Excerpts from my book (introduction)

As my point of departure, I would like to borrow the following thought provoking words from the world celebrated author and television evangelist, Bishop Thomas Dexter Jakes. “Life is a roller coaster. Life is not a straight line between two points. It has many twists and turns, peaks and valleys, pinnacles and ravines. It has many elevations.”

Life is full of contradictions. Looking at it is like having a coin on the palm of your hand, because there are two sides to everything that you see on the earth’ surface. The world is inhabited, amongst others, by the affluent and poverty stricken; the dejected and energized; the employed and unemployed; pessimists and optimists; procrastinators and doers; the slothful and industrious; players and spectators; critics and admirers, the abusive and caring, quitters and fighters, employers and employees; the brave and fearful; the astute and stupid; leaders and followers, the patient and impatient; the ordinary and extra-ordinary and the victims and victors. I can go on and on, but what you need to know is that all of us belong to either one of these camps. It is up to you to decide in which group you wish to belong.

It is important to know that you possess the means within and around you to reposition yourself from where you are to where you are aspiring to be and from being ordinary and depressed to being extra-ordinary and exciting. Keep in mind that your current life is a product of your previous choices, and your future position will be determined by your existing thoughts, habits and decisions. Life is like a road with lots of signposts and it is what you do with the signposts that will determine your destiny.

As you go through this book, I would like you to take note of the following points: Being positive is neither an event nor a quick fix solution. But it is a journey, a mindset, a habit, a life-style and an exercise that requires incessant practice, because along the way you are going to encounter portholes of betrayal, stop signs of failure, road blocks of disappointments, congested traffic of delays, off ramps of uncertainty, traffic lights of discouragement, speed humps of criticism, cul-de-sac of hopelessness and isolated gravel roads of obscurity. But by remaining positive, you will find the tunnel that passes through this mountain of obstacles.

This book contains nuggets that are meant to serve as signposts that will help you to navigate through the traffic of negativity, limitations, fear and hopelessness. I hope and trust that the nuggets in this book will challenge you to rise from the grave of your past to the palace of your dreams. Please note that there is nothing new under the sun, even the information in this book may be familiar to you, but what really matters in life is not what you know but what you do with what you know. Therefore employ these nuggets as stairs towards the podium of greatness and as keys to unlock the doors that have kept you from living the life of your desires.

It is possible to live a positive life in a negative world. If you don't think so, then follow me and I will introduce you to people who have learned to turn their lemons into lemonades by deciding to be positive in the midst of negative and discouraging situations. Let us take a journey of unearthing the desires of our hearts and burying the frustrations and disenchantments of the past. There is something exciting on the other side of your struggles. The light is shining at the end of your tunnel of hardships and tears. There is a silver lining at the end of your dark clouds of hopelessness and pain. Keep walking; keep believing for there is a valley of fulfillment, success and peace of mind ahead of you. Remember, everything under the sun has an expiry date including your current challenges.

(Being Positive In A Negative World: Spiced Weekly Nuggets)

You are in a tunnel and not a prison

When life suddenly becomes tough and hope is eroded from your vocabulary. Just hang in there, for you are in a tunnel and not a Prison. When your troubles becomes an ever increasing mountain and your faith is replaced by fear, just hang in there, for you are in a tunnel and not a Prison. When your eyes are filled with tears and pain seems to be your every day companion, just hang in there. You are in a tunnel and not a Prison. When disappointments show up and your dreams look impossible. Just hang in there. You are in a tunnel and not a Prison. When debts keep mounting and your income start shrinking. Just hang in there. You are in a tunnel and not a Prison. When you feel lonely and everybody seems to be walking away from you. Just hang in there, for you are in a tunnel and not a Prison. A tunnel is better than a Prison because it has a beginning and an end. A tunnel may be unbearable but it is not permanent. A tunnel may be dark but it has light at the end of it..A tunnel is a passing phase. A tunnel leads to destiny. A tunnel brings progress to those who walk through it.. At the end of a tunnel there is joy, fulfillment and success. So, wherever you are right now and whatever you are going through, just remember you are in a tunnel and not a Prison. So, keep crawling until you see the light. Keep believing until your dream is fulfilled.

