BE ENCOURAGED

 

Having people that support our dreams and vision gives us the sense of significance, importance and self worth. It is a natural human desire to what to be recognized, noticed and valued. Unfortunately many make the desire to be encouraged a driving force that determine the level of their commitment and persistence level. They pick up their paint brush, surfboard, barbell, dance shoes, guitar, piano when they receive some good dose of encouragement but when the endorphin drops, they drop their work tools. When praise goes high their commitment and persistence level is high, when praise goes down their commitment level drops. Hence they give so much power to external factors by failing to develop personal power which gives them the advantage to fully take charge of their lives. 

The degree of our commitment and persistence to our works,.our dreams and visions should not be tied to the opinions of others but to our purpose, genuine reason, passion and the love that inspire us in the first place. Tying our commitment to the encouragement we receive can be injurious to our dreams and vision because when the praise stops coming or become less steady we become unmotivated, perplex and sad because we have tied motivation to the good opinions of others.  But that's does not mean we should nit appreciate encouragement when they come, it does mean  we should not depend solely  on them. We should not pick ourselves up only when someone encourages us, doing so is subjecting ourselves to the control of others.

 Regrettably majority of individuals are trapped in this mental condition. They expect others to appreciate, give comments, approve and recommend their works to others. When they don't get any of these, they feel unmotivated, unnoticed and gradually they lose focus of the reason why they started what they do as the number of LIKES and COMMENTS they get on Instagram, Facebook and other social media network take the place of genuine purpose. Am not suggesting we go around acting like human robots, despising encouragement from others all am saying is that the need for encouragement should not take the place of the very reason we started our craft. Sometimes I feel the need to be encouraged. Who doesn't? But I quickly get over this need when I remind myself of the reason I started writing. This thought alone gets me elevated and makes me overcome the feeling of discouragement. This alone has improved my commitment level over the years. Instead of focusing so much on others to encourage and notice you why not make it a habit to encourage and notice other? The result often is tremendous when you genuinely take this this up as a habit. When you make others feel significant and needed you too will feel significant and needed in return. Tell someone how great their drawing skill is. Tell a waiter he is doing a great job. Tell a Nanny she is a super woman. Visit the homeless children and show them love. Doing all these has a way of uplifting your spirit. Encourage someone today, the world has enough critics.

Thanks for reading this article. I dedicate this article to God Almighty who is the source of wisdom and knowledge.
Written by:  Uwagboe Anthonia Peace.
remain blessed.

                                   

THE VALUE OF COMMITMENT

Many ideas, vision and dreams fail to materialize because the owners lack commitment a necessary factor that push dreams and visions from their abstract state into concrete reality where they take form and shape in physical reality. Having dreams and vision is not enough but committing fully to our dreams help us build capacity to overcome challenges, difficulties, and discomfort. For many discomfort, difficulties and obstacles are a signal to give up their dreams. But a conscious individual understands that discomfort or pain are are a integral elements associated to change and core are aspect of growth. a lot of time our ineffectiveness, inadequacy, incompetency, can be traced to lack of full commitment on our part. 

Associated with every aspect of change is the feeling of discomfort and stress but when an individual is aware of this fact he is able to stick to his resolve long enough. Our dreams and visions make us see world of possibilities where we only see the end results and where all forms of obstacles, difficulties and stress get cancelled out in our imagination. This process of thoughts put us in an excited mood and gets us to commit to our dreams. We excitedly pick up our barbell, our surfboard, our writing pen, our paint brush,our dance shoes , our guitars,  our pianos, etc and we inwardly believe that the excitement we feel at the initial discovery of our dreams can keep us long enough to achieve the result we hope to achieve, then the initial excitement fades away as our ability to commit become even harder due to some challenges associated with our field of interest. then many drop their barbell,.their writing pen, their dance shoes, their paint brush and come up with excuses to justify their actions in order to reduce the intensity of regrets, pain that is accompanies accepting mediocrity and giving up ones dreams. Excitement gives us kick to start our dreams but commitment help us actualize our dreams. Because excitement burns off when the effort we invest is not yielding the desired result we tell ourselves we are not good enough at it, perhaps it is not our calling but we fail to realize it is when we fully commit ourselves to our dreams that we have access to limitless creativity. 

