As our lives unfold, as a new day comes around, we are not to remain unchanged. That is the idea of this poem. Enjoy.
8 Simple Things You Can Learn To Do In A Day
Learning is a lifelong adventure. The absence of which has been equated with death. To learn is inevitable. In the sad event that one refuses to learn anything, he/ she will learn it births irrelevance.
Each day unfolds bearing opportunities to learn things: big and small, complex and simple, rare and commonplace. Sadly, as we do life we overlook the small, simple and everyday things. Yes, we look over them to focus on the big, important and consequential things.
Our lives also consist of small things or tasks which when learnt or experienced will give us benefits. The gains may not be far-reaching, but can make life more livable.
Here is a list of ten simple things you can learn in under a day.
1. Change a Tyre: You don’t have to own a car to know how to change tyres. I didn’t. Through observation, and asking questions while at it, I learnt. An hour with a vulcanizer at work will help. Then practice whenever you have the chance. Even without a flat tyre you can practice for the purpose of learning.
2. Change a Diaper: This is not just for mothers or caregivers. Fathers can, and should, handle this shit business as well. In spite of the unwilling participant, poop smell and possible pee spray, this is one simple task that when learnt can help fathers score points with your wife. Babysitting will be less of a ‘nightmare.’
3. Make a Purchase Online: There are people, who should, but don’t know how to buy on the internet, especially in my part of the world. In spite of the phobia you may have (thanks to internet fraud or scams), you can make secure online transactions. For those who are just disinterested. Do yourself a favour, get up to speed. You’ll find it helpful & convenient. There is no use swimming against the tide with this one.
4. Wash a Car: Like changing tyres this is not only for owners. This may seem like a task that does not need to be learnt. If you go by assumption you could end up spending more time, water and soap than you should. Trust me I know. Worse still, you can end up with scratches on the car. But it doesn’t take much to get it right.
5. Sew on a Button: This can be a lifesaver when you suddenly find a button hang loose or come of the clothe you are about to wear for an event. Especially, when there is no substitute or you just have to wear that shirt or dress. Yes this is a no-brainer? But try sewing on a button if you’ve never done it before.
6. Tie the Knot Knot a Tie: Do you need another person to knot your tie? Do you keep your tie knotted even when you are not wearing it? If your answer is yes to both questions then you really need to take out time to learn to knot a tie. So you don’t keep wearing a knotted tie for so long the knot is dirty from handling. If you wear the tie learn to knot the tie.
7. Something for Breakfast: This goes especially to the single guys. Not excluding fathers. Some cannot fry an egg, even if their life depends upon on it. Your breakfast must not consist only of finished products bought from the shop or vendor, all of the time. You can enjoy the ‘luxury’ of variety by learning to whip up simple things like sandwich, omelette, scrambled eggs, egg sauce, pap, pancake etc. For me, the next on my list of simple things to learn is pancake.
8. Start a Blog: Yes, this has to make the list. I know blogs abound, over 600 million currently. However, that is not an excuse to not blog. Especially, if you have an idea bubbling and begging to be shared with the world. You can start a blog in under a day. Spoiler Alert: It takes time to build a successful blog. But like they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins a step.
Simple things can make a big difference.
These are simple things. You are probably thinking learning them is not a big deal. Simple things may seem unnecessary, until they become necessary. Then they make a big difference.
Yes people (loved ones, friends, even Service providers) may be available to help out with these tasks. But what happens when you are all by yourself?
Make the most of your day. Learn one simple thing today.
The list is not exhaustive. Far from it. What will you add?
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Rediscovering the Why of Writing
It is said knowing why is equally as important as the what. I love to write. Recently, I had to consider why.
Before now, I believed I write because I have something to say – a valuable message burns deep within which I must bring out; something worthwhile and beneficial to me, and everyone.
So I couldn’t not write.
There was this time many years ago when it never occurred to me to write. My favorite preoccupation was to read. I read everything I could lay my eyes on as long it’s got words on it: signboards, billboards, vehicles, banners, posters etc; on my way to and from school, church or errands.
In fact I stole novels from classmates to read, and covertly returned them later.
The day came when I had a strong impression on my mind to write. All of a sudden I had things on that must be put down on paper. So I wrote. And wrote and wrote and wrote.
The words flowed, non-stop it seemed. My muse was never absent. I wrote without effort. I have a couple of notebooks to show for it, filled with prose mostly, with a sprinkle of poetry. You can get a collection of some of the poems here.
I had another strong impression. This time to share my writings. With a growing sense of urgency I shared with friends, acquaintances and strangers, via notice board posts and bulk emails. I kept writing and sharing.
I was not sure most people who saw or received my work read them. If they did I couldn’t tell they found my work beneficial. So, sadly, I wrote infrequently, and stopped sharing. Except for occasional spurts of inspiration I almost stopped writing.
Then I discovered blogging. That fateful day in December of 2006, during a digital strategies conference, my love for writing got a new lease of life.
Unfortunately, blogging seemed to be tasking – images for posts, widgets, internet data etc as well as the not so user-friendly Blogger platform, were too much hassle for me. Once again motivation for writing ebbed away as the excitement of blogging waned.
That is in the past now. Today, I do very well with blogging, except for churning out regular content.
Actually, this retrospection is a bid to rediscover my writing mojo. Writing this post is to affirm the reason I write. Hopefully, now I will write daily, whether my motivation ebbs or flows.
So there you have it. I wrote because I had a message worth sharing. I write because I have a message worth sharing. Also, like Jeff Goins, I daresay I write because I am a WRITER.
One way I make the most of my day, I write for 30 minutes.
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The Difference Maker
There is always a reason we do the things we do. There is always a motivation for our decisions, and actions/ inaction. They are as varied as we are. But what makes one reason right and the other wrong?
Continue reading “The Difference Maker”