Isolated Short-term thinking is deadly for human beings. It dismisses patience and persistence in favour of superficiality. It degrades entrepreneurship to silly speculation. It leads to a world of fast love and quicker divorce - Author Unknown (@least at the moment)

I reminisce on the things the Nigerian government had promised us would happen by the year 2000, then 2010, then 2020, then…what next? If I make the ABSURD ASSUMPTIONS that ‘they’ really wanted these things to happen, where did they go wrong? And where do we go wrong as individuals when we have dreams that don’t come to pass?

There are a couple of things (things like qualities, strengths and virtues) that you need to acquire or gain greater stature in, and writing about them sure helps. I tried getting…materials in direction of the title but I found only one or two very relevant ones. Although I remember a book that I read a little while ago and I’ve been encouraged to read regularly, “Science of getting rich”. One of the major ’suggestions’ of the book is to have a long term objective, and then break it down into pieces that you can easily relate with in your day to day activities - As simple as this sounds, it’s simply remarkable!

So as you live out this year, bear in mind that if you can project (long-term plan) and live your month, week, day and minute (short-term plans) with the big picture in view, you’ll surprise yourself at the end of the year. So, let’s kinda break this down.

1. You need a Vision

Call it goal, target, objective…blah blah blah, but just get something that you hope will happen to you or a height that you want to reach or something you want to acquire. It’s a good idea if the vision is a little higher than something just common that you can accomplish too easily.

2. You need to desire your vision enough and be creative

Let your vision become a real desire. Desire is like an advanced wish; pursuit is it’s proof. Regularly fill your mind with this vision i.e. let it be “set before you” to the point that it subconciously stays in your attention almost without effort. Your passion for your dream needs to be palpable. The more your vision is in your thoughts, the more visible opportunities in that direction will be to you and you will naturally attract instruments that will take you towards your dreams. If your dream doesn’t move you it’s less likely to move anyone else and definitely not God. You also need to be open to ideas that will help your vision come to fruition. You should also get sharper overtime in recognising opportunities to advance or achieve your vision.

3. Design milestones for your vision

This is the most important part of this long-term/short-term gist. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step is a common enough line. So even if you don’t want to start with a step, you need to remind yourself that you’re not just going to leap and ‘get there’. So break down the journey to your vision into reasonable blocks that you can accomplish over time and with reasonable effort. If you do your job properly on this point, you may realise that the vision you have is either too big or you’ll need to ‘get bigger’ to accomplish it - by the way, this is a great advancement in your journey!

4. Discipline yourself

Treat each milestone like if you failed to meet it, the dream will never be more than a dream - it may even become a nightmare . Let your behaviour be produced by the thought of the impact it will have on your dream. e.g. if I don’t meet up with a deadline ‘cos of something not so important my dream’s actualisation will be delayed or affected. You need to regularly educate yourself on the importance of finishing today’s tasks today - this is a vital principle of discipline. It would also help in avoiding competitive living - it will be a plain where you are creative about how to achieve your dreams; one where you are patient and will endure challenges because you have the map and the timelines of your vision. Envy and related vices will be far from you, and you can healthily pursue your dreams till fruition.

5. Measure and Evaluate periodically

It’s important that you don’t wait till the end of the year before you realise you’re only 30% done. The bible says “Examine yourselves…to see if you are still in the faith”. You need to check if you’re still on course for your vision in terms of your velocity (speed and direction). Create periods where you can see how well you are doing and make adjustments. You may need a mentor or supervisor or just someone that you’re accountable to as far as your dream is concerned - remember to ‘make war’ in the multitude of counsel.

6. The God factor

This singular factor is really the most important - in my mind it comes first. Some may tag it “luck” or something more annoying , but the creator of the universe will sure be in a better position to ‘arrange things’ and cause things to work together for you in time and space. As a christian, it’s essentail to let all that proceeds from me to be born out of my relationship and fellowship with my maker, Jesus. On the psychological plain, some people may refer to it all as positive thinking; while positive thinking is not a bad idea at all (there is a latent power in the soul of all men), faith is a yet higher law! Taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen?

