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Food for Living: You Are the Remote Control of Your Life
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Destiny Friends,
In less than two weeks, the year 2020 will fizzle out, paving the way for the grand entry of the year 2021. Without mincing words, the year 202O came with its share of mixed feelings; to some it was a blessing and to others, a total disaster.
One thing about life however, is its unpredictable nature; sometimes it offers opportunities, and at other times, it disappoints. Howbeit, no one can deny the fact that it gives you back what you give to her. Life is just like a computer; it is garbage in, garbage out.
As the year gradually comes to an end, it still remains a two way traffic where some are regretting and some are celebrating. At stocktaking time such as this, we need to ask ourselves how well we spent the last eleven months. Did you try to add value to your life in any form? Did you learn any new skill? Did you join any professional association or organization? Did you network with any resourceful mind? Were you able to graduate despite challenges? Did you begin any business, school or work? The list is literally endless. What most people fail to understand is that in life, there’s a seed time and harvest time. While most people are lamenting like Jeremiah in the book of life, others are rejoicing and harvesting. You can’t do nothing from January to November and expect a sudden miracle in December.
We are the architect as well as the masterpiece of our own lives. Nobody can design our life more than us. We have the remote control of our lives. We are the compass of our lives; we are the rudder of our lives. But it’s sad to note that sometimes, we give up on our most precious asset – choice. We all have the power to decide the music and tone of our life and not the one the world plays for us. When you refuse to live your life, you are inadvertently giving other people the opportunity to live your life for you.
Do you wish to know how powerful a remote control can be? A remote control plays many roles, it changes the channel of a television, it controls the volume, it pauses the music, it can rewind and fast-forward. It can even record. A remote control literally plays the role you assign to it, all it requests from you is to make sure it has a functional battery. Let’s juxtapose the remote with our life. Sometimes, we put our life on hold due to setbacks and life challenges. Do you know that nobody likes to associate with people who give excuses, people who are poor, people who have little or no value to offer, etc. No matter what your storyline is, please stand up, dust yourself up and move on. Trust me, nobody cares about your drama.
We all have experienced those hurtful, frustrating, offensive, manipulative people in our lives, and we have the control to change the channel to something else. Question: Are you willing to use your remote (brain) to focus on proactive ideas?
How can you remote-control your life?
Learn to change the channel by looking at the good things of life, quit looking at the pains you felt, change the channel to joy by remembering the good things that happened to you.
Forgive Yourself and Forgive Others
As human beings, it’s normal to always remember the harm that was done to you as opposed to the gains. There was a story of two friends (Mr. A & B) who were travelling. They had a misunderstanding along the way, Mr. A slapped Mr. B, Mr. B wrote it on the sand; Mr. A slapped me. As they approached a river, Mr. A crossed the river, but Mr. B was a having a difficult time and was losing balance, Mr. A quickly assisted him and when they got to the shore, Mr. B wrote on the rock, Mr. A saved my life. Mr. A asked Mr. B why he wrote on the sand when he was slapped, and when he helped him cross the river, he wrote on the rock, Mr. A replied, when someone hurt you, write it on the sand because the water will wash it away , but when someone does you a favour, write it on the rock or in your heart where you won’t forget it.
Be Grateful
As humans, we always fall into the habit of reliving sad memories instead of good memories. We fail to understand that emotions hold us back, especially when we look back. Instead of having those sad memories how about you remembering all the miracles you experienced and the difficulties you overcame. For example, when you had no money, when you had no job, when you were lonely and desolate, when you were sick or received a bad medical report, which God healed you of, when you were saved from a terrible accident, when you had a baby despite several miscarriage etc. Moral: Quit having a memorial event in your mind and celebrate each victory and make it a memorial anniversary by telling your children the stories of God’s goodness.
Guard Your Space
As the owner of your remote, you can decide who comes into your space. Decide what behaviors and lifestyle you can accommodate. By so doing, you are remote controlling your life to the channel you wish to see. This helps to give you sanity of mind.
Boundaries are not set with the intention of changing other people. They may change how people interact with you, but they are more about enforcing your needs than attempting to change the general behavior and attitude of others. To make these boundaries work for you, you need to understand your needs and what you are looking at changing.
In conclusion, imagine your brain as the remote control of your life. What do you store in your brain, and what channel are you willing to watch?
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a mindset coach and transformational coach. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
Armed policemen have taken over the Wadata Plaza headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, as tension continues to mount over the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which is expected to hold today.
Channels Television quoted an unnamed party official, who alleged that the police were deployed to stop the proposed NEC Expanded Caucus meeting.
Though some staff members of the party were initially allowed to go into the premises of the secretariat without any resistance from the police, they were later sent out.
Journalists were also been asked to leave the premises of the secretariat.
Some policemen were seen cordoning off Dalaba Street, which is the road leading to Wadata Plaza.
