APPRECIATION
For the stage that I have reached if I do not be grateful to the circle I have, I will probably be stroked by lightning. I have been through a lot but my family and familia (the friends that I have) have been and seen me through it.
I dedicate this artwork to everyone in and close to my circle.
—- BsA —-
CREDITS
To the team that made the book to be written
Sky laurel
Rabbi Jones
Reena Maggy
L.K
E.K
Tags by E.K, L.K, Reena Maggy and Rabbi Jones
Poems by Sky Laurel
Blessed shots Afrique (BsA)
Writer’s Hub
©2020
TAG ONE
FAITH OVER FEAR
“When fear knocks at your door, send faith to answer it”
According to the Cambridge dictionary, fear is termed as an unpleasant emotion or thought that you have when you are frightened or worried by something dangerous, painful, or bad that is happening or might happen.
Fear is also termed as to be frightened that you might be killed, also to be of no fear of something, or because you are worried that a thing might happen.
agita, agitation, anxiety, anxiousness, apprehension, apprehensiveness, care, concern, concernment, disquiet, disquietude, nervosity, nervousness, perturbation, solicitude, sweat, unease, uneasiness, worry.
Many other definitions of fear are available, even the one that you can define by using your own words is also a definition! Fears can be irrational sometimes; it’s called phobia. Phobia are fears that cannot cause any possible harm as much as how the victim perceives it. It is different from fear even though they can cause distress and can interfere with how one functions or does his/her daily activities at home, schools and even work.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), they have classified phobias into five categories.
- fears related to animals (spiders, dogs, insects)
- fears related to the natural environment (heights, thunder, darkness)
- fears related to blood, injury, or medical issues (injections, broken bones, falls)
- fears related to specific situations (flying, riding an elevator, driving)
- other (choking, loud noises, drowning)
List of phobias https://www.healthline.com/health/list-of-phobias#unique-fears
On the other hand, Faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something or strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.
Well, the Good books speaks a lot about Faith. You cannot speak of fear and leave faith aside, they go alongside.
Fear and faith are all vital in anyone’s life and that is why they are considered as pillars of religions and spiritual devotions. Fear of material things and other things that are not spiritual is considered as vanity. Taqwa (appears more than 250 times in the Qur’an) which is the fear of God. Muslims believe that it is a crucial fear to be felt by man. Also, Christians believe that the Fear of God is the beginning of all knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).
“Fear not” as how it appears in the Bible sums up to 365 verses which shows us that we shouldn’t fear throughout the year but rather believe and have faith.
Currently the world is on high alert due to the COVID-19 or corona virus outbreak, which has led to people isolating themselves by staying at home which is considered as a safety measure against the virus; also, a set of other measures such as washing hands frequently and wearing of face masks. This is great and I appreciate the efforts made, for what is more important than the health and safety of the people, yet; the people are in great terror and have fear. The fear they have is leading to them neglect the precautions given and find themselves get endangered and some even getting the disease.
People have been actively posting the number of positively confirmed COVID-19 cases additional to it they link up stories that have shown connections to the corona virus incidences which has consequently led the governments to enforce cybercrime acts and laws to suppress the social media false information from flowing.
Fear of the disease can cause an individual to become over or less protective and this can harm his or her way of living and health too. It’s funny enough how people can get so caught up on some post. Some people are even heart broken and scared to ashes when they hear news of the spread of the disease, don’t get me wrong and starting saying I gat no human heart, I do have a heart and am as just scared as you are but what’s the point of posting some information just as to see reactions from people who view the information what do you benefit?
What I have learnt is that people are in fear and the only thing that can help them overcome their fears is to let it out to the public hoping that someone who has similar concern as the individual would come and show the same fear. Yet this does not help because it is proved that fear is contagious and it can be spread just as a disease.
Not only this disease but also how we live our lives in fear have led not only in failing to grow individually (personal development), but also fear has brought the same impact to the people around us. This is because knowingly or unknowingly we play a part in filling up the people around us with the same fear just because we fear something that doesn’t give you permission to spread fear to someone else.
How many times have you stopped doing anything simply because you are in fear, fear of disappointment, rejection, fear of not being enough, fear of being insufficient? How many times have you closed open doors due to fear? Through self-quarantine or well known as stay home and stay safe I watched a video where Prophet Lovy L.Elias was giving a sermon about fear and faith, he said that fear and faith are both fed by the facts and knowledge we possess and which you have developed such that it affects the way you think, from there I have got the concept that faith and fear are all over in the mind and the way how we tune our mindsets matters; thus the one we tend to feed more with our thinking energy becomes the way we live and consequently our very own chosen lifestyle.
Fear is unhealthy, but as the tagline states “When fear knocks your doors, send faith to answer it”.Then we should only reply our fears with faith. Are you scared of rejections? Don’t quote me wrongly I don’t say that having faith will make you off fear as one-way ticket no, but faith steers us in the right direction in times of fear. Having faith is of crucial importance. There is no need to focus our entire thinking energy onto a beast that ruins our lives. Sometimes our minds trick us into madness not because it wishes to; but because we lead it
Was told I should engage with my readers but in times of fear and faith it’s all about me having faith I finding it hard to have fear from the belief that the Almighty has me covered.
STONE OVER THE EDGE
A quest as old as life itself
To begin as one sips in first breath
Darkness all around the light
Yet there’s plenty for one to seek and see.
