval for things we’ve done even if we are immensely pleased with them to begin with. We are all afraid to shine. Each and every one of us was made in the likeness of our Father God and we are meant to shine brightly but we hold ourselves back.
Some people rely too much on the words of others and can’t move forward until friends or family reaffirm them. Some people don’t believe enough in themselves to move forward with ideas and notions that could change the world. Great people from our past have taken on the challenge to do great things and achieve their hearts desires through sheer force of will and determination. We can do the same. Prove to those that doubt you, by being great. Show them the ideas they laughed at could bear fruit and was a good thing to begin with. If you need reassurance get it from those that are hard to please, it will be hard to earn their praises but it will be more rewarding when you do.
A friend once told me that by sharing ideas we think we’re trying to get reassurance but we are actually showing others that we can be great. We share to prove we are growing by getting one better idea than the last. So we tend to use our friends as benchmarks, but the only way to make this information exchange relevant is to THINK them then DO them. If the idea that’s discussed doesn’t come to fruition then its time wasted.
As they quote above says, “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” So go out and dream big, over come your fear by doing just what frightens you and do it well. Your greatness will show and it should rub off on those around you.
What is my greatest fear?
I fear that I won’t be the great man I’m destined to be but with that in mind I can only strive harder to make my fears succumb to me. I will achieve, I will do well and I won’t have this fear any more. Because as soon as we realize what we are afraid of, we can take steps to overcome them and become better people on the other side.
Take a minute and think. What is your deepest fear? And how can you over come it?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
What happens next?
Was just talking to a friend and they really got me thinking. Years pass and we still have a million more choices and different paths spread out in front of us. No one told us it was going to be easy being adults but DAMN…this isn’t even funny. But if we really sit and think about it, we basically have to decide 2 things: have we achieved anything of substance so far and are we happy with the direction our lives are taking? So far as our younger ones are concerned, they just have to finish the last few stages of little big planet, buy the latest lil’ gizmo out there or spend their hard eared pocket money on sweets and what-not (I know those were my problems…oh n girls when I realized they existed, but that’s a whole nother blog) and well, they still have quite a while to go before they have to think (seriously) about all this real world stuff. But I realized early that there are many important decisions I have to make and am hoping that so far I have already made quite good ones.
If you really think about it most of us just go through the motions at our schools, at uni and even at our first places of work and then we just count down the days till the next section of life begins. This is not how it should be. You’ll soon realize that a time will come when next term or next semester will equal the real world. For some our jobs may be tasking/ different from our norm/ boring etc but we should never lose sight of the initial dream we all have or had within us. You may not have a well defined or structured idea of what that dream is, but by university you better start formulating some kind of plan…or else…no really, I mean it…or else.
The two questions I asked earlier were to make you all think, and dude, think hard because it gets a lot tougher before it gets easier. Unfortunately we have lost some good friends in the battle to reach 2009 but we all know the good Lord is with us and with him we can do anything. We pray for the families and friends of those who past, got lost along the way or even just lost track of were they we suppose to be going. That being said we should strive to be better people as we are here now.
So have we achieved anything? Most of us in Nigeria have either gone through, are going through or will have to go through the fascinating experience that is “Youth service”. I won’t lie to you but the truth is that most corps members end up doing secretarial work or generally being errand boys or girls, but as bad as those situations are, we are graduates and its up to us to find a way to use this time to not only help our county (ok…you with the grin on you face. Stop it) but we should also help ourselves. Learn a trade in your spare time; learn a different language, research on a masters programs etc. there are lots of other ways to move forward.
Then, “the direction of our lives”? Well entering university we had to come to terms with our lives direction and in some cases were asked to come up with 5 year plans. Where are you on that plan? Its time to take stock of our lives and move forward with it. Life is complex and demanding but as a member of the human race it is our duty to succeed.
One thing is for sure, no one is going come up to you and say; “hey (blah blah) your smart. Be a rocket scientist, it’ll b a snap”. Ok, people will tell you stuff like that but the point is that how much of the random friendly and evil information will actually help shape your future…. If you’re waiting for an answer, then there’s a bigger problem than I thought.
Its your future. Plan it then live it.
If you really think about it most of us just go through the motions at our schools, at uni and even at our first places of work and then we just count down the days till the next section of life begins. This is not how it should be. You’ll soon realize that a time will come when next term or next semester will equal the real world. For some our jobs may be tasking/ different from our norm/ boring etc but we should never lose sight of the initial dream we all have or had within us. You may not have a well defined or structured idea of what that dream is, but by university you better start formulating some kind of plan…or else…no really, I mean it…or else.
