PEACEFUL #UGANDADECIDES2016: OUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

As Uganda– The Pearl of Africa prepares for elections 2016, much is expected of the country- to conduct free, fair and transparent election, ensure and maintain peace before, during and after. As characteristic of most elections across and within Africa, there have been reported “pockets” of violence and tensions ahead of the elections.

Barring the assumption that these may constrain the country’s ability to ensure a climate conducive for peaceful, transparent and credible elections, I repudiate but very very optimistic that Uganda will stand tall and use this elections to reflect what is the best in them and not the worst for a successful election and peace will prevail subsequently.  My stance stems from the fact that I know Ugandans as peace loving people, who have their country at heart and are willing and and ready to do any thing to maintain this peace. Additionally, the outcome of this election 2016 is within their grips to make the prosperous Uganda we all want- for the best future and optimal life ahead. 

However, envisaging and having a climate conducive for peaceful, transparent and credible elections is not just a  shibboleth but requires the efforts of all and sundry to make it a reality. I write below suggesting  how and also to admonish “my” fellow Ugandans to ensure and make “us” proud- by observing electoral processes, voting peacefully, restraining from violence, being tolerant and acting as the most powerful instrument of peace. For “WE HAVE ONE UGANDA; AND OUR BANNER MUST BE PEACE JUSTICE AND LOVE”. SO LET’S VOTE FOR PEACE AND LET UGANDA WIN.

NB: In this piece, I repeatedly use “I, We, Us, My fellow” but in the context of this election i do not mean I AM VOTING BECAUSE  I AM NOT AN ELIGIBLE VOTER. I use them to underscore the need and; call for all and sundry to give peace a chance. BUT I LOVE UGANDA.



The year 2016 marks a milestone on the electoral calendar of many African countries. Uganda is no exception. For many eligible Ugandans, this is the most appropriate time to exercise one of their fundamental human rights– the right to vote and be voted for; choose the right candidates (president, MPs, etc). In the same vein, the various presidential candidates  and their campaign teams are vigorously using diverse methods and approaches to tailor to the eligible voters their comprehensive packages of manifesto to win power; the electorates at the other end of the line are also making or have made informed decision regarding all that the political parties have presented to them- therefore ready to make their choices.

However, since this processes involves different people from different backgrounds (tribe, religion etc), different political parties, with different ideologies, it’s expected to observe tensions, and some pockets of violence. These are not determinants of unsuccessful electoral process and also to assume that it will plunge the country into conflict, however. Why because it is not inevitable but avoidable- Ugandans have the power to do that.’We’ love peace and want the best for ‘our’ country.

Yes IT’S POSSIBLE! At the heart of all these is the understanding that, the country Uganda must continue to live in PEACE before, during and after the voting- that is to say ” elections is all about BALLOTS and not BULLETS”, neither is it about clubs, stones and knives. It’s in the light of this, that I also write to re-echo, emphasize and add my voice to the numerous peace preachers (EU electoral observers, etc) that WE NEED PEACE in Uganda and so you and I as individuals irrespective of who we are (tribes/ethnic; black and or white), where we hail (North, South, East and West) and our political affiliations must STRIVE, HUNGER and THIRST for PEACE, whenever (day/night; raining/not) and wherever (markets, workplaces, schools, pubs, in cars- taxi, cabs and  etc) we find ourselves.

Yes, ‘we’ are enjoying peace, preaching PEACE PEACE PEACE and expecting it, but it is not enough to just TALK about it, we must BELIEVE in it; and it’s not even to believe in it, WE MUST WORK at it. This means the peace ‘we’ are all yearning for MUST BE PURCHASED AT TOO HIGH A PRICE. If so, then we (you and I- all and sundry) MUST be at WAR with our VICES (double voting, carrying ballots boxes away, insulting and inciting others, abusing powers, rioting, violating  electoral rules and regulations and any form of behaviors that may serve as precursors to cause fear and panic) and be at PEACE with our NEIGHBORS and follow and observe laid down electoral rules and regulations to ensure safe, transparent and peaceful election.

