VOYAGE 2

Overcome with joy he hugged the old man, holding on tight like he’ll never let go, weeping and stammering out thank you. Whoever heard of someone loving a wretch? He determined he was going to dream this dream forever, he was never going to wake up.

In a very short while he was absorbed into the community, he had been there just thirteen days and he now knows everyone’s name. Well, considering that it’s written on their houses, it was pretty easy to learn. Another thing that was easy is that it was very easy for the people to forget where they were coming from or was it that they remembered it too much?

Sitting down there on one of the cities smooth stones, some young men were having a conversation about where they had lived earlier, Steve wondered why anyone would want to remember that! He decided that he for one will not be part of that story telling. He was in a place as diverse from his old place as water is from acid to a thirsty man. He longed for the morning when he’ll again bathe in the water blood pool. The pool was magical in that it is whatever you want it to be, it could be water or blood and everyone bathed in it daily. It not only cleansed their bodies, it cleaned their minds. It was water that made them happy, that was as close a description as he could give the unexplainable emotion that is felt in the water. Make no mistakes, sometimes, it welled up so much emotion in a person that it is quite common to see people cry in it though they can’t explain why and feel no physical pain.

Very soon the newness of the experience became quite a thing of the past, it seemed to Steve that he had lived there forever, the things that once astonished him to speechlessness he could now walk by without a thought, the pool had also lost its mysteriousness to him, it was now just water. He remembered that there was a time when the pool was also blood but only the new folks who came in daily still saw the water as blood and oh a few of the old residents too. Majority of the people saw only water and didn’t give another thought. There was so much to do!

For instance since the absence of the old man these past months – 4 months to be precise, they had decided that someone must oversee the land and had appointed for themselves old man patorry who had in his wisdom decided that the new people must earn their houses that already have names on it. Old man patorry explained to the people that there was no reason why everyone should go bathe in the pool, instead the waters of the pool would be brought to them in containers which the new comers will then haul for some of the prominent members of the land, which he went ahead to name. Everyone including Steve thought this was indeed very wise. The new members will earn their house which is already prepared for them after they had hauled water for a period of time for the leaders of the land.

And so began the new tradition, new people came into the land daily and where made to earn their houses. These people were very happy to do the work for as long as it took. They would do anything to earn their place in the land of Deen.

THE VOYAGE PT1

Suddenly he was free. What is this? He looks back; filth, death and nothingness cloud his eyes. Quickly he removed his gaze, he didn’t need a reminder. He lived through it all, it wasn’t a story told to him. It was him.

Almost unsure, he raises his gaze and just ahead of him was beauty as he had never seen. It wasn’t beautiful because of the colours or arrangement of objects, it was beautiful because of the intensity of light, everywhere in front of him dazzled with this light, he looked on amazed that no object cast shadows, there was no darkness at all, confused he asked ‘how can this be?’.

He jerked violently expecting to be attacked when he heard a voice say to him ‘this is your new home’. Wondering where the voice was, he turned and saw a man, not very handsome because he was sad. The pain he saw in his eyes made him gasp how could anyone be this sad? He couldn’t quite tell his age because it is a well known fact that sadness and pain does add its own age. So confused was his mind about what was happening around him that the only solid thought he could hold on to was trying to decipher the man’s age! At the same time he wondered what he would do with the knowledge.

Again the man spoke ‘why do you reject this?’ now he knew the man was not talking to him, as he opened his mouth to ask, he noticed for the first time blood on the man’s dress. ‘Oh you must be injured!’ he shouted as he rushed to him, thinking to help but he stopped just short of him. How and with what could he help? He thought. Touching him will probably disease the wound, he knew he was filthy and though he needed to bath and be clean, he knew that was too much to hope for.

