The Beauty of BROKENESS

The Beauty of BROKENESS

I'm sorry folks, today's piece is neither a religious pitch nor a biblical one.  It just so happens that this Corinthians 4:7-12 just captured my attention after coming across this verse: The Beauty of BROKENESS.  Ironically, if we run a random survey with regard BROKENESS, we would likely hear 99% of it all related to NEGATIVITY.  Finding Beauty of BROKENESS?  Quite tough to swallow but let's figure things out why this Corinthian verse says so.  The word 'BROKENESS' can be difficult for most of us.  So many people have been broken down by life that it can be a problem to understand the difference between BROKEN DOWN and BROKENESS📙📘📗

Truth is, the devil seeks to break people down.  Abuse, failure and ridicule have that effect on many.  To be broken down means our spirit is broken.  We have no SENSE of VALUE.  We are convinced that we are worthless.  That is not what happened to Moses, the biblical character.  What he went through may seem the same but it is not.

People who are BROKEN down by other people, the devil or life itself have lost the the ability to access the great one who lives in them.  What happened to Moses actually enabled him to become what God needed him to be.  Let us not look that far.  Instead, let us look at the process in life.  The fact is, if you are at a LOW POINT in LIFE, NEVER GIVE UP.  

Part of what is happening to us when we are in that BROKENESS is that we are coming to a place of BROKENESS before and it happens that we do NOT have a choice. But when do we have a CHOICE?  Right when we are in that deep abyss of BROKENESS, you and I have that option to pick up the pieces all over again📌📌📌

When The Stink Escapes From the Basket

When The Stink Escapes From the Basket

Stinks do not merit a space in the tabloids or in social media because they are part and parcel of our lives but what's worth spending our precious minutes is When The Stink Escapes From the Basket.  We all do have or had stinks in our life at least in the past if not in the present [and that is nothing to be conscience-stricken or be contrite because surely, most of us have made amends and did what needs to be done to rectify things so that it does NOT get to hit us [AGAIN]📗

I've seen it happen a zillion times when stinks, our [and that includes MOI in the past] is to go for containment, concealment and camouflage.  We tend to cover it under wraps as long as it can be possible UNTIL....WHEN THE STINK ESCAPES FROM THE BASKET.  And how do we handle things when indeed things will STINK OUT?  First off, ADMIT & ACCEPT it.  At that point in time, it will be a FAUX PAS if you will insist to DENY & DISPROVE it📌

Yes indeed you can deodorize things but that will be very short-lived.  WHY?  Because WHEN IT STINKS, IT STINKS. Deodorizing things is very limited.  So, what do we do then after we ADMIT & ACCESS?  Gather a;; your COURAGE + GUTS to own up to that stink because there's just no other way around it.  If you're that stubborn to STILL cover-up things, you'll be DEAD IN THE WATER✅

So what's our FINAL FIX?  Simple.  Numero UNO:  AVOID REPEATING the same mistakes that caused your past STINKS.  Numero DOS:  Learn your lessons the hard way by RIGHTING your WRONGS.  Numero TRES: Remember Numero UNO & Numero DOS over and over again so that that Stink NEVER Escapes from the basket [again]⏳⏳⏳

When You're Broken INSIDE

When You're Broken INSIDE

My apologies, our piece today is NOT about promoting shampoo or bath products.  Funny but this poster is 'spot on' where it highlights that while it does REPAIR DAMAGE, but When You're Broken INSIDE, that's something the product can't help🔔🔔🔔

Indeed, another perfect analogy.  Thousands of products out there can do wonders with various repairs EXCEPT When You're Broken INSIDE and BTW, being broken goes beyond financials or the like.  Bottom-line is, we really need to dig deep inside ourselves whenever we are beset with 'downtimes' in our life.  Let's initiate a critical assessment of ourselves and DON'T spare your ego, your pride and your whole self📗📘📙

Sometimes [and likely many times], the very ROOT CAUSE of a problem could seem to have been caused by someone else but dig deeper and figure out if ever When You're Broken INSIDE  And that being Broken INSIDE may be YOUR motivation, YOUR drive, YOUR morals, YOUR sense of reason [because for all you know, your reasoning has gone wayward❓