A leap of faith they say
Ones supposed to take
Moving back, and to forth
Seek beyond knowledge and understanding
As a stone over the edge
Choices aligned; what a balance!
Destiny and fate
Choose well.
THE ECHO IN THE HOLLOW.
They lied to themselves
As if it were calmness.
Yet just dry souls consumed by emptiness.
Their bodies became hollow
Their echo beckoned still
As come silent noise
Yet they well pretended to listen
Daily they claimed for chances
Opportunities to make differences
Little did they understand
The ways of the arising echo
They feared to where it would lead
They had little faith in themselves
They despised their own calling
They are just empty and hollow
There isn’t even echo in them anymore
TAG TWO
SKETCHBOARD
“A true artist has to step back and view what’s required to get the job done”
In a certain day, it was raining outside and I was in my room watching the farm outside my room from an elevated angle, just finished getting information that soon we were going to start cultivating the land. We were going to plant some crops such as maize, beans and peas in the farm. And my father had already planned it out on how we were all going to carry out the processes.
Now as it was raining the farm was just there bare with some left-over crops from the last farming season and I was just there staring at the farm. Well we did the planting and few weeks later the crops are well grown and a back in my room same pose looking at the same farm but with whole new appearance and happiness in me.
Well it’ s just a story I wanted to place it here to cheer you up. You see I didn’t state what was on my mind
Have you ever been in a state in your mind trying to process a bulk?
So, I was in an online class that well graphics designer had an interview there and one of the questions was how does he gets his artworks ideas. His response was sketch board, I was astounded by the answer, I asked him to elaborate more he later told me that ideas come from any place and even the American anthem was written on a piece of cloth. So, the most important tool is the board where any idea yes, any idea no matter small he notes it down.
A graphic designer is an artist and the best illustration of the tag. In life I once read a place that never ever let ideas fly note them down. Note them down even if they are not urgent it will, come a time that you are either bored, not busy or limited to ideas and the ideas that you have noted down will come in hand.
From the Quote above how many times have you lost an idea all because you have not simply note it down? Ideas are like feelings, just as feeling they die if left unattended or taken granted. Your ideas are your richness and before tackling anything is best you to take one step back and just note down the important and most possible ways to do the work ahead effectively and that is the most effective way to avoid procrastination.
So, be determined to get your self a place where you will do STOCK TAKING where you write down your ideas and little by little when you are bored or out of things to do you will be able to look at the sketch board you have and pick an idea one at a time.
In a time where jobs and opportunities are limited not really limited but virtually limited that our heads and brains are so clouded to think and see that every challenge as an opportunity we cry and lament on the government and to people around us there are no jobs. Instead of lamenting take time and your sketch board and start listing problems that you have acknowledge problems around you and turn the problems into ideas and that will be an entrepreneur mindset. I believe not all people are born to be entrepreneurs but some are good working for others.
Late Mr. Reginald Mengi said while completing others goals your goals will be completed slowly too. The best of tackling unemployment in an industry with a lot of people who are looking for jobs as you, be unique and be resourceful.
The trick here is you tackling a job with a job. Create a need for you in the company. Are you interested with an IT company do research about the company what are its strength and what are its weakness and from there it will be easy for you to sketch down a way or solution and that solution must state the need of you in bridging the gap noticed? Your sketch board will only start bring you benefits when you do the following things. Use it to write ideas and how to achieve them and is use the ideas stock one at a time.
“From one man he made every nation and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live”
A DIFFERENT DIMENSION.
(Tuesday, 26 May 2020 07:27 PM)
Staring deep into her deserted soul
Searching for anything but something to spring her life
To blossom perhaps into a whole new dimension.
Quenching her own spirit.
Her mind is never drained,
But what’s the feast for??
In a different dimension…
She creates her own paradise
A place of good will, refuge in time of peace and war
Her personal magnet for blessings
Her personal magnet for a life of purpose.
A different dimension indeed.
FOR THE OTHER LIFE!
(Tuesday, 26 May 2020 07:42 PM)
It’s the other life they only thought about
Wasting the one they had.
Wasting every chance…
They hoped and prayed for better tomorrows
They thought they believed and that it was enough
Came a man who taught them the power of action.
Who taught them how to first believe and then achieve?
Though it all had to begin with a word.
TAG THREE
STONES OF THE SAME COLOR UNDER RAIN
“Troubles doesn’t choose where to knock and when to hit, when it hit, it hit deep and hard”
This goes to all geographers and environmentalists out there, why do stones have the same color when wet and different while dry. You find some stones are gray or pale gray but turns into darker version while wet.
Well this observation was done by yours truly here, yes its me who did the observation. It was a fine afternoon going to an evening and it was a bright sunny day the whole day long but suddenly it came a heavy rain that lasted for almost two hours and it stopped. What I noted first was the stones had change color, why did I note this first is because few hours back I was by a certain spot with colored stones.
What I want to show you is that right before you are hit with the same problem or challenge as your neighbor you maybe placing yourself in a higher position or otherwise, we all undergo challenges
With reference to the current pandemic some people before covid-19 hitting their respective countries, they were like the colored small pebbles they considered themselves to be bulletproof and that other people were not taking seriously the disease and some even said that they were only dying of flu, some even I heard them saying that we just cough it out and life will just be as normal as always. Let it come and we will show it who is the boss, boom the disease has final arrived and they are the one scared more. I’m not judging but am saying that we should reserve our words what we know and what we don’t know are not the same what we know doesn’t mean its always right and what we don’t know doesn’t mean it can’t be real.
