I found a secret that saves

I saw the book in a corner as I was set to leave home after a long wedding weekend. It wasn't the green cover or petit-ness of the book that made me pick up or the fact that it was the same Author that wrote 'Prayer of Jabez' another book that rocked my world... I don't believe in coindicences and it is obvious that God did want me to read it at this particular point in time. 

And I am sooooo grateful for that. 

I started the book immediately in the car on my way back to my base and Initially I was just facinated at the retell of 

John 15 when Jesus was talking about the vine and us as the branches. Oh! the name of the book is 'Secrets of the vine' by Bruce Wilkinson its the second part to 'Prayer of Jabez' 

It's a book I recommend for anyone and it basically has every season of your christian walk. Everyone wondering why? Everyone in a dark place, you'd definitely find yourself in one of the categories of branches that was mentioned. 

The one that mostly stood out for me was 'Abiding' the state of Abiding in God. The frustration of having a stale walk with God and the dissatisfaction that also comes with it. The writer had a similar experience and the truth dawned on him

''God didn't want me to do more for him. He wanted me to be more with him" 

and this was my defining moment, we do so much for God that we forget to be more with him. I am forgetting to be more with him and this was a great reminder to turn things around and not lose sight of what is important. 

In that moment, there was hope and I know that this is the way out of this rut, going back to being with him as against running around for him. 

I also encourage you to look through and if you're going through something similar just remember that God loves you and more than ever HE wants to fellowship with you. He is bidding you 'come' 

Abide in Jesus...

If you find the book, please do get it or just look for it!!! It's worth every bit of it. 

Abide in Jesus...

John 15 1-5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing

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BIG on the little details

The irony right. HE is unconventional like that.

Exodus 25-30

¨You must build this Tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the pattern I will show you¨ Ex 25:9

I was reading exodus and boy was I tripped, I’ve heard pastor talk about the verse a number of times but was just I was just reading it myself. It was amazing.

For 5 chapters (each with 20-40+ verses) God gave instructions in height, cubit, colour, candle wax, wood type, cloth material EVERYTHING about the temple. Nothing was left to ‘chance’ or ‘Man’s intelligence’

Looking back at noah and the ark ¨This is how you are to build it… ¨ Gen 6:15 God gave him detailed instructions.

What this says to me is this, God is big on details, he doesn’t leave anything to chance and HE sure doesn’t do half measures.

God is BIG on the details of the world.

God is BIG on the details of his church.

God is BIG on the details of your Life.

He was involved in the times of Moses, He is involved today. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)

1 Peter 2:5 (NIV)

¨you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ¨

God is BIG on the ‘house’ that he’s building and he has given us a pattern… Jesus.

More than giving us the pattern, he showed us how to live and more than showing us, He documented for us (Bible)

Let us endevour to…

Live like him (Gal 2:20)

Love like him

Be his repesentatives on the earth.

God has gone all out for us; Jesus and HE doesn’t do half measures, Its time for us to get with the program.

We can’t keep claiming to be believers yet our lives signify otherwise.

¨The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of right standing/right doing. Any right standing with GOD that doesn't culminate into right Doing is false¨ - Kenny Kore

As believers, we should BE HIM, LIVE HIM! (Gal 2:20)

Have you come to an end of yourself? Have you come to a point where nothing else seems to be working out and you've tried all you could? Click to meet GRACE

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(K)night Walker

In the spirit of Love.

*                                                     *                                              *                                          

I looked into the night sky,
Shining below, the numerous stars and the smiling moon.
I had to walk under this beautiful scene,
I let my legs sink into the sands and with every step, I felt a lot more confident than the last.

Then I saw you, still, staring ahead into the ocean, oblivious of the world.
I envied you, I wanted that,
You turned and looked in my direction,
The unmistakable blue eyes drew me closer.
No words.
You looked and saw my soul

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Walks to Remember..

This post is kind of unofficial so pardon me.

I was going through my bible for the night and i was talking to myself and smiling to myself for all that i was reading and the walk of today and it just came to me "Why are you not blogging about this?"

