dont stop!

playing sound track –  DONT STOP!

Earlier this morning at about 12: 23 am i was trying to re assure myself that i was on the right track, a lot have been going on in my life recently, i need to make major decisions that would affect me for the next first two years of my life and these first two years will also build who i intend to become in the next five years which would be about three years from the first two years ( well that’s how confusing my thought process have become) I am a people’s person but i recently have been tagged strong so getting concrete advice from people have been hard because even they come to me for some. I have been stuck with myself, twitter, my new job role, new series and my latest best male friend. Even though all these things and people give me hope and make me see a sweet reflection of myself i cant seem to get a grip of it. i looked through a cupboard where i keep books and files and finding my 2011 black book on a normal ground was suppose to make me feel great about my self because truly i have evolved, i am a better person, i write for pleasure and inspiration, i have my coy registered, i am in-love with myself, i have a good job and good colleagues, i have a complete healthy family, i have a close boyfriend 🙂 ( yeah right), i have people who look up to me, i am gracefully serving my father’s land, i have almost finished my first book, i have a lot of inspirations and aspirations, my fashion line is growing, i am becoming a better muslimah. God has been faithful but really and truly within myself i do not feel fulfilled and in August I had a major breakdown because i couldn’t figure out what i truly wanted for my self what i am truly good at doing, people’s idea of who i am is gradually taking me away from my personal goals and dreams, pride is beginning to set in, fear and sense of incompleteness is almost taking over my personality.

But alas! i have so much to be grateful for, so so much i can not mention all, I needed something to keep me going something to help drive my decision making process, something to curb my fears, something…. just something to make choosing between three major careers of my life and prioritizing my next goals EASIER. I couldn’t find, i got bored of thinking, I spoke to a friend and the same thing was said ” you have great potential, i respect you so much and i wish you can see a reflection of what you are, you inspire people, you make people feel good about themselves, you create lives and mentor both young and old” these were her words, i wasn’t exactly touched because i hear them at least once in a while. my mum reminds me everyday of how proud of me she is, my sisters looks up to me, i am currently mentoring 3o kids into entrepreneurship but i just dont feel fulfilled.
Having what i want sometimes make me act silly I remeber one sunday morning I woke up with this hunger for “akara”, I tweeted about it and got a very good friend and neighbour of mine @hobalola to be interested too, we set out to buy akara knowing fully well we might not get it, we asked several people on twitter and got several responses, after trying about six spots on the adeniji adele axis, we dashed to his friend (@engr_ejo)’s house hoping to get akara around his aboda, but unfortunately we didnt, he contacted the akara virus immediately, the rain poured heavily after we waited a few minutes we agreed it wont be a bad idea if we scouted for akara under d rain before the people selling pack up, we got two umbrellas and swappped simultaneously as we roamed the street of lagos looking for akara, we had covered the west part of eko in an hour under the rain and in the flood looking for akara, it got to a point we wouldnt mind were they were frying akara for someone’s burial but we didnt see, apparently people stopped dying on the island or maybe no one died 41 days ago,abi?.

Another 30minutes had passed it was already half 11 am, we were hungry and tired, found a nice spot to chill and eat puff puff. it was so nice but we were not tempted into remitting our money to the mallam frying it. This time we were at Idumota coming from Tinubu Square, on getting there i called a cousin of mine who promised we would see in their area, I was so happy and glad, we draggedourselves down and up the dirty streets of Idumota going to the obas palace around were my cousin stays, we got there with hopes and smiles on our dear faces, we sat on a bench just by the corner, it had been a great journey after searching for akara on a rainy sunday, we finally got to a spot were we would find. my cousin arrived and gave the bad news that the woman had packedup, i was sad and close to tears, i really do want to eat akara that day, i havent had it since the begining of the year and i never start what i wont finish. i felt defeated i was willing to go all the way to Ebute Metta or even Ikorodu if i would find the akara but everyone discouraged me that it was a sunday afternoon already and no one would fry akara 9 ofcourse i added that to my goals that some day soon, i would sell sunday akara and other stuff people dont get to see and buy on sundays).
Before heading back home, i went to greet my grandaunt as you know(if you pass in front of obas palace you must greet him) she scolded me at my foolish adventure into finding akara and blamed the jobless boys who followed me all the way and said ” cant you fry akara in your house?” wow! non of us thought of that but even if we did, i dont know how todo it, i have never tried it. it was time to go home and we realised we had spent all the N200 we had to buy akara on transport and puff puff, it means even if we saw akara, there would be no money to buy it. foolish us. but atleast we tried, we got back home really tired and angry but you know what? we didnt Stop!

we didnt stop our quest, we bought beans, pilled it together, added neccessary sauce: fish, beef, oil, pepe and the likes, mixed it up and started frying. we didnt know how to measure or fry after the first set got burnt, we did the next very well. it came out in funny shapes and sizes but the outcome was great and delicious, we shared with family and friends and now our story and stupid journey was worth it.
At this time 3:45am i thought to myself, even though everyone thinks I’m fulfilled, some think i have arrived and some dont even recognise me, my personal golas have not been achieved, though i might be confused and helpless but i will buy my beans, make my mixture, fry my akara and I wont stop trying! and the few i don’t get right i will seek help.

dont stop!!!!

