20 Year ago, I got a job in Shell Nigeria. I was part of the project team working on a rig somewhere in the Swampy area of Delta State. We see kids running around with rounded kwashiorkor bellies staring at us and probably dreaming to be like us someday. They had beautiful names like Destiny, Faith, Gift and Boma. Beautiful names with beautiful dreams yet no plan to complement it all.
What do we do as Shell worker? We wave past and feel cool with our status as compared to theirs. 20 years later we have 20 year olds holding guns and killing people. 20 years ago, we could have stopped it by helping that kwashiorkor kid get a life. We chose to look the other way. Now, he has a gun and no education to put him in check.
By the way, 20 years ago, I was not in Shell and most definitely, I was not in the Delta region. A friend of mine was and part of my narration is based on his real life experience. I was too young to work but older than Destiny and obviously luckier. I was in a boarding school somewhere in the middle belt. Mine was a Nigerian dream. Well, partly. I choose to set the record straight in case Destiny or Boma remember the incident. Just be sure I was too young to have seen you hungry.
20 years later, it's amazing I don't have a gun too. We have our own type of guns too. The pen guns. Not like double-0-7. Much lethal. We rob entire countries with it. And worse still, we get away with it.
Now I live in the Delta region where everything seems to have gone wrong. Look at it like the human body with a hole in the heart. The body manages to survive by resting often and doing light tasks. However, Mr. Body fails to fix the problem by plugging the hole. Then one day, the heart fails and Mr. Body is in a critical state.
Nigeria has had a hole in the heart for a long time. The heart in this analogy is the Niger Delta. The heart is failing now. Let's hope it's not too late. There are many ways to fix a failing heart. A transplant is the only option if the heart don fail patapata. if e remain small, a surgery will do. (that if the doctor says it has not failed completely. who is the doctor? What stage are we in? Do we even have hope for surgery? Time will tell.
Who caused this problem? The oil companies blame Government, Government blame the Oil Companies, the Oil Companies all blame Shell. Shell in the middle.
Personally, I blame the Oil Companies. I wouldn't say Shell specifically but I am not impressed with the operations there either. They are the agents and it is the agents task to ensure a strategy is formulated to guide the company through the future. The agent had the responsibility to ensure a bright future for the principal 20 years ago. 20 years ago, the agents failed. The heart ticks on. Slowly but...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Nigerian Business Opportunities
I have been scanning the Nigerian environment for business opportunities and I can categorically say there are too many opportunities staring at us.
What is missing is the guts to take the bold step. I have a full time job which does not pay badly but I have made some money by the side a couple of times in between. I notice the more you earn in paid employment, the less time you have to earn more money outside. Talk about the opportunity cost of the choices we make. That means i make less money by the side now that i earn more on the inside.
So, what are the business opportunities I talk about? I have designed websites for clients. The return are not so great but 100k after a 2 week job is not bad money. I have sold Kilishi in Port-Harcourt as an experiment. And I think it should be categorized as a fast moving consumer good (FCMG). For those who don't know, Kilishi is a dry meat popular in the Northern part of Nigeria. The returns are as high as 30% if you plan the logistics efficiently. 30% return on a weekly investment is not bad business if you ask me. My weekly estimat is overstated. You can turn this around in two days.
Let's assume I loose my job (which takes too much of my time anyway) or I choose to resign (which crosses my mind even while I sleep), why can't I focus on my website business and also start my Kilishi export (without custom tariffs and delays - amen) by the side? The only excuse I see is belief in what you do. And also our get rich-quick mentality. I discussed my Kilishi idea with my brother in-law a few hours ago and he washed it down like a bottle of stout. Look at the McDonalds and Starbucks. The story is usually that simple. Look at the Virgin group. Even simpler. You need to appreciate his arbitrage strategy in filling up a plane.
