Your Spouse, Your God, You.

I saw this post by a virtual friend, Peter Adeosun, on facebook yesterday, and after reading, I wondered why we humans forget that simple truth; that we are all created in God's image and likeness, and as such, we should cherish and respect others, particularly those closest to us, as we would God.

Enjoy.

Today's Saturday & many weddings will happen today. Here's what I have to say about how to solve ALL marital problems. No marital problem would exist if folks could follow these principles. People who claim to believe in God wouldn't have marital problems only if they would treat their spouses like they treat God....

Only if they would wake up in the morning & first thing do a 'quiet time' 'praying' to their spouses like they would do to God...

Only if they would spend the whole day to 'commune' closely with their spouses the way they commune with God...

Only if they would apologize to their spouses for everything the way they ask for forgiveness from God...

There are times when people are pushed to blame God but they won't. They would rather blame just about anything/anybody else (including themselves) than blame God. Only if people would rather blame just about anything/anybody else (including themselves) than blame their spouses for whatever has happened...

People always give testimonies of only the good things their God does for them. They wouldn't even believe that their God can do anything evil. Only if they would similarly overlook their spouses' weaknesses & instead testify to the good things their spouses do for them...

Only if they would politely tell their spouses what they want them to do without shouting or harassing them like they would tell God what they want him to do for them without insulting him...

Only if they wouldn't do what their spouses wouldn't want whether in their presence or absence the same way they wouldn't do what the God they can't see doesn't want...

Nobody has ever seen God. Yet they're so committed to him. Only if people wouldn't let the prolonged physical absence of their spouses reduce their commitment...

God works in very mysterious ways. He has the most complex mind in existence but somehow people still claim to understand how God thinks & what he wants. Only if people would similarly understand their spouses & not hide behind the supposed impossibility of understanding how members of a particular gender think & what they want....Only if they would decode their spouses' minds like they readily decode the most complex mind in existence...

Only if they would feel highly privileged to have been chosen & loved by their spouses like they feel privileged to have been chosen/elected by their God...

People have been reading the same holy books & talking about the same God for millenia & this God is still new to them every morning. Only if their spouses would still be new to them every morning even after 70 years of marriage...

People notice that their love for God is waxing cold & they do some things to reignite it. Only if they would similarly watch their love for their spouses & reignite it when they notice it's growing cold...

Other Gods are being advertised around them but they keep to their God. They can't be distracted/attracted away from their God to strange gods. Even when the road is rough, they sing 'I've got my mind made up & I won't turn back'. Only if they would defy all other folks advertising themselves to them & stick to their spouses similarly... Only if they would similarly 'get their minds made up' as to not be lured away from their spouses to strange men & women...

People still keep on worshipping their God wholeheartedly even when he hasn't taken them out of extreme poverty, barrenness & suffering. They claim that their relationship with God is more than riches & good things of this world. Only if they would similarly stick to their spouses even if there's no child, money, shopping spree in Dubai, etc...

People value their relationships with their God so much that they say their relationship with their God is personal & nobody can come in between. Only if they would keep their relationship with their spouses similarly personal & not expose it to the third party...

People strive to conduct themselves in such a manner as to protect the image of their God (i.e. to not let the name of their God be 'spoken evil against'). Only if they would conduct themselves similarly as to protect the image of their spouses...

People believe they can't keep secrets from God. So they tell God everything & ask for guidance. Only if they would similarly keep no secrets from their spouses & then inform their spouses about every little detail of their plans...

I can go on & on but I have to stop. However it's important to note that this is in total contrast to what people are told. Usually the man is told to develop a personal relationship with God. The wife is also told to develop a personal relationship with God. Then they're both told to bond together via God. Is God some sort of socket/adaptor via which you can connect 2 separate things? Thus you come up with 2 individuals who are completely married to their Gods & but not to their spouses. They spend all the time fellowshipping with the God they can't see while neglecting each other that they can see. I'm fact they're so bonded with their God that they start to hallucinate by noticing that God is showing them that their spouse is evil & that they should separate from their spouse. Instead what if they're told to bond to each other with the same avidity with which they're told to individually bond to God?