Introduction to ISLAM

Asalam alaikum,

Mariaba bikun ya ramadan…

Hope everyone of us is preparing for Ramadan? For the next 30-40days, this blog would be laying emphasis on islamic facts, fouls, questions, stories, and many other entries on Islam. You as a muslim would benefit and receive blessing as you read and share and as a non muslim would be able to have answers to doubtful thoughts and unaswered questions. Tha aim is to introduce Islam in its purest and simplest state.
May Almighty Allah make it easy and accept it as an act of ibadah. Ameen!

Introduction to islam
Allah (God)

Islam is the complete submission and obedience to Allah (God).
The name Allah (God) in Islam never refers to Muhammad (pbuh), as many
Christians may think; Allah is the personal name of God.

What do Muslims believe about Allah?

1. He is the one God, Who has no partner.
2. Nothing is like Him. He is the Creator, not created, nor a part of His creation.
3. He is All-Powerful, absolutely Just.
4. There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of worship besides Him.
5. He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was,
and will be when nothing else remains.
6. He is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful,the Supreme, the Sovereign.
7. It is only He Who is capable of granting life to anything.
8. He sent His Messengers (peace be upon them) to guide all of mankind.
9. He sent Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet and Messenger for
all mankind.
10. His book is the Holy Qur’an, the only authentic revealed book
in the world that has been kept without change.
11. Allah knows what is in our hearts.

These are some of the basic guidelines Muslims follow in their knowledge of God:

1. Eliminate any anthropomorphism (human qualities) from their conception of Allah. His attributes are not like human
attributes,despite similar labels or appellations.
2. Have unwavering faith in exactly what Allah and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) described Allah to be, no more, no less.
3. Eradicate any hope or desire of learning or knowing the modality of His names and attributes.
4. Belief totally in all the names and attributes of Allah; one cannot believe in some and disbelieve the others.
5. One cannot accept the names of Allah without their associated attributes, i.e. one cannot say He is Al-Hayy – ‘The Living’ and then say that He is without life.
6. Similarity in names (or meanings) does not imply similarity in what is being described (referents). As a robotic arm differs from a human arm, so the “hand” of Allah is nothing like a human hand, His speech is nothing like human speech, etc.
7. Certain words are ambiguous or vague in their meanings, and thus may be susceptible to misinterpretation. Only those meanings that are in accordance with what is specified by Allah and His Prophet (pbuh) are acceptable.

Cleanliness
Islam places great emphasis on cleanliness, in both its physical and spiritual aspects. On the physical side, Islam requires the Muslim to clean his body, his clothes, his house, and the whole community, and he is rewarded by God for doing so.
As we all know; cleanliness is next to Godliness
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, for example:

“Removing any harm from the road is charity (that will be rewarded
by Allah).” [Bukhari]

While people generally consider cleanliness a desirable attribute, Islam insists on it , making it an indispensible fundamental of the faith. A muslim is required to to be pure morally and spiritually as well as physically. Through the Qur’an and Sunnah Islam requires the
sincere believer to sanitize and purify his entire way of life.

In the Qur’an Allah commends those who are accustomed to cleanliness:

“Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those
who keep themselves pure and clean.” [2: 22]

Allah orders the believer to be tidy in appearance:

“Keep your clothes clean.” [74:4]

The Qur’an insists that the believer maintain a constant state of purity:

“Believers! When you prepare for prayer wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows; rub your heads (with water) and (wash)
your feet up to the ankles. If you are ritually impure bathe your whole body.” [5: 6]

Bringing about the invention of ablution
.
Ritual impurity refers to that resulting from sexual release, menstruation and the first forty days after childbirth. Muslims also use water, not paper or anything else to after eliminating body wastes.