To ‘my’ fellow Ugandans, all am saying is let ‘us’ give peace a chance, because returning VIOLENCE FOR VIOLENCE MULTIPLIES VIOLENCE, just like ADDING DEEPER DARKNESS TO NIGHT DEVOID OF STARS- thus, HATE cannot drive out HATE, ONLY LOVE CAN DO. Nobody can buy us PEACE but OURSELVES. Let us all demand for peace, LOVE ourselves, be PATIENT, HUMBLE and TOLERATE each other before, during and after this election. The MOST POWERFUL WEAPON WE CAN BE IS AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE.

The election is the right time for “us” – Ugandans to think anew and act anew- to see the Uganda ‘we’ all want. Let’s use this election to reflect what is the best in us and not the worst. Let’s cast our votes and continue enjoying peace while we prepare for the prosperous future ahead of us. “We” have one Uganda and our banner must be Peace, Justice and Love. GOD Bless UGANDA!!!!!!!!

TELL YOUR BROTHER, SISTER AND FAMILY    …………….TO VOTE FOR PEACE AND LET UGANDA WIN

No Exclusion! Women are Key Players in bringing Energy Revolution in Africa

 This piece helps us see the gender gaps in the Energy Sector in Africa and how it affects development. Written for ECOWAS Online Campaign to raise awareness of the under-utilized potential of young women in the Energy Sector. Support the #Standtall Campaign, Follow link http://ecowgen.ecreee.org/?p=994. LIKE and SHARE this  ARTICLE by clicking on the FACEBOOK, GOOGLE+and TWITTER LINKS below the article.

 Energy is essential to life since it plays a vital role in development, poverty mitigation and quality service delivery. In regard to this, the Sustainable Development Goal 7 calls for access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (UN SDGs, 2013). Also, linking energy, gender and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3, energy, by making available progress in terms of health, education and poverty, gives women more chance of having the opportunities traditionally reserved for men (Havet, 2003). Thus, it brings about improvement in the living conditions of women.

Hence, the energy economy requires diversity and inclusion within its structures and processes to meet this objectives. Nonetheless, there is a concerning lack of an adequate representative female constituent in leadership positions in the sector. Company organograms evince undesirably low numbers of female employees in power and energy organizations across the board because prospective female staffers’ access to employment in the energy sector has been discouraging.

Global statistics and that for West Africa specifically on women in energy are often hard to find and inconsistent and the existing data reports that women’s representation in the energy sector globally is very modest. However it is an undisputed fact that the energy economy still remains a male-dominated industry, with fewer women in this sector, and have no equal opportunities to men for advancement to management level positions. Correctly put, women are abandoned to the nether world and are not in or given significant positions where their authority and influence can have a substantial impact on the industry’s future.

For instance, a summary of a females employed in the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company indicate that, albeit, the stability in the number of women employed and increase in female representation in top positions, there is a reduction of their representation in the implementation of jobs (STEG, 2005). That means the important jobs, the business jobs, are still given mainly to men. Women tend to head human resources, communications, finance or law and under-represented in the technical fields.

Also, a Gender Assessment of the Ghana Energy Sector in 2010 (Ministry of Energy Report, 2010) revealed that, women were under-represented in the staff of the energy sector organisations hence women’s influence in decision-making on energy was almost insignificant. This was attributed to the low increase in the number of women in engineering and energy over the years due to the perception that engineering is a “man’s field”. In all the West African countries, this findings is pervasive, persistent and has a  knock  on  effect  in  the number of women working in technical and decision making posts in the energy sector.

In some situations at the company level, some individuals either benefit or lose out professionally on the basis of their gender and not ability. Mostly, women become the victims losing out due to their gender. Further to what has been said, remunerations and compensation settings are influenced by gender, where specifically male oil and gas professionals are more highly paid than female professionals, but in some few cases pay is comparable between the genders (Rigzone and BP report, 2013). Women are increasingly found in field positions in the energy industry, but that’s is not enough, why shouldn’t it be equal, 50 percent?