You know i'm blessed right? Alot of people have told me but recently it dawned on me and i'm accepting my blessed status *Pops collar* Please leave me, I'm in my zone right now!

I have an habit of talking to myself, since i started writing my "Dear God" Letters i decided to talk to God instead to myself, do you know how it feels to talk to God like he is so close to you? 

call me daddy's little girl :)

So, what do i do? I take a stroll with a jumbled up head and i come back home with a clearer head, I cry if i have to, i laugh when i feel it, i worship, i give thanks, basically, I offload. You guessed right, I took a stroll today.

This is not a post to say what is making my head all jumbled up, but just one of those times that you look at your tiny self and wonder why God trusts you with so much responsiblilties and you wonder if you would deliver!

Anyways, I walk and talk with God, he calls me daughter, i call him Lord. When i'm done i feel extra good, even better than i felt before i took the walk, You are not sad or indifferent, you are just overwhelmed. 

You know God has a sense of humor? Its hard to explain, you just have to experience that yourself, at the end of this evening i was laughing, he made me laugh! 

 

I got answers. Where else? His word, and i want to share, it just might help someone.

Haggai 2:9  The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The LORD Almighty has spoken. 

Haggai 2:19  Although there is no grain left, and the grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced, yet from now on I will bless you." 

Habakkuk 2:3  Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed. 

Gal 6:9  So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. 

Exo 4:10-12  But Moses said, "No, LORD, don't send me. I have never been a good speaker, and I haven't become one since you began to speak to me. I am a poor speaker, slow and hesitant." 

The LORD said to him, "Who gives man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? It is I, the LORD. 

Now, go! I will help you to speak, and I will tell you what to say." - This one spoke to me the most!

Rom 12:21  Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good. 

Deu 30:19  I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life. 

I really hope this speaks to someone's situation and helps encourage you! 

Happy Holidays

P.S: Update on Vblog, i recorded it on my ipod and we know how apple is associated with stinginess, so i could not edit it and time had just passed and made the video stale, but i promise to make another one before the end of the year, My christmas gift to my followers, hope you will manage it? :D

P.P.S: I deactivated my twitter account for a while because i want to experiment something (Which i cannot say) Sorry, anyways i would be back before you say December :)

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Why Niger

Making my way through the other wanna-be corpers, with my tiny self and people pushing and shoving, I got to the front and traced  “DL” against my name, my head quickly did a mental calculation to mean DELTA, trying to be sure I traced again, this time I got “NG” looking confused now because I had no mental calculation of what or where that meant, with the cold water feeling… Whats a cold water feeling? You know when the day is really cold and you still trying to make yourself warm then someone pours you cold water out of wickedness and you too weak to speak or even retaliate? Yeah! That’s the cold water feeling.

Anyways, I found out that NG means Niger state and from then on without knowing what to expect I blanked out – mentally and I was indifferent about it all, preparation for camp went into full swing and the day finally came, it felt like I jumped out of my life and started watching it in 3D, I was like a walking zombie for the next one week (Its not pretty walahi)

I had absolutely no idea why God dropped me here but somewhere at the back of my mind I knew it was for a purpose and I wrote somethings down that I wanted to achieve before the end  (I wrote about it here) Its one NYSC calendar year already and I can say I got more out of the experience than I set out to.

January was the defining moment for me, with the security issues and subsidy issues in the country, the question then was: Will you go back? You really don’t want to know the number of people that came to my house to give me countless reasons not to go back (Especially Titus) my friends, pastors wife, family friends one-by-one they kept coming to convince me to relocate and for some reason (Now that I think f it, the strength wasn't from me) I stood my grounds, deep inside of me I was worried but I couldn't afford to let it show. My dad still asked me the night before I left when he saw me packing “So, you are going?” I knew they didn't want me to go but they are the kind of people that wont hold you back from whatever you decide to do, so they formed “supporting me” (God bless them for me) Looking back now, I do not regret coming down here.

