Burdens

Everyone of us goes through battles; its a part of life that we can not run away from. Some do not have the courage to face these battles so they will try to find a way out either by cutting their lives short or by doing something that they will certainly regret later. I have been a very fearful person; the past 2 weeks have proved to be very challenging and I realized that if I had been wise enough to look at these challenges as opportunities, then perhaps I wouldn't have had some needless battles.

I became very anxious and rather insecure too; even when I prayed I could tell that I didn't believe anything was going to change. Question is, "what happened?"

Well, I have been given a lot of responsibility at work and if you work for a radio station, you know its a 24 hour job. I'm responsible for monitoring the station's content and unfortunately or maybe fortunately, its a whole lot of content. You will agree with me that in every organization you have people who are good at what they do and strive to do better but you also have people who think they know it all and they always seem to make mistakes.

It just so happens that its when these mistakes kept being made, I wasn't monitoring the station and I blamed myself for it. I realized I had to be more efficient and being a typical perfectionist, I got really worked up, even questioning whether i should continue holding this position. Looooooooooool...I can be very hard on myself sometimes.

This weekend, I chose to spend time listening to the Word of God and I must say I have been strengthened. I have been reading my Bible as a part of my routine and I guess at a certain point, I was getting bored. However, God didnt give up on me, He kept reminding me through His word to cast my burdens on Him so that He would sustain me but I felt too busy to tell Him everything, choosing to fight my battles myself. Well, it didn't work.

Thank God for His mercy, I have been doing just that, I feel my burdens lighter and I find it pertinent to remind you of this beautiful verse from Matthew 11:28-29.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls"

Diamonds in the Ruff

As I was walking home yesterday, I started reflecting on the days past and some of the years that I have spent in Nigeria and I came to one conclusion; I'm a "diamond in the ruff".

In the urban dictionary there are different meanings to this expression and I think only one is appropriate in this case; it is metaphorical and relates to the fact that naturally occurring diamonds are quite ordinary at first glance, and that their true beauty as jewels is only realized through the cutting and polishing process.

I do believe that we are all diamonds in the ruff, we were created in God's image but because we all have a sinful nature, our Father has to continually polish us and what better way to do it but in the "ruff"? The "ruff" refers to those situations that threaten to tear you apart literally but they are not designed to do that, rather they are to help you become a better person if you choose to learn the lessons these experiences offer.

Im a stickler for order and when that order is disrupted I get distressed. Lately, I have noticed that some of the people I supervise are beginning to slack with their work and it has bothered me greatly. I have approached some of them on an individual basis to establish what the problem is but looks like all counsel and encouragement has been in vain.

Subsequently I have been forced to organise a meeting to bring these matters to the fore. What is interesting is that I had created a mini system through which these people could work effectively because their job requires high concentration but looks like they arent used to working without being micro managed which Im afraid is so last century.

This bunch of people are beginning to get on other people's nerves and many are questioning whether they are adding any value to the company; when this company was created more than just a year ago, there were questions about the system to be adopted by it, some of us saw problems ahead but management saw otherwise and we decided to ride along.

This morning I broke a fight between two colleagues who had disagreed on a rather minor issue; I had to stand between these two men to ensure that they didnt punch each other. It was crazy!

In the last decade I worked for companies where energy was meant to be expended on creativity ; you just didnt have the time to gossip, to bicker or to be petty but alas its not the case where I am and Im hoping that as a diamond in the ruff that these experiences teach me to be a better leader.


The Bible says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God ..." (James 1:5).

So help me God!

Fare Thee Well Michael.....

Michael Jackson died on June 25th 2009, which happened to be my father's 62nd birthday and also what would have been my parents' 21st wedding anniversary. A sad incident that was and it did draw tears from people all over the world. I cried and cried because I grew up listening to Michael's songs and they had always seemed to be an integral part of our music collection as a family.

When Micheal released the Thriller album in 1984 I was in the Middle East and it was crazy at the time with lots of Arab guys wearing one glove, jackets with lots of zippers, white socks, black shoes and wavy hair; it got so bad that the King of Saudi Arabia had to ban the importation of parnaphilia Every time we moved through the shopping centres, people would stare us and "give us a thumbs up sign shouting "Amerikiya, Amerikiya" and we would grin, feeling proud of being black in a rather racist country.

As the years went by, I started becoming detached from his music because I didn't quite appreciate what he had turned into and I guess the media didn't help matters either. When he came out with his Dangerous and History albums, I just figured that it was best to keep away from his music for a while but every time I heard him talk during an interview, I noticed that despite the drastic changes in his physical appearance, he still had the heart of a child and he exuberated such warmth that I couldnt help but love him all over again.

Watching his memorial yesterday, I couldn't help but think about how fragile our lives are; about how we are so powerless over death. He lived his life to the fullest and like Rev Al Sharpton said Michael never gave up; when he was knocked down he came right back. His story is a story of courage, and no doubt his death has probably been the greatest comeback ever in his music career

Rest in Peace..Michael

Here we go....

Its great to be blogging again! Its been so many months; I gave it a very long break because I felt the need to look deep down inside of me to really find out what I should be blogging about; okay I know it took a little long but can't blame a woman with all the work I do in the office can you? Well I did miss you and Im looking forward to sharing my days with you. Lets enjoy the ride together!

Here we go....... :-)