Nigerians need to start looking around for missed opportunities. There are many out there other than selling Diesel and generators. The truth is many of this markets are saturated and the returns highly exaggerated. WHich explains the infiltration of adulterated products (China & Condensate). I believe our Abuja politicians have only succeeded in creating an illusion of wealth. Nigeria is not as rich as we like to believe. The good news is that we have so many opportunities to create wealth. Remember, wealth is created not conjoured like our natural resources. Think about countries like Japan who have no oil. How do they sustain themselves? Brain power baby. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I know my suggestion sounds to simplistic and we have too many hurdles to cross. For one, Government's lack of transparency. That is a challenge if you choose to pursue Government opportunities. The problem is that Government opportunities as it is is not wealth creation but wealth depletion. Look at my Kilishi business. Buy at X naira, sell at X+Y Naira. You get the point. Chase opportunities that require minimal Government interference (apart from taxes). That should be your strategy.
This is my suggestion to us all. Let's try and increase the size of the cake rather than think the cake is fixed in size and cannot be increased.
You wonder why i tell you about my Kilishi opportunity. It is not a secret. People were doing it before me. And some will after me (maybe many). The problem is patience and a properly structured business plan which guarantees return well into the future. I can tell you what I do but that does not guarantee you can do it the way I do it. The market is big for us all. And as they say, the more the merrier. If you choose to saturate my market, no problem. Time to scan the environment again. As I said in the beginning,there are way too many opportunities to make the cake larger.
What is missing is the guts to take the bold step. I have a full time job which does not pay badly but I have made some money by the side a couple of times in between. I notice the more you earn in paid employment, the less time you have to earn more money outside. Talk about the opportunity cost of the choices we make. That means i make less money by the side now that i earn more on the inside.
So, what are the business opportunities I talk about? I have designed websites for clients. The return are not so great but 100k after a 2 week job is not bad money. I have sold Kilishi in Port-Harcourt as an experiment. And I think it should be categorized as a fast moving consumer good (FCMG). For those who don't know, Kilishi is a dry meat popular in the Northern part of Nigeria. The returns are as high as 30% if you plan the logistics efficiently. 30% return on a weekly investment is not bad business if you ask me. My weekly estimat is overstated. You can turn this around in two days.
Let's assume I loose my job (which takes too much of my time anyway) or I choose to resign (which crosses my mind even while I sleep), why can't I focus on my website business and also start my Kilishi export (without custom tariffs and delays - amen) by the side? The only excuse I see is belief in what you do. And also our get rich-quick mentality. I discussed my Kilishi idea with my brother in-law a few hours ago and he washed it down like a bottle of stout. Look at the McDonalds and Starbucks. The story is usually that simple. Look at the Virgin group. Even simpler. You need to appreciate his arbitrage strategy in filling up a plane.
Nigerians need to start looking around for missed opportunities. There are many out there other than selling Diesel and generators. The truth is many of this markets are saturated and the returns highly exaggerated. WHich explains the infiltration of adulterated products (China & Condensate). I believe our Abuja politicians have only succeeded in creating an illusion of wealth. Nigeria is not as rich as we like to believe. The good news is that we have so many opportunities to create wealth. Remember, wealth is created not conjoured like our natural resources. Think about countries like Japan who have no oil. How do they sustain themselves? Brain power baby. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I know my suggestion sounds to simplistic and we have too many hurdles to cross. For one, Government's lack of transparency. That is a challenge if you choose to pursue Government opportunities. The problem is that Government opportunities as it is is not wealth creation but wealth depletion. Look at my Kilishi business. Buy at X naira, sell at X+Y Naira. You get the point. Chase opportunities that require minimal Government interference (apart from taxes). That should be your strategy.
This is my suggestion to us all. Let's try and increase the size of the cake rather than think the cake is fixed in size and cannot be increased.
You wonder why i tell you about my Kilishi opportunity. It is not a secret. People were doing it before me. And some will after me (maybe many). The problem is patience and a properly structured business plan which guarantees return well into the future. I can tell you what I do but that does not guarantee you can do it the way I do it. The market is big for us all. And as they say, the more the merrier. If you choose to saturate my market, no problem. Time to scan the environment again. As I said in the beginning,there are way too many opportunities to make the cake larger.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Nigeria we should love
I am a Nigerian and I am proud. I have had the last two years to reflect on my life and really ask myself questions about who I really am and what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. Ironically, this is coming at a time when people think I am living a better life since I earn more money. The grass is always greener they say. Like economics always say, there is no free lunch.