The Lows

I lived alone and as much as I loved my space, sometimes I wished I wasn’t cooking for myself alone, sometimes I wished I had a friend around I could tell stuff to, don’t get me wrong I had people around me just didn’t have people I could open up to.

The boredom was real and I watched it live. Work started becoming a routine, some stubborn children, Employer wahala, I started getting depressed. Nights upon nights I cried myself to sleep, Everything didn't matter again, I wanted out, not just out of NYSC, Out of life itself, It was 11^th April, 2012. (I wrote about it here.) I thought of ways to end it all, Amidst all the thinking and depression I was wallowing in, I remembered a voice on the other end of the line that said to me “Who would I now talk to” (If you ever read this, it’s a memory I would forever cherish) That pulled me out of my wallowing and reminded me of the people that loved me.

The Highs

I pray this prayer “Dear God, Help me to help people” and it was also one of my goals this one year, although I didn't do what I really really wanted to do but the smiles I got after a class or after ding something for someone was the answer to my prayer. He did help me to help a few people within my capacity and I wouldn't have had it any other way, I was raw tears of Joy and that alone made my year and I whispered “Thank you for answering my prayers”

The not so regular hangout with my peeps was something that lifted my spirit a lot too and am grateful for the people that I met.

Staying alone, Sundays are not the same because there is no mummy to shout-wake you and remind you not to be late to church, I had to choose to go to church, and also be punctual. Church was a whole different experience, maybe because I was going because I really wanted to go or because my goal to build a relationship with God was really genuine, bottom line is it was different and I can say with all the confidence he has given me that I LOVE GOD.

Lessons Learnt

I was talking about passing out with a friend recently and he asked me “So, what are you taking back with you from kontagora” The summary of the answer is a different Tomilola.

The new tomilola:

Loves God

Has sooo much confidence in Christ

Has embraced her flaws and is working on them

Is Happier

Has switched from 80% Sad to 80% Happy

Enjoys reading the Bible (I mean I don’t fall asleep)

Thinks about things a whole lot more

Is really Thankful

Paying more attention t her writing

And I Absolutely Love her!!!!

I am far from perfect but right now i'm contended with everything God has given me and I am very grateful, I am very open to correction and I try to constantly evaluate myself to know my wrongs.

I lost a lot of things during this service year but its all for the better and more importantly I trust God for everything and he is working in places I cannot see.

I am grateful to everyone that I came in contact with during this year and most especially the people that were there for me all through, I don’t have anything to give you but I know God would bless you all for me! Thank you.

And to the people that asked me “Why Niger”, so sorry it took me this long to answer your question but there you have it.

To the people getting their posting and are worried about it, truth is God would never give you more than you can bear. Be open minded and enjoy the experience. The good. The bad. The ugly. The lessons. And Everything.

I am glad I came to Niger state and I feel fulfilled and I wont change the experience for anything else in the world.

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Scars - Imperfect me

Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you - Aldous Huxley

Don't waste your pain, use it to help others - Rick Warren

Growing up riding a bicycle one can only imagine how much "injury" scars I have, but since I was blessed with a very short memory, I can't remember the story behind all the scars, but some stories you can't just forget why? Because you learnt from them the hard way.

Let's back up a bit what are scars? 

Scars are areas of fibrous tissue (fibrosis) that replace normal skin after injury. A scar results from the biological process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process. With the exception of very minor lesions, every wound (e.g. after accident, disease, or surgery) results in some degree of scarring.

I would like us to look at wound here as either physical or emotional.

I have 2 physical Scars that I would never forget; One is the Amala Scar, don't laugh yet, here is the behind the scene story...

*flashes back to 3 years ago*

She had stopped taking anything made out of Cassava which automatically means no more Eba, this is not good news for the house Angela (house girl) me, because that's good bye to the quick and easy lunch and welcome Amala.