On the other hand, I often hear this said:  WHEN YOU'RE BROKEN INSIDE, JUST KEEP MOVING.  So sorry sirrrrrrs I can't peddle that seriously flawed advice because while indeed you can keep MOVING, I have to guarantee that you cannot move as far as you thought your journey can reach simply because that 'BROKEN' thing inside you will impede and hinder you from moving forward.  So, what's our FIX?  First off, identify WHAT is BROKEN INSIDE. Is it your family support now totally collapsed?  Did your spouse/partner packed off for good?  Or if you are an entrepreneur, either you DON'T know the business you're in or you're just TOTALLY HANDS-OFF from operations❓❓❓

Now, here's the final straw that really breaks the camel's back.  If what's BROKEN INSIDE are your personal and family relationships, you got to FIX it, period.  No amount of efforts and whatever is left with your hopes to FIX any other problem because problems related to personal and family relationships always trigger off the COLLATERAL DAMAGES and that's impactful and knows no boundaries  Bottom line, let us FIX when there is something BROKEN INSIDE📌📌📌

Less Drama in Life

Less Drama in Life

No sirrrrs, I am NO hypocrite.  I'll admit I love DRAMA.  I thought life with no DRAMA is so dull and boring. But I realized the flaw in that reasoning when i did my soul searching and came up with a hard lesson to learn.  And I learned that with Less Drama in Life, we would be much better off because life itself should be devoid of drama because life is all about pursuing our respective endeavors and life is NOT living the life of arts and DRAMA.

In the world of theater and arts, it's true that DRAMA is an integral part of things but in everyday life, a lot of situations get convoluted when various shapes and forms of DRAMA would get into the equation.  Let's face it.  Why do many situations have turned from BAD to WORSE? If you look back, it is likely that although DRAMA may not be the root cause, it could have worsened things.  

C'mon, we all had a turmoil or two in the past.  But did we realize that what exacerbated things was the drama that got into the equation?  BTW, you might ask me, WHAT'S DRAMA?  hmmm, DRAMA is anything that jumps out of the window.  When things become senseless.  WHEN logic becomes a non-entity.  WHEN reason is not even talked about.  WHEN frayed emotions lord it over reason. WHEN even physical manifestations get into the way.  WHEN we become so centric and we just DON'T give a damn of anything other than us.

We can draw a parallelism here when with our partner/spouse, we spend time at the see-saw playground. And when we're 'see-sawing', it is all about FAIR PLAY, all about putting things on an even keel.  As long as self-centeredness does NOT get into the way, voila, you have a much better chance that you will have LESS DRAMA IN LIFE❗❗❗

Do You Have Enough?

Do You Have Enough?

Do You Have Enough?  Whether it is about financials, properties. health, wealth and all the perks in life, I can bet my lump sum salary that any Tom, Dick and Harry will retort back that "NOT ENOUGH".  And that just affirms all along man's most widespread and chronic 'SIN', if you may call it, in life.  Because our wants and desires have frequently been chronic as UNSATIABLE.  Talk to anyone, they are all caught up in that vicious cycle where they continue to be in that 'rat race' of a never-ending search to get more than what was the most recent acquisition.  Find a synonym for INSATIABLE, that borders on GREED.

You could be someone in culinary arts and here you are, you want the most complete list of ingredients before you start cooking your recipe.  Or you could be that up and coming entrepreneur who keeps on achieving milestone successes and YET, never reaches that point of being satisfied and contented enough.  Heard of entrepreneurs who ended up in bankruptcy?  A number of them ended up bankrupt because of being UNSATIABLE.

Or you could have ended up as a chronic shopaholic after being locked out by this pandemic.  You ended up scouring the web for all the tempting online sales during 7.7 or 8.8 or 9.9 and so on.  But it begs to ask you if indeed Do You Have Enough?  What will it take to pull the brakes and remind us that YES WE HAVE ENOUGH of what we want📌📌📌

How often have we heard that someone is so SHOCKINGLY in the doldrums when not too long ago he was enjoying the sun at its brightest?  And what brought him down to the ground?  It's being UNSATIABLE, a very toxic manifestation that borders on GREED.  And how many times did we regret that at some point, you had enough but you get caught with GREED.

