DONT GIVE UP

…There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure… trials… 1 Peter 1:6

Good morning readers, how has your week been? I have been working so hard this week to prepare payroll for my company, and although this is new to me, I had fun learning a totally new task, I set a target for myself and also kept to it, I stumbled on this story in my inbox and felt it would be good enough to share with you.

 I would sub-title it DETERMINATION. In life there are obstacles that would come your way and they aim at deterring your effort to greatness, like the story of the farmer and his donkey, life would throw so much dirt on you, how do you react? Do you just lay back and mourn your loss or take a bold step to achieving the best? Do you cry at spilled milk or you make the deliberate effort to get the milk back? If you fail today, would you sleep in your failure state or you move up and gear up for more challenges, my first volunteer job, I was suspended for making a living, as that was our tenet, but I moved on and get on with life, although difficult, but it started the engine of good things to come. Many people around me have had their fair share of trying times, well I can tell you confidently those times pass….the tough times don’t last……….

Enjoy the reading……………………..

 In the 1950s Mary Kay Ash was the first woman to sit on the board of directors at the World Gift Company. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing! Although she’d earned a place in the corporate world, her associates refused to take her seriously and accused her of ‘thinking like a woman.’ Frustrated, she retired in 1963 to write a book designed to help women in business. Sitting at her kitchen table, she listed all the positives about the companies where she’d worked, as well as the things that could be improved. In doing so she created a marketing plan for her ideal company. Her accountant and her attorney discouraged her but with her husband’s support she created a new cosmetic line and recruited and trained an all-female sales force. Her motto was, ‘God first, family second, career third.’ When her husband died unexpectedly, she stayed on track and launched her new company. From a storefront in Dallas, USA and a $5,000 investment, Mary Kay Cosmetics earned $200,000 the first year, quadrupled it the next, and when it went public in 1968 sales were over $10 million. Mary Kay wrote three best sellers; her business model is taught at Harvard, Fortune Magazine named her company one of the Ten Best Companies for Women, as well as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. When she died in 2001 she had 800,000 independent beauty consultants in 37 countries with annual sales over $2 billion. Never underestimate someone with vision and determination! When you face adversity don’t give up. ‘There is wonderful joy ahead.’

THINGS MEN WISH WOMEN KNEW

We always hear “the rules” from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note, these are all numbered ‘1’ ON PURPOSE!

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes, and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

1. If you won’t dress like the Victoria’s Secret girls, don’t expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you’re fat, you probably are. Don’t ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say “nothing,” we will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, expect an answer you don’t want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine.Really.

1. Don’t ask us what we’re thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as , football, baseball, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

1. After making your order at McDonald’s (or Mr. Biggs), and the waitress asks “is that all?”, please say YES. Don’t go on ordering more than you can eat at the moment or for your sisters, brothers and friends at home. Be considerate.

1. When on a date, please come alone. Don’t bring your sisters, brothers and friends along

1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know men really don’t mind that, it’s like
camping.

THE STORMS OF LIFE

A farmer owned a farmland along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands but most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic because they always dread the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received nothing but refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him. “Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!” The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.” Enraged by the man’s response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, and he returned to bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

 When you are fully prepared for your opportunities in life, you have nothing to fear. Success in life comes when opportunity meets with your preparation. People miss out in life because they are not sensitive to their season of preparation while some others totally miss out chiefly because they can’t even recognize the opportunities which are usually disguised as challenges.  The question this week is simply this: can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm

HIDDEN TREASURES

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore.  In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.  It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.   They didn’t look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.  As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.   He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock.  Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!  Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls.  Each contained a similar treasure.  He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 clay balls he had left.   Then it struck him, he had been on the beach for hours. He had thrown maybe 50 to 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.  Instead of just a few thousand dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands; he had just thrown it away!

 This is the exact situation when dealing with people in relationships. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves we are tempted to just focus on the external clay vessel.  Most people don’t look like much from the outside.  They may not appear beautiful or sparkling as expected, so we discount them. We may even see that person as less important than someone more beautiful, stylish, well-known and wealthy without taking the time to find out the hidden treasure they possess. There is a treasure in each person we meet if only we take the time to know them. We can ask God to show us the way He sees other humans, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem in them shines forth. 

 May we not come to the end of our lives to find out that we have thrown away fortune in friendship gems hidden in bits of clay balls! Human resource is the world’s greatest asset and we must all learn to treat each person as such irrespective of our bias.

THIS COUNTRY AGAIN!

Wednesday afternoon, I spent over 5 hours responding to e-mails, treating left over jobs, handling customer issues (internal customers) and  planning on how to pick my pal, Akpos Adonkie from the airport, I looked at the time and his flight would soon land, I looked at my desk its 80% done from what I set out to do.

I jumped into one of the newly acquired cars in the building and headed for the airport. Usually you expect to get stuck in the Lagos traffic, yes and Lagos did not disappoint me, and then my eyes caught the headlines in one of the dailies, “Boko Haram takes responsibility for bombings in the North” and then anger in me arose, my thoughts are;

They brag about the killings

They are aware of what they are doing

They know that killing is bad, but they pride themselves.

 Well what a country we live in, people are proud that they have killed innocent souls, to what end is all this unnecessary killings? What are they set to achieve? Some people loose their lives over the stupidity of others without remorse; I wonder what the gain in.

Nigeria is in a phase where things are running without checks; bombing is now the norm, people drive cars and explode in them, other plant bombs in gathered areas, other sell bombs and seek patronage from vicious people who want to take lives at all cost. Where do we go from here?

Other countries are planning on development and growth in all our sectors, In Nigeria we sell bombs to kill innocent souls, the economy is in disarray,I planned a trip for December and the dollar rose so high I rushed to buy a ticket at a high rate, I get light only 4 hours in a day, I have just changed the arms of my car for the 5^th time this year due to the bad roads filled with canals (as I can no longer call then potholes) I have to spend so much to run my generating set, just to watch programmes on the DSTV I paid a full bouquet. Elections have come and gone and all the promise has been thrown off the roof. For how long can we continue to live like this, the pain and agony is even made worse by the neglect of the government.

Where have they helped us? Those who call the shots, make the policies and imp