Personal lessons learnt in 2014

Hello beautiful people, I bet Christmas was lovely, I hope it was more about celebrating Jesus Christ and less of celebrating ourselves *smiling*.

I learnt so much in 2014, I felt I should blog about them and share my lessons.

1. Only Jesus Christ saves. Many a times, we want to find solace in the arms of friends or family members but at the end, there is a limit to what humans can do but there are no limits with my personal Lord and Saviour. I learnt to lean on him more and he has saved me countless times.

2. God is everywhere. Battling with malaria monthly since I ended youth service has been the worst experience for me. It made the people around me become fretful, while the doctors saw it as a normal thing to happen to people who fall under the genotype "AA", others in my life saw it as a spiritual issue and so, everyone was recommending one church or the other but I stood on my faith and told them "God is everywhere". I don't need to go to the mountain to pray and move from one church to another. If we let Him, He lives in us as the holy spirit and I am satisfied with that.

3. If you live life on the fast lane, be ready to die young.

4. As a Christian, listening to the voice of the holy spirit helps out a lot. That voice allows us to avoid bad situations and also helps us to improve our relationship with Christ.

5. When it comes to some friendships, absence makes the heart grow fonder and when it comes to some other friendships "Out of sight is out of mind". I finally made my peace with this and moved on.

6. The last thing that should be on my mind is what people think about me. I have learnt that opinions are not facts and if you don't have a heaven or hell to put me in, then you have no right to judge me or try to impose your personal opinions on me. You are allowed to advice me and I am allowed to take your advice or leave it. Shikena!!!

7. Sometimes, the answer to the question "how are you?" should be "fine" with a full stop. Not everyone is genuinely interested in your stories. I am more satisfied and comfortable with sharing with my family, I used to share my stories with others, my life has been less complicated since I stopped over sharing details about my personal life.

8. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being affable, humble and down to earth. In the past, people have misread this as me being weak and vulnerable. I have heard people say it openly, I was willing to change but it didn't work out for me. I was born this way, it's natural, trying to be mean and less friendly would just be another person and fake.

9. I learnt more about the "Golden Rule". "Do to others what you would want them to do to you".

10. I learnt that I am on a journey of my own. I am not walking on the same lane as others. Even though, it's hard to get people to understand me especially my parents, I am okay. I am not trying to follow the cliche rule of life, tried it early this year and I was really unhappy. I wasn't born to be placed in a box, moving around the four corners and never getting out.

12. There are opportunities in Nigeria, there is less of integrity and more of corruption. Sometimes, the corruption robs you of the opportunity but keep moving. One opportunity fails, more will come. Don't stop grabbing them because of a few failed ones.

13. The most important lesson of my 2014 is that "True love conquers all."

I count my blessings and I cannot name them all, God has been merciful to me. I lost a dear friend, that was the saddest part of this year, he was one of the coolest dudes in secondary school and afterwards he remained the same. I miss you "Loyong Choji".

Every day is a new beginning, problems and mistakes of yesterday are now just memories of a ( lesson learned ). I absorb the energy and possibilities of each new day, acknowledge the simple beauty that can be taken for granted, and look forward to tomorrow's new beginning !!

Happy New Year in advance. May 2015 be beautiful and good to us all.

Harmattan Essentials

If you are in Nigeria, then you must be feeling the hot dry dusty wind already, cold in the early hours of the morning and dry in the later hours.

Some people love harmattan weather but not me, for starters, It's not a friendly weather for my body, especially my lips. For some people, breathing becomes painful.

Here are some essential items needed to get along during this dry season.

1. A good body oil is perfect for your skin during harmattan. It helps to keep your skin moist and less dry. If you are into your body lotions, you can mix your body oil with your lotion or alternatively apply your body oil to your legs, feet and hands.

2. A hand lotion is not a luxury during harmattan especially for someone always on the go. When you are out and need to wash your hands, afterwards your hands become dry, so a hand lotion is an essential.

3. Use good hair products, harmattan is one period where people loose more of their natural hair. Hair breakage is more intense during dry season. So make sure you take time to oil your scalp and hair often.

4. Get a good lipgloss or lip balm, this beauty essential for harmattan is not restricted to the ladies, men also have issues with their lips during harmattan. Constant use of lip gloss or lip balm helps you avoid dry lips and injuries.

5. A hand santizer also helps because bacteria is easily spread during the harmattan season.

6. Ensure you have a clean handkerchief and tissue paper. This is very necessary for people who go through painful breathing during harmattan. Most times, we take in so much dust when we breathe during this season, so you can clean your nostrils with tissue papers or a clean handkerchief to ease yourself.

7. When it comes to fashion, avoid clothes produced with light fabrics such as chiffon and linen, they tend to stick to your body when the harmattan wind blows. Clothes produced with cotton is preferable for the dry season.

Hope this blog entry helps you.
Compliments of the season.

...xoxoxoxo...