Creating awareness on the existence of the gender gap and fostering the development of women in the energy arena, so that a greater number attain positions of high responsibility is very crucial to  the countries in West Africa. This will empower young, increase women’s influence in decision-making on energy and have greater impact on  the implementation of  policies  on energy  and  energy  efficiency  in West Africa  for the benefit of all and sundry most especially women .  This is evident as companies where women are most strongly represented at board or top-management level have been shown to be the companies that perform best (McKinsey & Company, 2007).

What are the factors behind this?

While women are gaining a steady foothold in the energy economy, success has been slower and the statistics remains grim in the STEM field especially the technical areas. The differences between the number of men’s and women’s representation and the barriers and challenges women frequently face in this sector include the following factors;

Women’s problem in the STEM fields- science, technology, engineering and mathematics: Men tend to dominate in the tech fields, and for women, the numbers are growing. To begin with, this difference is due to societal conditioning and limited senior female role models in the STEM fields. The factors underpinning this can be traced back to the earlier construction of young women as young girls are rarely urged to pursue maths and science. In addition, there is an existing bias that boys are rational and inherently better than girls, thus, girls are not rational and do not have the capacity to reason. To this purpose, it is considered the most important educational goals for the “rational boy” to study science and maths, while the “irrational girl” dabbles in the humanities improving her home making skills. These stereotypes to a greater extent hinders girls’ prospect of developing interest in the maths, sciences and technology.

Also, the role of popular culture is a contributing factor because most girls grow up seeing very prominent women mostly as bankers, medical doctors, teachers, nurses and not as prominent women in the energy economy, the important technical fields. Albeit the implementation of STEM programs in schools, these factors explicate the lack of qualified number of women candidates for specific positions in the energy sector, thus the under-representation of women in the energy economy.

Incorrect perceptions with regards to women: Another significant barrier to increasing the proportion of women in the energy industry is the erroneous assessment of women’s abilities to overcome challenges between work and personal life and their ability to execute effectively some types of work and in certain working environment. The handful of women who are employed in the energy sectors are perceived to have more familial responsibilities than their male counterparts. Women are engaged in the unpaid care work- childcare and simultaneously fulfill their duties at the workplace. With respect to time use and effective execution of assigned duties, women are distinguished to be time deficient and therefore denied the opportunity to undertake certain assignments or positions. For instance, most married women, with responsibility for a house and child (ren) are mostly not allowed to work for long hours which sometimes involve shift work. Consequently, most women lose out professionally on the basis of their gender and not ability.

One more incorrect perception has to do with the nature of women and their inability to work in perceived dangerous environments. Say, it is assumed to be threatening and inimical for women to work in a refinery or gas station or petrochemical plant. Presumably, there are a lot of dangerous products, dangerous emissions and dangerous gases, which affect women’s bodies and health, especially if they are pregnant or in their period. Additionally, it assumed also that implementing jobs consist of dangerous tasks which are not highly appreciated by women, like working at construction sites and climbing electricity posts. However, these are not justified reasons to forbid women to work in these technical sectors.

Gender Based Discrimination: The occurrence of gender based discrimination within the industry is another noteworthy factor behind the under-representation of women. The selection of employers mostly are  done in terms of a gender balanced pool of talent, skills and the capabilities of individuals to have significant impact on the industry but rather centred on gender. This has momentous and influential effects on the inclusion of women in senior management positions, advancement of women and transparency in the structure of remuneration. Accordingly, there are no progressive attitude towards women and most energy industries are not committed to gender balance and to increasing the representation of women at all levels in their organisations.

How do we reverse this as governments, states organizations, institutions? To promote female advancement in the STEM fields, increase women’s representation in the energy economy and overcome the barriers and challenges spelt out above, the following potential solutions should be considered.