Okay, so as we build expectations for the year and more and work towards it I wish everyone their best year yet…thanks for reading.

It’s a pity i couldn’t blog before the year ran out. The goal now is to do at least one post every week, So help me God!

Here are a few of the creatives I did just before the year ended; some have still not been completed…

Okay, soon there’ll be directory where all ‘our’ works will be @ http://makarioworks.com

Thanks…this is surely going to be an awesome year…Say Amen!

Towards 2010, I was thinking of cutting my homour a little, thinking it’s been on the excess lately (okay longer than lately ), but thanks to this article by Tope Ogunfayo, I’m changing my mind!

I don’t really see myself in the ‘realms’ of Stand-up Comedy (I think that will be “not abiding in my calling” ), but I’ve grown up to be naturally funny in my interactions with different classes and kinds of people. As opposed to what the average person would perceive of me as the ‘too serious’ straight face (or frown face) type, the people that have been or worked close enough with me would not hesitate to warn you of my Humour (excessive at times I think not beyond moral boundaries anyway).

Okay let’s cut the boring paragraph above…humour is SEASONING for truth. And that’s how I intend to channel my humour more…okay now you can read the article I talked of

Here. It’s from Fast Company.

Should post some creatives av worked on lately too before I write or do one or two book reviews…

I’m looking forward (trusting God and working towards) a lot in 2010. I have the ‘feeling’ it’s going to be a blast!

Got to go!

Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed seven days.
Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

Right after the Jericho-wall-came-down testimony comes the most unlikely ‘patriarch’ of faith – Rahab! How in the world would Rahab make it to the list with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and other big shots? How comfortable is it thinking of Rahab in my cloud of witnesses? Unconventional to say the least! And what’s more? Rahab made it to the lineage of Jesus. This is too much for a … [it’s even difficult to mention such a word].

This should cause a great confusion for theologians; Moralists will definitely ‘beef’ God on this one. It’s just by mercy that even a righteous man be saved but hey, not a whore! There should have been other ‘normal’ people around that could be used for such a noble cause. Why a prostitute for God’s sake!

But this is where we see the very character of God; this is how we differ in reasoning. God will not be boxed up in our moralist pattern of thought. Of course He’s not thumbing up her ignoble profession, but one thing is clear – Whenever anyone recognizes God’s presence or interests and takes corresponding action, heaven will give such one great audience. When all the people with the ‘legal’ claims to blessings and privileges bask in euphoria of possibilities, if the seemingly illegal people take corresponding action, they will not be ignored. Jesus couldn’t ignore such people on a couple of occasions.

Another home truth here is not to look down on anyone irrespective of their current positions and past blunders. Let’s face it , we are not overly impressive if we really examine ourselves. So our posture whenever we see others not as privileged as us is to still hope for the best for them. All Rahab did was probably to be born in Canaan, maybe her Dad divorced her mum or worse still she never knew her dad and then the typical ‘way-out’ was to ‘use her valuables’ to get money and survive. And by the way, even if Rahab might have been a proud, spoilt brat (as her name suggests), God still gave her a chance to be a deliverer.

So as you meet all kinds of people today, people higher, lower, contemporaries and all, your best posture is to hope for the best in them. Another side of this is irrespective of your weaknesses, God is still hoping for the best to come out of you. Samson made it to the list of Patriarchs for God’s sake. So brace up yourself and know that though you feel you don’t merit the many blessings of life, life will still offer you opportunities to make up for your past mistakes. But you need to take corresponding action today.

What error have you made in your career, family, relationships, business, ministry,…, you can make amend right from this moment. Life and God await your corresponding action and the table will turn for you in degrees that you couldn’t even have imagined. If you take corresponding action, even if you feel like a Rahab today, you’ll realize that there’s only a thin line between Rahab and Noah!

So do I have a (new) witness that is gonna hope for the best in others and themselves in spite of the current unpleasant situation? Remember Rahab and put aside every ‘weight and sin that easily besets’.

All the best.