 Being excited about our dreams cant make us endure the moments of frustration, suffering, pain, discomfort, and inconveniences but being fully committed enable us understand that to get out of our comfort zone we must be willing to pay the price, we must be willing to delay gratification, we must be willing to delay the desire to feel  comfortable, we must be willing to delay the desire to sleep, we must be willing to overcome the tendency to create excuses and must owe ourselves accountable for every actions. To express fully our talents, to bring our goals into reality a never ending commitment is the key to attaining such result. Having a half-hearted commitment have a negative impact on our talents and dreams as it makes us not to fully express that gift within us.   

Thanks for reading this article. I dedicate this article to the Almighty Go who is the source of wisdom and knowledge.
Written by : Uwagboe Anthonia Peace

                                         

                                         

  FREEDOM AND DISCIPLINE

Despite our freedom to choose as mankind,  we believe attaining our highest values require a deep sense of responsibility on our part. To fully express our deepest, our talents requires freedom from certain indulgence which put a limit on our dreams and make us express half of the potential within us. To come out successful in any callings requires we stick to some higher values and this on the other hand means giving up instant gratification, overcoming whim of the moment, building a higher level of self control and overcoming distractions. A large part of being a responsible individual is being discipline and taking rational actions. Being a discipline individual requires one to be rational.  Every personality that has come out successful in their respective calling share a common behavioral trait which is discipline. They are people who have learned to integrate discipline into their daily actions. They finish up their project, their task,  their work boy because it is convenient but because it is necessary. A lot of time we wait for the convenient time before we start or finish up a project, we wait for the time when we will be less distracted, when we will feel less stress or no stress at all, when we will feel no fatigue,   etc, .and all these often serve as excuses why we fail in our different field of calling in life.

 The truth is that their is no such thing as a convenient time. People who have chosen to take conscious actions have integrated this fact into their Psyche and this fact help them maintain a high level of commitment and discipline. They are those who have learned to take conscious actions and commit to rational thinking. They are the individuals who experience a total sense of freedom and a feeling of liberation from self deceit which countless of mankind are subjected to and which has rob many of their integrity, self esteem and fulfillment in life. Man and woman I all walks of life seek comfort, avoid difficulties and surrender when they are faced with obstacles. Life presents us with freedom to choose. Abusing this freedom by pursuing instant gratification prevents us from fully actualizing the values deepest to us.

Contrary to the majorities belief,  freedom does not mean acting out at the whim of the moment or carelessly pursuing animal indulgence or suspending rational thinking. True freedom lies in ones ability to control, to be in charge of ones life,  to act in integrity with ones deepest value and that is what it means to be truly human. Because our deepest values is connected to our conscience, we seek means to be  free from guilt that accompanies the evasion of consciousness. Sometimes we suspend rational thinking and come up with excuses which make us feel comfortable enough to indulge habits that prevent  the full development of our talents,.of our deepest values. To fully express our deepest values, our talents require the freedom from indulgences which place limits on our dreams and make us express half of the vast potential that resides within us. Acting in congruence with our deepest values involves rational thinking which brings satisfaction, fulfillment, and peace of mind and that is where true freedom lies. With freedom comes great responsibility, and not irresponsibility. And this freedom calls for great discipline and commitment to our dreams, vision and talents.

Thanks for reading this article. I dedicate this article to the Almighty God who is the source of wisdom and knowledge .

