A grateful heart

Recently, I was reading a book titled "Battlefield of the mind" and I came across a very usual term GRATEFUL. I'm sure you may be wondering what's so striking about the word, but I tell you that I haven't been taken aback by that word like I was on that day and like flowers respond to sunlight, my heart was flooded with light on that term "grateful".
Before now, I used to think that I was a grateful person (...not saying that I'm not), but averagely I think I did the 'usual' things. I now realise that being grateful is not that thing we do passively, but rather its a conscious active attitude. Its more than saying thank you for a service, but having a grateful outlook and attitude towards life in general. I once heard someone say..."only someone that can think that can thank", very true....Its true that there are a lot of discouraging things going on around us and these things are so in our faces that we sometimes forget the good things that have happened and are still happening to us. A very basic example many take for granted is LIFE. I like to say/think that only living people have the luxury of facing problems....dead people don't. I'm sure if the dead could speak they'll prefer a second chance in this "problematic world" rather than an untimely death....
I just want us to be conscious of the good things that happen in our lives and start being grateful for them, no matter how "normal" they seem, as there are still some that wish for what you have right now but can't get it.. that you are able to read this, is more than enough reason to be grateful...not everyone can read.
have a grateful weekend....cheers

............

As you should have noticed ,there's no title...*laffs*. it was intentional. This blog is intended to inspire everyone that bumps on it *laffs*.....that's why I don't really post very personal daily routines, like how I woke up and brushed my teeth and all that kind of stuff but only what will inspire someone else. Hence the name INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGES....and its not going to change but only modify..... Realised that I haven't formally explained what this blog was all about....so i thought to do so now...pardon my manners..
You know those times (especially at nights) when you are just on your bed, with your earphones on, and the music so loud, its like you are in a world of your own.....and you just want to stay there. Well I'm sort of in that position right now....hmmm.
Its funny what I realised (apart from my imagination breaking limits) in my 'me time'....the kind of songs I listened to, reflected my mood at the instant...If the song was sad, I thought of all the sad things that had happened and made up some futuristic ones also...*laffs*...if it was a love song, I thought of all the failed relationships I've been in and how I'm still very single ... but when I listened to brilliant songs (they were christian songs by the way), I actually felt lifted and like I had the ability to change whatever situation I was in...the power of music. I'm seriously in LOVE with MUSIC....but I'm also very careful of whatever I feed my soul with (of which music is a very important food for the soul) because it will find expression somehow. Though I wouldn't deny that sometimes I'm drawn to songs that aren't inspiring probably because of their brilliant rythm...but I have also realised that at the end of the day, I felt better listening to the songs that encouraged me than the ones that kept me down. they feed the soul with lies, discouragement, broken hearts and pass the wrongest of messages, the most irritating of them, that SEX=LOVE...Its all just very silly....
Someone said.."think about what you are thinking about"....because "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he"....
paraphrasing the second part, we have, "a man becomes what he continually thinks on". I totally agree...think about it....love you all.......

the beautiful SOUL

Mirrors...at least plane ones, are supposed to reflect and produce an exact image of the object in front.. most mornings when I wake up (.. I'm also sure you do the same), no matter how much in a hurry I am, its almost impossible not to steal a glance at d mirror just to make sure I look presentable as I go out...that just shows how important a mirror can be.
A good image of one's self has away of boosting your confidence so much that when you step out,it seems like you can take on the world...*it just might happen*....A bad one the other hand can deflate your self confidence & trust me, those aren't your finest hours.
So how do we escape this dark aura and boost our image?....is it by putting on more makeup...(im soo not against make-up) or wearing fancier clothes....Of course these things are good, but I want to draw our attention to something deeper.
lets picture a scenario where you woke up one bright morning and really cleaned up nicely..looking all hot..you looked yourself in the mirror & scored your image a 101%..*laffs...there are days i feel like that. then as soon as you step out,ready to take on your world, someone just splashes muddy water on you...how would you feel? bad, i presume...from this picture, its safe to conclude that the reflection we see no matter how beautiful it appears, isn't enough to tie our confidence to, because of its very temporary nature.
lets picture another scenario where this time around as you dressed up your body, you also dressed up your soul. as you stepped out, some guy also splashed muddy water on you...I don't know anyone in their right mind that will be happy with the incident but unlike the first scenario, you still have something going for you. In fact, you still have like 99.0%  intact and what you lost (your fancy clothes) becomes negligible, because no matter how bad the stain was, its still miles away from reaching your soul...How are you dressing up your soul.....this is my point of interest..
 my next post would be sharing thoughts as to dressing up our souls and the kind of  mirror used in checking out the reflection of our soul.

WHO WE ARE

Have you ever wondered that if there weren't any mirrors, you probably wouldn't really know what your face looked like, except someone helped you out of course...very funny, but true. As humans, I have come to realize that we all look but see differently, which implies that how I look like would have been described in a thousand ways by different people because of their various perceptions. It would have been a very confusing thing, but then again thank God for the technology behind mirrors....Is someone wondering why I'm  thanking God and not science...you'll find out in a bit. More than 2000 years ago when He made man, He made him in His image and likeness. He was the first ever to say anything about our image and tell us what our reflection was to look like. He gave us a mirror not like the ones that show you how small your nose is or how big your are (just kidding....btw i have a big nose), but the kind that reveals His glorious image which is the same as the one He made us in..
how do i prove that...well, you are the prove...yes you. your reading this now and trying to logically explain what I'm saying, but the truth is, a dog can't do that.*smiles*.. if you need any more proves post your comments, I'll be sure to reply. The question now is why we do not reflect that wonderful image of God. Let's consider a scenario where a person didn't look at a mirror in the morning and sometime later in the day I asked why something was wrong with a part of his face, he would most likely not be able to answer me correctly because he doesn't know whats wrong. Its almost the same thing with the glory of God. It is as we look into the mirror of God (His word) that we become aware of our true selves and that is only when we can take advantage of it.
Even till date, despite the fact that we readily have mirrors that show us our physical appearances, they still do not tell us all that we need to know and by the time you go on asking people around you, you are back to being the person I first described in the beginning..CONFUSED. The only remedy to clearing this doubt is by holding up every opinion and bringing it side by side with the image of God, which we find in His word as we study it...Your identity is very important, because when the purpose of a thing isn't known, abusing it is inevitable..

Vision

Vision is borne out of compassion and dissatisfaction...I heard someone say this recently (the compassion part) and it really stuck....Visions are passion driven and are birthed as a result of dissatisfaction. When you are comfortable with your position, there's hardly any drive or will pushing you to break limits and you can never truly do something excellently unless you have a vision. I used to have this misconception that being visionary was a big deal, but like I said it was a MISCONCEPTION. Visions are not just those big dreams that we never accomplish, but they are the end result or the picture of how a thing CAN BE against how IT IS...So, as little as saying "I'm  really tired of the way things are going and i want a change"....can be the turn around point for your vision. Something stirs up in you and this provokes some action which is first a clear decision of what you want to achieve and then the necessary steps to follow. Congratulations! you have just created a vision in that aspect of your life. So lets go back to our lives and see the things that appear fuzzy or have lost focus and realign them. Remember, visions are passion driven and are birthed as a result of dissatisfaction with your present state. Be dissatisfied