This boils down to a predicament when one seems to BITE OFF MORE THAN WHAT HE CAN CHEW.  So, what should we do now?  Run a REALITY CHECK because if you feel YOU HAVE ENOUGH, you could avert stumbling down because YOU HAVE ENOUGH📗📙📘

Don't Take Too Long to Regain Control

Don't Take Too Long to Regain Control

Surely, everyone of us lost control of the situation [probably] several times in our life.  And that's fine because that's just reality.  But it will be BIG NEWS [and a BIG LETDOWN] to me if I hear someone admitting that he NEVER regained control of the situation till he went kaput.  And that's regrettable to say the least📗📙📘

Truth of the matter, if you DON'T regain control of a situation that's like a train wreck gone 'south', you would have ended up with a fatal ending because no one survives unless you really Regain Control of a situation.  Whether we're referring to a relationship that hits rough patches or an academic performance in school that has become almost hopeless.📌📌📌

We could be in an emotional letdown and no amount of helpline can extricate you from that deep morass.  Or in a workplace environment, you could be at the edges of being given up by your bosses because of various flops.  And how do you Regain Control? You got to figure out a 180-degree turnaround no less because there is no other way💥💥💥 

And one of the most common areas where we often lose control is our TIME MANAGEMENT.  Suddenly, tasks will overflow.  Before you know it, tasks have piled up.  And anxiety leads to pressure to undue stress.  Why could things turn from BAD to WORSE?  Likely, it took you time to Regain Control🔖🔖🔖

If there is a most common stumbling block for us to Regain Control, it is our lack of confidence that we can maneuver a turnaround.  Count in the many pessimist who don't need naysayers because they are their worst enemy because they themselves become the very BLOCKERS of what they should achieve.  if there is a dose of medicine that needs to be propagated to us all, it is this billboard's message that YOU CAN DO IT as long as you ensure that you don't morph for so long before you Regain Control of the situation✅✅✅

Why The Ship Sinks

Why The Ship Sinks

No sirrrrrrrrs, I'm not a seafarer and this is NOT about the maritime industry.  Rather, we'd like to know Why the ship sinks?  To set things straight, ships DON'T sink because of the waters around them.  So what sinks ships?  Simple, it sinks when the waters around them get inside it.

And that's where we'd like to draw the parallelism in life because life itself is akin to a ship.  Life is very much alive [and kicking] only if, just like the ship, it remains afloat.  When external factors will creep into our life, either gradually or even so suddenly, that's when our life would seem to 'GO SOUTH' till it runs aground and end up totally uncontrolled.

But hey, this poster seems perplexing because it says 'NO MATTER HOW ROUGH THE SEA, I REFUSE TO SINK. Now let's swing back to other lives.  Surely, we would recall cases in our past when and where we were kind of sinking but we turned our fortunes around for various reasons we cannot fathom right now.  First things first, though, be immune and shielded from external factors which you can shove away, anyway.

Shielding ourselves the way we shield ourselves from the rain is the simplest form of shoving away external factors that can really cause you to run aground and it's NOT even rocket science.  Those external factors can even be your supposed coterie of friends [UNTIL you realize they are not the genuine friends you thought of them in the first place].

Regaining composure is another way for you to handle those external factors.  It's possible you have five friends and each of them are giving you their respective counsels in their own way.  Either way, we should ensure our SHIP DOES NOT SINK at all❗❗❗

Your 'TREASURE TROVE'

Your 'TREASURE TROVE'

As per Mr Webster, 'TREASURE TROVE' is a collection or store of valuable things. BUT in real life though, the truth of the matter is that even Mr Webster cannot give us the rightful definition because NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL.  We cannot define 'TREASURE TROVE' based on financials and properties.

If we talk to pirates. 'TREASURE TROVE' would definitely be all his booty from all his piracy.  If we talk to teachers, their 'TREASURE TROVE' are their wisdom and teachings they shared to us students.  If it's about pastors, priests and Imams, it's about their theological and religions inputs to us based on their respective religions.

Oh this poster shot really hit the core of my heart because this picture says a thousand words but this tells us that very likely, the 'TREASURE TROVE' of these boys are each other's company no less.  Relationships come and go but what endures the long haul are the genuine friendships we foster with the truly dyed-in-the-wool GENUINE friends.  That then becomes your 'TREASURE TROVE'

BTW, friends in general cannot be your 'TREASURE TROVE' because you end up eating your own words because prior to anything else, you need to separate the CHAFF FROM THE GRAIN.  Only then you would be able to reach a conclusive end to identify who are your REAL FRIENDS versus those TOXIC FRIENDS.  Hey, we DON'T one to end up with strange bedfellows.  