Now I have an idea of what I want to do. Take not of the word "idea". Life is ever changing and I might just tell you something else tomorrow. Take take as a disclaimer of my choice of direction and not a sign of indecision. That's confusing.
I have been privileged to work in the public sector and the private sector. reflection on both tell me the public sector offers more challenges and room for adventures. Using the US Army adage, you can "Be all you can be".
I don't want that interest to die so I am going to write whatever i can about the Nigerian Government. No criticism. Just what I feel they do and how we can communicate it all to Nigerian both home and abroad. I must confess that I have some critical blogs out there already. That was then. This is now. This is the time for the optimists.
I love this country. It is all I have known. No point denying it. We have our short comings. So do the best of the best.
I suggest we start loving this country for what it is. That is only when we can make true progress. As a matter of fact, start loving yourselves. Life is short. We come and go but Naija remains for life. Amen.
Now I have an idea of what I want to do. Take not of the word "idea". Life is ever changing and I might just tell you something else tomorrow. Take take as a disclaimer of my choice of direction and not a sign of indecision. That's confusing.
I have been privileged to work in the public sector and the private sector. reflection on both tell me the public sector offers more challenges and room for adventures. Using the US Army adage, you can "Be all you can be".
I don't want that interest to die so I am going to write whatever i can about the Nigerian Government. No criticism. Just what I feel they do and how we can communicate it all to Nigerian both home and abroad. I must confess that I have some critical blogs out there already. That was then. This is now. This is the time for the optimists.
I love this country. It is all I have known. No point denying it. We have our short comings. So do the best of the best.
I suggest we start loving this country for what it is. That is only when we can make true progress. As a matter of fact, start loving yourselves. Life is short. We come and go but Naija remains for life. Amen.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Education vs Electricity – The 1-Point Agenda
A friend of mine posted a comment on facebook a couple of days ago. “Y cant the govt reduce the 7 point agenda to just 1? and let it be "ELECTRICITY"...if yar adua achieves that in his period as president..good. (sic). I responded “Y not education?”.
This looked like a simple discussion/ observation between two friends. As usual, someone else had a comment to add. No be Facebook.
“I believe electricity first and then education second...The electricity will give room for access to quality education online n offline...God created the world before creating the people. He didn't create people before the world...If education comes first, it will still suffer when electricity is not in place...do u get?
Don't ask me what has education got to do with electricity..You know that already... “ (sic)
I sent a mail to my friend. I will try and dig it up. Needless to say, I was upset at the response. I thought the write was blatantly rude and did not deserve any other comments. I responded by sending a mail to my friend directly to express my feelings. He shared my views. At least that I was made to believe.
My response in summary was that his friend (who was not my friend though i was disappointed to find him on my friend list) was rude and obviously not that well educated. If he was, he would have learnt how to communicate with people he did not know presonally. Facebook or not.
I see a challenge with how we view education. Something tells me we are all stuck with UNIVERSITY education. And maybe SECONDARY school. We seem to forget education at the very low level has crumbled as well. I am not sure how much electricity we need at those levels. We call the children the leaders of tomorrow but we try to fix electricity at the expense of having no leaders groomed to manage the electricity we would have pumped billions into. What would be the result of that? We have already seen it. That is why Efose (Efose responded to the blog as well) runs out of her house. I just dug up the mail i sent to my friend unedited.
I don't appreciate your friend's comment on facebook.
"i believe electricity first and then education second...The electricity will give room for access to quality education online n offline...God created the world before creating the people. He didn't create people before the world...If education comes first, it will still suffer when electricity is not in place...do u get?
Don't ask me what has education got to do with electrictity..You know that already..."