This faithful afternoon, my mum got back from school and asked me to go make amala for her to eat, as usual I grumbled and dragged my feet to the kitchen and started the process, for those that make amala (Normal one oh) you know its not complete till you put the pot on the floor and turn it right? Still burnt that It was only me they send all the errands, I started turning and what next? I felt the cold then hot sensation on the heel of my right leg, a lump of amala flew out the pot and balanced on my leg, how that happened I don't know, I just know I screamed and what did my mummy say? "When you won't happily do what I ask you to do, go and put cold Ogi" at that moment I got angrier that I got hurt working for her and that's all she could say but later I realised she said the truth.

Amala Scar

Today even if I'm tired and I don't feel like doing certain things I force myself to smile through it.

After she had screamed about it countless times. It only took a lump of hot amala, 1-2weeks of limping and I learnt not to grumble.

Did I mention that I finished making that amala? And my mum ate?

*sigh*

One leg sticking out the gutter, the other in the gutter, me in pain and "sorry, Tomi" in the background gave birth to this scar. It was a narrow gutter which was why both legs couldn’t fit (I was not that tiny), I went to fetch water from our modern day stream when I fell. This scar has always reminded me of that phase of my life I spent in Ife, which by the way wasn't the best, but I learnt

- I learnt that there would always be consequences for your actions

- Learnt about friendship. The good, the bad, the backstabbing and the ugly

- Learnt about dirty old men that try to take advantage of naïve young girls

- Learnt to speak Yourba better

- Learnt to do my laundry

- Learnt to stand up for myself

- This was where I picked up my sharp mouth

- Learnt to be by myself for the first time without my parents

One way or another every scar helps us to be stronger weather Physical Scars or otherwise, we just have to think about the experience and how it has helped us shape who we are today.

When I thought about writing this, the idea came to work with people on this one too, where anybody can send me his/her story about Scars that have helped strengthen You in whatever form, Someone recently told me he has a story but he just doesn't know how to write, so I'm saying here now that this isn't a competition, it’s just to help people learn and I also want to learn from other people's experiences.

I titled it SERIES OF SCARS. This is my public invitation be my guest experience teller, Share your story and if you feel you can't write it, just tell me about it and I will work on it for you, plus if you want to be anonymous that's also very welcome.

If you are interested and you want to share your story, please send a mail to me tomi_akibo@yahoo.com

Please share this post and let's get more experiences.

Thanks a lot.

Love.

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31DayReset: Day 25 & 26

Day 25; Challenge: Find a Community to support your goals.
Today's exercise requires you to explore different groups that you could join as part of your personal development journey.

This I would love to do, but my own question is where?? Which community?? I've never seen anything like this (I'm sure they exist sha) but as soon as I see, would definitely not let the opportunity pass me by.

Would Probably do some exploring when I get back to lagos!

Or if you know anyone, can you please help a sister?? Thanks *kisses*

Day 26; Challenge: Make a new Friend
The idea is that through your new support groups, you now have new opportunities. The more like-minded people you align yourself with, the less lonely it will be on the road towards reaching your goals.

New Friend? Have I finished being a good friend to the pack I have already?? Issokai! Ok! Seriously I have A LOT of friends, and over the past 3-4weeks I've met new ones, I can't say I'm tired of meeting new people because some of them just end up being super amazing, although I have friends but I still manage to feel lonely most of the time, where are you people? Don't they check on people in your villages??? *rme*

I don't want to have a new friend, I want to have friends that really really care, abi? Is that too much to ask from y'll?? Because I really don't know how to open up to people again (experience) I don't know if that's a good thing or not but one thing I know is somewhere somewhere down there is a heart that cherishes friendship and would love to share that with people that are worth it anytime of the day, just name the place ;)

P.s: I soo want a female bestie, one that is not far away from me, one that can knock sense into me whenever I'm being me( I do that a lot x_x), one that is super spontaneous and will drag my butt outta the house to have clean, legal fun, the adventurous type, one that would cry with me and laugh with me and I promise to always be there for you too :) If this is you and you wanna be my friend plss do get at me *puppy eyes*

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Ever been in a position where all hope seems lost, but, you know its not lost and you don't know how you know? You just know! Anyone? *sigh*

Have a lovely Sunday and thanks for stopping by.