Prophet Muhammad )pbuh) advised the Muslims to appear neat and tidy in private and in public. Once when returning home from battle he advised
his army:

“You are soon going to meet your brothers, so tidy your saddles
and clothes. Be distinguished in the eyes of the people.” [Abu Dawud]

On another occasion he said:

“Don’t ever come with your hair and beard disheveled like a devil.” [Al-Tirmidhi]

And on another:

“Had I not been afraid of overburdening my community, I would have ordered them to brush their teeth for every prayer.” [Bukhari]

Moral hygeine was not ignored, either, for the Prophet (pbuh) encouraged the muslims to make a special prayer upon seeing themselves in the mirror:

“Allah, You have endowed me with a good form; likewise bless me
with an immaculate character and forbid my face from touching the
Hellfire.” [Ahmad]

And modesty in dress, for men as well as for women, assists one in
maintaining purity of thought.

Being charitable is a way of purifying one’s wealth. A Muslim who does not give charity (Sadaqah) and pay the required annual Zakah, the 2.5% alms-tax, has in effect contaminated his wealth by hoarding that which rightfully belongs to others:

“Of their wealth take alms so that you may purify and sanctify
them.” [9: 103]

All the laws and injunctions given by Allah and His Prophet (pbuh) are pure; on the other hand, man made laws suffer from the impurities of human bias and other imperfections. Thus any formal law can only be truly just when it is purified by divine guidance – as elucidated by the Qur’an and the Sunnah – or if it is divinely ordained to begin with – the Shari’ah.

Introduction of Islam continues soon 😀

Jazakum lah kairan as you share this post, welcome!

welcome to peace

Love, a mystery through the ages ~ JJ @omojuwa

Morning blog ville, slept with L♥√ع in my heart and woke up feeling loved, and then @Omojuwa’s piece on L♥√ع just put a large smile in my heart, yes! The heart does smile….. Enjoy!

***************************************

As old as man, as mysterious as his thoughts. As soothing as the calm that comes with sharing it with the one your soul desires, like balm for every point of pain. Flip it and it becomes the source of many wars, the path to the underworld and the word that plays through the brain of many broken hearts who have found shelter in psychiatric homes. That same Love is the cord that joins many hearts together. Love has its many parts. While it is what keeps some hearts going, it is the reason some others don’t want to live anymore.

Often mistaken for a lot of other passions, including infatuation and even hatred, Love remains an enigma even in the age of incessant technological possibilities. I bet you’d wonder how Love could be mistaken for hatred. Have you ever wondered why two people who seemingly hated each other ended up having the best union? Sometimes Love mirages as hatred. You think you hate someone and you express it with so much vigour and passion, only for you to discover one or two things about the person and the passion takes a different hue. It expresses itself, as it always was in your heart even when you did not realise it. You discover you are in love even when it had always been there to be nurtured.

Of all that has been said and written about Love, few come as ironic as what I call the shadow of Love. We ignore those who desire us and desire those who ignore us. We love even more those who hurt us and are often bent on hurting those who love us. We run after those who’d run far away from us and run far away from those who run after us. We are desperate to have those that’d rather have other people, and are more desperate to have other people than have those that want us so much. Love plays around like a shadow that can be seen and even admired but never to be touched or even had. Most times we are in an endless cause of chasing shadows, thinking we are almost at the point of touching Love, but never to truly have it.

This brings about a chain of broken hearts and broken homes. We love today and tomorrow the love seemingly sags when we suddenly realise we love another. I may not know all about love but I know enough to conclude that there can be no love without sacrifice. You can’t claim to love someone until you can firmly conclude that you can and will sacrifice desires that contrast with your love for that whom you claim to love.

You will never have the most beautiful woman as wife, because some day beauty loses colour and soon fades, and soon you are back on the road chasing another woman. It often comes to me as strange, when men have beauty as top of their priority in choosing a wife. You desire the most beautiful woman, forgetting that the true beauty of a woman lies in her heart. She is not beautiful a woman if she does not possess a beautiful heart. Miss out on that and you miss out on everything. The beauty of the body soon fades, but that of the heart is immortal. It survives death because as the evil that men do lives after them, the good they showed leaves the world with them and also survives them.

It may come across as many things but despite its seeming mystery, Love is simple enough. It takes faith to Love. It takes faith to decide that, despite the glut of beauties in the world, once you decide for one, it will be that and that alone. If all that keeps you in love is the beauty you see, then in time the absence of it will keep you out of it.

Find a reason beyond what is seen, find the path to the heart of the one you love and discover the power of Love. If Love is not seen but felt, what makes you think what you see is what will keep your love going. Love may be a mystery, but if your heart of understanding is receptive to the truth, you will find that Love thrives on the mystery of Faith. What then is Faith? While you ponder on that, let me help your imagination by saying there would be no need for Faith in the midst of certainty. Faith exists because of uncertainty. Being certain of what is uncertain. This is the true essence of Faith, and it is where Love derives its essence, not on the certainty of a transient physical beauty that soon fades away.