DUCKS QUACK, EAGLES SOAR.

Hey.
I read this, which was posted to one of the WhatsApp groups I belong to, and I was really inspired by the story.
I guess this means a lifestyle change.

Enjoy!


DUCKS QUACK, EAGLES SOAR.

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wasu, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu's Mission Statement:
 To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away, especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wasu smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Hindu, Times of India, ET and India Today.'

As we were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wasu told me that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he'd be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

I was amazed and asked him, 'Tell me, Wasu, have you always served customers like this?'

Wasu smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard about the power of choice one day.'

'Power of choice is that you can be a duck or an eagle.'

'If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself.

'Don't be a duck. Stop complaining. Be an eagle.' Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me right,' said Wasu.

'It is about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were
 unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' I said.

'It sure has,' Wasu replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.'

Wasu made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

 A great Thought...

"You don't die if you fall into water, you die only if you don't swim."

Joy in the little...

“The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things . . . the trivial pleasure like cooking, one's home, little poems especially sad ones, solitary walks, funny things seen and overheard.” 
― Barbara Pym. 

Life too short to wait for the big bang which will make you happy. Over time, a lot of the so called little things have spiced up my life:

• Fresh bread
• The aroma of rain
• Natural spices
• Shower gel/Body wash
• Fried plantain
• Making lists
• Rom Coms
• Miniatures
• The smell of a new book
• The sky the morning after a heavy downpour
• Shea butter
• Toblerone
• Curly, squiggly handwriting
• Mascara
• Cursive
• Coca-Cola
• Early morning coffee
• Danish tinned cookies
• My bookcase
• Cooking
• Reading
• Tea cups
• Long cold showers on hot days
• Vanilla ice cream
• Bear hugs
• Bougainvillea hedges
• Eternity moment/Eternity night
• Doodling
• Cold floors
• My hot water bottle
• Maryland chocolate chip cookies
• Babies
• People's friend

What makes you happy?

Juxtaposing unconsciously?

I was thinking about stem cell research and all the hullabaloo plus theological dust it has raised, while cutting an 'agric' frozen chicken into pieces, tut tutting over the very soft bones, and comparing it with a local chicken.

Then the juxtaposition quietly gave me a tap on the side of my head.

And I started thinking about church thanksgivings. 

My judgement in this time of no electricity....

There has been no electricity supply since Saturday morning.
As I'm wearing my last ironed shirt this morning (that's my size; the devil sat on my shoulder sometime back, and told me my bigger shirts will size me so I should iron them), maybe it's time to review this dress code policy. If there's no electricity tomorrow, it seems my jeans and T-shirt code of dressing in my past will resurrect again.
The end.

Focus...

"To live through an impossible situation, you do not need the reflexes of a Grand Prix driver, the muscles of a Hercules, the mind of an Einstein. You simply need to know what to do".
                                         Anthony Greenbank.

I found this quote in a textbook on neonatal emergencies, which I recently bought. And the last part of the quote made a lot of sense.
Many times, we flounder, going round the same issue, expending so much energy in trying to solve issues, which we eventually cannot solve, because we find it difficult to focus.
In this present day mix of Generation X & Millennials how easy is it to focus? Or, how easy is it NOT to?

Mischief redefined.

                             Marriage /'marɪdʒ/
Noun or verb; depending on how you view it.

From the perspective of the typical Nigerian mother :- Solution to all problems of a single Nigerian female. Problems which include, and are not limited to, paying bills, dealing with workmen, barrenness, poor appetite, weeping all night because of loneliness. 
P.S. Most of the above problems happen to be from the overactive imaginations of worried mamas.

From the perspective of the young married woman:- Having a fully grown male as both your lover and your first born child.

                             Spinster /'spɪnstə/
Adjective.

A state a lot of women powerfully reject for their daughters, even those who are still in the cradle.

                                 Pain /peɪn/
Adjective most definitely.

Sensation felt after throwing a French fry straight from hot oil into the mouth.