Initiate programs that will urge women to study the STEM programs: Notwithstanding the institution of the STEM programs in schools to bolster the representation of women in these fields, most women are unenthusiastic to study. To accomplish the aim of the STEM programs, there is the need to employ effective, efficient and sustainable approaches in its implementation. Firstly, there is the need for educators at the elementary levels to make improvements in the core curriculum of the science and technology. Most importantly, interest in these areas need to be cultivated at the young age, and also educators need to work to encourage young girls to pursue opportunities in STEM by engaging them on more hands-on workshops for girls to learn about science and technology.

 Another approach is to cushion women in the competition for admission to study the STEM. For instance the governments can pick a leaf from, the Makerere University a public university in, Uganda that has tremendously worked hard to ensure that the girl child is represented in the science subjects through its affirmative action that grants women (girl child) a 1.5 point push to meet the competitive admission requirements into the STEM and other programs.  This is a laudable method to ensure that more women enroll and pursue the STEM programs and eventually turn out qualified candidates to take up opportunities in the energy sector. Moreover, the institution of scholarship scheme(s) to support and sustain brilliant women who have the urge to study the science and maths but may be financially handicapped will be effective in attracting them to study in universities, polytechnics or technical institutes and also to realize their dreams, and unleash their potentials.

Combat stereotypes and mentoring: to empower young women to jump into the STEM field, it is imperative to deconstruct and evince that it is not men who are rational and successful in the science and technology fields. By this, we need to profile women’s success stories and successful experiences that establishes the truth that women are accomplished leaders holding key positions in their respective companies or technical arrears. An additional principal thing to be done is professional women of achievement in the energy industry should have mentoring programs to allow for mentoring opportunities to young and forthcoming women studying STEM.

Develop comprehensive Gender Equity Strategy and Action Plan: an important step to increase women’s representation is the development and enforcement of laws and/ or policy that oblige companies to integrate into the energy sector board number of women professionals. Thus, women and men should have equal opportunities for advancement to management level positions in the energy economy. For instance, in the Norway, there is an effective law that requires that 40% of the board members of Norwegian listed companies, including more than three dozen energy companies, must be women. With respect to this, many companies have been looking for women to put into their boards and to enhance their networks with women executives (Storvik & Teigen, 2010).

The policy will encourage a more inclusive and balanced working environment to support the attraction and retention of women, as well as helping them reach senior management roles. To bolster the representation of women in top positions, there should be women’s network as an internal initiative to help create forums that will assist in the development of female employees. Additionally, there should be the availability of sponsorship and internal training programs for women career development process to help women take the lead in planning a successful career path in the oil industry.

In tackling the forbidding of women in certain positions attributed to family care responsibilities- childcare and women’s time deficit, companies must have flexible working arrangements and see the importance to offer childcare specific benefits for women. The energy companies should uphold a diverse workforce and embrace the approach of acknowledging the influence of people as efficient individuals somewhat than as members of defined groups. Policies of recruiting and promoting staff should be reviewed to ensure that competency tests and other selection criteria are gender sensitive and actually encourage more women to enter the sector and stay employed in it.

Lastly young women need mentors and inspirational role models and so, women in and/ or of energy should formnetwork of professional women of energy. This will facilitate broad involvement of women in the energy sector, benefit from training courses and  create a platform and expedite access to career opportunities through national and international conferences where women can be recommended for higher management roles based on their past experiences and success.

Conclusion

Africa has a pending need to support corporate diversity and transformation, remarkably for women with adequate energy skills by providing equal opportunities and appreciating the diversity of ethnicity, age and gender and creating a working culture where differences are valued. This  strong believe in diversity and inclusion will enable the world, and West Africa in particular  to face the challenges of securing energy for the future because empowering  women economically will alleviate poverty and  embedding  diversity and inclusion within the energy economy structures and processes will attract and develop the best most innovative women who will not only  contribute to the future of the energy economy in West Africa but also bridge the  gap in the existing infrastructure to increase energy accessibility.