My initial reaction was to respond as below:
"Ok sir. Sorry, but do I know you? I believe there are nicer ways to talk to people you have not met. Even if you have. Now you see why I say education first. ELectricity won't teach you good manners. An that goes a long way.
But I felt that should stay between me and you. Please try and advice him to learn to talk to people politely."
We all know how good electricity was when we were growing up? So, where did it all go wrong? Until we can answer that question, I really see why Yar Adua has challenges fixing it. I totally agree, electricity is important but can anyone tell me how much electricity you require in primary & secondary (non-boarding house i guess). i think education is easier to attack. And why has it been difficult to fix electricity? They are both emergencies to me. Whatever side of the debate you choose, I believe this discussion can forever be handled maturely and politely. I can't remember my rude friend's friend's name. I might just wan you to avoid him. I think it had "Freak" in it. What a rude freak he turned out to be.
This looked like a simple discussion/ observation between two friends. As usual, someone else had a comment to add. No be Facebook.
“I believe electricity first and then education second...The electricity will give room for access to quality education online n offline...God created the world before creating the people. He didn't create people before the world...If education comes first, it will still suffer when electricity is not in place...do u get?
Don't ask me what has education got to do with electricity..You know that already... “ (sic)
I sent a mail to my friend. I will try and dig it up. Needless to say, I was upset at the response. I thought the write was blatantly rude and did not deserve any other comments. I responded by sending a mail to my friend directly to express my feelings. He shared my views. At least that I was made to believe.
My response in summary was that his friend (who was not my friend though i was disappointed to find him on my friend list) was rude and obviously not that well educated. If he was, he would have learnt how to communicate with people he did not know presonally. Facebook or not.
I see a challenge with how we view education. Something tells me we are all stuck with UNIVERSITY education. And maybe SECONDARY school. We seem to forget education at the very low level has crumbled as well. I am not sure how much electricity we need at those levels. We call the children the leaders of tomorrow but we try to fix electricity at the expense of having no leaders groomed to manage the electricity we would have pumped billions into. What would be the result of that? We have already seen it. That is why Efose (Efose responded to the blog as well) runs out of her house. I just dug up the mail i sent to my friend unedited.
I don't appreciate your friend's comment on facebook.
"i believe electricity first and then education second...The electricity will give room for access to quality education online n offline...God created the world before creating the people. He didn't create people before the world...If education comes first, it will still suffer when electricity is not in place...do u get?
Don't ask me what has education got to do with electrictity..You know that already..."
My initial reaction was to respond as below:
"Ok sir. Sorry, but do I know you? I believe there are nicer ways to talk to people you have not met. Even if you have. Now you see why I say education first. ELectricity won't teach you good manners. An that goes a long way.
But I felt that should stay between me and you. Please try and advice him to learn to talk to people politely."
We all know how good electricity was when we were growing up? So, where did it all go wrong? Until we can answer that question, I really see why Yar Adua has challenges fixing it. I totally agree, electricity is important but can anyone tell me how much electricity you require in primary & secondary (non-boarding house i guess). i think education is easier to attack. And why has it been difficult to fix electricity? They are both emergencies to me. Whatever side of the debate you choose, I believe this discussion can forever be handled maturely and politely. I can't remember my rude friend's friend's name. I might just wan you to avoid him. I think it had "Freak" in it. What a rude freak he turned out to be.
All in 2 days work
I received a call yesterday evening though closer to afternoon from a friend who was holed up in the police station. I had been trying to call him all day but could now reach him for reasons clearer to me.
What was the charge? Beating up his neighbor over issues that are not really worth talking about. It is worthy to note that this was the third time this was happening. it is also worthy to note that the neighbor was a lady. I brought this last because man or woman, reporting would have still occurred. That whole stuff I wrote sounds not like correct English.
My current job status is very predictable and most boring. An opportunity to see my friend at the police station even if it was just to see somewhere out of the ordinary was just worth it.
I arrived at the police station after crawling through the old Aba road old up and turning round through Slaughter. For those who know where these places are, you would have guessed I am in the Garden City. A strange name for a town so unkempt. As Shakespeare always says, "A rose by any other name " would smell the same.