The old man looked at him and smiled, ‘you will find water there’ he said pointing to the light. Quickly he raced to the light and almost immediately he saw a pool of sparkling water, forgetting the old man completely, he jumped in. but there was something odd with the water he thought; it made him happy and very soon he was chuckling and then laughing out loud, he told himself he was never going back to that filth he called home. He would live in this water for the rest of his life. But then the water turned to blood. Blinking rapidly, he swam as fast as he could to the edge and climbed out, looking down at himself, he realized that he was cleaner than he had ever been and there was not a hint of blood on him. But there in front of him was the blood he just swam out of, the blood that made him clean. Remembering the old man, he turned to look for him and there he was right before him dressed in his own former clothes ‘but how come you are wearing my filthy clothes he asked?’ then it hit him that he didn’t strip before entering the pool but he was dressed in the best apparel he ever saw, finally, he knew the old man had some answers, so he asked ‘tell me, what is happening?’ to which the old man replied, ‘ I traded places with you, you don’t have to live in filth and death anymore. You can now live in this light. ‘Just like that?’ he whispered fearing he was about to awaken from a dream. ‘Yes just like that’ the old man replied ‘why not take a walk?’ he didn’t need to be told twice ‘why shouldn’t he enjoy the dream he wondered.

As he walked on, he saw several houses, several people all clean, they must have washed in the blood too he thought to himself. Then he noticed that the houses had names on them not numbers, thinking it funny, he wondered what manner of city this was, he had a smile on his face until he saw a house with his name on it. STEVE PAUL ‘that’s my name!’ he screamed. The old man who had been by his side replied, ‘yes it is your house’.

‘But what did I ever do to deserve this?’ ‘Nothing’ the old man replied. ‘Nobody can ever do anything to deserve any of these” he said with a sweeping gesture. ‘It is mine and I give it to you’.

To be continued.

He smiles… She smiles

A smile confuses an approaching frown.

Smiling is a tested way of making friends, it is proven conversation starter and a unique selling point for anyone who possesses it.

Everyone can smile; the problem is that not everyone remembers to. In order to appear more approachable or make that sale, a smile more than any other thing you may wear will get you there much quicker! It humanizes you and makes you more approachable. Almost all of the time, a smile gets a smile in response. It lifts both the giver and the receiver. Try it now, smile randomly at the people in your office or at strangers as you take a walk, the response is immediate.


You may know people who come across as being charming, you can too. All you need do is start to smile. If it is not a habit with you, don’t worry ‘practice does make perfect’ you can start by standing in front of your mirror and smiling at yourself.

The more you practice, the better you get at it, avoid barring of the teeth except it looks good on you, on some it appears phony and can make you look dangerous, revealing only the upper teeth is quite beautiful and endearing, but if you are conscious of your teeth, then an upward tilt of the corners of the mouth will do quite nicely.


Now, your eyes must be involved in this as well. Have you ever seen someone smile and know they didn’t mean it? It was probably because only their lips moved. The eyes also smile. For that perfect smile, the eyes and the lips must work harmoniously together. It may do you good to paste a picture of a genuine smile (you’ll know it when you see it) somewhere where you can see it ALL the time.


Not only will it inspire you, it gives you a template to work with, practice until your eyes smile along with your lips. Also you can smile based on past memories, let’s face it, there always isn’t something to smile about In the present, so having a repertoire of memories to work with comes handy in your smile journey.

Your whole life dramatically changes when you start smiling, I know because I experienced it. Suddenly people begin to get closer to you, they want to be around you, the fact is everyone is basically sad about something, so, a smiling face is always arresting to see. People want to be around people who make them happy and a smile has a powerful uplifting hold on the emotions of both the giver and the receiver. Smiling not only improves your face value, it is an easy way to make friends, it’s a powerful social and business tool. Just smile in your business, at your work place and you are guaranteed to make money. Think about it, wouldn’t you rather buy from a happy sales man? How many times have you chosen to shop in one place over another just because the staff smiles?

Wear a smile – one size fits all.

THERE IS GOLD AND GOLD MINES

There are many oppourtunities in everyday, in every conversation with everyone you meet.A need there, a need here, all are oppourtunities to meet a person’s need and to make money out of it.

You don’t need to travel far to find it, it’s outside your window even now, mayhap, even on your doorstep, I am in fact bold to say that it’s right there in your house. And it’s the little things, I am not talking about inventing another breed of computers or improving on one (that is quite brilliant actually), I am not talking about making a car. There are things, little things that you can do and watch become great. If you already own an establishment, why don’t you train yourself and your staff to smile? This only is one of the reasons why customers will choose one restaurant over another.