It’s easy to talk about something in either way good or bad way when s/he is at far or when it has not struck you than when is up close to you, that’s why a lot of gossips are when some one is not around and when the person is close its hard to do so. We have courage to speak at far but not up close.
Fears are easily faced by a distance to some people and not up close. By words that have no plans to be built in action. Its easy to oppose everything when on your side you’re on your success period (gray pebbles/winning streak), but then it hard to take up your words when you are facing the same problem as the one that you once criticized. Be careful with how you interpret the words you hear that are about you. Because our minds are very easy to come with an agreement with words that is around us. Our interpretation of words said against us will determine our lives are going to be.
Challenges were not made for you only and what you are going through now someone has already passed that challenge. Let’s take an example of alcohol anonymous meetings those meetings are helpful to people dealing with addictions but sharing out with people who have gone through the same problem helps.
Under no pressure we show our true colors, people are self-centered, full of ego, selfish, and many more these characters are what I place them in the gray pebble stones but all we face challenges of the same nature but different manifestation. The challenges we face are placed on the dark pebble stones.
We get broke and in need of financial assistance, sick and in need of medical help, mental breakdown. All these happens abruptly and you can’t control it or stop it from happening now how you lived with people on your gray pebble moment will help you on your black pebble stones rainy situations.
Our futures are not in our hands, though we try building a great future for ourselves but we don’t know our tomorrow live wisely and friendly to all. For the gray pebble turns to dark pebble stones under the rain
Don’t take anything personal
Don Miguel Ruiz (2nd Agreement in the Four Agreement)
TOUGH TIMES.
(Wednesday, 27 May 2020 11:27 AM)
We were once a great family
Celebrating the differences
By judging one another.
Thinking we could be better
That we could fit in each shoe
Hard it hit, deeper it went
One same enemy.
Where did all the ego flee to?
Where is the Goliath?
Aren’t we all just the same?
We were all astonished
Surprised by the limitations
Too little of much expectations…
And that’s how we learn,
To be alert and never underestimate
We all have strength as much as weakness
At last here we are…
A new beginning.
Perhaps now we know
We are same but not similar.
TAG FOUR
SUMMARIZE IT
“The way you note down your stuff is different from when someone else writes it down.”
Recently as of last year December my friends and I across five major cities of our country decided to conduct a research on increase number of street children and we aimed to get answer from the primary from the children themselves.
The cities were Dar-es-salaam, Arusha, Mbeya. Mwanza and Dodoma and we had teams of people in those regions to conduct the research through simple lunch.
After the project some pictures and videos for what was done were sent to me and one video in the list caught my attention one of my colleague was speaking to the kids and said we are almost 50+ people in the room and it’s not necessary that the way that one succeeds is the same as the other. For we can be on the same location but our destinations are different.
Have you been forcing your success to be like the neighbor of yours who has succeeded earlier than you, are your contempt to do all the step the neighbor did just to be successful?
On a book club challenge that I recently entered to sharpen my reading books skills I was forced to have a summary book where I would note down the key point and from there it will be easy to get across the whole concept.
After a period of 14 days (2 weeks) it came a time where we were supposed to present what we learnt and I thought of sharing first a picture of my summary hoping the people will understand but it turned the other way around. Not that my handwriting was the problem, NO. but later came to understand, even though we all read the same book but the way I summarized the book was only me to understand it. No one was able to understand what was written until I came and explain.
What am trying to say your way of doing thing is unique, your earthly purpose is unique even if we are on the same earth and same country we don’t fit in the same purpose. A married man and his wife even can’t be of the same purpose but a match. Fitting into someone’s life it doesn’t mean that you can read his or her purpose.
One of my mentor’s child, a brother of mine under same mentorship just died by a car accident he was just 26years old and just got married, just as Paul Walker was pronounced dead after a car accident. So, one day was with a fam of mine and it came up to our conversation that young people are dying and I told my fam that some people died with a lot of greatness. He’s response was don’t summarize that he was done. God planned and knows what he was suppose to do with what scale and grade of quality, no matter how small s/he done.
THE MOON.
(Wednesday, 27 May 2020 11:20 PM)
Silvery serene shining high above
Bright and full yet in phases
The gazers wish upon it sometimes.
The lover’s dream of its romance to Earth…
The sailors long for it to wave steady tides.
It is beautiful, isn’t it??
Different hearts, different beats
Different lives, different dreams
Staring at, won’t skip to wonder…
How lucky it is to be the only one??
How lucky it is to not live a lie??
How lucky it is to bear such patience??
Shimmering and shiny at its own timing.
A blessing without blemish…
“If they ask for the secret, I will ask them to gaze at the Moon until they then learn a little patience”
– Sky laurel.
TAG FIVE
UNITY ON CRISIS
“On hard times there is a cooling effect under people”
From February cross May it’s a rainy season, basically on periods like these roads are hard to be navigated and many of them are inaccessible by cars and even some by foot. So, in my home place the roads where muddy recently and it was impossible to go any place with a car and even by foot.
So, after a period a week to be precise, after the villagers observing their cars being damaged with the roads, they decided to make the road them selves but there was a budget straight from the local government a large portion but it was followed by a long procedure to acquire it.
The procedures never resulted to something productive, the only way was for them to make the road themselves with money from their pockets and it turned out perfectly and the road.