I Choose

I Choose to be positive when everything around me is negative. I Choose to walk in hope when everything around me is screaming hopelessness. I Choose to love where hatred seems to be the best option. I Choose to forgive when unforgiveness is screaming loudly in my head. I Choose to believe God when everything looks doubtful. I Choose to visualize my dreams when depression wants to drown me. I Choose to celebrate myself when everybody is rejecting me. I choose to be a victor even though I may have scars of a victim. I Choose to walk away from the past even though the future may look uncertain. I Choose to soldier on even when the odds are stacked against me. I Choose to get better from a situation that was supposed to breed bitterness within me. I choose to learn and not to complain in the midst of a bad situation. I Choose to learn and not to regret my experiences. I Choose to stand up no matter how many times I have been knocked down by life. I Choose to cheer myself up no matter how many times I have been disappointed. I Choose to wipe my tears and smile again no matter how many times I have been hurt. I Choose to be a winner when defeat seems to be the obvious end result. I Choose to succeed when everybody is gunning for my demise. I Choose whatever I want to be because I am a builder of my dreams and not the resident of my struggles. I Choose to keep trying no matter how many times I failed. I Choose to keep knocking no matter how many doors have been slammed in my face. I Choose to choose because life is about choices.

My inspiration quotes

v  YOU CANNOT ERASE YOUR PAST MISTAKES BUT YOU CAN CREATE YOUR FUTURE DREAMS. LIFE DOES NOT OFFER US DELETE BUTTONS TO ERASE OUR PAST BUT BRICKS TO BUILD OUR FUTURE

v  IF YOU CAN'T FIND ANYBODY WHO IS DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO BE THEN BE THE PATH FINDER

v  PERMANENT SUFFERING IS EXPERIENCED BY THOSE WHO ARE UNWILLING TO LEARN FROM THEIR LIFE EXPERIENCES

v  THERE IS NOTHING CALLED,”I DON'T HAVE TIME”. WE ALL HAVE 24 HOURS AT OUR DISPOSAL AND IT IS HOW WE USE IT THAT WILL DETERMINE OUR FAILURE OR SUCCESS

v  THE WORLD IS A STAGE SET FOR EVERYBODY BUT SADLY MANY SHY AWAY FROM THE SPOTLIGHT AND THEY THUS END UP EXISTING AS SPECTATORS OF OTHER PEOPLE'SUCCESS

v  YOU WILL NEVER BE RECOGNISED AND APPLAUDED FOR YOUR BRILLIANCE UNTIL YOU STEP OUT OF A LIFE OF ROUTINE AND FOLLOWING THE CROWD

v  YOUR HEART BEAT IS A SIGN THAT YOU ARE STILL IN THE REALM OF POSSIBILITIES. WHAT YOU COULD NOT OR HAVE NOT DONE IS STILL ACHIEVABLE

v  COMPLAINING IS AN EMOTIONAL EXERCISE THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS YIELD ANYTHING

v  YOU CAN'T LIVE LIFE BASED ON YOUR PAY CHEQUE WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FINANCIAL STREAMS

v  THOSE WHO GO AROUND SEEKING A LIFE OF SECURITY USUALLY END UP LIVING IN A SELF MADE PRISON. AFTER ALL THE PLACE WITH THE BEST SECURITY IN THE WORLD IS A PRISON

v  NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO MESS UP YOUR LIFE WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION AND CO-OPERATION

v  MANY PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY WITH WHERE THEY ARE BUT STRANGELY ONLY A HANDFUL ARE ACTUALLY WILLING TO FIGURE  A WAY OUT OF THEIR MISERY

v  THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE IT IN LIFE IS TO TEAR OFF THE CURTAIN OF EXCUSES THAT STOPS YOU FROM STEPPING OUT AND PURSUING YOUR DREAMS

v  IF YOU DON'T TAKE THE EFFORT TO BE INFORMED YOU WILL END UP DEFORMED

v  YOU MAY HAVE MET A LOT OF GREAT PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE BUT THERE IS ONE INFLUENTIAL, EXCITING, TALENTED AND UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL THAT YOU HAVE TO STRIVE TO MEET AND THAT IS YOU