I thank God for my physical beauty but I thank Him even more for the beauty of my heart. That is the essence of me and whoever discovers that discovers me. That is the path to demystifying the seeming Mystery of Love.

PS: Published in my Facebook Notes, May, 2010

Project I’M MADE – theres no stopping YOU

5fingers 5courses 5weeks

Happy sunday y’all , what’s cracking? With me, i got so many good things happening to me, i can’t even count my blessings even though some really challenging things are attached i keep being positive :D.

The project which i talked about few weeks ago has kicked off and i thought to share with you all. There are some re arrangements and considerations, the project which is aimed at training, counselling and empowering of secondary school students and corps members in Lagos on skill acquisition and entrepreneurship. Whilst doing these, we aim at campaigning on child/youth right to solid and affordable education, security and good health care.

The various training will run for 5weeks in 5courses contrary to the previous post saying 15-20courses, we agreed that some of the courses are not visible and cannot be learnt in 5weeks or less due to some facts. The choosen courses are:
Hairstyling, baking, make up artistry, pasteris/chops and accessory making.

50students, from 5schools will be trained in 5courses for 5weeks with the help of 5 professionals in each course! Project I’M MADE is been approved and will start registrations of students by next week, venue for training and counselling will be communicated soon.

For sponsorship, partnering and questions please contact project Director Adebola Maryam F madeanswers@gmail.com or Ff @MADE_creations on twitter.

You can be a team member, talk about the project and be a success driver by helping develop *NG* through this project, you do not have to start big, talking and acting is a way of change! Change we all Nigerian Youth crave for.

If not NOW… When? If not YOU… Who else?

logo

who i am…

Who i am..

Life is full of these twists and turns.

Life is a story that makes absolutely no sense but follows this path that makes us all feel secure enough to go on another day. I just finished watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I have been reaching out to feel as many different things as I can through as many different outlets as I can. I am not looking for an answer. There is no answer. Life is about what we feel. We don’t always understand why we feel the way that we do and sometimes we hate the way that we are feeling but there are times when we feel this complete sense of euphoria. We have those small moments when everything seems to make complete and absolute sense.

There seems to be this order to life that so many people follow. We live a childhood and go to school, we go to college or get a job, we find “the one”, we get married, we have babies, we live happily ever after. I see bits and pieces of this picture. I have never been able to see any of these things clearly without feeling suffocated. I cannot equate love with settling down. I equate love to this amazing sense of desire. I picture so many scenarios in my head of what I truly believe love is. I think this scenario is my head is what makes me believe that most people that say they are in love really aren’t. This scenario is what makes me believe that most people are settling because they are afraid of being alone. I am afraid of being alone but I do not want to settle for the wrong reason. I do not want the house with the white picket fence. I don’t need the materialistic things to share with another person. In my vision I imagine sitting on a blanket on the beach watching the tide roll in together and sharing stories about our dreams, what makes us crazy, what makes us laugh, what makes us cry.

I picture endless moments together learning every moment and every aspect we can about each other. I see creating art together in different ways, whether it be by taking pictures of each other in the most random of times just to capture and hold onto that moment—to be able to revisit that feeling. When I think about love I feel it in every part of me. I am alone right now because of this vision I have. I want something that maybe is completely unobtainable. I don’t want to give up this vision though. One time I thought I felt what love was, at least parts of it. I felt love in a short time and I had doubts because everything in society told me that it is impossible to love someone right away. Is it? Love for everyone is so very different. I do not mean to devalue love by saying a lot of people settle…I am just going by what my internal feelings are…something I am unable to control.

I am in a calm place in my life right now but I still experience moments of madness in my mind. There is nothing about my thought process that will ever be simple. I don’t know why I am like this. On the outside most people wouldn’t know I am like this. My head sometimes is this never-ending series of questions and desires to walk different paths. I met this man once in the past that made me feel like my way of thinking was ok…it was better than ok. When you fall in love does everything all of a sudden fall into place and make sense or does everything become even more confusing?

With this blog entry there was absolutely no direction to be taken. I have meandered from one idea to the next and to the reader it may not make even a little bit of sense. I have those moments when I just need to spew anything out that I can because my feelings inside are so intense. I look at my life and I wonder where I have come from. I seem so different from my family members (I love them dearly). I cannot figure out where this natural curiosity and wonder about every little aspect of life came from. I must have learned something somewhere that got the ball (actually the boulder) rolling. On the outside I believe I appear to be pretty normal but on the inside sometimes I feel like I am so odd and so strange because I think about things that seem to really be of no concern to others. I chase after knowledge and information of things from the past to keep learning.