Love :* :* :*

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31DayReset: Day 14 & 15

Challenge Day 14: Redesign Your day

To redesign my day I've decided to add 30Mins of Exercising early in the morning between 6:30 - 7:00am, and go to bed earlier everyday, so I can wake up early.

Day 15: Ditch TV for 24hours.

Where I am I don't have a Tv and since I've not been on twitter for a while (that's what takes my time) I really don't have anything to ditch.. The point of the ditching was to create time for you to do other things, I spend that time(The one I get from not tweeting) reading and watching movies, so I would just stick to reading today, no series :D

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Jeremiah 32:18 says "You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers sin into the laps of their children after them......"

We shall not be punished for the sins of our fathers in Jesus name.

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31DayReset: Day 12 & 13

Day 12: Craft your ideal life (Narrative)

Hmmmm...... My ideal life, Simple. I wake up 5am everyday, Spend time with God, workout for 30mins or 1hour Max, my Job is not far away from home, so I don't get to "rush" all the time, I work for a big company that pays me well and I can buy myself plenty shoes ;) Every wednesday evening I get to hang out with my girls and just let go of work stress.

Weekends, I pick my camera and walk the streets and take pictures of things that interest me and other saturdays that I'm not working, I'm pampering myself in a spa :D

Occasional visits to different Orphanages. Adopt a kid at some point.

Love and hangout with my family, Love, Read, Have fun, go to church, be a good daughter, friend and sister.

Basically... :D

Day 13: Conduct Your Time Audit
The Assignment is to critically check what you spend your time. 24Hours Time Audit.

7.00 - 7.30am - Devotion
7.30 - 8.00 am - Bath & Breakfast
8.30 - 6.00pm - Work
(Wednesdays) 5- 6pm - Fellowship
6:00 - 6:30pm - Rest & Dinner
6:30 - ..... - Read/ On my laptop/ Movies/ Twitter/ Sleep

This is how I spend my time everyday, I really don't have anything else doing and I'm getting fat X_X

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Church today was awesome, you know when you get to church and everything speaks to you? From the bible reading to the choir ministration? That's exactly how I felt. Life has been happening to me, but I can only be thankful to God, because he said he would never put more on me than I can bear. I cried to God on friday/Saturday because it felt like I couldn't go on, I cried to him to give me strength before the end of saturday I did feel it. Although everything isn't "perfect" right now, but I know it would get there and now, more than ever, I trust him and I'm happy about where I am why? Because I know he would make it better.

Romans 8: 35-39

"......... Who shall Separate us from the love of Christ"

".....in all these things we are made more than conqueror through Christ the loved us"

I just hope this would give someone hope as much as it have given me.

In other news, I saw something different in this town today that intrigued me, as we know today is Sallah, on my way to church I saw the muslims in the whole town gather (I didn't get the picture of the crowd) So what intrigued me? The love between them, They don't have denominations or different doctrines, they just gather and pray to their God.

It just got me wondering, is love not all that matters?
I think Christians should emulate this.

Thanks for Stopping by.

Love.

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31 Day Reset: Day 9

Challenge: Do one thing

Your "One thing" must/should meet atleast on of the following criteria:

- Something you've been procrastinating on for a long time

- Something that terrifies you

- Something that Inspires you

The action must be tangible and measurable.

So what did I do today?

When I first did the reset, I bought a new bible as a symbol of my re-dedication but that was 2 Months ago, but today I just really wanted to cook. But errrmmmm *Scratchs head* Okay, I just got back and I don't really have anything at home and I can't have time to go to the market till saturday... So I guess I have to postpone - Again! X_X and I think that's the point for today's challenge, but I guess :(

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31 Day Reset: Day 8

Challenge: Rest, Reflect and Comment

Q1. What is the most important thing you learnt about yourself this week?

That I have neglected the things that mean a lot to me and I realise I could be happier by just remembering and being thankful for the things that I have going good for me.

Q2. What has been your favourite exercise so far and what did you like about it?

