IS THERE A PROBLEM?...

"You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you"...Brian Tracy





Seriously

Yes I know, it sure sounds like a very silly question especially in our presently virtually volatile and literally confused society where we mysteriously happen to find ourselves, or perhaps a reality where we're just waking up to for the umpteenth time.

Really though, is there a problem?...At least our great thinkers and sages from yester-years already courageously affirmed to us the golden quote which has become imperative for us to engrave upon our hearts that 'A problem identified is half-solved'. So, if there really is a problem, what is it?


"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it"...Lou Holtz

Attitude

It's such a shame that we humans aren't perfect, or maybe it's a good thing, not just because our imperfectness depicts God's superiority over us, but also because if we were indeed perfect, it'll most probably get in our heads and thus there may arise a very high tendency that we'll become the very villains that we abhor.

Basically, what is being pointed out here is that apparently, the entire world (I inclusive) at different levels are a bunch of critics. Well...that is not necessarily a bad thing for the justifiable reason that we have two sides to a coin do we also have both destructive and constructive critics, which in diverse ways help us shape the world.

"The problem is not the problem; The problem is your attitude about the problem...Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of The Caribbean)

Is there a problem, really?...Are we seriously asking this question?
I am ghastly taken aback at the enormity of the problems that aim at drowning us. It has become routine and negatively stereotypical for us to constantly shiver in fear especially in the face of the disasters that we ourselves have mindlessly created.

Poor Earth was basically existing in peace, though perhaps idle and boring so to speak. It laid there filled with adventures, potential and a future as her raw and natural beauty left creatures to explore the eco-system and for man to observe in awe of her magnificence. Man however it his quest to cure his boredom tried to be creative  in his existence allowing necessity to birth invention to support man's living, but at a price, there is a problem.


"For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow...Ecc.1:18

Disasters

A school of thought would claim that man met problems on earth upon arrival, but what problems were they precisely?...I'd rather say man met challenges on earth, then in the course of blazing the trail in making the earth more interesting, that is when the problems arose.
The world's worst disasters are pollution (London's killer fog, 1952) which killed 12,000 people, Fire (Al-Mishraq fire, 2003), Explosion (The nuclear power plant explosion in Chernobyl, Russia, 1986), Oil fires (Kuwait Fire, 1991), Oil spill (Exxon Valdez oil spill, Mar. 24, 1989) and loads more.



"Don't fight the problem, decide it"...George C. Marshall


These unfortunate encounters as we'd prefer to refer to them as, in some ways or otherwise provided us with information we probably never would have been privy to, although came at a cost, sacrifice I'd say we didn't conquer per se, but we adjusted to living more careful and hazard-free lives.

This is why short and long term planning has become grossly imperative for individuals, families and even companies, taking into cognizance possible and inherent dangers and providing commiserate measures to possibly counter them.


"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced"...Soren Kierkegaard


What is the problem?

Sometimes, it seems as though the right question to indeed ask ourselves is 'what is not the problem?', because there is an apparent void in the contents which we provide when tasked by nature and principles to analyze the truths and realities before our very eyes. We're in an age where bad can mean good, languages and figures of speech can be twisted, colours are made complicated, perceptions are relative and even our precious lives are made virtual especially by its occupancy and dependency on the internet.

It is difficult to tell if the politicians are actually intelligent, weather they deliberately lie due to greed or external forces which are of course candidly obscure to us, or if the important political will has lost it's potency.
This has however clearly outlined the significance of ingredients in food, especially salt in soups and sauces. Well, the actual point is that for a society to be balanced there has to be a healthy blend of the bad guys and the good, or maybe we should just say a bunch of critics, both constructive and destructive, then the pro-actives, the hard workers, the spectators, the villains etc In our personal lives they go more like, families as speed bumps, friends as traffic lights and so on.

These features somewhat plays out in the ultimate project of shaping our reality both physically and virtually or intangibly.