In the Christian faith, there appears to be many gray areas…

Some religious organisations will lay out their own tenets of faith while others will spell outrightly, RULES (okay, some may brand it as something kinda annoying like code of conduct…). In some settings, these things may not be written in black and white but there’ll just be an air that will make you choke going against ‘the creed’. In some settings where things like putting on jeans (even for a brother) is just below the ‘abomination line’ , you stand the chance of excommunication if you tread such grounds. It even spreads beyond the conventional external trappings to seemingly spiritual activities…

Unfortunately many of these and related practices will not produce spiritual fruit sooner or later. A lot of it will not go beyond dead religion. Cutting down a tree will require exceedingly more effort than picking it’s leaves - this is even more effective compared with people advancing in spiritual things by a mere set of moral rules… this is where consecration comes in.

Many people complain of the fact that righteousness and all are lacking in the land despite the multitudes that patronize, sorry, attend church every Sunday, from the seemingly most spiritual to the funkiest of them. The answer, I believe, lies in Consecration.

I’ll define it simply as “getting oneself set apart for God”

It’s the interactions with God that will produce spiritual fruit. Religious gymnastics may produce psychological and religious confidence and maybe headaches and voice strains , but when it comes to bringing forth stuff that will Glorify the Father, there MUST be interactions between divinity and humanity - personally ofcourse! Even if it’s in a meeting or concert or crusade or…whatever (even if there are a million people present), God will require to have interactions/transmission with us personally.

God will need our attention and submission to move big time in and especially through us. The result of such dealings may be that we will not do something anymore even if it is not a sin in itself, but to insititutionalize a law merely because of someone else’s personal encounter could be misleading. It will raise zombies instead of spiritually intelligent beings.

So in all our dealings, as we seek to bear fruit and glorify God, let’s continually set ourselves apart for His will; checking out what and the way he would want us to handle issues. It’s when we feel a vacuum whenever we jump into things before consulting with our Creator that the Consecration journey has really started. Our need for Jesus in all we do must be palpable…this is the beginning of consecration and true Spiritual Fruit Bearing (first a love for God and then for men and then other things)…and this has to be an individual experience, a private audience, even if it happens with millions around.

And of course, we cannot find a way around the conventional Bible Study, Prayer Communion with God (however our personal styles) and meditating and reflecting on God’s personality and ways even when we are doing regular stuff. There’s just no way around it.

Heb 10:5  Therefore when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me.

Heb 10:6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have had no pleasure.

Heb 10:7  Then I said, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.”

We really need to pray for grace in this area lest we be stuck in the levels we’ve been over the years. Lord help me truly advance in my Consecration to you in these busy and confusing times…Amen

Enjoy the rest of the week!

It’s almost midnight, and one of the last things on my mind now is sleeping! Checklists are finish a movie (Confessions of a Shoppaholic - nice one so far), finish some id card designs, try to finish a brochure design (with like 4 or 5 others including a magazine for church - more of coverpage left), try to work on a friends website (men, the guy’s breathing down my neck), try to learn somethings, try to plan for tomorrow… definitely scarey…u can tell am going to bed tired!

A few minutes ago, I was in a chat with a friend, and he was ‘over encouraging’ me to get into a relationship (yeah the emotionally creepy stuff - just kiddin oh, it’s one of the coolest things to be in), so that kinda ‘inspired’ me to do a pre-writeup on what I may properly outline in a bigger post soon. I told him when the right person has her ‘timing’ coinciding with mine we’ll…story story story

But as strong and interesting as erotic love may be, that’s not my major focus in this post. We all live our lives entering and exiting all kind of relationships and networks, platonic, deep and many somewhere in between. Most of us want to avoid trouble, and so we keep to our comfort zones, and even when we see friends or acquaintances in need of something or the other, we just leave them to themselves.

Now this gets worse in settings where the person in need has done something to hurt you directly or indirectly, you’ll go something like, “I’m not hurting this person so nobody should criticise me for not going out of my way…” But (agape) love’s demands are higher than this.

The real standards are loving those that are seemingly undeserving of it, loving in situations where you should (or think you should) be excused, loving at the risk of being humiliated and embarassed, loving to the point where it kinda hurts - this is the beauty of it. Your righteousness must exceed that of the ‘Pharisees’. Truth is if you a Christian (i.e. you have a relationship with Jesus), there’s unbelievable love wrapped on your inside, but you’ve got to let it out of your tough, self-seeking frame. The fruit of the Spirit is Love so we need to submit ourselves more to God’s dealing to love better (Do they still do that magazine sef?)