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Writer: Emmanuel Kodwo Mensah, Ghanaian; Currently MA Gender Studies Student (School of Women and Gender Studies),  Makerere University, Kampala-Uganda. Contact: emailkmensah@gmail.com

Sources

Havet, I. (2003). “Linking Women and Energy at the Local Level to Global Goals and Targets.” Energy for Sustainable Development 7(3): 75-79

McKinsey & Company (2007). Women Matter, Gender diversity, a corporate performance driver.

Ministry of Energy. (2010). Gender Assessment of the Ghana Energy Sector.

Rigzone and BP( 2013). Global Diversity and Inclusion Report.

STEG (2005). Intégration des Femmes,Intégration Sociale et Gestion Environnementale, Société Tunisiennede l’Electricité et de Gaz

Teigen, M. and Storvik, A. (2010). Women on board, the Norwegian Experience.

UN SDGs. (2013). Open Working Group proposal for Sustainable Development Goals.

END VIOLENCE AGAINST

Today the 25th day of November, marks a milestone in the lives of all women and girls over the world, as we recognize the International Day to End Violence Against Women. I have held from the very earliest period of my life, still hold and appreciate the importance of women (as Mothers, Wives and Sister) in our society – reproduction, production and community roles. However, the abuse of women’s right and personal boundaries, which instead of being weakened or modified, has constantly been growing stronger by the progress of reflection and the experience of life.

Violence is on the rise . Violence against women is hurting  all women and girls all over the world, hitting the poor, women in war torn communities,  at home , on the street- it’s global pandemic and takes place in the public and private spaces. It’s against this  back drop that I write , joining forces with other Women groups, Human Right Activist and others, to reveal some fast facts , re-echo and emphasize the need to strive and end this canker, Violence Against Women.

 Violence against women is defined as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. It is human rights violation and a serious impediment to women’s progress in any area of life. It impairs women’s health, prospects for education and productive work, and ability to participate as full members of their societies, among other consequences.

According to UN Women report, serious numbers show how common violence is — and the many forms it takes. Around the world, 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner. About 120 million girls have been forced into intercourse or other sexual acts at some point in their lives. In 29 countries alone, 133 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation. More than 700 million women alive today were married as children. Almost all of the estimated 4.5 million victims of forced sexual exploitation are women and girls.

Women who are exposed to these forms of violence (physical, sexual, or psychological), suffer physical, mental, emotional well-being consequences and these lead to impacting any children she might have, as well as social and economic costs. Some of the health consequences are;

• Sexually transmitted diseases and infections (including but not limited to HIV/AIDS)
• Limited mobility and poor overall health (sometimes, these can have fatal results)
• Intimate partner and sexual violence can lead to unintended pregnancies and other gynecological problems
• Violence against a pregnant woman increases the chances of miscarriage, stillbirth and pre-term delivery
• Headaches, back pain,  abdominal pain.
• clinical depression and emotional distress leading to suicide attempt.

With regard to the impacts on children, they suffer from a range of behavioral and emotional disturbances which can lead to perpetrating  or being victims of violence later in life. Intimate partner violence can also be associated with increased rate of infants and child mortality and morbidity.

Violence against women is not an answer. It’s the puzzle that needs to be solved. The way forward is to help young girls and boys learn to recognize abuse and say no to sexual harassment in their communities, encourage positive notions of masculinity and femininity and cultural norms that that addresses gender equality in our communities, reinforce laws on the books to stop domestic violence, advocate campaigns around the world, heighten awareness and galvanize actions to stop violence.