So is there a problem...really?. Have you been following at all? Truth is I'm not perfect and also most probably depending on prevailing circumstances and level of knowledge and exposure especially in comparison and direct proportion to yours, it has become out rightly relative.
The answer is yes by the way, I mean to the question if there was a problem, but that is not the problem really, I'm sure you know that by now.  




Thank you.

Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@gmail.com)

Sources: Google
               Disasterium
               Goodreads
               Wikipedia
               Holy Bible

HAPPY NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE...WHATEVER

"As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning"...Criss Jami 


Welcome?




Wow! it's the beginning of a brand new year where many thoughts fly through our heads simultaneously and continuously too. We subconsciously feel older, realize and regret our mistakes in our hearts of hearts in a heart-beat, even if we possibly exude pride and contentment.
It's an opportunity to blame last year for our inadequacies and alibis for past failures, and claim to have new year resolutions and start a clean sheet, aspiring a new lease on life bla bla bla.


Please don't get me wrong and don't you dare judge me in conclusion of being a pessimist that isn't literally rejoicing with the crowd for the arrival of a new year, especially according to the man-made calendar which are a product of well researched events in history where the Sumerian calendar divided the year into twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, document in proportion to repetition of events to give us a sense of belonging and timing and scheduling of our lives, miserable or otherwise.


"It wasn't about finding myself as I've been here all along. It was about understanding myself"...Dominic Riccitello



Confused?

My point?...okay, wait for it if you can (I hope you don't hate me for this), apparently the world has grown as complicated as ever to the extent that most people have ventured so far in their lives to the point of helplessness, some are (perceived to be) hopeless, well some are probably self-inflicted due to the level of their exposure (by default or design) and how best they maximize the information they have, to the point where "Follow the leader" mentality is the order of the day.
 The smarter and more influential people dictate the pace of the human race, ranging from economy to spirituality, we then have the luxurious gift of psychological and philosophical mash-up of confusion.
We want to do the right thing, but then it doesn't matter when you consider the bottom-line of a multi-national company where their activity is vaguely less different from a village massacre, and when you dig further, you find that government policies favour them at your detriment.


"To dress up today in the threadbare garments of yesterday is to create an impoverished tomorrow...Craig . D. Lounsbrough


Hopeful?

For instance, smoking is bad, alcohol is dangerous, guns are lethal, inside trading is illegal, drugs are toxic, yet they are all at their record highs, like they are deliberately being escalated, skyrocketing the short life-span of man, threatening the existence of our dear humanity.
Development has been a testimony to planet Earth, well...complementing mother nature, improving the quality of life of man, though at the expense of our longevity, substantiating the assertion that the world has now perhaps become a prison designed to cage our creativity and potential potential.


"Rightly understood the New year is an act of faith. It is easier for the year to change than to change ourselves. But we believe that somehow, magically, one will lead to the other"...R.Joseph Hoffmann


Then, there comes a time when you heed a certain call, a call that tends to free your soul and loosen your mind and thoughts, literally lifting a heavy load off your shoulders, of-course not I'm not talking death, I'm only describing the rare attainment of inner-peace which is achieved as a result of the courage to embrace reality and get things done with our hands which cannot deceive us, rather than settle for the predominant mediocrity and constant celebration of banality which encourages us to undermine the law of cause and effect and principles such as gravity and leverage that can either bless or curse us as the case may be.


"It's 2015 and here I am, standing instead of kneeling"...Dominic Riccitello


But then, a flash of light moves past, perhaps faster than a falling comet doomed to blaze with fury into the wilderness of space, a flash culminating into an explosion of the multiple activities giving to earth to the bewilderment of men, many men, many a men, we inclusive, where man reaches a point of crossroads with not a single iota of remote hope, then he breaks down hoping to communicate with a higher and supreme being, then tears fall from his eyes as his soul truly seeks to connect to a perceived source, then burdens loose and peace does arise.
Then even I realize, there really is a reason to say Happy New Year, and thank God for it too.


Thank you.

Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@gmail.com)

Sources:  Google
                Goodreads
                Wikipedia