FEATURED POEM (Thurs, Sept. 26, 2012)

   POEM OF THE DAY

"What we know for sure is that metaphor is the raw uranium of poetry, and that an urge to say that one thing is like something else is one of the earliest markers of the poetic spirit, the nascent poet" - Tony Hoagland

 “DONT QUIT”

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, 

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, 

When the funds are low and the debts are high, 

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, 

When care is pressing you down a bit, 

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit. 

Life is queer with its twists and turns, 

As every one of us sometimes learns, 

And many a failure turns about, 

When he might have won had he stuck it out; 

Don't give up though the pace seems slow 

You may succeed with another blow. 

Often the goal is nearer than, 

It seems to a faint and faltering man, 

Often the struggler has given up, 

When he might have captured the victor's cup, 

And he learned too late when the night slipped down, 

How close he was to the golden crown. 

Success is failure turned inside out 

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, 

And you never can tell how close you are, 

It may be near when it seems so far, 

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit 

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit. 

- Author unknown

Hi,

I'm nyamekyε NKRUMAH™

And this is Discover-Understand-Live-Share-Inspire®

(C) Thu, Sep 13, 2012

 

 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

VERBAL SCARS

Endeavor to read all the way down to the last sentence. It's very important.
There was once a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Anytime you are irritated and you're at the verge of speaking (out of anger) please remember this story I have shared with you.

Always remember that, you have every right to write angry letters but please never mail them. For "anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it"~Lucius Annaeus Seneca

God richly bless you and may we be better and stronger in dealing with our anger.

Hi,
I'm nyamekyε NKRUMAH
And this is Discover-Understand-Live-Share-Inspire®
(C) Sun, Jul 8, 2012

Friday, July 6, 2012

LESSONS FROM THE PAST: ECHOES OF THE FUTURE

This is excerpted from my full piece "LESSONS FROM THE PAST: ECHOES OF THE FUTURE".

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends soon, but that we wait so long to begin it"  - W. M. Lewis

In this piece, I try to summarize some of the key lessons from the past that has translated ordinary lives into prominence. We all can live that life (I believe) and it starts by knowing these;

1.FIND A PASSION; your PASSION -

It could be a craft, a knack, or an act or arts. Whatever it is, find it. And remember, fulfillment is finding "what greatly inspires you and equally serves others"

2. START -

Start! Yes start! Start is an important stage of the process. You will have to necessarily start somewhere. You may not know clearly and exactly what to do but start with the little you know. And remember, the more you do, the clearer the picture gets and the better you become.  "The secret of getting ahead is getting started" - Mark Twain

3. DEDICATION -

Hidden in the meaning of 'Dedication' is discipline, commitment, hard work and determination. Decide you're going to make it work (because you really can) and make it your 'articles of faith'. Thomas Edison said "I have

successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb" after failing a 1000 times. Abraham Lincoln sharing a similar story with Mr. Edison in both private and public life also said “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” Remember, that failures are only permanent if we stop trying. I believe that there's no failure until you give up and
accept that as your reality. Don't ever quit, work till it finally works.

4. EXCELLENCE -

Pay attention to details. Always aim for the bull's eye, be spot on. Strive for perfection. Remember, everything can be better, so keeping pushing the limits. Always ask how else can this be better than it is? And keeping improving it

5.YOU WILL ALWAYS NEED HELP -

Instead of building walls, build bridges.

You will always need somebody or a team. There's absolutely no success story or drama with a lone actor not even the "Can do all things GOD" (the omnipotent God). He, by Wisdom chose the concept of the 3-in-1 God with angels and mankind to demonstrate this all important lesson, that success is a team work. Remember, everybody is best wired for something. Somebody can do better/best what you are wondering about and struggling with. Find the appropriate team to aid you. Be friendly, approachable and teachable.

6. INTEGRITY & RESPECT -

Integrity and respect goes together. Its either your integrity will earn you respect or your respect for people, time and truth will earn you integrity. Remember, people will always treat you the way you treat them and yourself.

