START AGAIN

To everything that we don't know that we are missing

To all the lies that we have ever sold ourselves

To the love that we let go and now regret it

To the life we could have had but never chased

Take a breath, let it out, START AGAIN

To every hope and every dream and every challenge

To every heartbreak every failure every tear

To every chance we were just too afraid to reach for

To all the promises we’ve ever left unkept

Take a breath, let it out, START AGAIN

There is no need to worry, what has happened, has happened.

Analyze what happened and what you did wrong, and what you

could have done better.

Take a breath, let it out, START AGAIN

Some parts Culled from Start Again by Falana. Watch Video or listen to the audio below and enjoy. START AGAIN

Start Again mp3

The Law of Attraction according to Celebrities

DON'T WAIT - Inspirational Speech from Tyrion Lannister of Game of Thrones (Video)

No Easter Sunday without a Good Friday

This is the 4th week of Easter. We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song. This is because Easter brought us Glory, Redemption and Salvation and Alleluia is the Easter song.

But most importantly, there would have been no Easter Sunday if there was no Good Friday. Jesus Christ had to die for our sins and win the battle of the underworld and open the gates of heaven for all of us which we would enter if we believe in him and do all that he has taught and instructed us. And oh he didn't just die, but he suffered greatly. Isaiah puts it perfectly by saying 

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions" - Isaiah 53:4-5

and 

"And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violent action and there was no deceit in his mouth" - Isaiah 53:9

In another case, the story of Lazarus would not have been great had Lazarus not died and Jesus knew this. It was to bring Glory to God (John 11:4).

In the footballing world, we see how teams had amazing comebacks when it seemed they had almost lost a game a common example being The Miracle of Dammam and The Miracle of Istanbul where Nigeria U-20 team came back from 4 goals down to the Soviet Union in 1989 to win 5-4 and Liverpool from 3 goals down to AC Milan to win on penalties in the 2005 Champions League Final.

So the same with your case/problem/condition/challenge or whatever it is that seems like it is even getting worse. Who are you to give up on yourself or give up on your heavenly father. Remember there is no Easter Sunday without a Good Friday and the glory is greater when the situation is at its worst. One thing is you must hold on to is BELIEF and continue pushing on. Like Mike Ditka says, "You are only a loser when you quit trying".

May God who sent us his only son to redeem us glory himself in our lives so that we will always remain Easter people. Heavenly Father show yourself! Remain Blessed!

Be Kind

As Jesus says in the Gospel about The Good Samaritan 

"Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" - Luke 10:36. 

What we do, in terms of the love we show to people other than our neighbors, friends, and family is what really counts and not what we are normally expected to do. That is not to say you should start ignoring family and friends but rather start doing extra. I think meeting kind people is a gift. The world is need of more kindness, love, and charity and I believe we can gift ourselves to each other. At least one person in your lifetime should shed a tear of happiness out of the kindness you have shown to him/her in this life. If you think someone is lost and you can help then do so, give gifts, leave your change sometimes, smile more, take someone's progress seriously(pray, follow up, support and advice), be more receptive and be selfless. Be kind.

How To Avoid Burnout

Step back from what you’re doing

When you spend a lot of time running software teams and making courses, you need to regularly step back from what you are doing to stop you from getting stale with ideas. Creating Pluralsight courses is quite an intense process and it is very easy to get writer’s block when writing your modules. Doing something else even for a few hours helps you to get unblocked. –Stephen Haunts

Find activities outside your profession

I find it is critical to be involved in activities outside of my profession in order to prevent burn out. It is when I do these non-work/non-profession-based activities such as R/C that I can de-stress and free my mind to think clearer and more effectively. –Lee Atchison

Create variety

For me, I get burned out by lack of variety. So to combat that, I try to create things. For example, one month I might be playing around creating a VS Code extension, the next, I might be creating an app in a new language that I’d use around the house. For me, combining learning something new, and then applying it in a tool (even if I’m the only one to use it) and getting away from code for other interests all help keep burnout away. –Nate Taylor

Don’t live in go-mode

Living a balanced life lets you live better and longer. You’ll stress less about work because you have other irons in the fire.  Read a book for fun sometimes— don’t always have yourself in go-mode. –Jared DeMott

