A quick one
I’m alive!
I’ve been trying to decide on a direction for this blog, but the truth is I haven’t really had the time to devote it. I have however decided to keep it up and try my very best to make time for one or two posts per week.
I turned 24 a few weeks ago (yay me!), had a fun time with friends and my planned quite lunch for 10, turned to a party of almost (or even over) 30. I was overwhelmed, amazed and thankful; overwhelmed with joy, amazed at the love that surrounded me; thankful for the people who are not just friends but have become my family.
December 31st 2009 Reflections
This is not a very well thought out post. I discovered if I don’t write this now, time may just pass by…
The last few days have been that strange limbo period between Christmas and the New Year. For the first time in my life I made a conscious decision to utilise the time to reflect on the year, review the goals I set and develop some sort of scorecard of my achievements. The next step after the review was to set a vision and goals for 2010.
I realised that 2009; challenging and gloomy at some points was nonetheless an awesome year for me.
I realised that even though everyone assumed 2009 was going to be a mediocre year, for me it was great.
I certainly didn’t think this the entire time, and had several moments of panic and doubt at the actions I had to take to achieve my goals; but all in all faith got me through.
My faith and my dreams were tested a lot this year and I’m glad I found the strength at all times to move on.
I definitely didn’t get through this year on my own; I had the support of my family, the f and friends. They have all been so wonderful to me and I only hope I can be there for them as much as they have been for me. I found encouragement even from merely reading certain blogs.
In 2009 my motto was to Dream…Hope…Believe.
I have so much to be grateful for; I am back in the city I was this time last year and so much has changed. Now I’m planning a future with the man I love and got the job I wanted. I am so blessed and I’m grateful for my blessings…because as the song goes “count your blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!”.
2010 is the year I strive to be the best I can be.
Happy New Year everyone!
Picture this…
Part of my list of things on the 101 list is to reward myself for completed goals.
In celebration of my approximately 3120 miles move, as well as other completed goals; I nipped into Jessops and became the proud owner of a Canon EOS 450d aka Canon Digital Rebel Xsi!
Now all I need is lessons and practice to take fabulous pictures…
Back with a clearer mind
Dump the TV?
In September 2008 when I moved out of the university halls, I moved into a house with initially one girl (who later moved abroad) and 2 guys. After the other girl moved out a guy moved in, I was now living with three guys, this presented some problems and awkwardness. In the lounge there was this funny little 13 or 14 inch TV. Being the only girl and as is the case in a houseshare, a lot of times I didn’t get to watch what I wanted, because we had different interests.
I had to figure out a way to watch my shows, without waiting all week for the weekend omnibus. I started using the BBC’s iPlayer and ITV and Channel 4’s catch up services very often. I used this to keep up with TV shows, meaning I didn’t have to worry about missing the plot of shows I follow. The shows were available only after being broadcast on TV and accessible for a certain number of days.
Last night I was watching Peschardt’s Business People on the BBC where the business person being interviewed was Akash Aurora. He is an Indian business man was one of the first to set up a huge IT and outsourcing operation in Dubai. He is master-minding a revolution in the way sport is likely to be watched around the world (via BBC). The project being discussed was the video streaming of the Indian Premier League 20-20, where the matches can be watched live via computers and mobile devices.
It is a completely free service (internet connection required) and would allow viewers to have 16 screens up, hence getting a view from several angles of the pitch. Very much like Personal Video Recorder (PVR) decoders, a viewer can have instant rewind for reviews and pause playback; total control. Michael Peschardt asked him if this would replace or compete with viewing the match on TV. In his (Akash’s) opinion it would not be a substitute to TV, as viewers may use this to catch up with a game while away from home or view missed games.
I don’t watch much sport and the prevailing game around me has always been football apart except the Olympics and sometimes Tennis. Usually particular networks get broadcasting rights for certain football league seasons and games are often not broadcast on free to air TV.
Imagine if all games were available this way; online and free, would viewers choose this over TV? Probably, seeing as there are several ways to hook up TV sets to the internet or one could just choose to invest in a great monitor and dump the TV.
I Read…
The past week I haven’t been able to write for some reason, but I have been reading. Today I would like to share a few articles and blog posts that interested me the most.
- This post on Zen Habits reminds me of one of my favourite quotes by Dorothy Dix “Learn to live each day as it comes and do not borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow.”
- A post on 47 ways to fine tune your brain on Dumb Little Man.
- Just Doyin wrote on gratitude: a reminder that we need to be grateful to God at all times, no matter our situation. We have a lot to be grateful for.
- Gospel Artist Mandisa writes on her blog about her weight loss journey.
- How to double your chances for success by Mr Self Development.
Any recommendations on some good blogs out there?
Currently Reading: Score! by Jilly Cooper and The Power of Simple Prayer by Joyce Meyer.
Note to self
Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
- Margaret B. Runbeck
- Appreciate
- Do it now
- Smile
- No one can put you down
- Pick yourself up
- Live simple
- Love life
- Be confident
- Plan
- Have faith
Remember this place
Lakeside
The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions—the little soon-forgotten charities of a kiss, a smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment in the disguise of a playful raillery, and the countless other infinitessimals of pleasurable thought and genial feeling.
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The start of a couple’s journey and new friendships
Last weekend saw me taking a trip to attend a wedding. I arrived at my destination on Friday afternoon after a one hour flight and ninety minute drive which took three hours because of traffic.
Ready to take-off!