On arrival at the station, I met officer Basil. I think that was his name. A dozen young police women. I am not sure why the police seems to employee so many young under-privileged pretty girls. I would prefer not to make any conclusions. I just remembered, I met officer Basil last. My first welcome was a fellow with a machine gun. Dunno the difference between and AK 47 and whatever other machines we have but I know a machine gun when it hangs like that.
Mr. Machine Gun greeted my nicely and enquired what my visit was all about. I told him. He then asked me if I wanted to see him. I told hin "yes". This is too good to be true. I thot these guys were really bad. I then called office Basil who I had been communicating with for some time via my friends mobile phone. We established contact through a broken window while Mr. MachineGun stood firmly by my side to watch. Is this protocol or what? I told Basil I would be back and my new machine friend was taking me over to see my not so old woman beater friend. Half way to the cell, he made me understand my fee was "5h" to see my friend. I though he meant five thousand Naira which was one thousand Naira short of the fee requested to bail out my not so old friend.
I forgot to mention that. When my friend called to inform me of the situation, the fee was put at six thousand Naira. SIX TASAND naira as my former colleague Uche would scream. Let's be realistic, bail is not free. Let them not stop wasting our tax payers money sending this signal. At the time this value was reached, my friend was still sitting behind a counter. That is just a figue of speech because I am sure there was no counter there. There were 5 tables manufactured in different timezones and belonging to different generations. The office partition was impressively poor. And the partitioned office belonged to the D.P.O and one other D fellow. I can't remember the other two letters that make his case special. Not much of an office but I guess this was there world.
The police lacked professionalism and seemed like they were trained guerrillas with no sense of purpose to serve and protect. People were treated as criminals once within the station. I got scared I could be mistaken for one of the unfortunate guilty ones. I was at a point. I think it was more like a bully picking a fight. A very skinny police woman attacked me while reading a poster for recruitment of police officers which had closed 6 months earlier. She shouted at me and wanted to know if I was a policeman since i was reading the poster. I did not realize an advert for recruitment of policemen had to be read by an already recruited police officer. duh. Like I said, this was like a dog picking a fight. So I quitly worked over to a bench. I think the right word to use is cowardly. I no wan receive beating. At least not for someone else's offense and definitely not for reading an expired job ad. The poster was professionally made. Very unlike the occupants and the environment. I guess the thought of loosing the only semblance of professionalism was just too much to bear.
I sat down across the bench like i intended to play ludo with an imaginary friend across. Then another dog picked a fight and asked me I should either sit and face them or face the table which was positioned by a wall. I chose the easier option and faced the wall. I mean the table.
At this point Basil came over and told me the D.P.O said his fee had risen to 20,000 naira. WHo says these guys don't understand economics. They understand both economics and human behaviour. No one wants to sleep in a cell with fellow strangers who you might have a lot in common with by morning. Once it gets late, supply of time dimishes which raises the price. Something like that. That is why we got a 300% inflation.
I would cut a long story short. My friend slept in the cell all night. Actually a portakabin in the police premises. I wonder how much that cost tax payers. I seriously think it served him right. Not because he beat a woman. Just because he beat someone. I have missed a big part of this story. I mean the fact that his neigbour the reporter was at at the station as well begging for his release. I think she should be Florence Nightingale re-incarnate. I don't understand this law thing but i do watch a lot of movies. If you don't press charges then you ain't guilty. That's what i thought. Now, I am not sure anymore.
Well, that's how 2 days went by. I must confess it was fun to break my regular pattern and pay the police a visit. My regular pattern is boring and I would prefer to leave it undiscussed. If you look through my blogs, you might have an idea. It makes me believe life is fun when random and uncertain.
Make I go finish my Managerial Economics assignment. Na that one go get mark. Still struggling with Marginal cost and marginal revenue. I wonder why those guys just can't speak plain English.
What was the charge? Beating up his neighbor over issues that are not really worth talking about. It is worthy to note that this was the third time this was happening. it is also worthy to note that the neighbor was a lady. I brought this last because man or woman, reporting would have still occurred. That whole stuff I wrote sounds not like correct English.