Let’s mobilize and raise awareness and trigger action to end the global scourge of violence against women and girls. It’s may not happen to you now  but remember its happening to someone else – and she is somebody’s mother, somebody’s sister, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s wife, somebody’s girlfriend, somebody’s friend. It’s my responsibility, yours and ours. So let’s spread the word and do something about it.
Women and Girls have their Rights and Personal Boundaries; No one should Invade and Abuse them; It’s our sole responsibility to strive, hunger and thirst to ‪#‎EndViolenceAgainstWomen

PEACEFUL ELECTION 2012, OUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY

With just about less than 2 weeks for eligible Ghanians to exercise their franchise in the most anticipated presidential and parliamentary elections, the presidential candidates and their campaign teams are vigorously using diverse methods and approaches to tailor their comprehensive packages of policies to win power; the electorates at the other end of the line have also made an informed decision regarding all that the political parties have presented to them.

In the same vein, individuals, NGOs, churches and other peace-loving group conscientizing, educating and promoting PEACE through different media- radio, television, drama, peace walk and others just to mention but a few.  At the heart of all these is the understanding that, or country Ghana must continue to live in PEACE before, during and after the voting- that is to say " elections is all about BALLOTS and not BULLETS", neither is it about clubs, stones and knives.

It's in the light of this, that I also write to re-echo, emphasize and add my voice to the numerous peace preachers that WE NEED PEACE in Ghana and so you and I as individuals irrespective of who we are (tribes/ethnic; black and or white), where we hail (North, South, East and West) and our political affiliations must STRIVE, HUNGER and THIRST for PEACE, whenever(day/night; raining/not) and wherever (markets, workplaces, schools, pubs, in cars- troski's, cabs and  etc) we find ourselves.

Yes, we are preaching PEACE PEACE PEACE, but it is not enough to just TALK about it, we must BELIEVE in it; and it's not even to believe in it, WE MUST WORK at it. This means the peace we are all yearning for MUST BE PURCHASED AT TOO HIGH A PRICE. If so, then we ( you and I- all and sundry) MUST be at WAR with our VICES (double voting,carrying ballots boxes, insulting and inciting others, abusing powers, rioting, violating  electoral rules and regulations and any form of behaviors that may serve as precursors to cause fear and panic) and be at PEACE with our NEIGHBORS and follow and observe laid down electoral rules and regulations to ensure safe, transparent and peaceful election.

All am saying is let us give peace a chance, because returning VIOLENCE FOR VIOLENCE MULTIPLIES VIOLENCE, just like ADDING DEEPER DARKNESS TO NIGHT DEVOID OF STARS- thus, HATE cannot drive out HATE, ONLY LOVE CAN DO. Nobody can buy us PEACE but OURSELVES. Let us all demand for peace, LOVE ourselves, be PATIENT, HUMBLE and TOLERATE each other because the MOST POWERFUL WEAPON WE CAN BE IS AN INSTRUMENT OF PEACE.

We have one Ghana and our banner must be Peace, Justice and Love. Ghana is our home and we cannot afford to strangers in other land.. God bless our homeland GHANA.
                                                                                  ................VOTE FOR PEACE; LET GHANA WIN. THANK YOU.......... Tag ur FRIENDS

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ARE ALL MEN THE SAME? [PART 1]

The supreme happiness of life is the conviction of being loved for yourself, or, more correctly, being loved in spite of yourself. Every individual therefore feels loved, to be loved and be loved because the feeling of being loved is a strong and habitual inclination in persons that promote the good and happiness of one another.
However, individuals’ (ladies’) past experiences in relationships, recent exposures to men, happenings in the pool of love and most importantly the allure of additional benefits most men may be alleged to gain from love without much consideration of the adverse effects on the other parties (ladies) have made the saying “all men are the same” an ugly-attractive proposition in love and relationship alike and so most ladies have difficulty following the intricacies of different and new men and love.