We need to realize that this is the weapon that will always work and stand the test of time. We need to take action based on our love motivation. I was commenting on a friend’s blog recently. She determined to love within her environment until she changed the world (or the nation). Fair enough…but love may also cause you to do things that are not so nice like criticisms and all. A mother whipping her child to correct him is carrying out a ‘violent’ action but the motivation is love. Genuine love will produce boldness to save those we love from iminent danger. Genuine love for the people will produce hatred for the ‘anti-peopleness’ (yeah, I know I’m not Soyinka, I coin am anyway). Genuine love for God will produce hate for ungodliness - Jesus whipped money changers out of the temple because of His love for the Father. He did not only love righteousness, he hated iniquity, and he translated it into action.

Love is the greatest virtue a human can possess, but the degree to which that love has been cultivated is the degree to which it will motivate and cause us all to make the difference that is required everywhere we find ourselves. Love is not just sending cards and text messages (that’s cool by the way esp. the texts - trust me now) lol. But love is tough, love doesn’t fail, love will cause you to go many extra miles and cause you to achieve and become more of a blessing than would have ever imagined. Love will help you reach out beyond your temperaments and natural dispositions. Love will be willing to go to the cross and worse like somone said (I think Max Lucado - I need to read a book oh), it’s love that kept Jesus on the cross not nails…

Gat to go for now… Is your Love an action thing (whether to your fellow human being, spouse, brother, sister, friend…) Is your Love level pushing you into things that you ordinarily would have shied away from? Is it squeezing more of the good and great stuffs inside you out to be a blessing to others? How is your Love life? Damn! electricity’s cut off (yeah right, Down NEPA!!! I don’t care if it’s national TV so much for all my plans…putting on the gen again isn’t a very welcome idea at this time oh)…ok they brought it back oh UP NEPA! #lightUpNigeria sha

Anyway hope you’ve not forgotten the post; Is your Love Radical?

I’ll be doing a series (I doubt if it will end) It will be on people that succeeded greatly against the odds. I’m strongly tilted to the entrepreneurship side presently and I need all the encouragement and inspiration I can get.

It’s good to resume blogging again (again), though with the things I need to get done and the things I need to learn, it’s usually overwhelming. I basically have to steal time not just create it to get other things done.

It’s been a long time since I heard of Helen Keller. She wasn’t born blind but she saw her last light (as far as physics was concerned) 19 months after her birth due to an illness that would probably have been a piece of cake if it was today.

So Helen became a deaf-blind. This meant the only method you could input data into her was touch! The eye gates and ear gates were permanently shut for life! This was like ALL hope was gone. She had almost no vocabulary in her before her communication means were cut short.

Yet with the help (especially) of Sulivan her teacher, she lived to be an outstanding lecturer, author, advocate and activist. Here are a few lessons I think we can learn.

1. Your Seemingly Unimportant relationships could prove key – don’t mess them up.

We will regularly meet all kinds of people (those we consider below, parallel and above us). We need to be careful not tread on them. Martha Washington was the 6 year old child of the Kellers cook. She was the only one who could help Helen with her communications, and after a while, she had developed over 60 home signs for communication with her family. A psychologist exclaimed that Martha’s help to Helen was really crucial. God will make available people and opportunities to bring your dreams to pass in your life progressively; value and respect them because you can never tell where it will take you.

2. You can rise above the limitations/disabilities and shine in your lifetime; don’t condone pity parties

Truth is we all have what we can call disabilities. We have limitations that will be as a result of our backgrounds and environment. But we owe it to ourselves to be open to the various opportunities to prosper in spite of our seeming limits. We can lay claims on our temperaments, our upbringing, our parents, our neighbourhood, our country, our this and our that as excuses…, but once there’s a strong desire for a ‘joy set before us’ all these obstacles/excuses will be overcome.