What I noticed is that everyone uses the road but not everyone was involved in fixing the road. Everyone was fine when the road was okay, but people didn’t want to fix the road when was damaged.
Sometimes people like you not because you like them but they like you because of the potential inside of you. They like you because of the help that you give them or the potential that is inside of you.
Its very few people who are not going to take you for granted and the same group of people you helped them get in to shape will value you and come in your rescue in times that you are on your low points.
Secondly the fixing of the road involved giving out money and few people did give out money but the others didn’t but there were those who offered their time and effort to make the road as soon as they were called. Lesson behind here is life has alternatives always, never be contempt with only one way. Behind every reasoning there is a logic, how we handle ourselves when we are those easily navigated times of our lives without
TAG SIX
KID BROTHER
“The least Expected gives more than you expected”
“The struggle and pressure of overdue”
Funny thing is I haven’t rented or rent out a place, but I would love we take a journey for an experience as this. How many times have you seen a person kicked out a place just because of rent? How many times have you seen police called in a place to chase out a person because of rent? How many times have you seen people running away from their landlord? Or maybe you’re the one running from the landlord or maybe you’re the landlord himself or herself.
There is always some friction between the landlord and tenant. This is because the fact that the tenant had a signed agreement that discloses that s/he must pay up the rent after a period of months and even some are supposed to pay in advance or prior six months or three months early.
Failure to pay up there will be a series of warning letters and then followed by eviction letters and even police will be involved.
These words or this story was told by my kid brother. And he said what if our talents could be a rent that we would have to show it on a monthly basis and failure to do that it will be a problem or even a fine? Would that help people search themselves deep down to seek for their unique talents?
“You will be discouraged if yourself you have given up”
“Slaves who love their chains shall remain in bondage”.
In an amazing day my kid brother walked up to me and said brother what was the most thing that you disturbed papa and mama with while you are at the age like me (10-11 years old). Well I was puzzled because I don’t recall at all what I was passionate with. So, it intimidated me to reply with a WHY to his question. He’s reply was I wanted to know your talent.
According to him talent is a special gift(s) which you are born with naturally. He proceeded by saying the way to know your talent is observe what you were stubborn at a young age ask the people around you what you really liked to do in the tender age. Your guardians are the first hand (primary) source of the information on what your talent is. So, try ask them what were you good at.
Talents are everywhere and everyone has one, don’t conclude that you don’t have one just because you can’t figure out what’s your talent. He told me that the better use and develop of talent will be based on your consistency. Consistency on talent means after knowing that you’re talented, you need to work on it. Success brought by talents needs to be worked on.
Having a mentor or a teacher in order to learn few things about your talent and you should be comfortable with him or her. The more comfortable you are with your mentor will help you want to explore as many options and aspects of your talent and these methods will assure you a successful path to recognizing the heights of your talent.
On the road to discover and perfecting your talent never expect the road to be straight. Life is a roller-coaster, it has its ups and downs. People who are successful with a talent as yours and you see them shining doesn’t mean they emerged only in one night it took a lot of years and months of them failing until they perfected what they had as talent.
In the journey of discovering your talents aim higher but never overthrow the small things because a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. You are talented to sing or play an instrument don’t miss anyopportunity to show what you have and in doing so is a way to learn more and becoming perfect at it.
You need to be around people so as to inspire you more of your talent, these people are not a must they should be of the same talent as you, but one thing is certain they should be of a positive mindset.
Never waste your talent, build your legacy using your talent which you are naturally granted.
TAG SEVEN
THE CIRCLE
“Show me your friend and tell you who you are”
You are the product of your environment, if you have four drug addicted friends you are going to be the fifth.
I was taking some graphics class online and in the introductory lessons the instructor gave the basics of the tools used in graphics designing and he mention a lot of graphic elements, but mostly he gave out the characteristics and meaning. He mentioned shapes such as a curves, squares & rectangles, triangles, crosses and circles.
A quick overview is that square and rectangles shows stableness as their sides are firmly rested on the base at any position, triangles are used to show dynamic tension, based on position it can show either stableness or unstableness, elevation, impression & safety that’s why they are used on the road signs also energy. Spirals are used to show creativity and evolution process. Crosses are used to show spirituality, faith and meeting place.
Now the circle is used to show movement such as company that is fast growing and used to show attention, Circles are used in art to pull the viewer into the piece. Landscape paintings will use circles to make the viewer feel that they are in the landscape. Other symbols will use circles to include the viewers, A cross with a circle around it will include the viewer in the power of the cross. The cross is sacred and divine and the circle is used to make the viewer feel the same way. Circles will unite, include, and make people feel whole, that the mere graphic explanation of a circle.
But in many cultures the circle holds more meaning than the sense of movement and attention. Chinese use the circle to symbolize heaven, and a square to symbolize earth. Chinese art has used squares inside of circles. They used the square inside the circle to represent heaven and earth being united. The yin yang symbol is made up of circles. It will represent the two sides of balance.
The circle is in the symbols for both male and female. The circle has a spiritual energy for them. Celtics used circles for protection. They believed neither enemy nor evil could cross the boundary. Celtics saw the circle as a symbol of space and the universe.
The meaning of the circle as a symbol is universal. It is seen as a divine sign, sacred to several cultures. It symbolizes the ongoing energy found in nature. It symbolizes the way the universe includes everything. Also, circles can symbolize being closed in and boundaries
The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.