It is against this back drop that I would like to make it known to the ladies and emphasize that all men are not the same. Yes, all men may be the same considering the changes they undergo during their puberty stage: deep voices, broad chest, etcetera and their nature as in carefully and precisely fishing for specific qualities and values about women which they use as precursors to admire, establish contact and eventually propose leading to the door way of love and relationship.
Firstly, I would want our ladies to however note that the sustenance of love, happiness and peace from the genesis to the revelation of every relationship is built on the individuals and their fundamental reasons for being in love, the environment and array of conditions and events that unfold in that relationship. Therefore, the degree to which an earlier sweet-lovely relationship later becomes sour and loses its values should not be attributed to one individual especially the men and also be generalized to be the same in all relationship they have and/or yet to enter.

It’s also a known and well established fact that most men are “dogs” that is, they (men) like chasing and flirting with almost everything in skirt aside the sole person they call their love but not all the men may be ascribed to infidelities in relationship. Remember that, we (men) are borne and raised by different parents, grow in different environment and more importantly belong to different religious denominations and therefore learn and receive different and comprehensive packages of lessons for moral uprightness. So not all the men CHEAT or go behind their lovers because from the earlier age we are taught the virtues of monogamy.

Even though, men naturally are known and always want to be dominant in decision making, most men are however meek, have listening ear and ever ready to allow room for participatory decision making for the welfare of the relationship. Also, some express degree of vulnerability and therefore give you (ladies) the chance to guide and protect us (men), which makes you needed, important and trustworthy.
I do not want to assume that all men from good religious background, of good character and with innocent appearance may be genuine. Though some men may be infidel, untrustworthy, dominant in decision making, liars and whatever your experience may be, always remember that “all men are not the same” because we are all not the same. Let someone love you because you deserved to be loved…….. to be continued 

COMMENTS by friends 

Motivational Quotations

                 Motivational Quotations

 

 We have no sufficient strength of our own. All our sufficiency is of God. We should stir up ourselves to resist temptations in reliance upon Gods all sufficiency and the Omnipotence of His might......
                                                                     Matthew Henry

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
Aristotle

Take calculated risks.
That is quite different from being rash.
George S. Patton

Storms make oaks take roots.
Proverb 

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes.
St. Clement of Alexandra

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.

Thornton Wilder

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
Arthur C. Clarke

Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.
Johann Gottfried Von Herder 

And all may do what has by man been done.
Edward Young

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.
Samuel Smiles 

Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.
Voltaire 

If the wind will not serve,
take to the oars.
Destitutus ventis, remos adhibe
Latin Proverb

Men's best successes come after their disappointments.
Henry Ward Beecher

You cannot plough a field by
turning it over in your mind.
Author Unknown

TIMES & SEASONS CHANGE BUT God IS ALWAYS WITH Us.

                                 LEARN TO THRIVE IN EVERY SEASON

 

 To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To really enjoy the life, you must know how to handle time and the different seasons that you will go through. Change is a constant in life. Every day, week, month and year introduces new things in your life. You will not be on a constant high; neither will you be on a constan

t low. There will be seasons of dryness and seasons of fruitfulness. Each season has its purpose and works to make you appreciate God's grace towards you in different situations. When you are up, He is there with you and when you are down, He also stays with you.

PLACE THE SEASONS OF YOUR LIFE IN GOD'S HANDS. Ask God to transform your attitudes and bring positive results out of negative situations as you travel through life's seasons. Rely on God's unchanging power in the midst of changes you experience in all aspects of your life. Rather than battling the season you currently find yourself in, ask God what He wants you to learn from it, and trust Him to give you the encouragement and strength you need.
Know that, while life is unpredictable, your faith in God will always stand.

USE YOUR TIME WISELY. Regularly remind yourself of how fragile and fleeting life on earth can be, and that every day is a gift from God. Don't fall into the traps of being lazy or too driven, missing out on God's best for you. Ask God to give you wisdom to use your time each day as He would like you to use it, according to His purposes for your life.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that wherever I am, You are there with me; help me to trust You daily.

Scriptural Reading: Ecclesiaste 3:1

by Dr. MENSA OTABIL