Do something different

It’s important to have other interests outside your profession to prevent burnout. This is something I often struggle with, but being burnt out removes a lot of the enjoyment, so it’s important to do something different every now and again to refresh your passion and interests. –Josh Duffney

Let go every now and then

Even though my work and my hobby are about the same thing, it’s important to be able to let go of things every now and then. It will boost your productivity and creativity even more afterwards. And of course, it’s always possible to download a Pluralsight course to your tablet and watch it offline for those moments that you miss your passion too much! –Gill Cleeren

Pursue other interests

Pursuing interests outside the scope of my work helps me to become a well-rounded person and prevents burnout.  Sometimes stepping away for a bit gives you a clearer mind when you return. –Alex Wolf 

Create work/life balance

There are different kinds of burnout. There's the burnout that comes from weeks and months of 60+ hour weeks on an intense project, the burnout that comes from years sitting in front of a computer doing largely the same thing and the burnout that comes from constantly learning. For the first–try finding jobs that don't believe in overworking developers and take real vacations between projects. For the second–be sure to create work/life balance and spend significant time on non-technology related projects. For the third–well, if you're not prepared to constantly be learning, you're really in the wrong career. –Dan Appleman

Take care of your body

Eating right and avoiding junk and excess food. If you're hyped up or hungover, it puts unnecessary strain on your mind and body. –Ben Piper

Find your motivation

Understand your passions and work from them as much as possible. If you're enjoying what you do, if you're learning and growing, you won't burn out. Also, understand how motivation works for your particular field.  I've found that reading the book "Drive" by Daniel Pink has completely transformed my understanding of motivation, performance, productivity and burnout in software and technology work. –Floyd May

Unplug and take time to breathe

My sister has a lake house in Wisconsin. A week or preferably two of unplugged fresh air and friends/family really refreshes me. And the rest of the year there is yoga. Find your "lake house" and take time to breathe. –Deborah Kurata

Head to the great outdoors

I head to the great outdoors—either a little 4 wheeling up in the mountains or play some paintball with my family—nothing says "LOVE" like getting shot by your adult kid and them screaming "that's for grounding me when I was 14!". –Dale Meredith

Manage your commitments 

Exercise. I know it sounds corny but I feel my stress levels rising if I haven't taken the dog for a long walk in a few days. Longer term, be careful about managing your commitments both inside and outside of work. Even a weekend at home with no email and no social plans can help recharge my batteries. –Sonia Cuff

Make sure you get the chance to “switch off”

Separating work time from personal time. If you're taking a holiday, take a holiday. This common scenario where "your holidays are approved, but we'll need to be able to call you if something goes wrong" is just unreasonable. It's something worth fighting for, because the alternative is burnout when you never really get the chance to switch off. –Paul Cunningham

Do work you truly believe in

I felt burnt-out a couple of years ago. For me, it was the combination of doing frustrating work and being pushed to work very hard on that. Since then, I've changed things dramatically. I work for companies that I believe in, ones that have a mission worth putting my hours in for. Finding those companies (and managers) is hard, but in our industry, certainly not impossible, as we, the technologists, have all the power. And I've changed my work-life balance: I work to live and not the other way around. I exercise more, I meditate and I enjoy life. –Barry Luijbregts

Culled from Pluralsight

YOUR TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER THAN YOUR TODAY

It's not about where you are today but where you will reach tomorrow. Alphabet "O'' which stands for Opportunity, is absent in ''yesterday'' but once in ''tOday'' And thrice in ''tOmOrrOw'' So Stay Positive Always and have hope.  Your tomorrow will surely be better than today. 
Believe in yourself and never give up. ......

The future is bright!!

Good morning and Happy New Month

Why Worry

Every king was once a crying baby and every building was once a picture. The person you admire so much was once a nobody. The most anointed man you see was once a church member. The person you attended his or her wedding was once a chief bachelor or spinster. So why worry in life?

Don't Ever Let Go

Have you had someone you had such a big impact in your life and you let the person go or the person is still in your life? Surrender is a good song that relates to that. It is one of the soundtracks of Hidden Figures.