My current job status is very predictable and most boring. An opportunity to see my friend at the police station even if it was just to see somewhere out of the ordinary was just worth it.
I arrived at the police station after crawling through the old Aba road old up and turning round through Slaughter. For those who know where these places are, you would have guessed I am in the Garden City. A strange name for a town so unkempt. As Shakespeare always says, "A rose by any other name " would smell the same.
On arrival at the station, I met officer Basil. I think that was his name. A dozen young police women. I am not sure why the police seems to employee so many young under-privileged pretty girls. I would prefer not to make any conclusions. I just remembered, I met officer Basil last. My first welcome was a fellow with a machine gun. Dunno the difference between and AK 47 and whatever other machines we have but I know a machine gun when it hangs like that.
Mr. Machine Gun greeted my nicely and enquired what my visit was all about. I told him. He then asked me if I wanted to see him. I told hin "yes". This is too good to be true. I thot these guys were really bad. I then called office Basil who I had been communicating with for some time via my friends mobile phone. We established contact through a broken window while Mr. MachineGun stood firmly by my side to watch. Is this protocol or what? I told Basil I would be back and my new machine friend was taking me over to see my not so old woman beater friend. Half way to the cell, he made me understand my fee was "5h" to see my friend. I though he meant five thousand Naira which was one thousand Naira short of the fee requested to bail out my not so old friend.
I forgot to mention that. When my friend called to inform me of the situation, the fee was put at six thousand Naira. SIX TASAND naira as my former colleague Uche would scream. Let's be realistic, bail is not free. Let them not stop wasting our tax payers money sending this signal. At the time this value was reached, my friend was still sitting behind a counter. That is just a figue of speech because I am sure there was no counter there. There were 5 tables manufactured in different timezones and belonging to different generations. The office partition was impressively poor. And the partitioned office belonged to the D.P.O and one other D fellow. I can't remember the other two letters that make his case special. Not much of an office but I guess this was there world.
The police lacked professionalism and seemed like they were trained guerrillas with no sense of purpose to serve and protect. People were treated as criminals once within the station. I got scared I could be mistaken for one of the unfortunate guilty ones. I was at a point. I think it was more like a bully picking a fight. A very skinny police woman attacked me while reading a poster for recruitment of police officers which had closed 6 months earlier. She shouted at me and wanted to know if I was a policeman since i was reading the poster. I did not realize an advert for recruitment of policemen had to be read by an already recruited police officer. duh. Like I said, this was like a dog picking a fight. So I quitly worked over to a bench. I think the right word to use is cowardly. I no wan receive beating. At least not for someone else's offense and definitely not for reading an expired job ad. The poster was professionally made. Very unlike the occupants and the environment. I guess the thought of loosing the only semblance of professionalism was just too much to bear.
I sat down across the bench like i intended to play ludo with an imaginary friend across. Then another dog picked a fight and asked me I should either sit and face them or face the table which was positioned by a wall. I chose the easier option and faced the wall. I mean the table.
At this point Basil came over and told me the D.P.O said his fee had risen to 20,000 naira. WHo says these guys don't understand economics. They understand both economics and human behaviour. No one wants to sleep in a cell with fellow strangers who you might have a lot in common with by morning. Once it gets late, supply of time dimishes which raises the price. Something like that. That is why we got a 300% inflation.
I would cut a long story short. My friend slept in the cell all night. Actually a portakabin in the police premises. I wonder how much that cost tax payers. I seriously think it served him right. Not because he beat a woman. Just because he beat someone. I have missed a big part of this story. I mean the fact that his neigbour the reporter was at at the station as well begging for his release. I think she should be Florence Nightingale re-incarnate. I don't understand this law thing but i do watch a lot of movies. If you don't press charges then you ain't guilty. That's what i thought. Now, I am not sure anymore.
