Love... Love... Love...

     On a bright summer morning, 4 family men (who were also business partners and friends) left their houses to meet up at the airport for a business trip to Chicago. They had all told their wives they will be back in the evening for dinner. The day went smooth and they were done just in time to catch the flight back home to be with their wives. As they rushed to the airport hoping to make it on time for the earlier flight, one of them got tangled up with a girl selling apples scattering them all over the place. Still running towards the boarding section he beckoned back, at the top of his voice, he said, “I’m sorry”. Luckily for them, they won the race with time to meet their flight. However, on the boarding queue Mark couldn’t stop thinking about the girl and her apples. He turned to Rory, saying, “please tell Kat I’m sorry but I’ll try and make it back tonight”.

Rory didn’t understand at first and before he could, Mark was gone – he had gone back to the girl with the apples. 

    Scheming through the crowd in the area, he saw the little girl kneeling as she tried to gather her apples (at least the ones not ruined). Filled with guilt, he rushed down in a bid to help her. Down on his knees he continued to apologise, looking up at her, he noticed she was blind. Pained at heart, his guilt deepens. As he put the apples back in the tray, he shuffles a couple of $20 notes while handing the apples back, “For the ruined apples”. Turning to leave, Mark felt a subtle tug on his shirt and a little voice saying, “Excuse me sir”; it was the blind girl, eyes full of tears: she was overcome with emotions. He turned again to look at her and being aware of his attention; she proceeded to ask her question, “Are you Jesus?”

     A soul searching question at the end of that story, I wonder how many of us have been asked that question (in that context) when we come in contact with people.Love has many faces, it is a listening ear, a few words of encouragement or it could simply mean being there, showing support. Love is in the little things that seem not to be significant at first but with time they tend to endear us to those we love. 

A love poem read said;

Some days are beautiful; the sun is shining over us, the birds are chirping away

The innocence in your eyes, the smile on your lips, the subtleness in your words

And I remember why we’re perfect together…

I’m not good with words, but you’re a good listener,

You’re not always confident but I can help you with that

I’m clumsy and rough but you still love me

I could go on and on, because that’s why we love each other

Not only for the obvious things but for the things we do for each other

Love is in all of us and by allowing it come to the fore we negate our differences in an ever hostile world and begin to embrace the peace of Jesus... "that was shed abroad in our hearts"

The Mind of a Champion

“Pity a man who inherits a million and is not a millionaire. Here’s what would be pitiful, if your income grew and you didn’t” Jim Rohn. Success is first conceived on the inside and carried out during the life time of the vision writer (visioneer). Persistence gives confidence and continued right mental attitude followed by consistent action will bring success. When you have that understanding inside you, fear has vanished and the obstruction to a life of all good things removed. The attitude of a person has got nothing to do with the situation around them or the problems they have faced before, but the mind set of that individual. We are all responsible for how we feel on the inside, this is what so many people have failed to realise at a young age. It is easy to say, “I feel down”, “people don’t like me”, “I can't get it right” or “My life is all a mess”, but remember that you are not the only one going through something and you will never stop going through stuff until you die. Quit moaning and sulking as though you were the only one facing an issue, start doing something about your situation. Successful people around the world have all at one point or the other felt the way you may feel but their decision to be positive, keep the faith and push for glory is what has brought them success. It is still you with the bad family background or broken home or even the one without a good degree, the difference is in your attitude which only you can control. The life of Abraham Lincoln epitomises what a good attitude can do, it affects not only the destiny of a man but that of the world in which he lives. This was a man who had to fight his way through life - from child hood, his parents who were once comfortable in terms of wealth lost all they had due to amassed debt. Unlike most of us out there, he only had 18months of formal education, everything he knew he read from books and from the environment. In all of this he said to himself, “I will study and be ready and my opportunity will come”. In the face of uncertainty, in an unfamiliar territory, Mr Lincoln chose to be strong for himself, he decided that he will be prepared and when the opportunity arises he will take it with two hands. This is the attitude of a champion and a man that can develop it is assured of success. In the story of Moses, we can see that in the wilderness, where there is turmoil and no clear source of inspiration, where ambition is killed and dreams are lost, Moses like Abraham Lincoln decided to prepare and be ready. It was there he learnt the art of leadership; he gained vast experience for years tending flocks. This was not the ideal situation in his mind, it was not the best way to prepare but it was the only way for him. The same goes to you and me,we create pictures and images of what we want for ourselves. Our expectations are borne out of these images and we get excited in spells about what we can become, but we do not think there is a need to put in a hundred and ten percent. If there is one thing that Genesis 1 v 1 teaches so well, it's the sweet truth that life is like a lump of clay and you make of it what you want it to be. The fact that things do not look like what you hoped for does not mean it is impossible to achieve: It only means there is a need to be positive and willing to put in the effort to create the desired picture. In a film I recently watched, ‘Remember the Titans’, a member of a team had an argument with the team captain.In the course of that altercation the former said “attitude reflects leadership...”, that statement has stuck with me since then. For me it means whatever determines your attitude is what controls you. A positive attitude always wins the day and whatever you give will return to you in multiples. It is down to a man to decide what his day and wholly his life brings to him. The decision to smile everyday, the choice to be happy no matter the result, the resolution not to give up is what has made the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Peter Daniels, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and many others - to stand out. Some people may are realists, they tell it how they see it, the truth of the matter is reality is relative individuality. What may be real to one may not be to another, that does not mean that anyone is wrong but it means that what you see as a bad deal may be a very good deal, an opportunity for me may sound like danger to you. There is a saying in the bible, “As a man thinks in his heart so he is”, these words remind me everyday that whatever I think about my life is what it is, and same applies to my day. The attitude we display affects how we feel physically and mentally, it definitely affects how successful you are in achieving your goals. “You can never out perform what you see of yourself ” (Mike Murdock).