I cannot lie, I want this feeling back. I don’t need it back from this same person (I am not sure how I would even act if the opportunity arose). I just love that sense of security within yourself because of the presence of another. I love the feeling of hanging off of someone’s every word because they intrigue and they inspire you just by being themselves. I love to see someone experience weaknesses and have flaws because it makes them more real and it makes me love them even more. I can be by myself. I have made it this long and I have experienced a happiness that I know some people could only dream of but I want this feeling back. Things you experience alone may be wonderful but they are undoubtedly 100 times better when they are shared. In a way, love is about attraction but it is more (in my opinion) about understanding someone. Love is about having that uncontrollable urge to ask someone to tell you in great detail what the journey of their life has been like so you can build a story in your head. Love is doing the simplest of things but finding great joy in them because you are with this person that makes you feel alive…more than alive. I don’t want my path determined for me and when it has come to meeting people of the opposite sex and swimming in the dating pool, I feel like with so many everything would be mapped out. With so many there would be no curiosity, no intrigue, no wonder, no mystery.

I asked the question of who I am and I have given you sneak peeks. Being asked who you are is such an abstract question. I will not answer by telling my occupation or by describing my physical nature. Those are superficial things about me….those things give me no definition. I can answer this question but I admit it would be way more interesting to find out how others around me would answer the question. It would give me a look inside of them…how they view me. I am obviously the only person that will ever truly “know” me. I know that there is nothing that is ever permanent about me. I am constantly changing from one concept to the next to try everything I can out. I am a wanderer and an artist. I am a seeker of beauty in all of its forms. I am an embracer of words. My physical self is not who I am. My thoughts are not who I am because those exit just as quickly as they enter. I am this soul that feels every variety of emotion imaginable. I believe I have even experienced emotions and feelings that remain nameless. I struggle with the written word sometimes because what I feel is not able to be put into words…at least not in a manner that makes a lot of sense.

I hope I have not run anyone off with my craziness in this entry. I have felt kind of unbalanced (for lack of a better word) all day. I know that writing is what brings me back to my center…even if the words and the thoughts are all over the place. This entry is filled with madness and disorganization but that is me. I do not want to hide. I want to lay myself out there for everyone to see and hopefully more people will love me for that than not.

so…. WHO ARE YOU? ( you can email me)

Are you where you thought you would be?

Are you where you thought you would be at this point in your life?

I have been asked this question over and over again and every time the answer changes. The answer changes because I am always changing. Where you want to be in your life and where you think you will actually be are 2 very different things. As children we all wanted to be rich and famous and well-known (well most of us-maybe not all). But realistically we knew this was not going to be the case.

I can honestly say I never had a clear picture of what I thought my life would be like at this point.

I am the type of person that wants to learn and experience so much that I am unable to think of a life only one certain way. It would actually be almost impossible to picture my life at a future time. I will always have goals and dreams and I do hope some of these come into fruition but I don’t rely on these things to shape my life to define me.

I believe I am undefinable. I would have never guessed that I would be working in an IT firm or even be a fashion designer or at most surprising be a writer. I want to pursue a degree in human resource management or project management, I will eat my words with saying this and probably catch a lot of hell, but I am unsure of exactly how I want to use this degree and i definitely will go to fashion school. When I first started with this it was never my intention to make a name out of this but over the past year I have dove a lot into art and even learning how to sew and more on design techniques. people recommend, request and call me for different projects i don’t even have any idea about, its so sweet to know that few people believe in me and that as earlier planned am a role model to a few and still in-charge of my little tittle “FIRST CHILD”

OK, now back to the topic at hand…Am I where I thought I would be at this point in my life? As stated, I never saw my life in a certain way. if going by my initial plan, i should still be in school studying medicine, but going by the later plan, well what can i say Alhamdulilah. The only thing that is most important in my life (and I hope it is in everyone else’s – even through the hard times) is happiness. The thing about that though that I needed to change was realizing that happiness is a journey and not a destination. I still have to remind myself of that all of the time because I am always looking for an end…and while looking for that end I am missing the incredible journey I am on in this very moment. It has taken me a really long time to get to this point.