C. S. Lewis
Circles create soothing space, where even reticent people can realize that their voice is welcome.
Margaret J. Wheatley
To me, the model of success is not linear. Success is completing the full circle of yourself.
Gloria Steinem
Whosoever wishes to know about the world must learn about it in its details. Knowledge is not intelligence. In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected. Change alone is unchanging. The same road goes both up and down. The beginning of a circle is also its end. Not I, but the world says it: all is one. And yet everything comes in season.
Heraclitus
But my favorite of all is from Isaac D’Israeli where he said
A circle may be small, yet it may be as mathematically beautiful and perfect as a large one.
Isaac D’Israeli
What am trying to say is circles are everywhere but I want to talk about the friends or who you are connected to D’Israeli says may be small as your circle can be small not involved with many people that’s totally fine and good even, it’s not different from the perfect large one.
Your circle can be small but productive and yet be perfect with the one that is big. You are supposed to be very careful with the people you let inside your circle they can either motivate you or oppress you, but also know they can suppress you but its your option to stay down and accept to be oppressed.
Under tough times such as this quarantine your circle is not same as your network, network helps you out and you are bond with some certain project or activity. Building a network is an essential and most crucial route to success they way we socialize is the way that we expose ourselves to opportunities and people are opportunities. We live in the world of connections some things are won or lived through connections and the only way of surviving is through connections and building a helpful network.
So, my network I have turned them into family and that’s the best option I, have ever made and never regret it till now. Bear with me how many times have you seen a person is drunkard or an addict mostly drug addict, or a thief a master thief even but when s/he is in trouble the family is always there even if it is to identify the body in the police station. There is a powerful bond in family rather than friends and neighbors.
Circle shows a movement or moving as an action so your circle must make you move. The move can be positive or negative depends on how and who you are connected too. We must move positively and bring success to ourselves and doing that it means not only we move but our movement is an influence and we are not supposed to forget who helped us move.
TAG EIGHT
WHERE YOUR MIND AT?
Out of pain it can come wins or looses
From Ma’am speaker that I heard her true story.
Pain and anger are inevitable in the right condition if placed with a correct content to a person. Pain is a heart or emotional based thing and Anger is a mind-based thing.
Remembering pain ain’t a lost but a fuel.
Laying out only outlines for a true story that I heard. Consider what would be your reaction through these guidelines and thereafter place your situation to come up with an answers and lessons from your challenges.
“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Diary
You are coming from a family that your parents especially father is providing everything for you. Father has big companies and you see bright future. Then suddenly parents are divorced, mother forced out and you are with her, she is supporting you and your two siblings. Then you are done with your advance level education and your mama passes away (not something to pray about)
“The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.”
― Ernest Hemingway,
The relatives come over to take everything that mama build from scratch from the day that your dad divorced her. Dream is to have a degree and the neighbors are saying that you are left just to be married or go engage yourself in prostitution
And you are forced to work two jobs are day just because to feed your siblings and paying the rent. Finally, being able to complete a degree from university and get a job straight from finishing the job. Being a big sibling and a model to your young siblings.
Road to identify and channel it into a positive way
Identify what hurt you?
The first thing in channeling anger and pain is to acknowledge what hurts you. In this true story what hurt the speaker was the lack of belief from relatives and the fact of abandonment of the father.
“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
― Lois Lowry, The Giver
What did you lose or not gain in time?
But after recognizing what makes you in pain or angry then watch at what the hurting has delayed or made you postpone it. The ma’am story the pain made her postpone her studies to work to jobs in order to pay rents and bring food on the table
Put goals on it and start working on it.
The purest pain brings in a drive that if channeled into a positive way, should be used and be in placed actions
“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
Never taking anything for granted.
From the lessons learnt, pain that you get from people you have never take that for granted, I don’t mean if it hurts not to forgive no, forgive but never take someone for granted.
If you think that I make decisions based off what you think, then you’re wrong
Can’t nobody think for me, I got my own thoughts
Sometimes you don’t know what you had until it’s all gone, ’til it’s all gone
The age you are is an age of doing everything the word impossible in a mouth of a youth is a shame. You haven’t tried and you conclude that its impossible.
On a table of ten one chair is yours.
In an opportunity of two people, one person should you. In a position of ten people you should be the tenth person. Never miss an opportunity never ever.
The following writing are accredited to RABBI JONES and all that follows are purely his work.
Including lessons on Time, Family and Knowledge. Missing the lessons on Humanity. Due to a limited time and a tight schedule, research on the absent topic could not be thoroughly done.
TIME
THE VALUE OF TIME
“Time is an illusion” Albert Einstein once said. That time was only a perception, and that the relative yet flexible, dividing line between past, present and future is an illusion. A number of scientists and scholars of the present day have tried to further elaborate the statement from Einstein, one said that, ‘the concept of time is simply an illusion made up of human memories. Everything that has ever been and ever will be is happening RIGHT NOW.’
In his book ‘About Time: Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang’, author Adam Frank (physicist) narrates the words of Dr. Julian Barbour, a British physicist renowned for his various works in the subject of time, saying “as we live, we seem to move through a succession of Now, and the question is, what are they?” Dr. Barbour adds that, “the only evidence you have of last week is your memory. But memory comes from a stable structure of neurons in your brain now. The only evidence we have of the earth’s past is rocks and fossils. But these are just stable structures in the form of an arrangement of minerals we examine in the present. The point is, all we have are these records and you only have them in this now”.
