Skip to content

Silent Chapters

Forward ever

Home
About
Weight-loss Journey
Connect

Month: November 2016

Alone?

I’m MORE !
More than fears
More than sickness
More than poverty

Set…Go!

Sometimes I Fly
Sometimes I Run
Sometimes I walk
Sometimes I crawl, all in the bid to keep moving

Living Intentionally

How does one live unintentionally?

Recent Posts

93 Days May 23, 2019
Little things May 15, 2019
Maami… May 12, 2019

Search for:

Archives

May 2019 (3)
April 2019 (4)
March 2019 (12)
February 2019 (19)
January 2019 (15)
November 2016 (3)

Let’s Connect

Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Instagram

93 Days I wonder if there are people like me that do not like watching true life movies - it reminds me of reality, it is a peep into other people’s life and the world we live in. 93 days is a Nigerian movie - one of the best I have seen - it tried to capture the 93days my dear country (Nigeria) battled with Ebola. Good news is we won! This is one of the few good things people say about Nigeria - story for another day. I have watched 93days before but my daughter; Kiki persuaded me to watch it again few days ago. She is only five (5) years old, I am sure she does not understand the movie as such but she made me watch it again. And as expected I felt the pains, the fear, the agony, the tears and finally the victory our Ebola heroes went through in the midst of poor infrastructure and political agenda. Analysing the movie I was able to identify five (5) groups of people that experienced Ebola: 1. The Resolute 2. The Scared 3. The Denials 4. The Weak 5. The Distracted Please note this, every character in the Ebola story is a star and hero. This people practically laid down their life for the country, they could have been in hiding and spread the virus, but they chose to step out and be the sacrificial lamb. This post will not tag any character because I respect everyone that experienced Ebola, we are all here and safe today because of they fought! Now to the characters: 1. The Resolute: These are people whose minds are made up, they wake up every day to fight and are convinced they will win. They sharpen and use their weapons - they fight internally (resolute mind and words) and attack externally (took their medications). Their motto: We either WIN or WIN! 2. The Scared: These are people who wake up every day with the fear of death and failure. But guess what, they still fight. They do not have a firm conviction like the resolute but they want to live and they do everything that will make them live. Their motto: One day at a time… Please watch this space, to be continued! FORWARD EVER! #ebola #nigeria #heroes #thosewelove #ThankYou #resolute #silentchapters

Little things Recently, I have been quite overwhelmed with visions and plans that seem to be taking forever to materialise. It was like the more I achieve the farther I am far away from that ideal life. On one of “those mornings” I woke up tired, I knew I needed to talk with someone, I needed to be fired up, I really longed to talk to someone that will remind me of who I AM. An old friend that we “served” (check my Awgu post, you will understand the word served) together came top on the list and I decided to give him a call. We had not spoken for over two (2) years, calling from the blues was refreshing for both of us. We touched on virtually everything, my friend noted something that stayed with me. He said he has learnt to appreciate and thank God for little things. We have become so busy that we take little things for granted, if it is not spectacular then it is not appreciated. If it is not massive then it is not appreciated. We ignore the friend next door but appreciate the pseudo-personalities on our screens and social media. We ignore local comfortable wears in pursuit of international “designers”. We embrace meals we cannot pronounce pushing aside dearest “Amala” stranded in “Abula” with “orisirisi”. We are busy trying to impress strangers/rivals/acquittances while ignoring the people that truly cares. Everything you need to succeed is inside and around you. Look around, appreciate life, live, catch up with old and real friends. Take a stroll, buy that local street food, eat with your fingers again, laugh at yourself. Smile….I am sure you will feel happier. There is a lot to learn and appreciate in little things. #Feyin #Live #Breathe #littlethings #Friendship #SME #Amala #Abula #enjoyyourlife #goodfriendsmatter #smile #hug

Dear Maami, Today in celebration of Mother’s day I remember you, what you represent and the life lessons you taught me. The funny thing is most of what I learnt from you were not ‘classroom’ based, I mean you did not ask me to sit down and start pouring into me. What I learnt from you were observations, things I see you do, things I emulated , things I disliked but I have found myself doing. I remember the compound I spent the earlier and chunk part of my childhood, we called it Ologunleko close - I wonder now if it was a close. The compound had nine (9) flats, this means we had 9 families living in the compound - 4:15pm when you come back from work in your white “Panel van” kids in the compound will run towards you to help carry your office back. You give then a readymade answer - “You can’t carry my bag, it is part of my dressing”. But how come you gave this same bag to your own children to carry? Thinking about it today, it dawned on me that you are not a user. You give so much, so much of yourself, your time, your posessions and your entirety. And you expect next to nothing in return. Your “white Panel van” was the local ambulance. I remember people knocking at our door late in the night to be carried to the hospital, most of these knocks were for Pregnant mothers in Labour. And I can still here you say - “Deji, get me my car keys and ID card”. Maami, today I call you the “Marking Scheme of Motherhood”. You have done and you are still doing very well. E ma pe fun wa! Happy Mothers day to you, my wife and every Great Mother out there! We love you! #mothers #mothersday #happymothersday #SAN #Abiyamo #panelvan #Silentchapters #AfricanMother