I am at a crucial point in my life where things are starting to make sense and I am feeling more in tune with who I am than I ever have. I still have a hard time accepting things and I do not always stand up for myself and I dislike confrontation in any form but I am learning. I am accepting what is right now. I am learning that I am beyond lucky for the things that I have in my life. I go through phases of loneliness and anxiety but I never stop forgetting that they are only moments and the world is too big of a place to get stuck in one small rut. I am slowly starting to talk more about who I really am and face fears that I had been ignoring for a long time. I am bringing what is on the inside out and the journey is absolutely breathtaking.

So i am not there yet, a lot of things have gone out of place, a lot in place and a lot too arranged am over whelmed but i am grateful and happy to be where i am because it is so promising and with you all by my side encouraging me.. i will get there!

ARE YOU THERE YET? and if not, where would you be in 5years?

THE WAKE UP CALL

Good morning, at least there is something good about this morning, even though it might not be the same in another region but whichever situation we are, we should be grateful.

Let’s re-wind to about 40hours ago….

I was getting set with my friends and a cousin of them who just got in from the UK few days back, the aim was to show her the fun side of Nigeria, we were all looking fly and sexy. The gals in colorful dresses and the guy looking cool, ready to go storm the beach and have maximum fun. We were about leaving when i decided to update my status as usual, ..beach things.. Only for me to see about two updates saying there was a plane crash; to be sincere i wasn’t moved but then i decided to check twitter and that was all over my TL, I quickly asked a couple of people i know would have facts and they confirmed. I told the people around me in the house and they were so engrossed in the on-going match and no one paid attention.

We proceeded anyway, i couldn’t explain what was going through my mind. I was confused, sad, angered, disappointed, everything else but not excited. On the 3rd of June, 2012 a DANA AIR plane crashed into the streets of Iju-Ishaja at about 2pm with 153passagengers and 9crew members on board all these numbers are nothing compared to the numbers of lives and property lost in the past months due to terrorist attacks or accidents which all falls back to the Government as people already started blaming on twitter and every other social network.

At 4:50pm when i left the house, no local Television station was showing it, no media house was talking, no ambulance, no government parastatals at the scene, no help, nothing! And we hear rage and rants everywhere. I got to Elegushi beach and i kept wondering what if that plane crashed over my house, what if my friends are on that plane, what if what if, but my questions were never why.

I have grown to never question God for his actions, because he his merciful and all knowing, he will warn us and pet us. I am no better than the crashed, neither are you. But my anger is, why would this happen in this country, i am not wishing another country bad, my anger is why would a 29years old plane be allowed to fly? Why would there be houses and industries just around an airport, i might have not flown to many countries but research shows that many other countries have their airports very far away from town. Let’s agree the passengers boarded their coffin but are the ground men too living on coffins, am i walking on a ground coffin? Should i not sleep in peace because i live near the airport? Should i not transact businesses because my government is incapable? Should i live everyday as my last because by government is incompetent or because i fear God?

It has come to my notice on several occasions that life goes on after we are gone, no matter your status or figure, not minding what you have or have done, do people even have heart anymore, have we lived in a dark country with our black skin so much our souls are becoming dark, do we not cry anymore, no we not THINK anymore? Do we forget that DEATH is eminent and do we forget that there is an ETERNAL LIFE after DEATH where will would all answer to our DEEDS, this is not a matter of religion but a matter of compassion. Have you thought that your so-called cherish family could perish in a day or that one step you take today could be your last.

Let’s forget DEATH for a moment, since that’s certain, are we not ashamed anymore, have we not courtesy or fear, i was telling someone i felt bad because i had a dream δ day before about a plane crash but though i was hallucinating due to the Allied air that crashed in Ghana, this was the only reason my friend didn’t travel to Lagos that day(at least so he said) but whichever way, why would someone laugh at such things, i am not saying weep or feel sorry for me but do you ever remorse, another friend sent a funny broadcast as to

“U travel by road, A tanker will catch fire..by air, plane crashes..u sit in ur house,the plane will come and meet u, u go to church boko haram will attack u,u go by sea,militants will attack,u finally run to ur village,u r kidnapped..! No safe place in naija. Cotonue I see u=))”   just in-between the whole crisis as much has i tried to see sense in it, i couldn’t because of the last line and the sarcastic laugh symbol.

This is sad, we keep saying we are the leaders of tomorrow and we are not acting like one, you a graduate and cannot think of a good life for yourself, if your life ends, what the use of all the life you wasted? he that is DEAD is BETTER than he that is BORN. But BETTER than BOTH of them is he that NEVER EXISTED. We keep saying life is unfair but the fact that every human has to share the grace and pains of life is what defines the fairness of life.