According to the above scientific theories, time seems to be an ambiguous entity, whose value is perceived out of changing and unchanging factors. But one question still stands amidst this argument, ‘what is the value of time?’ to every individual human being, to a community and the world at large?
If there’s anything that this pandemic has taught us, it is the inescapable truth about the undeniable preciousness of time.
The corona virus anonymously announced its presence in the early days of December 2019, initially around the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province of China. At first glance, it seemed like a seasonal disease that would soon wither away, at least that’s what the rest of the world thought. But soon, the virus was spreading like a wildfire in a vast woodland forest. By early January 2020, the west was experiencing the severe effects of the virus as it infected and killed thousands in a very short time. By the end of march, it was now a global pandemic, all over the world affecting hundreds of thousands and claiming lives of thousands in a surprisingly short time. Although the wave of infections is now calm, the virus is far from gone, and governments all over the world are being urged to learn to adapt, as experts claim that the virus might be here to stay.
So, what has this pandemic revealed or proved in the question of the value of time?
In coherence to Dr. Barbour’s statement the preciousness of time is in the present. The value of it, is in the occurrence of the current state of life, not on the memories or records of the past, or the visions and hope of the future. Before the eruption of this corona pandemic, time was a usual ‘daily bread’ offered to every person of every age, race and gender influenced by several biological, spiritual and socio-economic factors. That hasn’t really changed, but many claims that the preciousness of time is in the memories that they hold dear, of past events, life experiences recorded in their timeline.
One young couple was interviewed a few years after they got married, they were asked to give their opinion on what they thought made time precious, and here is what the wife spoke which the husband nodded and agreed to, “time is a precious expiring product, and life is the container that holds it. We don’t know when that product will run out nor do we know how it will run out, but all we know is that it keeps diminishing as it is used, and soon it will be no more. So, what we hope is to enjoy it now and later as it nears to diminish, we will look back into the past and our memories of that previous life will remind us of the preciousness of this product and hopefully we will be happy by the way we were able to use it”. Of course, that sounds logical since one can never know how time passed without having past records. But are they in fact correct, that time is and should be valued more on already occurred events and memories than present occurrences?
Try to imagine a very old person, lying on a bed in their home, about to die of old age or any other common disease that attacks the human body as a result of old age. Then try to imagine another person in their forties or fifties, lying in a hospital bed, infected with the corona virus, already showing critical symptoms like difficulty in breathing and seemingly about to lose their life. With the two examples still in mind, try to imagine a young man or woman, in their early twenties, diagnosed with cancer and told that they have only a few months to live. All three have lived a considerable amount of years and have had different experiences throughout the years, including memorable events. Of all the three, whom do you think values time the most, considering their explained states?
Is it the old man/woman who has lived the longest among the three, who carries with him/her the memories of many previous ‘Nows’? Is it the adult in his/her early forties who also has lived a considerable amount of time and is uncertain of seeing any future ‘Nows’ due to the corona virus? Or is it the youth in his/her early twenties who has lived for a less amount of time compared to the other two and is struggling with cancer, due to live only a few more months? All three have a limited amount of time left to live and have all lived a considerable amount of time, but their future ‘Nows’ differ.
The old man is certain to live a very limited time from the moment he is diagnosed with the disease, the corona victim however is still uncertain of whether they will survive or not, but considering they survive they’ll have more time than the other two. Whereas for the cancer patient, they are certain of having only a few months to live.
Every one of us will obviously have a different answer based on our personal beliefs or what we’ve experienced and if or not we are able to relate to the above example.
WHY WE SHOULD VALUE TIME?
From the previous discussion we’ve seen that time is valued through the twin forces of past and present, but the preciousness of it is carried in the present. The past is obviously something to always cherish and learn from, the future is apparently uncertain, but what is certain is the present. The continuous limited present is what makes time precious, because it is happening in the current ‘Now’. The Now that Dr. Barbour explains to have occurred in both the past and in the present, whereas the Now of the past is a previous present that can only be recalled through memory. But the Now of the present, is one that is currently happening, and it is this Now that makes time valuable and precious since no existing factors can give us the certainty of the occurrence of future ‘Nows’ nor is there a force that can enable us to relive past ‘Nows’.
SO WHY SHOULD WE VALUE TIME?
On a tray, 24 eggs are carefully held. An external force is exerted on the tray and ten of the eggs are destroyed, the previous value was 24 fresh eggs but after the force takes place, only 14 eggs remain. So, the owner has now the duty to take care of the 14 remaining eggs because they are the ones, he/she currently possesses. From this example we see that the value of the eggs was directly affected by the external force in play. Now consider the example from the previous discussion, where the old man suffering out of old age, the adult suffering from the corona virus and the youth suffering from cancer are all tray holders, and all those specific diseases are a force in play, the broken eggs represent a time that is already past and the remaining eggs represent a time that remains, or an ongoing present (both certain and uncertain). So, the value of time for all three is in the certainty of the Now that they all live in, whether short or long. And that current ‘Now’ is what makes their time precious.
The corona pandemic, has proven to be a major force in play that threatens to destroy the remaining eggs in our trays. As it is not certain if a victim will survive the virus, a future ‘Now’ remains uncertain. But the present remains real and existing, therefore we should value time.