The Love letter to the future me. The fact that I can envision myself not being a quitter (its a form of motivation) knowing you've gifted yourself for the exercise and waiting for the gift.

3. What exercise did you struggle with the most and why?

Day 4: Identifying the values, it was hard to dig out the stuffs that mattered to me because I had lost sight of most of it and narrowing them down to 10? That was hard

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First Week, done. Now I don't have constant internet access anymore, so I to make do with my phone, which means I have to type on my phone too :( So, I would post late.....

I'm really excited about the work-in-progress going on in my life, I suddenly started thinking a lot deeper x_x I'm even scared sef, I shuu nor go and be thinking what I shuu nor think. Issokai. I just keep hoping for the best *Fingers Crossed*

Good Morning People.


Thanks for sticking around.

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31 Day Reset: Day 6

Challenge: Write a Personal Mission Statement

Your mission statement should be a representation of what's most important in your life, what you want to focus on, who you want to become in the purest form. Simply put your values + values in action.

My Personal Mission Statement.

I value my relationship with God, I want to improve on that relationship by constantly praying, praising, meditating on his word and Communicating with him. I value the relationships God has put in my life because I know everything is for a purpose and I want to keep being a better person and making the people in my life happy, not complaining and being as understanding as I can. I value the relationship I have with my family, I want to spend more time with them, buy gifts for special occasions in their lives and be there for them in the best way I can.
I love nature and would love to hold a camera and see life through the lens.
I want to live my life with love for everything and everyone around me, not neglecting the need to help the orphans. Always remember to have positive attitude to life, take care of myself, dress good, look good, exercise and eat well. Remember, Its life. Live it, Learn it, Love it.

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The feeling You get, as a member of a family where it feels like your needs aint as important as every other persons? I get that feeling a lot, and I'm sure some of you too feel the same way, so I travelled back to Niger state today - why my post is late - Let's just say I've seen better days. Brings me to my question (and answer). Why do "they" treat some of us differently in our families? Like you wonder "Was I adopted or what?" Truthfully, I've dealt with this for a long while and as I grew older, I decided to let it go and stop asking myself questions I can't answer and we are in Nigeria, you can't just wake up one morning and start asking your folks "Silly" Questions - You chop winch for sleep? -

Gladly, I got my answer a few days ago and I didn't have to go through the whole "process" I've heard a lot of times that "Everything happens for a reason" "Life is a test" and I was reminded a few days ago, Not until today after crying my eyes out on my way out of the house, it made perfect sense.

Life is a test. God tests us in different ways, now how we manage it is the issue, that is why he said we should ask for direction (Proverbs 3:5-6).

This phase of my life has been really humbling for me, learning and putting all that I learnt into practise. My prayer for us today is for us to be able to manage every test, opportunity, family, relationship God has put in our lives. Amen.

P.S: Someone wrote to me today about how my posts lately has helped her to want to be a better person. I'm so so grateful to God and I have no regrets for putting this out here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love.

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31 Day Reset: Day 5

Today's Challenge: Envision Your Values in Action

This challenge is helping you to incorporate your values into your daily life. Divided into two parts, the first part requires you to compare your values to how you’re currently living the life and score yourself on a scale of 1-10. Am i currently living my values? 

1. Relationship with God - 4
2. Family - 6
3. Relationship - 6
4. Friendship - 2
5. Helping - 2
6. Financial Stability - 7
7. Professional Achievement - 3
8. Healthy Living, Physical appearance, make-up - 5
9. Nature and photography - 0
10. Technology and books - 2

I really don't have to remind myself that this result is very poor. Honestly assessing yourself can be one of the hardest things, its like hearing you tell yourself what you don't want to hear from other people. *PHEW*

The second part of the exercise requires that you list at least three actions you are currently taking or should be taking in order to honor and fulfill your values in life

1. Relationship With God - Buy a new bible to remind me  of my re-dedication. Spend time reading the word and writing down what you learn. Fast and Pray alot more.

