Against the ropes - Breathe easy...

Doing some time away from home.
Not for bad behavior or anything - the tenets of work require that I go and utilize my expertise in a setup and deployment project.

It was fun to get out of NIGERIA for awhile. It was exciting to be a sole traveler (apart from GOD for company) - dispatched to Zambia.

My mother after being told I was going to Zambia kept asking if it was GAMBIA. Of course I said no - "I'm going to ZAMBIA" My colleagues ask if I'm going to NAMIBIA - I equally say: "No, It's ZAMBIA."

Regardless of the inherent confusion - it was fun to get out of the daily grind and dust.

Here we are almost to weeks later and I feel bad that I ill b returning to the cesspit and daily grind.

This trip was my time on the ropes - where I could honestly look at my situation and try to determine the best way to change my circumstances.

Clear thinking moments - about my life. How far I have gone and how much further I have to go towards achieving my dream.

That dream is really simple: Self independence.

I need to seize opportunities - to make a way for myself.

I have been blessed on this trip by meeting friendly people who have shown me so much in so little time - many oppurtunities.

It has been a time spent against the ropes - sizing up the situation and making the relevant changes to strategy. I am forever grateful to GOD for those unspoken moments that seem to characterize this trip.

It is my sincere hope that I will take full advantage of this opportunity and run with the moment - It is my duty to myself, to my beliefs and my aspirations.

I love these moments of self clarity - I crave these moments against the ropes.

Aspire

A single word title: "ASPIRE"
The verb form would have you "ASPIRING" towards a goal or greater objective.

But before we launch off into our typical tirade and practiced rant - I want you to calmly look at this humble word and try to connect to it.

• What does this word mean to you?
• How do you see and treat this concept?
• What and where do you find yourself moving towards?

I aspire to be more than I am (that is almost a given for most of us except those who might have suicidal impulses). I aspire to be effective in what I do, I aspire for excellence in any field of endeavor that I find myself in...
I aspire for fame and fortune, for happiness and content.

However when the accolades in our heads have died down - where are we along the ladder of our aspirations? Are we really aspiring to move and propel ourselves towards a greater good?

What are those dreams that propel you? Do you even know?
The better question for me would be what my dreams and "Aspirations" (another use of aspire) are worth? Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and my eyes have beheld the grand place held for me should my aspirations be achieved.

We are all success stories waiting to be written and even if our "books" read like a testament of hardship (the human animal detests pain and suffering) the lessons learned are worth the investment in pain, sweat and blood...

I regret not believing in myself earlier - I regret the lost time spent wishing about better situations but I will not be held back because I arrived at the party "late".

If it comes to that I'll start a party for myself all alone.

When it looks the most like success seems impossible that's when I should stubbornly refuse to yield and focus - aspire and aim towards those goals that drive me...

Reality is after all the here and now and since I control that by my beliefs and what drives me - I control the direction of my fate and life.

We all aspire for success in our chosen endeavors - we all want the inner acknowledgment that comes from deep within particularly when we have attained all or part of our aspirations.

Success has a lot of bedfellows but before it got there it was often a lonely journey.
The deeper and inner conviction that we can is part of the chain of aspiration - that which binds our dreams and goals to our purpose to attain.

Remember that to aspire is to inch towards that which we truly seek - our dedication and commitment and perseverance is required for true success.

Aspire towards that dream.

This thing called: LIFE!

When you slowly rise from the deep mists of sleep and slowly become aware of yourself and your environment - your thoughts are slowly pulled through the fine filters of coherence as you become aware of yourself - it is almost like a computer coming online.

In the mist of this boot up sequence you might be unfortunate to load those pesky files we refer to as the baggage of yesterday. You know what I'm referring to of course: those problems or challenges in your life that seem to stick to you like a leech on skin - they are obvious and painful and often unwanted (except of course you fall into that peculiar category that love "leeches")

Often times the greater challenge for us is the WILL to face the day and give it the "rude finger" - this is of course not to say that our problems magically disappear after this so brief moment but rather that we generate the attitude required to stay ahead of our problems and situation.

I love to read quotes of people who have defined their fates and destinies and have a few words to say on the subject - each has demonstrated a personal philosophy that seems to summarize the "ATTITUDE" required to hold life by the short and curlies regardless of how it seems to look to you right now.

By way of introduction, i give to you a few wise words from: Maya Angelou (pronounced /ˈmaɪ.ə ˈændʒəloʊ/;^[1] born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928)^[2] is an American autobiographer and poet. (quote from: Wikipedia)

(Once again these quotes are not mine and i make no claim to them except as a means to buttress my point of view)

Find below a few of her quotes - find in them something that resonates within you and maybe this will set you towards that which we all seek - freedom to be as we are destined to...

• We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
• I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
• There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
• There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.
• The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
• Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
• I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.
• If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
• Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
• Talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it.
• One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
• I know why the caged bird sings.
• "I've learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
• History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
• When you learn, teach. When you get, give.
• The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.
• Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'

The crime is not when we stumble and fall for without stumbling/falling where would we be on the ladder of life's experiences - the crime is rather when we stumble/fall and chose to stay down in defeat - take as much time as you need while on the ground but when you get up - PLEASE GET UP!