Hidden Figures is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about African American female mathematicians who worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Space Race. The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who calculated flight trajectories for Project Mercury and other missions. The film also features Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson, with Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell and Mahershala Ali in supporting roles.

See song lyrics and youtube link below.

Hey, oh, yeah, oh

When I first got here, had to find my way
But the end of the days were dark
When I was not clear, you showed me my mistakes
But told me keep the pace, don't get lost
So I shall not fear, yeah
That's how it feels when you love me
And you're my sightseer
'Cause before I'm in a rut
We multiply by the times they took from me
Used another branch from the longest tree
But now I'm in quicksand, but my mind is really onto me
Can't believe it, what I lived in
Hard to believe
(Surrender) but there's a difference
(Surrender) surrender
'Cause I understand, to me
(Surrender) there's no coincidence (surrender) just information
Lemme see them hands

Do you remember? Question how I feel
I asked you were you really all?
And when you entered, you found my biggest wall
Said, is that all? Made it fall
With your wonder, yeah
It blows my mind how you love me
So it's no wonder, I feel how I feel
I can't thank you enough for what you did for me
Eh, used another branch from the longest tree
But now I'm in quicksand, but my mind is really onto me
Can't believe it, what I lived in
Hard to believe
(Surrender) but there's a difference
(Surrender) surrender
'Cause I understand, to me
(Surrender) there's no coincidence (surrender) just information
Lemme see them hands

I was down on myself, and I called you
Your answer is what can I do?
So much you do for me
In the sound of my breath seen all the years
With surrender
Just the way I hear
Reporting for duty
When the feeling is good, don't ever let go, go
Don't ever let go, oh
Don't ever let go, oh
When the feeling is good, don't ever let go, go
Don't ever let go, oh
Don't ever let go, oh

Hard to believe
(Surrender) but there's a difference
(Surrender) surrender
'Cause I understand, to me
(Surrender) there's no coincidence (surrender) just information
Lemme see them hands

Just wave
Wave, wave
In this place (if you with me just)
Wave, wave
Wave your hands (wave)
Wave, wave (in this place) whoo!

Songwriters: Pharrell Williams

Surrender lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

YouTube link

12 Ways To Be More Creative

1. Write 10 minutes every day - It could be anything. It doesn't matter
2. A manifesto - View mine
3. A daily list of ideas - Write 10 ideas every day. They could be business ideas, ideas to help other businesses, book ideas, or even ideas to surprise your spouse.
4. Another trick is to take Monday’s ideas and combine them with Tuesday’s ideas. “Idea sex” is an awesome source of creativity.” - James Altucher
5. Love Letters - Handwritten
6. Thank you Letters - Handwritten
7. Something that makes you uncomfortable
8. A crazy plan
9. Make someone smile
10. Take a little step forward
11. Go out of your comfort zone
12. Start asking - View a video about asking
13. Start exercising

Culled from Medium

A Manifesto: What You Stand For

According to wikipedia, A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. But we also can have a manifesto. It helps to ask ourselves questions and also to be creative.

According to Alexander Franzen:

Traditionally, a manifesto is a written statement where you publicly declare your…

– Intentions (what you intend to do)

– Opinions (what you believe; your stance on a particular topic)

– Vision (the type of world that you dream about and wish to create)

Traditional manifestos are cool. Non-traditional ones are cool, too. There really aren’t any firm rules. You can write whatever you want, however you want.

After reading your manifesto, ideally, your reader should feel like, “I understand this person better” or “I get what this project is all about and why it matters” or “Oh, I can see the type of world that this person is trying to create — me too! I want to join the revolution!”

Your primary goal is to make your reader “feel” something. Hope. Excitement. Amusement. Curiosity. Whatever “feeling” you want to convey.

Here’s a very simple manifesto template that you can play with…

Start by filling out the following three statements:

I love…

I believe…

I am committed to…

Or, if you’re using a collective voice:

We love…

We believe…

We are committed to…

So here is my manifesto:

1. I love to make people smile
2. I love to inspire and give hope to people
3. I love to serve
4. I believe in God
5. I believe God has a beautiful plan for everybody
6. I believe I will have an amazing family
7. I am committed to making life easier by developing innovative products and services
8. I am committed to assisting people achieve their goals and dreams
9. I am committed to teaching by writing about what I have read, learnt and experienced.