Lastly, let us not overlook the fact that at the end of the day, our very 'TREASURE TROVE' could be our own HEALTH.  When it portends an extended longevity, that exceeds by miles and miles any other TREASURE TROVE you want to showcase.  You can continue to pursue your multi-pronged goals but always keep at the back of your mind that your best TREASURE TROVE are not money and financials.  It is YOUR HEALTH and YOUR GENUINE FRIENDS✅✅✅

Of Lies and Lies

Of Lies and Lies

Of Lies and Lies, let's make things lighter for today's piece and allow me to take a leaf from the Quora.com post by Faroog Azam on August 24.  A cabbie picks up a Nun.  She gets into the cab and notices that the VERY handsome driver WON'T stop staring at her.  She asked him why is he staring.  The driver replied that he has a question, to which the Nun said, "c'mon ask me".

So, the driver admits that he always had that fantasy of being kisses by a Nun.  The Nun gave two conditions.  #1 he has to be a Catholic and #2 he has to be SINGLE.  The cab driver was ecstatic because he was both a Catholic and SINGLE at that.  So, the Nun was so quick to oblige and told the driver to park the cab so he can get the kiss.  And finally, the Nun FULFILLS THE FANTASY of the driver.  After that, the cab driver was sobbing.  The Nun asked 'WHY MY CHILD'?  The cab driver admitted he LIED because he was Jewish and he was married.  The Nun said, 'NOT TO WORRY' because she was wearing a Nun's costume on the way to a Costume and Masquerade Party.  Of Lies and Lies

So, that's it,  LIES can come in different shapes, forms and colors.  Unfortunately, many times in our life, LIES are presented as TRUTH. And once you factor-in social media, the end result is a huge interplay and BEDLAM of MISINFORMATION.  Before we know it, those LIES and MISINFORMATION have already spread as fast as the bushfires common in Australia's wilderness.

BTW, lies [and more lies] come and go].  Disinformation spreads with a velocity as fast as those cancerous cells that push us humans to the limit.  Bot this poster does capture my attention the most when it says "IT'S THE INSULT TO MY INTELLIGENCE THAT I FIND OFFENSIVE". In short, lies are lies but what ADDS SALT to the injury is the INSULT that becomes a consequence of the lies and more lies.  Thus, that INSULT to our own intelligence becomes more offensive.  What hurts most is when the lies heaped on us need not happen because we are fully aware of the TRUTH and not just the half-truths.  Imagine if the whole world knows what the TRUTH is but someone keeps insisting [and poker-faced at that].  That makes those lies more offensive😅😅😅

With social media, unfortunately, we are GUILTY for tolerating LIES.  How?  By NOT initiating formal grievance complaints or seeking LEGAL REMEDIES to CORRECT THE WRONGS.  Instead, the offended parties would simply shrug their shoulders and state that the truth will come up.  BUT here's the BUT.  By not seeking legal remedies and redress, we end up condoning LIES & MORE LIES❗❗❗

How Difficult Is It to BOUNCE BACK

How Difficult Is It to BOUNCE BACK

How Difficult Is It to BOUNCE BACK?  Surely, if there will be hundred responses, there will be a hundred versions as well.  WHY?  Because that's an indemic part of our human frailties.  We each have our own unique reasons for bouncing back and looking at the whole nine yards will lead us from the forever optimist all the way to the forever pessimist📗📙📘

According th American Pastor Charles Swindoll, people who soar are those who REFUSE TO SIT BACK, sigh and wish things would change.  They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in.  Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are NOT quitters, they will not allow life's circumstances to push them down and hold them under. And my favorite word, 'RESILIENCE', it traces its origin to the Latin word 'resilire' which means 'TO LEAP BACK'📌📌📌

RESILIENCE enables us to live a life that is based on choice rather than being at the mercy of chance or habit.  It also enables you to manage adversity and 'bounce back' when life has shot you down.  When we are living a RESILIENT life, we are living a FULFILLED life where we know who we are and we know what's important to us☝☝☝

As the late and very much respected STEVE JOBS said: 'LIFE IS GOING TO HIT YOU IN THE HEAD WITH A BRICK' and that's the time you should ask yourself if you have that RESILIENCE to BOUNCE BACK?  RESILIENCE will go through your acid test when you are deep down in the drainage, when you are almost fatally at the end of the road🔔🔔🔔

When do you think you can proclaim to the whole word that you're OVER THE HUMP?  That's when you can unequivocally claim that "I'VE MASTERED THE ART OF BOUNCING BACK'.   Frankly, I'm far from making that self-proclamation but what I can attest is that during my DOWN moments, I have figured things out to extricate myself and BOUNCE BACK by setting my sights NOT on LOFTY GOALS but on the low-hanging fruits that will entail the less efforts rather pushing me to the hilt.  At the end of the day, BOUNCING BACK can be your constant battle cry ONLY IF YOU want to❗❗❗