Well, that's how 2 days went by. I must confess it was fun to break my regular pattern and pay the police a visit. My regular pattern is boring and I would prefer to leave it undiscussed. If you look through my blogs, you might have an idea. It makes me believe life is fun when random and uncertain.
Make I go finish my Managerial Economics assignment. Na that one go get mark. Still struggling with Marginal cost and marginal revenue. I wonder why those guys just can't speak plain English.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentine Day: A flash of romance
14th February 2009
This title came to me shortly after I called a female friend (i prefer not to call her my girl friend)on Valentine Day night. I just wanted to pop her a visit but realized she had a Valentine date. On any other day, she would have been available. Then I started wondering. Why do we move with the herd and why do we like quick fixes. Why can't we find that higher purpose?
Nobody wants to be left out of the show. I feel life starts when we can start feeling comfortable being by ourselves (like me right now on Val night). My current state is complicated though that is not what i say on Facebook.
We need to find ourselves a higher purpose. A purpose that has no link to dependence on others. A purpose that makes us stay awake no matter what. I feel that's what's missing in our lives. Everyone wants a relationship and a job that pays the bills. What happens when you loose either. Or worse both. Three years ago, I lived a life where I had all my friends around me and thought I was special. I realize you are as special as long as you are close by. You know how much life means when you go away from it all and have to be by yourself. That is what I am doing now. And the result has been scary. People forget you fast. That is why I don't take this Val thing seriously. It is all artificial. If you love someone, I suggest you ignore Val day. It makes the person look cheap. I see headlines like "Renew your love". Renew? As in it had expired or something. That is so so not right. You either love or not. I don't even know what Love means anymore.
Someone says I love you so much and a period of trauma and its all gone.If love was real, then there would be no breakups and divorces. Yet someone is doing that as I write (on Val day). You would be shocked how explosive their previous Val was. Something within us just craves for companionship as long as you can strike the right chords. Be you married or not. You always hear nice comments once you are within reach. It has nothing to do with you. I has much to do with your presence.
Life should not be managed because we seem to have no choice. We do have a choice and a higher purpose. Don't settle for companionship. That is your number 2 priority. Your number one is to find your life's true purpose. Take note of the word "Find". That way, you cannot feel alone. You have to keep on till you find it. When do you find it? When you are dead I guess.
This title came to me shortly after I called a female friend (i prefer not to call her my girl friend)on Valentine Day night. I just wanted to pop her a visit but realized she had a Valentine date. On any other day, she would have been available. Then I started wondering. Why do we move with the herd and why do we like quick fixes. Why can't we find that higher purpose?
Nobody wants to be left out of the show. I feel life starts when we can start feeling comfortable being by ourselves (like me right now on Val night). My current state is complicated though that is not what i say on Facebook.
We need to find ourselves a higher purpose. A purpose that has no link to dependence on others. A purpose that makes us stay awake no matter what. I feel that's what's missing in our lives. Everyone wants a relationship and a job that pays the bills. What happens when you loose either. Or worse both. Three years ago, I lived a life where I had all my friends around me and thought I was special. I realize you are as special as long as you are close by. You know how much life means when you go away from it all and have to be by yourself. That is what I am doing now. And the result has been scary. People forget you fast. That is why I don't take this Val thing seriously. It is all artificial. If you love someone, I suggest you ignore Val day. It makes the person look cheap. I see headlines like "Renew your love". Renew? As in it had expired or something. That is so so not right. You either love or not. I don't even know what Love means anymore.
Someone says I love you so much and a period of trauma and its all gone.If love was real, then there would be no breakups and divorces. Yet someone is doing that as I write (on Val day). You would be shocked how explosive their previous Val was. Something within us just craves for companionship as long as you can strike the right chords. Be you married or not. You always hear nice comments once you are within reach. It has nothing to do with you. I has much to do with your presence.
Life should not be managed because we seem to have no choice. We do have a choice and a higher purpose. Don't settle for companionship. That is your number 2 priority. Your number one is to find your life's true purpose. Take note of the word "Find". That way, you cannot feel alone. You have to keep on till you find it. When do you find it? When you are dead I guess.
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