What did the people at the scene do aside taking pictures, well at least they tried, but what about the fools that went there only to take pictures with the debris as background, what of those that took there time to compose unnecessary funny message just 24hours after the crash saying we need a little laugh. My dear brothers and sisters, what little laugh do we need?, when we do not have the basic amenities to a good life, when bombs from BOKO HARAM has become the norms to a particular elite, of what difference do the plane crash victims have to the past Bomb blast victims or is it that death now has class? If the FG had to declare 3days mourning after every incident/accident, won’t we be mourning every week? THINK! Its time to think, we shouldn’t be all about profits and fame keyword being ALL ABOUT we live life to survive and on this universe, its the survival of the fittest, nobody chose that.

Its a shame that what our fore fathers have worked for is beginning to collapse right before our eyes but what are we youths doing ? As we pray for our fore-fathers will our generation pray for us, we all updated our status and say #pray4Nigeria, how many of you actually did? . We all blame Jonathan and the likes, i am not sorry to say this is how they started, as bad sons and daughters, greedy friends and colleagues,incompetent class reps and SUGs, and the likes of us who know the right thing to do but hide in our abode, who keep quiet when we see bad planes and cars, who send worthless BCs but never take actions, who entered DANA Air to Uyo, Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and saw or noticed something was wrong but didn’t deem it fit to send that broadcast then, you should THINK!

Ogundamisi said, he once sat in a plane with holes but never talked and prayed to grace and mercies of God just for safe landing, well he landed safe and i hope that plane never crash till they all banned. This is not a post to proffer solutions but to tell you that, weather you like it or not, this incidents are wake up calls; if not how come different people from at least every arms of the government ranging from, NUC, CBN, Ministries, Army, Military, NNPC, political parties and several business holders, people with different religions and faith, infants, married, just married, engaged, Ini the only child of her Old parent, Ibrahim the only hope of his father, the Chinese, Raju whose first trip to Nigeria brought his families and company sorrow. Please, let’s stop saying, let’s start acting! Nigerians are virus, so what we say or do spread fast, if you know or sense anything, just say. No government is ready to take care of us, its high time we joined hands together and save ourselves.

let it linger in the mind of those contractors, engineers, aviation managers, NCAA, MINISTRY OF AVIATION, DANA officials and ,many others involved that they have made a nation weep and they have dropped several heroes and hopes, let them know we might not know them by face but they will not rest or no peace for as long as the memory of June 3rd 2012 remains.

May God rest the dead, punish the cause, pray for Nigeria, and console their Families. AMEN!!

Gracias.

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my evolution

I thank GOD  Almighty for keeping you and i till this day 24-o5-12. from the day i was born 24-05-90 at exactly 12:24:05, my doctor has said i was a special breed.

I thank everyone that took there time to wish me a happy birthday, i thank all those that sent messages, and posts, all the funny pictures of me and all the prayers, i just cant say thank you enough but if 200 and counting are repping me on their display pictures and my twitter mentions is over 300 with the uncountable Facebook posts and net logs and the likes. i thank NOKIA for sending me a special birthday song and every other organizations that started my day.

i just feel i owe you more;

please do not laugh

the day after my birth..

22 years later

i was named: Maryam Funmilayo Ajoke Morenikeji Olajumoke Adelaja Oluwapamilerinayo Olamiposinuoluwa ADEBOLA

and my names survive

smiles

and i clocked 2 in a red dress :

i was 3 and that’s my wonderful daddy

on my 4th birthday with my lil sis and mu

clocked 5 in a denim with my bf 😀

i rocked denim yesterday in memory of my 5th birthday. lol

another birthday in red 😀

THE FACE CAP IS BEEN WAY BACK 😀

ONE OF THE 2 BIRTHDAYS I EVER CELEBRATED..

and then i graduated………

currently serving my green country

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, i am 22 years old and i cannot in any way explain the epitome of joy in my heart but hopefully when i settle, i can.

God bless you my special friend, for the fireworks you put off at 5am this morning having driven all the way from IKEJA to my house on the island, Gosh! that was awesome! i just hope you took a picture.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone else for the gifts i have received ( will post pictures later). SEE Y’ALL AT MY EXCLUSIVE PARTY!!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

What is happiness?

I am currently in the sky (yes I love this place) and I just had the most delicious cake meal and I am now starting on different projects. An older couple (probably early 70’s) is sitting in comfy chairs across from me. and yes being in love doesn’t mean you are happy or vice versa. The woman is doing stuff on her Ipad and the man is flipping through a magazine. They have been chatting back and forth about random things, travel plans, etc. What I noticed was that even during the times they weren’t talking the man had his arm stretched to grasp onto his wife’s hand and was rubbing the inside of her palm with his thumb. I have stated before my take on love and I really don’t think that many people get to experience what true love is. I get a vibe though that this couple is experiencing love-not experienced but experiencing. They seem to be the best of friends and just their actions show such an ease with each other. I know that I don’t know anything about their lives but from this small glance it would appear that they have achieved happiness in their lives. They are enjoying their journey and they are lucky to have found a companion to share the journey with.

