Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada as a way of expressing gratitude for life, family and more. Thanksgiving was made an official national holiday on the 3^rd of October 1863 by the United States president Abraham Lincoln. 

If you want to read about the history of thanksgiving, I suggest you go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving as it highlights the history of thanksgiving both in Canada and the USA. 

The essence of thanksgiving is the fact that we are alive despite the many things we have gone through. We should be thankful for family despite the fact that they make us want to hit our heads on the wall sometimes. If it seems like you can’t find anything to be thankful about, consider the air you breathe. Start from the seemingly little things like the fact you awaken every morning, the fact that you can read this post, the fact you have access to the internet…anything seemingly mundane.

Have you lost a loved one? Be thankful for the fact that he/she is in a better place and if you do not believe in the afterlife, be thankful for the strength you have every day to bear the loss. Has your business crumbled over the last couple of years? Be thankful for the ingenuity and courage you had to create a business and indeed start one that failed. You would learn from your mistakes and create a bigger and better business.

I absolutely hate what I call comparative thanksgiving e.g. thank God for the food I have to eat because many poor children have nothing. That is absolute crap. Why compare yourself with others when you can be fully satisfied independent of other people’s status? Yes, some have more or less than we have but that gives us no reason to base our thankfulness on that.

I am thankful for so many things and they include (in no preferential order)

1.      I am alive and have the will to go on living.

2.      I have a job I absolutely enjoy.

3.      I have access to the internet (where I meet a lot of interesting people and can post write-ups on my blog).

4.      I have a loving family.

5.      I have crazy friends who would do anything for me and vice versa.

6.      I have the zeal and yearning to achieve my goals.

7.      I have time.

8.      I have good health (well, seemingly so since I haven’t gone for a check-up in a while and I haven’t died yet)

9.      My country hasn’t gone into another Civil war despite the various issues we have.

I could go on and on but won’t bore you with my long list of things I am thankful for. Please feel free to comment and let me know the things you are thankful for…trust me, you would go on and on.

Book Review: Living Life in the Zone

Living life in the zone is a 40 day daily devotional for men written by Kyle Rote Jr. and Dr. Joe Pettigrew. 

The authors call it a 40 day spiritual game plan for men (I guess this is because it is written in a sports format that appeals to most men).

I took my time studying this book as the authors intended and found it to be a very reflective and inspirational daily devotional.

The authors acknowledge the fact that forty days is considered by God as a spiritually significant period of time in which he accomplishes his purposes. The authors further prove their point by giving us eleven instances where God used 40 days to change to change lives and situations.

The book covers a wide range of topics and is divided into 6 sections that cover every facet of a man’s life. Each week there is a different theme that makes you stop and ponder about your relationship with God, your wife, children, friends, co-workers and your future plans.

It sports oriented as it seeks to relate to the active/sporty side of men. As a woman, I was not bored with the book, I actually found it fascinating and I can imagine how much more interested the men would be.

This is a book I would recommend as a gift for a male figure dear to any woman. It boosts the morale and serves as a Spiritual guide. Although biblical passages were sparsely referred to, the authors tried as much as possible to make you dig deeper by giving daily assignments.

Check  http://www.amazon.com/Living-Life-Zone-Spiritual-Gameplan/dp/0849946522 to buy the book.

Photography (2)

Hello everybody, welcome to by first photography exhibition. Okay, not really an exhibition but a post of a few of my pictures. I love photography ( I am an amateur) and my Nikon goes wherever I go. The pictures I am bold enough to post today are pictures I took in June 2010. It was a TG1stFriday event at Silverbird Abuja. I wonder why they stopped hosting the event. Oh well.

What I really love most about the few pictures here is the way I captured the fountain in different lights. Please enjoy and feel free to criticize.

This picture was taken with a focal length of 105.0mm, and an ISO of 800. I love the green background and the fact that the people were oblivious to my camera.

Focal Length: 105.0mm; ISO:800

This time, the two beautiful ladies saw my camera and struck a pose.

 Who knew the fountain could be this beautiful at night.

  Focal Length: 34.0mm; ISO: 800

Focal Length: 25.0mm; ISO: 720

This is my friend and partner in crime (my photography buddy) Dr. Olamide Craig.

F.L: 50.0mm; ISO: 800

 

To me, this is the most beautiful picture I captured that night. Let me hear your views.

F.L: 52.0mm; ISO: 800

 Finally, a close up of the table arrangement. This was actually such a random picture that came out quite nice.

 

I should thank 'whats my name' who commented on my blog last week and encouraged me to post some of my amateurish pictures.

Writing

I find it difficult to write sometimes and most of it is largely due to lack of self discipline. I could blame it on a number of factors: lack of constant electricity, busy schedule at work, the fact that I am always on the move...but they are all bloody excuses. After all, Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis and the best of them had no computers to write on and they wrote perfectly.

Truth be told, I enjoy reading immensely and I know that I write well but I have to get rid of the laziness I succumb to. I have subscribed to a number of websites that encourage you to write, give you tutorials and the rest. To be honest, the Word Queen (Keidi Keating) has helped me a lot. I found out about it one idle day on twitter and I have been blessed with the tips and weekly advise (almost daily advice actually). Please visit http://thewordqueen.com/

Another person who encourages me to write is Gordon McCleary. He is the author/writer of 'A Yankee's Southern Exposure' (here is the link to his blog http://yankeeexposure.blogspot.com). He has an intricate way of infusing humour in his writings. His blog is actually educating as it tells you the experience of a native Northern American's experience in the South. It has actually given me ideas as to topics I should write on.

Another person who inspires me is Erere Jennifer Abayowa who is a prolific writer and has the blog http://www.lightherlamp.com/. Oh my...I cannot describe how inspiring and enlightening her blog is ( I use it as a devotion sometimes). 

There are so many writers that inspire me, I would not mention the classic writers, I am focusing on the bloggers right now because I can read their blogs on my phone and smile, be inspired, pause to ponder and use their articles as a platform for my articles.

Over the next couple of days, I would analyze/summarize the writings of my favorite bloggers and I what I enjoy about their blogs (so help me God )

Photography

My love for photography started when I finally accepted the fact that I could not draw to save my life. Yes, I am proud to say I was one of those people who fooled themselves in Secondary School that they possessed artistic prowess.

After years of what I would call mock pottery and 'abstract' art, I put aside the clay, paint, paper and brushes and told myself it was not necessary for me to tap into my artistic side any further.

Technology then blessed me with the art of digital photography (hugs to the group of people who worked tirelessly to develop such a wonderful thing). My first camera was actually a nameless camera (no, I would not admit I have forgotten the name of the manufacturer). I would buy countless rolls of film and take countless pictures.

My second camera was a Kodak digital camera and I absolutely loved it! My love didn't last for long as I got a Sony DSLR A 200 and it became my constant companion. I took so many pictures with that Camera.

Now I use a Nikon D 90 and I absolutely love this new baby.

I cannot tell you which camera is the best in the world but what i know is this: do not give your self an excuse for not doing what you always wanted to. I always wanted to capture images and I let my little mind think I could do that only with paper/canvas and paint. Once I realized that technology can help me with my lack of natural ability to draw, I embraced it warmly.