APPRECIATION

So i am back home, been so for a while i must say the response from people about the blog and about the somalia trip was amazing, you people continue to amaze and inspire me i kid you not, you are the fire that keeps me running..As usual so much to talk about so little space we have..Today i feel that we should talk about appreciation.. heard about it right? everywhere we go, we have hear that, c'mon, you have heard it too.. " i am not appreciated" "i do not feel appreciated" simple word right? but lets look at the definition as always, a good place to start ( my lecturer would be so proud of me right now): I refer to the Meriam Webster dictionary:

a : judgment, evaluation; especially : a favorable critical estimate
b : sensitive awareness; especially : recognition of aesthetic values
c : an expression of admiration, approval, or gratitude
d : increase in value

All of these in my view are both interrelated and they focus on people, a situation without which will birth so many problems....most of which are often unspoken...

So lets check it out, evaluation, especially a favourable critical estimate, to me this says this, first of all you need to appreciate you, love you, look at yourself in the mirror and fall in love, realize this that when God looks into the mirror He sees you and you are the best!.. When you look "within" you will also discover that you have faults, but this does not mean that you then focus on them or what someone said about you in comparison to another, that should not dictate the way you see yourself.Ladies and gentlemen,we are to give ourselves a "favorable critical estimate" judge your strengths and weaknesses but then, make it favorable, meaning, e fair, check and work on your weaknesses..

The second one deals with those around you, being sensitive to what each of your friends, family and loved one's bring to the table, what are their strengths and weaknesses, then according them the necessary appreciation..This also means truth, it means honesty, it means that you must draw line between your friends and your loved one's, how you treat them, how you speak to them in relation with other people this is all part of appreciating people..this line is often not clearly defined but we also have to appreciate the difference between people and things and situations..bottomline BE SENSITIVE

The third is the one that is most heard of and what most people crave, but see without the first two this third.. why do i say this well, if you are not appreciating yourself, if you do not have a well developed self esteem, them you cannot draw the line emotionally and thus you wil not be able to appreciate or in the bear the ability to appreciate, approve and admire people, because you are not doing it to yourself...

and it goes without say that without all the above you cannot " increase in value" you cannot get better you cannot grow, you cannot progress..you then stagnate. and Bishop Allan Kiuna says :if you are stagnating you are dying... "

So then what guess what? there is a way out! and the people said "yeeessssssss" It's simple: inspiration starts with you... progression starts with you.. TD jakes says " experience when it becomes tradition is dangerous" This to mean, you cannot solve today's problems with yesterdays answers, you need to appreciate, you need to add value, to even the way you tackle problems the way, you deal with issues, the way you deal with people.. If we are going to make any progress we must grow, how do we grow, learn to appreciate.

Appreciate yourself, you may not be where you want to be but you are definitely not where you used to be and you are not anyone's opinion..

Appreciate those who are in your life, lets not mince words here, if you don't and if they realize you don't, they will leave..

Appreciate, be Kind to people, approve, admire, without regrets

Appreciate: grow in value, be better...why? because you are better..

ENOUGH SAID..

WHATS DONE IN THE DARK....

So ill skip the whole..i have been meaning to write and how its been a while blah blah etc...stuff coz well, it has..We are here now. I am writing this from a tent somewhere in Somalia and while i am tempted to write about the experience here and all (which i will write about someday) i thing i will write about the one thing that i believe is at the heart of all of us..Character. Yeap that word that is often thrown around loosely often used to mean behavior right? and to generally define somebody, you say that is their character. I read somewhere that if for example you know this person and they are really cool people and one day you learn that, i dont know lets say they are have a huge temper that you hadn't seen before or that they are really mean people, or that they are even killers...What the text read was that it was there character and it was just bound to come out. While i admit there is some level of truth in that i believe that we all have what i would like to call Character shapers.. the things that make us and mold us, shape our opinions on things...but lets start where i always like to start, lets define this thing called character..

i believe it is

a) the ability to do right, even when a wrong situation presents itself, especially when you are not under any supervision and

b) leaving something better than you found it.

We got the beat now lets dance...

Many times we are presented with opportunities to go against our word and our principles and even our word, when we are in private. Think about it, that temptation you get, the thrill that you can get away with it...It is always there, that why people leave double lives...but what is the problem? Its simply that a character flaw. You see character is not developed in the podium of the public, but in the pedestal of the private..It is the decisions you make when in private, when no one is watching that will shape your character. So many people complain about how they have been wronged or cheated or are shocked at what someone did or said, and say that is not his/her character, but in reality it is, you just never saw it or chose to ignore it, many times it is the latter. We have so many times been told to be like the eagle, well sometimes the eagle metaphor can describe us as well. The eagle has perfect eyesight and can see prey from far, when it is sure it has it, it goes for the kill. The same thing can apply to us, we see the problem from far, lock onto it but still dive in for the attack..(just think about that for a moment)

The bottom-line is this, whatever is done in the dark will soon come out,it may not come to haunt you now but in future the flaws in character in teh secret will be a public display..it will lead to a PDA, ( not what your thinking people) Public Display of Anger...because nobody will understand.. You see we thing that its just this once or, its just this week or, ill change eventually but before we know it we are trapped.Here is the cycle, a deed becomes a habit and a habit develops into your character, its becomes who you are.

There are some levels in life, some joy, some peace , that you cannot attain until you work with your character...So how do you do this? i thought you'd never ask

Character shapers, the most common is people! Friends. etc.. My mum once told me " pick your friedns with a toothpick" i liked that what she meant was be very careful who you let into your life who you listen to, who you allow to be around you, and eventually the environment you are in. Sometimes we make decisions and if we really look back it wasn't our decision, we talked to a friend and even if it went against our better judgment we took their advice because it seemed convincing but realize this, the decision you make with friend or a group of friends, you will live with alone. You see they will not be there once you make the decision. Think Alshabab here in somalia, they are in a group and they make a decision to say bomb a place...so then each goes but when you are dying, your teacher is not there, you are alone, you feel the pain alone, you go through it alone..yet the decision was made in a group..

That is why i believe we should practice part b of my definition of character, always leave a place, a person better than you found them. Always strive to better someones life, to inject new hope and life in them, to be help them. and here is the catch..that applies to you too. I realized that sometimes we are soo good to others we forget to just sit back and be good to ourselves and our bodies,CHARACTER dictates that you make yourself better, take an analysis of yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses work on them.There are things you do and you know they hurt people? work around them, compromise, sacrifice, in the words of Joel Osteen " become a better you!" That way you will develop such a strong character in secret by always doing the right thing to yourself and to others even when no one is watching or even when you know you can get away with it, that your character will shine in the midst of this crazy world.. You are a character shaper you, take care of yourself.

I tell you what, ill stop here got to go but i will continue this later. my parting shot is this : There are places you cannot go to , a level of peace and joy and love you cannot have, until you work on character."

ENOUGH SAID..