The two questions I asked earlier were to make you all think, and dude, think hard because it gets a lot tougher before it gets easier. Unfortunately we have lost some good friends in the battle to reach 2009 but we all know the good Lord is with us and with him we can do anything. We pray for the families and friends of those who past, got lost along the way or even just lost track of were they we suppose to be going. That being said we should strive to be better people as we are here now.
So have we achieved anything? Most of us in Nigeria have either gone through, are going through or will have to go through the fascinating experience that is “Youth service”. I won’t lie to you but the truth is that most corps members end up doing secretarial work or generally being errand boys or girls, but as bad as those situations are, we are graduates and its up to us to find a way to use this time to not only help our county (ok…you with the grin on you face. Stop it) but we should also help ourselves. Learn a trade in your spare time; learn a different language, research on a masters programs etc. there are lots of other ways to move forward.
Then, “the direction of our lives”? Well entering university we had to come to terms with our lives direction and in some cases were asked to come up with 5 year plans. Where are you on that plan? Its time to take stock of our lives and move forward with it. Life is complex and demanding but as a member of the human race it is our duty to succeed.
One thing is for sure, no one is going come up to you and say; “hey (blah blah) your smart. Be a rocket scientist, it’ll b a snap”. Ok, people will tell you stuff like that but the point is that how much of the random friendly and evil information will actually help shape your future…. If you’re waiting for an answer, then there’s a bigger problem than I thought.
Its your future. Plan it then live it.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The way they make us live
We live in an ever-changing environment and everyday we learn new things, which change our perceptions or generally alter the way we view previously conceived ideas. The internet, mobile technology, satellite televisions and many of the wonderful advancements of our age just help to connote the fact that times will keep changing as long as technology keeps advancing. We as a society have been slowly changing to fit in our ever changing world, for example growing up I played an Atari with 16bit graphics and used to stay up at night dreaming about the levels and game play, then at about my seventh birthday my brothers got a Nintendo entertainment system. Just as I was learning the ins and outs of Mario, the Sega genesis was introduced (about a year after the NES). We learnt the new rules of game play and the amazing new "3rd" button on the control pad, this then spawned into a love for Sega which gave us the Sega mega drive. But before our love for sonic was well placed we got the super Nintendo and once again we didn’t complain but just asked our parents to buy it for us....by age 10 we had the Playstation and N64....then we (and I mean every family that wanted peace in their homes) got the dream cast. The game play changed a little with every console and the time between improvements reduced drastically. So to sum up my point I bought an Xbox 3yrs ago and am now saving up for a Playstation 3 which virtually has a life of its own, so not only was technology advancing but so was the way we think...if you give a child of today a game from the Atari age they would ask if your insulting their intelligence. Games today don’t only come in three dimensions, high definition but the tasks are getting more and more complex and challenging so to keep up, our brains have to advance in its way of thinking.
This is just and example to show how as technology improves, so does general societies way of thinking. Consumers being the general public watch satellite TV on their high definition 24 inch screens and surf the ever changing and advancing world wide web on hybrid computers. So to keep up the product sellers spend more time advancing the products on amazing adverts all over the place, bombarding us with subliminal sales pitches on what we need and have to get in order to fit in our world today. Of course we do all fall pray to these well planed out attacks on human emotion and our general psyche but we never feel bad when we have money and have bought things we think we need.
The mobile phone market was a drastic change in our lives that we all took and still take for granted...literally 10 years ago about 80 percent of the people that have phones today walked around with phone books and change in their pockets but now we cant even live a couple days with out calling the guy in the room next door to turn the noise down or sending a text we just could have easily said wit 3 seconds of credit. Advancements like this change entire countries one person at a time and average Joes never even take a second to think about it....we just take it as things are.
And that is what most advertising firms hope will happen because if we realize we don’t need half the things we long for, then a lot of people will lose their jobs and ways of life.
Another recent change is the desensitizing effect of television and movie content. A wile ago showing a female nipple on the screen was set for after 10pm and the amount of blood allowed on the screen at any one time was measured and seriously taken into account. But today only gratuitous sex scenes are being checked....the way the beautiful cheerleader is killed at the end of scene three doesn’t matter any more just as long as the audience get a kick out of it. I was even amazed when watching an animated movie I burst out laughing at some sexual innuendo between the two lead characters (mice, ogres, donkeys etc) it slowly occurred to me that my little cousins weren’t laughing and where now asking me to explain the joke...I had to make something up because I didn’t want my aunt calling me up and asking why I told her 6 year old what spooning was (and if you don’t know, than don’t worry about it).