7. KNOWLEDGE -

Knowledge goes beyond information. It's information with understanding (basically how to work or use the information gotten). Knowledge is attained from schooling (which can be self schooling or being schooled) as well as, life's experience.

How much you know will always determine how much you can do. Always seek knowledge about the things you want to do. And make the 'knowledge seeking quest' a habit. Remember, the more you know, the wider the extent of your limit.

It's important to note that, while you can't go back and make a brand new start, you can start from now and make a brand new end.

Your life of novelty, leadership, passion and a perfection of craft begins here. I wish you well.

Hi,

I'm nyamekyε NKRUMAH

And this is Discover-Understand-Live-Share-Inspire®

(C) Fri, Jul 6, 2012

THE CULTURE OF UNDERSTANDING 1

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding"~Proverbs 4:7 KJV

 What this means is that, without understanding, wisdom will be mythical and an act of magic. It also means that, regardless of what you have or know without understanding it can be useless to you. This is why understanding becomes necessary as a way of life.

Let's begin with UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF
Whatever, you don't understand, will only be fictitious, inexplicable and strange to you and that includes yourself.

Have you ever considered why human beings come into the world with nothing except a body and have to leave the world also with nothing, this time not even their bodies?
This is it, you don't need to come into this world with anything apart from what you already came with (and that is Yourself). "YOU ARE ALL YOU NEED TO HAVE" (I wish I could make these texts echo in your heart).

Your greatest and priceless possession on earth is yourself (no two ways about that). Your passion and mission; your craft and intelligence; combined with your efficiency and adaptation are all found in yourself and wrapped in your physiology (which adequately rounds up your one-of-a-kind personality).

Please ponder over these;

1. Understand that you did not come into this world to fit into a certain system or standard. You came to this world to be UNIQUE. And so, do not alter your uniqueness just to fall in line with what some people needlessly refers to as "the ideal".

Infact YOU ARE THE IDEAL. Empiricism have adequately proven that you are the only one (ever to live on earth) that has the complete set of your chromosomes and genes. From your height to your size, from your temperaments to your aptitude and even your smile, no one can ever be like you. So please don't trade that uniqueness (which makes you a world wonder) for anything.


2. Understand that it is needless and sinful to want to be like somebody else rather than your unique self. If Mr. Shakespeare was right that "all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." then, we are all not playing the same role. Our custumes ( our bodies or our physiology) and props (our intellect, temperaments, talents, skills and even experiences) like all plays are designed according to our roles. Unfortunately, you cannot play any role better than the one your make-up originally supports. So why plague yourself with stress, and short circuit yourself by being somebody else?

Be absolutely confident and glad about yourself because your birth was not just another wonder on earth but also, God manifesting His awesome self in another matchless way (and that's you).

3. Get better by the day. One of the essentials of time is that, it effects growth. The passing of days and years, warrants maturation. God put us into time so everyday we could get better. Develop yourself and keep refining it by the day. Perfection comes by practice. Seek knowledge about who you are and the things you want to do (I recomend to you the bible because that's my source), study it to gain understanding and then, practice what you discovered.

4. Appreciate everybody and despise no one. This is a common question I ask, if we are all in God's image and likeness how then does God look like? Individually, we are all a perfect manifestation of another feature and description of God, but collectively, we represent Him and His magnificent glory.

We are all special people. Absolutely no exception. What makes us special is our difference and variation. Like a jigsaw, we're all unique. And together, we fit perfectly into 'that picture', God's Big Idea.

No wonder right after God instructed us to love Him on all counts, the next instruction was to love our neighbors like ourselves. [Matthew 22:37 - 39]. We are all a representation of God on earth. Hence loving our neighbors like ourselves is same as loving God. This will not only put you in right standing with God but will also create an atmosphere of peace and tranquility around you and an enabling environment around us all.

Remember, life (your life) was originally designed to be enjoying and not stressfull. It was intended to be fulfilling and not disheartening and the solution is in UNDERSTANDING. For what you don't understand you can't appropriate.

Get the full detail in "How to start START"

Hi,
I'm nyamekyε NKRUMAH
And this is Discover-Understand-Live-Share-Inspire®
(C) Fri, Jul 6, 2012