BE GRATEFUL

Few days ago on my way to work it occurred to me again how good and kind God has been to me personally. I do not know about you. I do not know if you think you really have the power to keep yourself alive. Forget about the good diet, the hygiene, the exercises, the medical check-ups and the rest of the things we do to stay healthy. A lot of people actually die from 'unknown causes'. I mean people who lived well. Yesterday, there was the picture of a lady in the papers who died from being hit by a bus while trying to cross the road. She would never have planned to die that fateful day. She did not die because she is such a bad or devilish person, just as you are not alive because you are so good and pious. The Almighty preserves who He wills. So, if He has chosen to preserve you, be grateful to Him.
It is very easy when you look around and see certain things in your life or around you which you are not happy about. But then, it is also possible that if you look well, you will find more than one reason to be grateful to God.
I believe God even preserves from certain troubles by not allowing them to happen at all. So, we do not get to know about them.
Concentrating more on what is unpleasant puts you in an 'offside' position in receiving more blessings from God. Even if some things are unpleasant with you, think about it,they could have been worse. You have a reason to be grateful.
There is an African proverb that says 'if a child shows gratitude for yesterday`s favours, he positions himself to receive today`s favours'. So if you want to receive more blessings from God, be grateful for that which He`s already done.
My advice for you today: BE GRATEFUL.

ARE WE IN ORDER?

“…let everything be done decently and in order.” 1 Cor 14:40

Order in the context of our discussion of today is simply defined as everything being arranged in its proper place. That is to say, there is the proper place for everything. Bringing this to a larger picture, permit me to say that everything about your life has an appropriate place. Putting your whole life into perspective, you discover there is an appropriate way to handle every issue of your life. Picture your life as a jigsaw puzzle; it does not make sense until everything is put in its proper place.

I have a few reasons why you and I may need to cultivate the habit of order:

1. ORDER ENHANCES BEAUTY. Have you ever seen a shelf disarranged? It sure does not look any inch beautiful. I had the privilege of organizing my boss` book shelf when we moved to a new office months ago. After several days of sorting and arrangement, the shelf took shape and it was a good sight. The same way a person`s life takes a beautiful shape if everything is put in order. Everyone appreciates the beauty of a well laid out housing estate as compared to a slum. If a life lacks order, it looks like a slum. Is your table or shelf or wardrobe disarranged? Try to arrange it and see if you like it or not. If you like it, do the same to issues of your life too. Your appointments, your daily itinerary, your spending pattern, even your dressing, and everything about your life must be in order. Then, real beauty will be seen on you.

2. ORDER PROMOTES PRODUCTIVITY. Have you seen a production line before? There can never be any successful production without a well laid out production process. Process design is a fundamental course in Engineering. Things don`t just happen, they have to be deliberately orchestrated. Creating or producing something takes a step-wise process. If any of the steps are missing, you come out with a fake or sub-standard product. Following such steps to ensure productivity is what order is about. A productive life, just like a production line requires order. If you are not yet at your optimum, check to see if everything is in good order. Do you want a qualitative life? Then create order in your life.

3. ORDER ENHANCES SAFETY. Several years ago, a young cousin of mine needed to do her home-work. She needed to sharpen her pencil, so she reached for the side pocket of her bag to get a razor. Instead of coming out with a razor, she came out with blood. She had just cut her fingers with the razor because she did not put the razor in its wrapper before putting it in her bag. The moral here is that when order is neglected, safety is compromised. Not all accidents are inevitable. Some can be prevented by doing things orderly. When you drive, be orderly, when you speak, be orderly. Let`s take some responsibility for our safety by learning to put order into our lives.

It is not too early or too late to start. At least, it is better to be late than never. You still have a whole life ahead of you. It is time to take your life to the next level. Little blocks fit together to make a building. Order is just one of those little blocks. But mind you, if any of the blocks is missing, then the building is a failure. Do not leave out this little block as you build your life.

SEE YOU AT THE TOP.

LIVING WITHOUT REGRETS

I wrote this on the 1^st of January, 2008, but posting it now. Compliments of the season to you. Let us start this year by considering how to live in 2008 and beyond without regrets.

What is regret? Simply, it is a feeling of sadness about something wrong or about a mistake you have made and a wish that it could have been different or better. By the end of 2008, I want to take a stock of the year and have no regret about anything whatsoever.

HOW CAN YOU AVOID REGRETS?

A prime factor to avoid regret is to take your decision making process seriously. Decisions are always time bound, you should not be too hasty neither should you be too slow. Apart from timing, decisions should not be made without adequate information and knowledge about the subject of decision. You will have to make decisions about almost everything that comes your way. When you make decisions, consider the long term effects of such decisions. Do not be short sighted. Every decision you take now will determine whether or not you will have any regret at the end of the year.

Next is your attitude to opportunities. Several opportunities to take your life to a higher level will present before you. But then, opportunities should be well discerned because not every attractive opportunity is actually a good one, so watch out. Also, a lot of times, opportunities come dressed in overall called “work”. Be alert, watch out for such opportunities to improve your career, improve your value in the organisations you belong to, improve the quality of your social relationships and improve your life.

Also important is your “locus of control”. Locus of control is the process of attribution. It could be internal or external. External locus of control means that you attribute everything that happens to you to the action or inaction of others or external factors. Internal locus of control means you take personal responsibility for everything that happens to you. If you operate an internal locus of control, you will learn to lead your life more responsibly and avoid regrets.

2008 comes really loaded. I pray that the evil therein will not be yours but the goodness and the blessings in the year will be yours.