We should value time, every second of it because it is only certain ‘Now’. One lesson that this pandemic has taught us is how scarce time is, as a resource. That time is always deemed to be short for everyone, whether we live to our late seventies, or stop at our early forties, or early twenties, to every person at an age, time is still short. Therefore, living it in the present is what gives is value. Doing things now, that one isn’t sure of getting the time to do them in the future is what shows how precious time is to that person.
Collectively, the past and the present both play key roles in making time valuable. The current present exists because of a previous present that gradually moved from now to back then, and hence through memories it remains valuable but non-existing. On the other hand, the current present is still occurring, making it both valuable and existing.
As the world contemplates on the effects caused by this pandemic, and mourns for the individuals who lost their lives due to the virus, those of us that remain alive including many who luckily survived as victims, are left with the moral obligation of wisely spending our time. There is no guarantee that the current force in play (the corona pandemic) will not emerge again in the future, nor is there any certainty that no other force will come about and quickly end the limited time that we are left with.
Thus, generally we are inevitably left with no choice but to value the present ‘Now’ in which we currently exist. Each human being is morally obliged to consider the preciousness of time and consider it as a tray of eggs, of which once broken can never exist again. The Mexican writer Gabriel Marquez once wrote, “It’s enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment”.
FAMILY
THE VALUE OF FAMILY
There’s an old African saying that goes, “a single stick is easily broken, but when several sticks are held together in a bunch it becomes very hard to break them”. The conceptual meaning of this saying is applied in the figurative definition of a family, which is unity.
WHAT IS A FAMILY?
The oxford dictionary defines a family in two ways, one as a group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit. The other as all the descendants of a common ancestor. Other sources define a family as a group of people related by blood or marriage, a group of related things and in entertainment they define the term family as any production designed to be suitable for children as well as adults.
Psychologists argue that nowadays the meaning of family is less biological and much more social. That a family should have less to do about genes and blood, but more to do with care, compassion, support and love. All the above meanings are valid both literally and figurative, but the biological design of a family should not be neglected. Whatever definition we give to a family, the roots of it still originate from the biological concept of reproduction. The general view further involves the individuals that we have grown fond of, and in one way or another we find ourselves attached to them as closely as we are attached to our blood relatives. That is how we can basically define a family, by considering both biology and social relations.
WHAT IS THE VALUE OF FAMILY?
In her 2017 bestseller, Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng narrates a story about two families, brought together by their children and in the aftermath of some unpredictable events, the main characters are forced to realize value in family and sibling’s despite of their quirks and foibles. One famous quote from the book is a statement from one of the main characters, as she contemplates in her mind, ‘what made someone a mother? Was its biology alone, or was it love?
The most vital of lessons portrayed in the book, is why it is very important for any individual to have a family. The teenage protagonists in the novel are faced with challenges and consequences from time to time within the storyline, as a result of abrupt decisions and emotional influence, the adults also face consequences of some abrupt and unwise decisions themselves. But ultimately the first place they go to seek aid is within their families.
Just like many other authors of novels and books that talk about family, Celeste Ng also portrayed one of the universal and undeniable truths about family, that it is not always smiles and happiness within one’s house or circle. Yes, there will be intolerance, fights, trust issues, unfaithfulness, secrets and sometimes betrayal. But within that circle of annoying siblings, unbearable parents and nosy cousins, uncles and aunts, is where we learn the value of family.
In the wake of the corona pandemic, we have witnessed the death of hundreds of thousands of people, a number totaled from all affected countries in the world. And in those hundreds of thousands of dead people, each one of them belonged to a certain family, whether of blood relation or social relation. Each of the deceased individual was part of a unified group of people that shared interests, beliefs, experiences which in the course of time had strengthened their closeness. Whereas the unified group benefited from the individual, just as well as the individual benefited from the unified group.
From the unified group, the individual gains support, care, love and connects through the beliefs and common interests. From the individual, the group gains new intellect, new ideas and support. So, the benefit is mutual.
The value of a family, is in the family members themselves. Their presence in our daily lives, the contributions that they give and the impact they have in our lives. The value of a family is not limited to the gains, but rather extends to the people from which you gain.
Sometimes, one gains a lot more from close friends and partners than they gain from siblings or parents. And the vice versa is true. So, the value is in both the gains and the people we gain from.
When we lose the people, we considered to be part of us, as a family, we have only lost them as individuals, but we remain with the things we gained from them, whether ideal or materialistic. They remain valuable to us, through our experiences with them, memories and other contributions, but we lose them as individuals. This can be painfully realized, especially when the people we lose were potential helpers and guiders. People that we could go to for help, whenever we faced difficult challenges, or talk to them whenever we felt the need to release our inner burdens, and any other form of help that required their physical presence. For anyone who falls into this category, their value to us when they’re alive, outweighs their value when they are dead.
If you’ll ask the hundreds of thousands of families that have lost their loved ones from this corona pandemic, you’ll find their answers to be quite like the discussion above. And so, from the wave of this pandemic we learn a valuable lesson on the value of family. The ones we have lost to this pandemic will never return, and thus they’ve left a void in our lives. Gradually, it is important for us to learn to value the individuals we consider as part of our families, whether related by blood or social closeness.
WHY SHOULD WE VALUE FAMILY?