2. Family - Be more open with my family and encourage them. Talk to them about your issues honestly. Hang out alot more. Continue to prepare myself to be a wonderful wife and mother.

3. Relationship - Be available. Be supportive, understanding and complain less. talk more. Be hopeful and have faith.

4. Friendship: Be the kind of friend i would want to have. Care. Be available. Hang out more.

5. Helping: Stop being lazy about it. leave the drawing board and start acting. Be Available.

6. Financial Stability: Save (No unnecessary spending). Save (Buy what you need, not what you want) and Save

7. Professional Achievement: Get money, enroll for classes, Get certified.

8.  Healthy Living, Physical appearance, make-up: Stop being lazy about exercising. Stop the bad eating habit. work on getting a Nigerian diet plan.

9. Nature and Photography: Read up on it. Ask questions. practice.

10. Technology and books: Get more hard cover books. Stop being lazy. read. read and Read.

This was all levels of hard, i just put myself out there and it feels good, i don't think I've been this vulnerable with myself. 

So, What would it look like for you to be able to rate yourself a "10' on how you live out all your values?

The Truth is my world would be perfect and i will be extremely happy all day, everyday with the strength to take whatever challenge daily living throws at me because of the knowledge that things are fine in the background of my life, but then this is just an assumption and the truth is i'm not the perfect 10 so i guess i would just keep working on me and obey, obey Proverbs 3: 5-6

"Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path"

Why do i love this passage so much? because its an all round answer to every situation you find yourself. While you reading this, tell him and trust him. It's worked for me.

Thanks for sticking around

Love.

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31 Day Reset: Day 4

Challenge: Identify your Values

Write a free-for-all list of all the things that mean alot to you in your life, all the things you care about.

1. Relationship with God
2. Family, Love, Relationship with them
3. Romantic Relationship
4. Having people to call me a true friend and vice-versa
5. Having a family, Children, Love
6. Helping in the society (Orphans)
7. Professional Achievement
8. Financial Stability
9. Nature
10. Photography
11. Mental stability, Emotional Stability
12. Healthy Living, Physical Appearance
13. Fashion, Make-up, looking good and sophisticated
14. Technology, Books
15. Having a positive Attitude

The second phase of the exercise is to choose your RESET 10, which is a list of your top 10 values from the above list. 

RESET 10

1. Relationship with God
2. Family
3. Relationship
4. Friendship
5. Helping
6. Financial Stability
7. Professional Achievement
8. Healthy Living, Physical appearance, make-up
9. Nature and photography
10. Technology and books

Writing the list wan't the problem but narrowing them down to 10 was the issue. I must say tho', identifying your values and the things you care about just puts alot of things into perspective for you and you realise how much time you've been wasting on things that don't matter to you. So, even if you won't do the whole challenge take sometime out and identify your values. it helps.

Thanks for sticking around.

 

Love.

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31 day Reset: Day 3

Today's Challenge: Write a love letter to your future self

Today's challenge is a two part challenge that helps put perspective to yesterday's challenge and makes you accountable for the whole exercise, so you write a love letter to yourself and e-mail it to your future self as a reward for your exercise. cool right? :)

Here is my love letter to me

Dear Future Morounfoluwa,

I'm really proud of you and the progress you have made in recent times, you have grown and learnt alot over the past few months, and saying i'm proud is an understatement.

I always want you to constantly remember the things in your life that you should be grateful for, God's love for you, the great family you have, wonderful sisters that love each other and love you and would always love you through thick and thin.

Also, be grateful for God's constant good  health, the ability to be able to control what you think and always remind yourself to stay happy despite the situation thereby keeping you mentally and emotionally stable, glad you have been exercising and eating right.

You should also be grateful for the peace and quiet you enjoy at this stage of your life and also the opportunity to teach and impact knowledge to those students and also the opportunity i also have to help.