So what do you stand for? What is your manifesto?

The Power of I Am Sorry

THE POWER OF *I AM SORRY.*

*I am sorry,* a short but mighty sentence!

If you wish to live long, don't joke with this short sentence, *I am sorry.* Do you know how many people who had gone to early grave because they neglected the therapeutic power of *I am sorry.* 

Most of the troubles in most homes are heightened because wives are too big to say *I am sorry* to their husbands and you can trust the ego of  husbands in saying same to their wives. 

Quarrel lingers between friends because no party wants to say *I am sorry.* Each says or asks, why should I be the first to say *I am sorry?* He or she would beat his or her chest and utter the ego phrase, *a whole me!* 

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the part of the world where saying *I am sorry* is a hard nut to crack while curses are easily unleashed. 

Welcome to the part of the world where people refer to a person who says *I am sorry* in a midst of a rift as a *weaker sex*: one who is not man enough; one who is foolish. 

Welcome to Africa where saying *I am sorry* is tougher than forcing a donkey to pass  through a needle hole.  

All of us are victims of this discussion. We have lost valuable assets, money and even lives because of this cheap and affordable sentence *I am sorry.* It simply cost only a breath of speech. 

Have you ever wondered why domestic violence is less pronounced in the western world? It is simply because they understand the efficacy of *I am sorry.*

Husbands say it to their wives and even children whenever they err, wives and children do the same  and life goes on fine.

Friends, this is simply a piece to encourage us to cultivate  a habit of saying *I am sorry.* It is difficult but readily affordable. 

Learn how to say *I AM SORRY* even if you are right.

If this message offends you in one way or the other, *I am sorry*
My apologies.

The Art of Asking

Quotes by Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

While I was off Social Media for a while, I had time to explore my writing. I came up with the following quotes. Make a comment on the ones you like.

The funny difference between a friend and an enemy is when both give a gift one will receive a hug and/or nice words while the other will receive an insult and/or a slap. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

Things will happen, bad things will happen. It will naturally weigh you down, but make a choice, and choose joy. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

People's destiny will change because they will hold on to the statement "It was not meant to be" forgetting that nothing good comes easy. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

Although it may not look like anything good can come out of someone, never ever write off anyone, including yourself. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

If you don't have enough patience to work hard and wait for that which you desire your life may become a lesson to others instead of an example. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

When two people argue which is bound to happen because they are two different people, the argument itself is not the problem. The problem is that both of them want to win regardless. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

In your quest to find love, you may be hurt. Don't let it stop you because love is a beautiful thing and the reason for our existence. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

We were made in the image and likeness of God and God is Love. So when people say there is no such thing as true love. They probably don't know God. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

The problem with humanity is that even after experience, we fail to appreciate good situations or conditions we find ourselves in until they leave us. - Ifeanyi Nnamdi-Okagbue

Life Is A Struggle

If only life was that easy... But nope it isn't. It's hard, messy, cold, wicked, unforgiving, unbearable. And when you find some form of happiness, life takes it from you. And if it doesn't, then it takes something else.

When you think you have it all, it's makes you realise that now you have so much to loose. You struggle to become wealthy, it takes away your love. If you struggle to hold onto that love, it takes away your friend or your family. And even if you have that, then it's your health. It's always something.

Life makes sure you just never have all you need and want. It's always a struggle. Despite all the heartache and misery life throws at you, you still hold on tight. Why? Because the first and strongest primal need in every human and even animals, is the preservation of one's own life.

So keep on keeping on. Because it's not about getting there. Or whether you get there or not. You don't have a choice in the matter. You must stay alive until the time God calls you.

Don't let anyone dictate your life for you. Because, at the end of the day, even if you lived it your way, it may not bring you all the happiness you need. But it would be worse for you, if you let someone make your choices for you, which can bring about so much resentment.

By Afam Nnamdi-Okagbue

#EnjoyLife #LiveToTheFullest #SayNoToSuicide #LiveAndLetLive#SuicideWatch #LifeIsAStruggle #LiveYourLife