LOVE YOURSELF.

In a country where love is preached in every street corner and even from rooftops, everything around us bear imprints of hatred and animosity: broken homes, burnt churches, decapitated bodies, abandoned children, ravaged lands.
The irony bears testimony to one truth: We have not learnt to love.

Not our neighbour and surely not God.

We just enjoy talking and singing about 'love'.

In learning how to love,there is no better place to begin than from within.'Charity',they say,'begins at home.'

And we've been told to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

So for a start: Love yourself.

Most of us hate ourselves.

This is a truth many deny persistently. If not,how can we explain the palpable frustration on most people's faces? 

Or self-deprecating remarks like 'I'm stupid...I'm a big fool'?

Or the rising prevalence of depression and suicide attempts?

Why will you wish to be someone else if you love yourself?

Huh?

Granted some things about you may not be superb.

You may not have wads of loose cash to spend or have the height or size of your dreams.

But so what?

Love yourself.

Appreciate your uniqueness and what sets you apart.

It is a testament of the wonderful nature of your being.

And remember,you are a co-creator.

So if your circumstances ain't right, go and create the ideal circumstances!

Work hard and make more money.

Get a degree.

Exercise daily till you get that trim body.

Change what you can,enjoy what you can't.

It is quite true that many of us have made terrible mistakes in the past.

And done many things we are not proud of.

But still I urge you: Love yourself.

Those mistakes are necessary components of your life story.

Believe me, unpalatable as they may seem, they've made your life interesting.

And here's the good news: They've been locked away in your past now.

You future does not depend on them, it depends on your present.

So dear, love yourself...

Now.

Loving yourself does not mean lying sprawled on the sofa sixteen hours daily watching TV.

Loving yourself doesn't mean emptying your bank account and spending everything today.

NO!!! 

Loving yourself means appreciating every moment of your existence and developing yourself to full capacity.

Loving yourself means being joyful and happy and passing the same joy and optimism to others.

Loving yourself means recognizing your unique role to humanity and striving to fill it.

Loving yourself means seeing yourself as part of a whole and doing your best to preserve that whole.

If we learn to truly love ourselves, our eyes will be opened.

Then,we can look sideways and love our neighbour.

And together, we will all look up, and come to love our God...the epitome of love.

DON'T COMPETE...CREATE.

This week the whole world mourns the passing of one man, who meant many things to many people. Clad in his characteristic black shirt and jeans, Steve Jobs exemplified one profound truth: 

Don't compete...Create.

In the highly competitive tech industry, Steve Jobs' wizardry lies in his ability to create products whose trademark beauty and utility made Apple one of the most successful tech companies ever. 

He thought differently.

And we all had no option but to follow suit.

Most times in our lives, we find ourselves sucked into the whirlpool of cut-throat competition, and intense scrambling to the top.
Hmmm...This may be necessary for you to get by in the short term, but in the long term what brings true success and value is what you created, what you left behind and how your life has made our collective lives better.

Following your true bent, pursuing creativity comes with a certain risk though. 

You risk being misunderstood and labelled a big fool: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were surely misunderstood when they dropped out from school. 

You run the risk of being broke: nobody is willing to invest in that imaginary,uncertain dream of yours. You run the risk of giving up: if your convictions are not strong enough. 

But despite all these detours, following your dreams and employing creativity has its own reward: 

You will be remembered for something and you will be incredibly satisfied.

Creativity requires four ingredients: Vision, Courage, Effort and Patience. 

Vision enables you to see the invisible and help provide means to make it possible.
Courage enables you to begin, to overcome obstacles and do what hitherto was impossible. 

Effort is the fuel that drives the creative process. Effort should be relentless...unceasing until the dream becomes a reality. 

Patience is needed for your efforts to bear fruits.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

Life can either be seen as a warfront or as a field of play. 

For me, life represents the latter: a glorious field of play where we contribite our own quota to the game, laugh loud, have fun and share love and joy to all and sundry. 

If you think life is cut-throat competition, blood and mangled limbs, think again. 

Life should be more interesting than that. 

Steve Jobs totally committed himself to his passion and left a tech revolution as a legacy. 

He wasn't competing to get to the top. His innovative mind transformed him into a genius, acclaimed CEO and made Apple a goldmine.
Our lives will be more fruitful if we adhere to this simple dictum:

Don't compete. Create.