From the previous discussion on Time, we saw the example of a tray of eggs. In the case of a family, consider all the 24 eggs as family members. Before the influence of any external forces, all 24 eggs are present and each is as valuable as the others. Now upon the application of an external force, ten of the 24 eggs break, leaving behind only 14 eggs. So now, the ten eggs are less valuable because they are no longer subject to use, while on the other hand, 14 eggs remain valuable. Now, for the case of families, when an individual belongs to a family that has say 24 members, all the 24 family members are equally valuable, because their care, love and support is active. But once several them are gone (due to whatever reasons), they become less valuable as the ones that remain with us.
The reason why I believe we should value family is because of the impact they have on us when they are alive, and the void they leave once they die. There’s a famous saying that goes, ‘you don’t know the value of what you have until you’ve lost it’. But I would argue with this, and instead suggest that we value what we have now we possess it.
The great mystery of human growth, partially lies in the environment in which he/she lives in. eventually our adult selves are a product of the environment and people we grew up around, the primary one being our biological and social families.
One among many lessons that we’ve learnt from the corona pandemic, is the need to connect and value family members however we can, for we are not sure of having them around for a long time. Among the hundreds of thousands that have lost their lives, families have lost brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins, mentors, best friends and so many close and potential individuals who were part of their families. None of them could foresee the sudden wave of deaths that was to come, and sadly, some may have parted ways without settling disputes, forgiving past mistakes or reconnecting. For every one of us who got lucky and survived this pandemic, we remain with the moral obligation of learning from this pandemic, and connect with our loved ones however we can and as much as we can. Because none of us is certain of the future and none of us can predict any future biological catastrophes as novel and sudden as the corona virus.
KNOWLEDGE
WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?
A vast collection of books, a lifetime supply of stories, tales and fables, a houseful of magazines and research papers, interactions with different people, places and cultures, all these have one thing in common, Knowledge. All these are sources of knowledge known to mankind, and from these sources, we get access to a sea of information that when acquired increases our general understanding of different matters and through that understanding we gain the ability to evolve our behaviors and ways of thinking.
Knowledge is all about information, what we read, hear or see, from who or what we get that information and how we use that information is very crucial. Knowledge is a vital element in the growth of any human being, our mental, emotional, physical as well as spiritual growth is primarily dependent on what we are informed and how we are informed.
Regardless of the importance of being informed, what informs us and how we are informed are two crucial subjects to consider in the subject of knowledge. Sources of information clearly differ, where as some provide legit and information and some don’t. Hence from this we can conclude that information = knowledge.
DO WE NEED INFORMATION?
Considering the global corona pandemic, we have seen a wave of information and statistics, depicting the situation and trend of the disease in countries all around the world. With different global organizations pioneering on the provision of information on the trend of the disease. This has been a vital move in helping to combat and mitigate the pandemic. If it hadn’t been for information, we wouldn’t be able to see the severity of the problem.
The provision of Information has also been vital in mitigating the spread of the pandemic. By informing the public on different preventive and cautionary measures to take against the corona virus. Without the knowledge on prevention, there would possibly be a larger number of victims of the disease and possibly a larger number of deaths greater than the current one.
The necessity of being informed, is evident in the way it has helped reduced global tension. At the dawn of the pandemic, the disease was mistakenly related to seasonal flu, and thus a lot of people took it lightly, and the consequences of that were fatal. There was a huge surge in infections and several people lost their lives.
Evidently, we can see the need of being informed, as it is both a means of growth and safety, and in relation to the current pandemic, the provision of information has helped in mitigation and prevention of the further spread of the disease.
WHY IS KNOWLEDGE IMPORTANT?
Imagine a world where every single human being living in it is ignorant. Imagine if we didn’t know a single thing about the world we live in, no discoveries, no inventions, no advancement in technology, and better yet, no medical breakthroughs. Imagine what kind of world it would be.
In my mind that kind of world is a less efficient, less productive and a less capable world. The world is where it is right now because of the knowledge that was passed down from generation to generation, and the new knowledge that was discovered through research and various findings, and it is through this knowledge that the present world has been shaped.
In coherence to the corona pandemic, knowledge has played an important role in combating and mitigating the spread of the virus. One lesson we have learnt from this pandemic, is the importance of knowledge, and most importantly knowledge based on truth and facts rather than subjective reasoning.
All over the world there has been a spread of conspiracies of which most of them are based on subjective reasoning rather than facts. This has led to a lot of people taking the wrong preventive measures, and some instead of mitigating the problem have accelerated the spread of the virus.
A good example is the use of facial masks made from clothing materials. According to a study done by the World Health Organization (WHO), the most preferable and efficient facial masks include the medical surgical mask and the N95 mask. The cloth mask was found to have an efficiency of only 5%. But the sad thing is that a lot of people around the world used these cloth masks and a lot among them did not know how inefficient these masks were. Without informing the public on the proper masks to be used, the spread of the virus would not have been mitigated. Same goes to the use of inefficient drugs and precautionary measures. Knowledge has helped improve the whole process of combating this disease.
Knowledge has been part of the foundation of hope for a vaccine. Regardless of the virus being novel, through the advancement of technology and the scientific knowledge our medical experts carry, we hope that soon a vaccine will be made and it will help fight the disease to its inevitable eradication.
Does all this prove the importance of knowledge at a time where the world faces a new enemy? Maybe! But one thing is certain, knowledge has been and always will be vital for the survival of humankind. The corona virus pandemic is one of many lessons that have shown us the importance of having knowledge, and being correctly and factually informed.
Rescue The Forgotten 