Written by:  Uwagboe Anthonia Peace

   

                                

                   

                                                     

 ONENESS IN DIVERSITY

In this era of civilization and exposure many individuals still exhibit behavioral traits of our brutish ancestors who lacked education and moral compass but believed the only way to solve conflicts is by the use of axes and cutlasses. Their is this innate need to control, to dominate and strive for superiority which is the characteristics of those acting from the place of the ego. Liberation comes from the freedom from the self. Freedom from self enhance tolerance, promote empathy,  and help the individuals overcome anger, hate, hurt, vexation of the spirit that has the potential of arising in moments of conflicts of opinions. One of the characteristics of the ego is self protection, self defense, always seeking to be right even in situations where facts and evidences strive to correct its wrong,  deficiencies or inadequacies. Prejudice is the condition of the mind inspired by ego ( lack of freedom from the self) which affects the choice of mankind and the condition of the world we live in today. Freedom from the self awaken our consciousness to the fact that diversity is the core aspect of the world we all share and that no ethnicity, religion, race, language , culture is superior than the other. The issue of religious diversity, ethnicity diversity, language diversity, national diversity, differences is skin color have had great impact in the relationships of mankind through out history. Even in this era of civilization many still find it difficult to accept diversity due to their strive for superiority. Refusal in accepting diversity is acting from the place of ignorance which often lead to the build up of hate, resentment, prejudice, suspicion, blood shed violence, and even war. The rise of suicide bombing, terrorism can be traced to mans ignorance of diversity by those who choose to use swords and bullets instead of their minds. 

Religion has a dual effect in the relationship of mankind.  Religion which is one aspect of diversity has greatly imparted the relationships  of mankind across the world in that it has created love and hate , trust and suspicion,  it has created enemies and friends and it has brought about peace and war. But the negativity surrounding religion is  a result of the condition of some individuals mind who lack the knowledge of truth and who choose to operate in ignorance. As mankind we seek to form bonds and we don't see how gradually these bonds break on the ground of religion differences, during times of conflicts of opinions. Geography seems to restrict our thinking process such that a man shows high level of favoritism to his fellow man who share the same skin color with him despising those on merit list on the ground of differences in skin color. The freedom from self start with rational thinking. Emerson said " A man is not a thinker who is bound by prejudice, he is merely a strenuous upholder of his opinion". 

Man and woman have lost focus of the spiritual aspect of religion. These are people after religion, after doctrine and after the number converts from the opposite faith. Ignorance has led the company of many who seek religion rather than spirituality to erect a personal God in their mind and seeing others who share a different faith as serving an inferior God. It is no longer about God , it is now about numbers. Many have become mathematician in the area of addiction and subtraction. When one member of the opposite faith drop his religion and take up another faith, they are raised in their esteem and begin to see the faith abandoned by this new convert as inferior. This for them is a proof of the authenticity of their religion. When they lose a member to the opposite faith (religion) they take words out of context just to support their belief and stand strong on their faith. These are people operating from the place of the ego. The ego strive to defend, protect itself and never want to admit its short-comings.  When a man is bound by ego he fails to rise in knowledge and grow in consciousness since he fails to engage in rational thinking. Having the understanding that no religion is superior than the other (since every religion preach peace) takes us into the heights of spirituality rather than the nadir of bigotry.

 The world should understand that each of us as mankind are unique peace of the perfect whole. No culture , no language ,  no ethnicity , no skin color is superior than the other. Ignorance of this fact is the basis of all arguments, unnecessary confrontation, hate, resentment , intimidation in the lives of many. We should not allow melanin to suspend rational thinking. Doing so is subjecting ourselves to the control of the DNA. Being rational require we see people beyond their skin color, their religion,  their culture and nationality. We should not allow skin color differences, letters (language), and geography limit our capacity to think. To think is to advance in consciousness and to advance in consciousness is to truly live and to truly live is to accept the fact that all culture , all colors,  all ethnic group, all languages and all lives matters.

Thanks for reading this article. I dedicate this article to the Almighty God who is the source of wisdom and knowledge.

Written by:  Uwagboe Anthonia Peace