I started to ponder the thought, concept, idea and feeling of happiness in this moment. Happiness is one of those words that does not have a set definition. Webster’s dictionary may disagree but I am going to stick to what I believe. Happiness is a feeling. It is a feeling that you can have in a mere moment or you can hold onto for hours and days and weeks and years. Happiness is something you choose. I think about my happiness. The last guy I dated and I were laying in my bed one night and we were just talking about all kinds of things. We started discussing happiness and he told me he didn’t want me to tell him that he made me happy. I was shocked and so confused. What he meant was…he wanted me to embrace my own happiness and realize that it is all mine. No one else can make you happy. You make yourself happy through your choices and your journey. I wanted to tell him a million times that he made me happy but then I realized that I needed to rephrase it. I would tell him that being with him made me feel happy. since having someone makes me happy. It may seem like an odd concept to some but it makes perfect sense to me because in truth I own my happiness completely because being happy is my choice., no one else’s.

I have decided to start a personal list of those things that make me feel happiness. The list could be endless but I will spare my readers too many words. I want to do this so people are able to reflect on their own lives and think about what makes them happy. I want people to think that happiness really is a choice. Even in troubling times you are able to make yourself happy if that is what you really want. You can allow yourself to see the silver lining even if it seems to be hidden behind dark, black clouds. There is a lot of chaos and heartbreak that surrounds us in the world and I think that we need these things to think about sometimes. I try to keep an upbeat tone in my writings as much as I can so people are able to (hopefully) let their problems go for even a moment and reflect on their lives and see what they are blessed with. I, sometimes, take my life for granted and I need time to ground myself and think about what makes me happy and what I am thankful for. Happiness surrounds me every day.

Happiness is:

1) Watching a sitcom and laughing until you have tears on your face

2) Watching an old couple (very obviously) in love

3) Having an amazing conversation with a friend-feeling like this conversation has changed you and has made you see and understand the other person better.

4) Watching the curiosity and wonder in a child’s face.

5) A true and genuine hug from someone you really care about.

6) having cold drink after a long walk in the sun

7) A delicious hot coffee on a cold day.

8) The most delicious piece of  cake.

9) Having friends in your life that you can have serious moments with but can also laugh for hours with (I like to call this achieving hanger face-you can’t stop smiling and it looks like you have a hanger stuck in your mouth).

10) Seeing/Learning a different perspective

11) Loving yourself unconditionally.

12) Receiving an unexpected compliment that turns your whole day around.

13) People complimenting you efforts

14) Accomplishing a goal that you thought was impossible.

15) Meeting someone new that you immediately feel comfortable with and know you want to spend more time with.

16) Embracing the things you love and running with them-mine would be writing and creating.

17) Paying a complete stranger a compliment because you want others to feel good.

18) Trying something completely new and different-Going outside of your comfort zone. mine would be staying out late

19) Hanging with friends/family beside a river

20) Not having to rely on money-Finding plenty of things to do on a very limited budget and still have a blast.

21) Art/photography that moves you.

22) Listening to your favorite song/a song that you would swear was written for or about you.

23) Learning about something new that you never thought would interest you and actually really enjoying it.

24) Offering someone help when they need it.  the other i helped put a party together and i found happiness making others happy. Acts of kindness and paying it forward can go a really long way.

25) Have a child run and jump into your arms because they are so excited to see you.

26) collecting your salary and not having to pay any debt or bills.

27) is tweeting non- stop

28) being stucked with your blackberry because pings are coming from almost all your contacts

29) going to bed with anticipation of seeing someone special

30) is getting a ring on that tiny finger in a way you never imagined

For my readers, I know I am like a broken record, but these are the moments to cherish. Life can sometimes get us so caught up that we forget what is truly important. I ask of you to take a moment to look at what you have done lately. Have you helped someone? Have you paid someone an unexpected, genuine compliment? Have you lent your ear because you know someone needed it? I truly believe when you do these things that you will understand what true happiness is. Happiness is something we feel within but it comes from all of the things outside of us. Happiness can be found around every corner and one tiny thing can bring you an abundance of happiness. I hope you take the time to find your own happiness as well as become a part of helping others find theirs.

what really makes you this happy?