3. Your ground breaking testimony will cause positive things you did not bargain for – don’t despise little beginnings and little victories

Because a 6 year old developed some way to communicate with deaf-blind Keller, her teacher Sulivan was able to help her better, and because of her teacher, additional and advanced help from other sources made tremendous impact not only in her life but in the lives of countless others. Because of these series of successes in Helen Keller’s ability development, many more deaf-blind and related patients were and will continue to be empowered. You must use the opportunities in your life to develop yourself, systems and others; the effect will better the world in measures you won’t imagine.

4. When you are strengthened, strengthen and live for others too.

We must all move from privilege to purpose. Helen Keller was one of the few then who against hope (with no eyes) rose to be what the average person would have needed ‘four eyes’ for. And she also reached out to people with similar limitations. We must not be in a hurry to forget the ‘not-so-desirable’ places we are coming from; we should give back to those that are still there. We must constantly remind ourselves that we are blessed to be blessings. This is the centre of fulfilment. Helen delibrately lived her life to the fullest she could. Take a cue from her…from today I mean.

That’s all folks! Have a fulfilling week!

I’ve been away from blogging for a while now not for lack of thoughts but for lack of time to put together organised knowledge to make the thoughts ‘more worthwhile’. I guess combining that with work is quite challenging these days

An epicentre is a path in an earthquake where there is seen to have been the largest impact (It’s said to be above the hypocentre - where the main action is). If you need more impressive definitions and all about earthquakes, ‘Wiki It!’ …or google it. This is not a geology class

Like I signalled earlier, I’m doing this post now even though I feel I should get some more knowledge before putting it together (maybe it’ll happen in part two). Let me just get this thought out for now. Forgive any irregularity in my flow…let me just do it!

At times when we look at society (Nigeria in particular), hoping for a brighter day may feel a little (ok, very) insane! The tide seems to be moving in the opposite direction of a peaceful, orderly nation. You look to the left, look to the right and all you seem to see are things discouraging you from seeing the future you desire. In other more specific aspects of your life this may also be true. But I’ve come to see that in the same way that a leaven can leaven the whole lump, one positive act can cause ripples of other positive acts.

I have a few friends and ‘mentors-from-afar’, some I never met in person but have had quite some influence on the way I perceive many things. Their words, actions and lives have left indellible marks and impressions on who I am today. Their positive acts have produced several other positive acts (I’m sure in several others it’s the same).

So when I want to do a good act and the ‘tide is against me’, if I recall the ripples that act can cause, and I realise if other pockets of individuals copy my good deed the impact will be substantial, then I’ll not be discouraged; I’ll get the positive act done anyway.

Wherever we find ourselves, there will be a handful of people with glorious desires (to donate to an orphanage, to empower others, to lend a helping hand, to influence the better running of things, to push for better performance of office holders, to ensure that the quality of a service or good doesn’t drop, to be a blessing…), but when a drop feels like it’s irrelevant in the midst of a mighty ocean, then the ocean’s size may eventually be ‘compromised’.

What we need to do is to constantly see the results of what can happen if we do a good deed and others do likewise. We also need to encourage others by word of mouth and other means to join us in our noble paths. I remember a project to empower some secondary school students with Information Technology knowledge and skills that was planned during my service year but never (not yet actually) carried out but I equally remember one or two friends that planned and did the same in their own places. I can imagine if about 20 to 30 groups carried out such an excercise, over 50 schools would have been empowered.

There are several areas where a single good actions will encourage others to follow you lead. And once there are several people (epicentres) doing good, making impact, the impact will gradually be undeniable. I remember the topic “Fracture Mechanics” (or something of the sort) where a material with several cracks will quickly get to the point where it fails. So if we all (or even a few) begin and continue to do the good laid in our hearts for the progress of our country, environment, organisation…., we’ll soon see the great value that our joint, seemingly disjointed efforts are producing. Like an earthquake with several epicentres (I don’t think that exist o), we’ll get seemingly impossible tasks done…all these can happen because one person decided to take action.

So don’t hold back. Go do that thing in your heart, encourage or create an avenue for others to join you and we’ll see the impact our ‘little positive acts’ will result in.

All the best