People today go out and buy things to enhance their ways of life (like dish washers, vacuum cleaners etc) by taking out a lot of the menial tasks, but there are also things which now have become a must have (mobile phones, personal computers, internet connections etc) so as to feel like regular members of society. Then there are the things that you don’t have to have, but no home would be complete with out (T.V., cable/satellite connection, DVD players, games consoles etc) these help people kill hour upon hour of time which seems like the norm in our day and age. The average perception of an American is a big, fat guy who loves Mc Donalds and the sci-fi channel, but this perception comes from where? TV, movies, novels etc. I see it as a country with almost everyone having access to all the technological advancement of our age, they have nothing else to worry about so they “veg” out on the sofa and come up with new problems like there are actually people who are afraid of keys, really….keys?
So generally the recent developments in society today have spawned a lot of different ways of thinking, acting and living. People today expect the things they buy to improve their lives, make them healthier, happier, better looking, more popular etc. so the product creators and sellers have to spend more time making their products more appealing. We the masses then have to adapt with the times, so in essence the advertisers create a vision of what we should want and need and we as consumers believe their predictions and try to live accordingly. Its complicated I know, but I don’t make the rules, I just thought you should know.
This is just and example to show how as technology improves, so does general societies way of thinking. Consumers being the general public watch satellite TV on their high definition 24 inch screens and surf the ever changing and advancing world wide web on hybrid computers. So to keep up the product sellers spend more time advancing the products on amazing adverts all over the place, bombarding us with subliminal sales pitches on what we need and have to get in order to fit in our world today. Of course we do all fall pray to these well planed out attacks on human emotion and our general psyche but we never feel bad when we have money and have bought things we think we need.
The mobile phone market was a drastic change in our lives that we all took and still take for granted...literally 10 years ago about 80 percent of the people that have phones today walked around with phone books and change in their pockets but now we cant even live a couple days with out calling the guy in the room next door to turn the noise down or sending a text we just could have easily said wit 3 seconds of credit. Advancements like this change entire countries one person at a time and average Joes never even take a second to think about it....we just take it as things are.
And that is what most advertising firms hope will happen because if we realize we don’t need half the things we long for, then a lot of people will lose their jobs and ways of life.
Another recent change is the desensitizing effect of television and movie content. A wile ago showing a female nipple on the screen was set for after 10pm and the amount of blood allowed on the screen at any one time was measured and seriously taken into account. But today only gratuitous sex scenes are being checked....the way the beautiful cheerleader is killed at the end of scene three doesn’t matter any more just as long as the audience get a kick out of it. I was even amazed when watching an animated movie I burst out laughing at some sexual innuendo between the two lead characters (mice, ogres, donkeys etc) it slowly occurred to me that my little cousins weren’t laughing and where now asking me to explain the joke...I had to make something up because I didn’t want my aunt calling me up and asking why I told her 6 year old what spooning was (and if you don’t know, than don’t worry about it).
People today go out and buy things to enhance their ways of life (like dish washers, vacuum cleaners etc) by taking out a lot of the menial tasks, but there are also things which now have become a must have (mobile phones, personal computers, internet connections etc) so as to feel like regular members of society. Then there are the things that you don’t have to have, but no home would be complete with out (T.V., cable/satellite connection, DVD players, games consoles etc) these help people kill hour upon hour of time which seems like the norm in our day and age. The average perception of an American is a big, fat guy who loves Mc Donalds and the sci-fi channel, but this perception comes from where? TV, movies, novels etc. I see it as a country with almost everyone having access to all the technological advancement of our age, they have nothing else to worry about so they “veg” out on the sofa and come up with new problems like there are actually people who are afraid of keys, really….keys?
So generally the recent developments in society today have spawned a lot of different ways of thinking, acting and living. People today expect the things they buy to improve their lives, make them healthier, happier, better looking, more popular etc. so the product creators and sellers have to spend more time making their products more appealing. We the masses then have to adapt with the times, so in essence the advertisers create a vision of what we should want and need and we as consumers believe their predictions and try to live accordingly. Its complicated I know, but I don’t make the rules, I just thought you should know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)