If unemployed then smiling works for you too. You see I have discovered that it opens doors I didn’t even know exist, no one will hire a gloomy over a sunny! So smile! You can’t do it for long without experiencing corresponding change inside. When you laugh or smile and sustain it, you force your emotions which is created by thoughts to catch the brilliance of the laughter or smile and this lifts your thoughts and emotions filling you with positive thoughts that changes your countenance,

Having accomplished this, you are able to see that the pains of others and you don’t have to remain pains for you. You can earn money solving them. Ordinary questions people ask you become ideas that translate to success for you.

One of such happened to a young man whose obvious talent was that he could dance, so, having gotten a university degree in something or the other, and dancing in dance groups whenever he could while in school, thereby honing his skills, he graduated and no, he didn’t become one of the disillusioned graduates saying ‘the government is bad’ what he did was start to teach dance, to different people, even students, for a fee. He doesn’t leave his house everyday yet is able to provide for his household, he doesn’t wear a tie but earns more than some who do.

There is gold and gold mines and it’s all in the mind.

THE ASSOCIATION RULE

THE ASSOCIATION RULE
People can usually trace their successes or failures to the relationships in their lives.
Man was made to relate. Being able to see people, talk to people, relate with people has a psychological benefit to everyone, it brings a completeness. The Bible in Prov13:20 says something interesting, it says ‘if you walk with the wise, you will become wise’ In other words your association makes you. The people you associate with are powerful enough to make you become like them. The interesting is, they don’t have to work at it, neither do you. There is an automatic influence that comes to you just by relating with someone or a group over an extended or adequate period.

Now, take a pause on what kind of person you’ll rather be, if you’re not that person yet, and then think upon who your friends are or the group you associate with. Do they represent who you want or ought to be? If not, you might wish to learn that your association sets a limit on what you can or cannot be. In fact, they decide and make you.

The next sentence in the Bible verse above reads: ‘The companion of fools will be destroyed.’ Not the companion of fools will be wise or will be a fool. I believe you’ll agree with me that if the companion of fools becomes a fool, it is acceptable, justifiable and even commendable, but the verse says that the companion of fools will be destroyed!

The price for relating with the wrong set of people is a high one; no one should have to pay it. But sadly, that is not the case.
If you find that you are in a relationship with people who cannot make you better but can only reduce and at best keep you at a level (state), you might want to rethink such alliances and embrace change.

Remember, people can usually trace their successes or failures to the relationships in their lives.

THOUGHTS HAVE LIFE IN THEM

You will eventually act out your thoughts, personality types or temperament notwithstanding. Thoughts are powerful things, if you pick up a thought and think it severally, it will find its way to happenstance.

So, maybe you need to change or imbibe a habit, picture yourself doing that new thing and find the word of God that confirms it (there always is) and repeat it both aloud and in your mind several times a day, you will find that you will naturally exhibit these thoughts.

Maybe there is a dream you nurture in your heart and you feel fear or incompetent, why don’t you meditate on these words ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ meditate on it daily and several times in a day. It not only incapacitates the fear and incompetence, it also gives you boldness you never knew you had. You no longer see the challenge as some insurmountable, it becomes something that has been waiting for you to command. I know that from personal experience.

Take an analysis of your thoughts now and replace those that veer towards the negative with positive thoughts, by frequently speaking the positive thought to yourself, you become it.

SENSITIVITY

Being sensitive comes handy in any relationship. The ability to observe people and know their strengths and weaknesses can make for an interesting relationship.
Allow people be themselves around you. Sure you can’t always like the habits or traits they exhibit and that’s where being sensitive comes to bear.

SENSITIVITY is the innate ability to temper justice with mercy, it’s recognizing that both of you are not looking from the same lens. People’s lenses suffer minor or major damages over the years and you’ll discover that if you were to exchange lenses, you’ll see things exactly as the other person sees it.

So before judging and telling the truth as you see it, take a deep breath and try to understand why these other person sees the matter the way he or she does. What this does is to help soften your approach to correcting the person and you might surprise yourself by discovering that you were in the wrong after all.
The best thing that will happen is that the person knows that you feel and see what he or she feels and sees. You UNDERSTAND. That is one of the greatest gifts you can give anybody.