So close to greatness...

“Whatever your hands find to do, do it diligently with all your heart”
-Scripture.
Working faithfully and quietly on a job you dislike sometimes may seem discouraging. The length of time you spend there may be like forever. It may look like there is no way out of the rut you got yourself into. I will tell you that when you are faithful there in that place. Promotion is certain…if you are faithful in little, God will make you master of many. You must have come across that scripture that said: “promotion does not come the south or from the east or west. Promotion comes from above.” God is a promoter and a rewarder. He rewards the diligent man and woman come what may.
I was at work going somewhere on bus when I met a certain lady who happens to be the Vice president and a Human resource manager of a reputable company in Manitoba, Canada. Sitting close to me on bus, she smiled like an everyday people. She was not dressing extraordinarily. Only heavens know what she was doing on bus. I would expect her to drive her own car around. Was she trying to conserve gas like me? Did she leave her car at home with her husband as I did with Ken? In a nutshell, we exchanged contacts and I was humbled that God can bring greatness to you right where you are. He knows your address. You need to understand that you are serving God and people… In that tedious job, work whole heartedly as a CEO or a clergy would do. Whether you are sitting on the board or serving God in the pulpit; put up a good attitude. You never know when greatness is closest to you.
Sometimes you never know who you are sitting next to. We come so close to greatness oftentimes than we can ever imagine. You can never know how much of greatness you may have snubbed on a certain day when you are having one of those bad days. You don’t even know who you are talking with or who is listening to you. Sometimes, somewhere close by is a stranger who is actually quiet but more interested in your conversation at times. That is why it is of utmost importance that we try to always show a good attitude. It is good to reflect the best side to people as much as we can. We should leave first timers and outsiders with a smile at any time we are parting from meeting. First impression always lasts longer. We should try to put up a good attitude everywhere we go. Being kind ambassador wherever we find ourselves is very important.
What really left an impression on me concerning my Vice president friend whom I met on bus was that, the humble lady happens to be so simple despite her reputable position in business world. She was just sitting by trying to engage me in a conversation. She already started talking to my company on bus. She was just being friendly, warm and pleasant to us. As she was being kind and friendly through her conversation, I was indifferent on my part. I was just there as though I was not there. I was not present minded as such. I sat tiredly on the bus thinking and reflecting… I was not really interested in talking with any one. I was interrupted by her question. “So how are you enjoying your job?” “It’s okay…it is all about being able to do something meaningful with your hands, investing your time and more. It’s a matter of having the gut to appreciate the dignity of labor.” I said. Sometimes it is not so much as what kind of job you are doing. Rather it is how do you really see what you are doing? Do you see it as an opportunity to pay bills, contribute your quota to the world, serve people and make a mark thereafter? These are what really matter. It is not that job in itself. It is how you see it. It is all about you. It is how you see yourself in that job. It’s about your ego... it is important that you take time to appreciate the opportunity to do, and to give something where some others can’t. When there’s a layoff here and there. It is vital you look beyond the brand of job to getting something to do which will bring in the money you need. As you do so diligently; God will look at your heart and bless you in turn...

The Silly escape from Recession!

This writing is all about providing simple solutions to recession. Most of the concepts discussed here has been published in my book: The Jawbone of an Ass: secrets to gaining financial freedom and getting out of life’s messy situations. [Feb 2008; iuniverse], I have warned my readers ahead of time about the present recession. I said it there that the tide could change, that the table could turn. I said it earlier that life is full of uncertainties and several unpredictable changes do occur. Slaves do become princes and princes do become slaves. And it can happen at any time. When home owners begin to lose their homes, when landlords, farm owners begin to lose their properties, assets; when mortgage owners begin to sleep in the streets without a shelter any more; then it is already happening. It takes strategies, innovation, wisdom and a miracle to turn around a situation of scarcity.

Miracle in time of old is experiencing new thing, new happening, and newness. It’s when something that has never happened before happened. Innovation means the same thing. There is a similarity between miracle and innovation. The stimulus package that Barack Obama’s administration is introducing is like a miracle. It is a miracle for those who have no way out of their financial mess. Somehow, a ray of hope has finally come at last; but there is more to it than that. It will only work if the right principles are adopted with it. If the same principle that Joseph used in Egypt was followed doggedly; if productivity culture, saving culture and investment culture is reintroduced with proper inspection; keen monitoring and much more constant feed backs are adopted. If consumerism is truly reduced in the people’s lifestyle, the end has come to recession.