Also remember to be thankful for the kind of girl you are, that you don't feel comfortable owing people and the ability to make a decision about my savings and stick to it, be grateful that at least you are earning something and making a living.

be grateful to God for your best friend, the fact that you can be totally vulnerable, open and honest with him about everything, grateful that he is always out to make you happy and you guys have a special friendship going one (that is so hard to come by these days)

ALWAYS remember to let go of things that won't add to your life and please and please stop beating yourself up over past mistakes, its the past, leave it there and move on. So glad that your life is so much better now and its all because of your effort (no one could have done it for you) and hard work. I'm so proud of you. keep it up.

No human loves you more than i do. Kisses. 

Tomilola

P.S: Don't forget to always do what you love and live.

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31 Day Reset: Day 2

Challenge: Take an Honest Assessment of your life

The purpose of this challenge today is:

1. To force you to own up to exactly which areas you'd like to improve upon in your life.
2. To give you encouragement to build on what's already great about it

Who said being honest with one's self was easy?

This challenge requires me to state my likes and dislikes about specific areas of my life (honestly, like who am i deceiving right)

Areas of Assessment:

1. Lifestyle (Satisfaction with where you live/living environment, how you spend your leisure time): 

Likes: I like the peace and quiet that i get from living here, i also like that i get to live the independent life, not worrying about someone taking care of me.

Dislikes: Moving to the northern part of the country living in a semi - village doesn't give alot options for things to do with free time (which i happen to have alot of). don't like that i'm so far from civilization, the heat and the mother of all I'm boring.

2. Work (Satisfaction with where you work right now, what you do to earn your living):

I'm Currently serving in a School.

Likes: Love that i get to impact knowledge to my students and they love me. The free internet i get also makes me keep it together when i get tired

Dislikes: I don't like that my boss  just takes advantage of me and dumps all his responsibility on me, makes the job frustrating. Don't like that everyday after my class, i have nothing to do.

3. Education (Satisfaction with your educational attainment to date - college, vocational school and other learning goals):

Likes: Despite losing a year during my secondary school years, my education is so fast - and i love it. I love what i went to spent 4 years learning more about. Computers.

Dislikes: As much as i worked so hard to make up for my first year in college, i didn't make a 2nd class upper, i've stopped beating myself up over it (If you reading this and you in your first year, please read well. Its the most important time for your result.) I want more certifications but right now, i don't have resources and this village doesn't help much.

4. Finances (the current state of your budget/money management, salary, net worth, debt-to-income ratio)

Likes: Love that i have a steady income although small but i still stick to my monthly savings. I try my best to pay my debts (Whenever i have them). I have a "buy what you need, not what you want" policy with the exceptions of special cravings (Try not to deny myself of those) 

Dislikes: Hate i don't have a larger savings

5. Health (the current state of your mental, physical and spiritual health - mind, body, soul)

Likes: Like that i don't fall ill alot. Writing and talking to myself puts helps me maintain a mental balance. i fee; emotionally stable too, don't have anything to worry about

Dislikes: Hate that i don't stick to my exercise and i eat alot. Hate that its so hard to find a diet routines with the type of food we have in this country. I hate the asthma. Don't like that i get easily depressed by the smallest things and it affects my way of thinking.

6. Family (the quality of your relationships with family members, siblings, children)

Likes: Like that we still talk about family plans together as a family. My sisters and i try to be involved in each others lives and we encourage and pray for each other. I love my family

Dislikes: I wish we could be closer to my dad. Hate that we don't hang out outside the house. hate that we are not always together for every holiday.

7. Relationships (the quality of your relationships with friends and romantic partners)

 

Likes: I have a couple of friend that i could hang out with and act totally crazy and it would be totally cool. Love that i have a few friends that i could talk to about things bothering me without fear of being judged. Love that he makes me happy, i absolutely love him and i feel super comfortable with him

Dislikes: With where i am now, everybody is far from me. hate the distance that keeps me from my friends. Not having any close friend in this place has made living here alot harder. I hate that i have not been silly with him in a while.

Tried to make this as short as possible. This is particularly hard to look back on because this is old and alot of things have changed since i did this reset, i'm in a better place in my life right now, so i can only be grateful.

Thanks for sticking around.

Love   

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