v  LACK OF DISCIPLINE WILL END UP LEADING YOU TO A STATE OF DISABILITY

v  EVERY DAY OFFERS US OPPORTUNITIES TO FORGET ABOUT OUR PAST AND TO STRUCTURE AND PURSUE OUR FUTURE

v  YOU WILL NEVER SUCCEED IN LIFE IF YOU CONTINUE FIGHTING FOR THE REMOTE CONTROL OF YOUR TELEVISION SET

v  LEARN TO RECORD EVERY GREAT THOUGHT THAT COMES INTO YOUR MIND BEFORE IT DISAPPEARS UNNOTICED FROM YOUR LIFE

The tragic end

Hi, everyone, i hope you are still living positive in a world dominated by the dark clouds of negativity, pain and discouragement. I would like to share with you this exciting story that i hope will help you in your journey of living productively.

According to tradition, this is how an Eskimo hunter kills a wolf.

First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer after layer of blood until the blade is completely concealed by the frozen blood.

Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder, the wolf licks the blade in the cold Arctic night. His craving for blood becomes so great that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue. Nor does he recognize the instant when his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood. His carnivorous appetite continues to crave more until in the morning light, the wolf is found dead on the snow!

Many begin using drugs, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or engaging in unsafe sexual behaviour for the same reasons that the wolf begins licking the knife blade. It seems safe and delicious at first, but it doesn't satisfy. More and more is desired, leading to a crisis or death.

The how questions of life

Have you ever realised that we are daily battling with the how questions in our lives, questions like how am I going to raise money for my studies, how am I going to realise my dreams without somebody helping me, how am I going to survive through the month, how am I going to pay my ever increasing debts with my small and shrinking salary, how am I going to live without him/her? These questions continue to depress, frustrate, discourage and stop many from moving forward. What I have observed is that life doesn’t always give us all the answers to the how questions. For an example, nobody knows how a black cow that eats green grass ends up producing white milk. We don’t know how tomorrow, next week or next year will be like. All these are mysteries of life. All we need to do is to learn to leave the how questions to God and focus on what needs to be done. We need to know that the how questions are more like tunnels we need to pass through. A tunnel that will eventually lead us to a place where everything will start making sense

A certain woman learned this, when one particular night she encountered a harrowing experience. The front tyre of her car burst in the middle of nowhere. It was extremely cold and dark outside and on top of that, the woman didn’t even know how to change a tyre. Whilst busy battling with the depressing thoughts emanating from the how questions. The woman looked at the sky through her front windscreen and said, “if you are there God, Please help me.” For a moment it looked as if nothing was going to happen. But after 45 minutes or so, suddenly from nowhere she heard a sound of a truck coming towards her. Immediately, the woman went outside to try and stop the truck. Fortunately, for her, the driver decided to stop and offer assistance. From the tyre experience, the two got to know each other. They began dating and later got married. Without earlier knowing how to answer the how question, the woman found herself on the other side of her challenges where everything began to make sense. So, in a nutshell, don’t allow the how questions of life to derail or stop you from moving forward in your journey of life. Leave the how questions to the man upstairs (God) and focus on what you can do.

www.beingpositiveinanegativeworld.blogspot.com

Life is like a home made cake

A little boy is telling his Grandma how "everything" is going wrong: school, family problems, and severe health problems in the family. Meanwhile, Grandma is baking a cake. She asks her grandson if he would like a snack, which of course he does.

"Here, have some cooking oil," she says. "Yuck" says the boy.

"Then how about a couple raw eggs?"

"Gross, Grandma!" he replies.

"Would you prefer some flour then? Or maybe some baking soda?" she asks.

"Grandma, those are all yucky!" he replied.

To which Grandma replies: "Yes, all those things seem to taste bad all by themselves. But when they are mixed together in the right amounts and the right manner, they make a delicious cake!"

She continued, "God works the same way. Many times we wonder why he would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!"

 

Author unknown

 http://www.Spiritual-Short-Stories.com