It should be noted that God is not happy about scarcity. Through men, God will be bringing miracles into workplaces, communities, neighbors, et.al that will put an end to recession. God had made provision for this time ever before it happened. If nations facing recessions can go back to their foundations on God, and in God; there will be great turn around for them. For instance, I observed that a part of the Canadian’s Anthem said: “O Canada… we stand on God for thee”. And the American dollars have an inscription that said: “In God we trust. A part of Nigeria’s anthem has this: O God of creation, direct our noble path…” We all seem to have forgotten where we were coming from. The founders of our land believe in someone, in some certain principles. They are divine principles. They were dependent on supernatural power. They believed in God.

Today, we have a distorted concept of God. It is so sad that an average North American does not have a religion. If s/he does; s/he does not believe in sovereignty of the God of heaven. God can be anything to some people. He is not a buddy but a bad boss. Some do not even believe in anything. Little wonder; where we are finding ourselves. The provider of life and the creator of everything have been removed from the picture. Our lives and economy is falling like pack of cards. One of the truest ways to recession proof ourselves is to start thinking of going back to God. It is time to start asking the right questions, redefining what are the bases of life? What do we believe in? Who did the forefathers trusted in? Who was their help in times of old? God is His name. He is the help of the helpless. He is our help in the ages past; He is our hope for the years to come.

Another secret to getting out of recession is to ask ourselves these questions: what are we inventing now? What are we contributing to the world? What are we giving back to the society? What new concept, what new brand are we introducing? Barack Obama’s concept of Bio-generating plant for energy production is an invention, which will make a whole lot of difference in the America’s economy. If it is wholeheartedly embraced, without some people somewhere planning on how to frustrate this noble project. It will be one great way to surviving the present economic scarcity in USA. The secret is to become inventors. It is to become more creative. It is to look within for what is available as a leverage with which one can navigate the season of scarcity. It is by becoming more enterprising that recession is ameliorated.

An average individual needs to become more enterprising. Develop entrepreneurial spirit. Start your own business. Do not depend on one source of income. The fact that you are an employee does not stop you from having a trade on the side. You can use a part of your home for business. Then your home business can relieve you of the amount of tax that is being paid to the government. At your leisure, you can even make some crafts, arts, weave and paint to make some more money, rather than just wasting time playing away opportunities in guise of a time wasting game. Time is a valuable asset. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Once you become resourceful. You would have recession proof yourself. You will be difficult to sack during downsizing.

In bid to be retained during downsizing, some staffs in some companies, try to hide information from colleagues so as to be the indispensable staff that will be retained at workplace. The point is this that is a crap way of becoming indispensable. You are insecure because you know you don’t have what it takes to be retained. If you develop yourself, acquire multiplicity skills, you will be more resourceful to the company you are working for. And you will be confident about who you are where you are. We must try to be valuable anywhere we find ourselves. We must be the solution to the system. And this can only happen if we work on our selves. If we don’t sit on our laurels; if we continue to strive to become better citizens of the state we live in.

Recession is not new. It has happened before. It has happened in the time of Joseph while in Egypt. The bible recorded how they dealt with it back then. They went into production of more goods. They also saved more than they consumed. I talked about the importance of becoming a “positive human octopus” in my book, as a way of getting out of financial mess. A means to overcoming unpalatable financial scarcity is to acquire multiplicity of skills to the end of becoming so indispensable and resourceful such that you are ever needed irrespective of whatever happens. This self development principle needs to be adopted by every individual. The next age is going to be filed with uncommon things, new concepts, innovations and more. More of these will come through people who are prepared and whose minds have been developed. What we will be experiencing will be astounding. Brands will be seriously redefined. Corporations will be diversifying at the speed of light. Individuals will be loaded. Industries all over will improve, expand, increase to what we can not but pause and ponder over. There will be true miracles in guise of innovation in all sectors, all walks of life. There will be results that systems, nations will come and study as a program is being studied in the institutions. All these and more will work as the antidote to the present scarcity and the future recession once we start doing them. Once we start contributing our individual parts right now.