The traditional wedding ceremony which was on Friday afternoon was almost ruined by rain and the evil thing called ‘African time’. Nevertheless it was a wonderful afternoon and ceremony even though the MC was drenched in rain as he kept running from the canopy of the bride’s family to the canopy of the groom’s family.
The most striking thing about Nigerian weddings on whatever scale or budget is that they are often carnival-like; a large gathering of family, friends, colleagues and everyone the parents ever met. A wedding is the easiest time to draw the family map of a bride or groom. Everyone is present, either out of goodwill or obligation. A lot of people would try as much as possible to take time off work to be there to support the couple and/or their parents. People give gifts in different forms either particular items or financial aid to the bride’s parents who are the hosts. You can always feel the love all around.
The bride being prayed for by her parents at the traditional wedding. Sadly, I don’t have any picture of her in her lovely wedding gown worn on saturday.
Saturday was the church wedding and for the first time I witnessed a late groom. The bridal party were in the church long before the groom and we were asked to enter for the service to proceed. Even though the groom was not there to see his bride walk down the aisle, the ceremony was beautiful. I will never forget the moment the father of the bride handed her over to the groom with tears in his eyes; a lot of people were tearing up (or laughing).
It was also a great break for me and I made several new friends, so my 101 things list gets an update because I have 3 new female friends. It’s amazing how we just hit it off, we were bridesmaids together and initially united by a common dilemma. While getting dressed in the morning, we learnt that the makeup artist failed to turn up so we would have to do our own makeup in less than 10 minutes as we were running late. Though frustrating (I left all my makeup bar lip gloss and mascara in the hotel) we managed to pull it off and looked decent enough for the photographs.
It was a privilege to be part of the beginning of a couple’s journey into married life, witnessing their exchange of vows and rings, first kiss and first dance as a married couple.
Congratulations to the new Mr.&Mrs.
Lovely shopping/whatever-you-want-it-to-be bag from bride to bridesmaids.
Sunday Reflections: Love Life, Not Stuff
Before taking off for my weekend away I was unable to write a Sunday reflections post, so I thought I should share an article I read a while back over at Zen Habits, written by Leo Babauta.
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Love Life, Not Stuff by Leo Babauta
We’re in love with stuff — with shopping, with acquiring, with owning, with collecting.
Let’s lust after life instead.
Our obsession with stuff has become unhealthy. When we have a void in our lives, we buy things. When we have problems, we buy things. And these things are becoming more and more expensive, bigger, shinier … more wasteful.
This obsession with stuff leads to owning a lot, having a lot of clutter … and yet this stuff doesn’t fill our lives with meaning.
It leads to deep debt, from buying so much, and needing bigger houses and storage spaces to contain everything. Financially, we’re worse off than ever, because of this obsession with stuff.
We buy things when we’re depressed, we buy things for others to show how much we love them … and in this way, stuff has separated us from actually dealing with our emotions, blocked us from truly connecting with others.
Let’s replace that lust for stuff with a lust for life.
Some ideas:
- Rediscover a passion for life. Get outside and feel nature, appreciate the beauty of the world around you. Get active, do some gardening or yardwork, play a sport, go for a walk, take a hike, go for a swim, ride a bike. Feel the life coursing through you. Breathe it in.
- Give experiences as gifts, not stuff. Instead of shopping for someone come birthdays or Christmas, think of an experience you can give them instead. A date with you, doing something fun, hanging out, cooking, playing, talking, exploring. A fun time at a park or beach. Something other than everyday. An experience is much more meaningful than an object.
- Connect with others. In real life. If you haven’t hung out with a friend recently, give him a call and go hang out. Get your kid away from the TV or video game player and take her outside to do something. Go on a date with your partner. Visit your mom or grandparents. And be present while you’re with them — really listen, really be there.
- Deal with your emotions. If you have a need to buy things, to shop when you are having emotional issues, be more aware of this. Then deal with the underlying emotions, rather than using shopping as a way to forget about them. If you’re depressed, or anxious, or lonely, deal with those. Find solutions; figure out what’s causing them. Good news: experiencing life, getting active, and connecting with others all help you deal with those emotional issues.
- Disconnect your attachment to stuff. Sometimes I find myself reluctant to give something up, even if I don’t really use it. And that’s when I ask myself, “Why?” What is holding me back from getting rid of this possession? Sometimes, the item has an emotional connection, but then I realize that it’s just an object, it’s not the emotion or the actual source of the emotion. Then I’ll take a picture of the item, upload it to my computer, and get rid of the object. I feel liberated, because I’ve broken an attachment to a physical object (but saved the memory). If you are attached to an object, figure out why — it’s not healthy in the long run.
- Realize that life, not stuff, is what matters. Objects are just objects — if you lose them, if they get stolen or destroyed … it’s not a big deal. They’re just objects — not your life. Your life is the series of moments that is steaming through your consciousness right now, and how you use those moments and what you fill them with is what truly matters, not what you fill your home with. At the end of this short journey, you’ll look back and remember your experiences, the people you loved and who loved you back, the things you did and didn’t do. Not the stuff you had.
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In the last two years, I’ve moved from university halls to a house share, to an apartment and then moved back home with my parents’; every time I had to pack up I was always amazed by how much stuff I had accumulated. Each move presented a medium to get rid of some things I hardly use, but even then I found myself hanging on to certain things.
For me making myself comfortable in any location was accompanied by the acquisition of a lot of things. In the past few weeks I have been trying to de-clutter and aiming to live simpler, with less stuff. I’ve made myself distinguish between necessities, luxuries and items of sentimental value. This article really hit home and made me reflect on my stuff.