The Presidency has said there has been no change in the position of Senator George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“There has been no change in the status of His Excellency, Senator George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement made available to journalists.
The statement is titled ‘Akume Remains SGF.’
This followed multiple reports which quoted Presidency sources saying Tinubu had named his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to serve as the new SGF.
Onanuga said, “President Bola Tinubu, currently in Saint Lucia, has not made any new appointments.
“The information circulating about Akume’s replacement is untrue. Agents of mischief fabricated it.
“The Presidency advises Nigerians to disregard the fake news.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is everybody’s desire to be successful in whatever field of endeavour he finds himself. It can be in career, family life, business endeavors or personal development. But there’s absolutely nothing good that comes easy. Everything in life involves a lot of hard work, smart work, dedication, discipline, network, sacrifice, prayers, and determination among a whole lot if one is intentional to succeed.
Of a truth, success is not for the faint-hearted. In all honesty, everyone wants to be ahead of everyone, especially contemporaries and funnily enough, the average human being sometimes have a bit of ill- feeling when competitors arise or seem to outsmart them either with better quality or price. The good thing about this however, is that it makes one sit up.
Now, this brings us to the essence of today’s article. For anyone to be ahead of their competitors, they must fly like the eagle. Eagles are known for their powerful build, sharp vision, and fearless nature. They are highflyers, capable of soaring to great heights, and gliding for extended periods. Eagles are also known for their tenacity, using storms to their advantage to gain altitude. Other notable characteristics include their strong talons and beaks, used for hunting, and their protective nature towards their young. These are some of the qualities that make it unique.
The eagle is not regarded as the king of the sky for fun, no. The eagle flies so high because that’s where it gets a chunk of its strength. This ability enables the eagle to take its prey and predators alike to it’s abode where it will have enough emotional and physical strength to dismantle them.
I will be sharing characteristics of an eagle to enable us know why we ought to be like the eagle if we want to soar.
VISION
The eagle has a sharp vision. Their vision is so precise. They can see farther than any animal. They possess exceptional eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from great distances. As human beings, we must have eagle eyes to know what we really want, and what we don’t want. Vision allows us to go for what we desire and deserve. When we have vision, we won’t wait for anyone to tell us when to strike. We flow through the wind despite the waves and heavy current and associated challenges. When our vision is precise, it will give people clarity to understand how they can assist us.
Let’s take a closer look at great leaders of this world who have come and gone. There are many great leaders that came and went but one characteristic that is common in all is “Vision”.
Vision is a successful leadership characteristic
You must have a vision that guides and leads your team towards the organizations or societal goals. The vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision will produce big results
FLIGHT
Eagles are known for their ability to soar and glide, using their large wings to their advantage. Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10, 000 feet, you will never find another bird. If you find another bird, it must be an eagle.
An eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. It was Dr. Myles Munroe who said that. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.
Great leaders are problem solvers. They don’t complain like the pigeons do. They love to take challenges as the eagle does when the storm comes. As human beings, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always good for one to take any fight to their home ground where it will give them advantage over their predators. For instance, a fish is stronger in water, but weak on land, a lion is stronger on land, but weak in water, a monkey is strong on trees but weak on air. Just like an eagle is strong on air and weak on water and land. That’s why it always takes its prey to the sky where they have greater advantage to shine.
As human beings, we also must know what we are naturally good at, the ability to know this will enable us to maximize our strength and work on our weakness. We can only do this when we know ourselves and what we are naturally good at. Our ability to focus on our expertise and what we are naturally good at will make us unique and ahead of our contemporaries.
TENACITY
The eagles are known for their ability to withstand storms and use them to their advantage, rising above the challenges. Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of the very storm that lesser birds fear and head for cover.
Challenges in the life of a leader are many. These are the storms we must face as leaders to rise to greater heights. Like an eagle, a leader can only rise to greater heights if he takes up the challenges head on without running away from it. This is yet another leadership characteristic.
As humans, we all will experience challenges and setbacks, however, the ability to apply strength will go a long way to show how determined we are to overcome the hurdles that pose as challenges.
FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. It will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory.
Successful leaders are fearless, so we are expected to fear no man, but respect all men. They face problems head on. We are supposed to have the eagle fearless mindset regardless of how big the problem may appear. Confront your fear and rise or face your fear and run. The choice is yours.
VITALITY NATURE
One of the strongest characteristics of an eagle is their vitality. Eagles are full of life and are visionary, but they find time to look back at their life and re-energize themselves. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagles reach the age of 30, their physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for them to survive.
What is interesting is that the eagle never gives up living, instead it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five-month period goes through a metamorphosis. As humans, we are expected to reexamine ourselves, retreat to a safe zone. We can do this by fasting as Christians, we can also do this by learning new skills, volunteering our time and seeking for mentors who can hold us by the hand to show us how the appearance of life is not the reality of life.
In conclusion, as human beings, we are encouraged to be like an eagle if we want to scale through life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