Food Tasting…. If you know me in person or follow my blog you cannot miss my love for food. Did I just write “love’ - no it is an affinity for food. One day I will turn this passion to a goldmine. Food is exciting, food makes me happy, good food of course! I volunteered to be a food taster at work this week. It is an opportunity to do something good for humanity - laughs. A bit of background - the organisation I work for provides breakfast and lunch for staff, we have used a set of vendors for a couple of years and felt it is time to check out some new catering companies. The opportunity was thrown open and staff were asked to recommend catering companies. Anyway, the food tasting task commenced yesterday, I had to create time to taste some beautiful Nigerian and Continental delicacies. I was very impressed with the effort most of the caterers put in - my first stop was with a well prepared and high capacity company. They had over fifteen (15) dishes for tasting, but my appetite was not that great today - I had Nigerian local rice (Ofada) “anointed” with well cooked sauce, with Croaker fish, beef, boiled egg and succulent moin-moin (beans pudding). I later went for coleslaw - and the good man added a soft and spicy beef. Truth be told - those guys are good. But you know what - we had five (5) catering companies today, four (4) out of the five (5) “got the memo’” they came prepared. One particular company appeared like a novice in the business. The quantity of food they brought was small, presentation was zero, the number of delicacy was nothing to write home about. I can count the number of tasters that went to their corner. But trust me, I went to their corner and I collected a sandwich. Guess what - The sandwich tasted very good, but will I recommend them? No! When you have an opportunity - Show up and come BIG! It is better to over prepare, always put your best foot forward. Research, Research and Research - never appear without enough information. Every opportunity is a door, and a door leads to many doors. Please steal the show, own the show and be the show! FORWARD EVER!

Waiting We all have to wait at different points in our journey through life. Either you are waiting for food to be ready, waiting for your turn on a queue, waiting for an outcome of an interview, waiting for the first payment, waiting for the ‘’alert’’. Now to deeper things - waiting to be declared cancer free, waiting for medical test result, waiting for a good partner, waiting for that child to return home..waiting, waiting , waiting - the list is endless. I remember telling one of my female friends years ago that I hate waiting, she said - No way, you are a leader, you must learn to wait. What do you do while waiting? Using the London Bus stop as case study, the behaviour of people waiting for a bus has some embedded lessons. Some people pick up a book and read, some make calls, some go on social media, some have their earphones on, some open laptops/tablets and begin to do quality work, some get a girl and begin to cuddle, some get a smoke while some just stay there, wallow in self pity and probably lament. The waiting period is a time to invest. There is something called joyfully waiting. Invest your waiting period, it is a good time to improve yourself. It is a good time to build good relationships, it is a good time to research, it is good time to become a better version of yourself while you joyfully wait. The next time you have to wait for anything - no matter how little - do not waste that period. Your bus will soon be here! FORWARD EVER! #Waiting #patience #iwillnotlosehope #dontwasteyourpain #londonbus #redbus #tfl #maximisethemoment

Pick up your phone It is a great pleasure writing again after about 10 days break. This was not intentional, work was overwhelming and I was occupied all through last week. Last week was quite exceptional for me. The week started with a small party; my friend Dad’s remembrance, where I had the opportunity to catch up with some of my University friends. Later in the week I travelled to a nearby city to celebrate with one of my best friends who christened his son. The last time I saw my friend was on my wedding day - 7years ago. From the christening ceremony I went “home”. In Nigeria, the word home signifies the place where “Mama lives”. For some unknown reasons, the last line got me teary. My trip home was significant because we had an intense family meeting, despite the meeting ’s intensity, it was fun seeing all the people that truly care about you under the same roof. The following day I was back at my base where I went for a wedding ceremony. The bride is a dear friend and also a former colleague. I have not seen over 95% of my former colleagues (who were guests at the wedding) in 2019 - the party was a reunion for me and I discovered how I have dearly missed everyone of them with their uniqueness. I really wish I can replay last week and experience it again, I wish I can experience the hugs, jokes, laughs, “yabs”, food and drinks again and again. The truth is I CAN. I decided I will pay more attention and spend more time with the people that truly matter. Everyone matters, but there are some people you will wish you have spent more time with if today happens to be your last day on earth. Pick up your phone, make that call, send that text, reconnect with that old friend; that childhood buddy, your neighbour and of course your family. Life is much more than work, career, business, school runs, savings, professional courses, mortgages - the list is endless. Have a family picnic, go watch a movie, have some fun - enjoy your life.

Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Instagram

WordPress.com.