The Concept of The Human Race

Charles Darwin grew old trying to figure this one out! photo from  wikipedia.com

Have you ever wondered why the people who sweat their butts the most are the ones who make the least money? Example; commercial drivers, the carpenters, construction workers, farmers, masons, truck drivers etc... They make the least money but labor the hardest under the scorching heat of the day, tilling the soil hoping to reap of its fruit. Their bosses on the other hand wake up in the morning and head off for a run to work up their only sweat of the day, get home and get ready for work and eventually make it into the office say at about 9 or 10am in the morning. They lie back on the swivel chair, turn the air-conditioner and the TV on and listen to CNN dish out more problems the world has, and then start off the day with phone calls and emails on the computer. End of month? The boss goes home with a check at least 5 times more than that of the guy who spent his whole day outside under the sun or in the rain. That's life! Or lets take it back to the corporate world with the bank as a case study; in Nigeria the banking industry is so huge and so demanding that no matter how much the banks pay, a lot of people would rather opt not to work in a bank if they could help it. The junior banking officer gets to work at 630am, handles customers incessant demands from 8am till 4pm in the evening (need i remind you of Nigeria's population) and leaves the office at 7, if she's lucky, she does this everyday for at least 300 days in a year: the junior marketer who's been given a target of 200,000,000million naira is out on the streets everyday looking for customers to open accounts, and worried sick about not meeting her target and possibly losing her job if not careful. And at the end of the year, the banking officer and the marketer take home a lil over 10,000USD for all their hard-work and they do so gladly that at least they have a job in a country filled with so much unemployment. Now we have the bank managers, directors and CEOs who on the other hand are caught between meetings, calls, conferences, flights across continents and the best holidays all over the world when they feel like it and who's only labor is to scream over the heads of their subordinates about meeting the company's overall target. End of year? Well lets just say it'll take a laborer on the street his entire lifetime to make what the director makes in a year!

This all brings me to the question, "what is or was the original concept behind the creation of the human race"? Were we fashioned to be born, go to schools, graduate, find jobs, work our butts off, get married, have kids, sweat to raise them to be useful in life while of course sweating to provide for them, keep sweating to survive even after the kids have grown and left home, get old and become a baby again and then die someday out of old age and exhaustion from the 70+ years of hard-work? Nah, it can't be, there's got to be more. While the stages in life listed are exciting and interesting, it can't be all there is to achieve a fulfilling life... Life has got to be much more than about the number of worldly goods attained. If it weren't so, why is it the more privileged people who tend to be depressed and even take it one step further by attempting to or taking their own lives? I mean the lives of Hollywood stars depict the example of worldly assets being insufficient for personal fulfillment and contentment; they have it all and yet their lives are filled with drugs, extreme alcoholism, immorality, divorce, depression and suicides! So can you see that amassing all the riches can never be enough for true happiness?

In my opinion, the original concept of the human race is fading. The beginning of doom for man begin with the fall of man in a certain garden eons of years ago. The true purpose and reason for which man was created "to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it..." Gen 1:28. Man was supposed to live in a beautiful world without stress and without having to toil to eat! That's the way it was supposed to be. But then man fell and the rest is history! You and I are in a race to find our way back to our true and original domain and i don't need to mention how difficult it is to find the way. This takes my mind to the "road less traveled". This road is narrow, long, winding and filled with obstacles and trials too many to count! Someone said, that "the beginning of Jesus is the beginning of trouble"! I agree. You can't seek to the serve God and face no trials, no its not possible. You see the devil is constantly trying to distract us with the many enticing things the world has to offer; drugs, sex, alcohol, crap on TV, malice etc, so we don't remember what our true and new purpose is, which is to serve God. So the minute we somehow remember and take a 360 step to walking down the narrow road, the devil gets upset and attempts to ruin us by shooting arrows to test our acclaimed faith!

Now some question God and ask why He lets the arrows fly? It's cause that's the only way we'll prove how much we trust Him and that's the way He can show us who's in control! He's hoping you wont chicken out and walk out on the road less traveled. For you see in Christ there is actually peace (though arrows fly) for Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Food for thought.........remember to walk the "road less traveled" people..its easier.

Coco-C

Taking Life For Granted

image from: 4.bp.blogspot.com 

I worry and complain lot... I worry about the littlest things. I worry about my career and where I am headed, i worry about the future.. I worry about things I feel like i have no control of, I guess I'm used to being in control. I used to dream I'd be so many things, an ambassador for my country topping the list, a motivational speaker, an accomplished writer, a voice to be heard and a force to be reckoned with, yes, i have dreamed of the famous life. Then i worry about money, I need lots of it! heck who doesn't right? I want to be able to give people around me or even strangers without looking at my account balance. I complain about not having a car and struggling to get around even though I've never been beaten by the constant rains and I can afford to sit comfortably at the back of a cab everyday.. I complain about not being able to travel because I can't get a bloody visa because some western embassy officer in their myopic and twisted mind believes I wont return to my country!! (of course with the stereotyped belief that the grass is greener on the other side) haa!! As if i want to remain in a foreign land dodging the po-po and immigration and doing menial jobs to make ends meet?! I'm not that desperate and my country ain't that shitty!
Realizing my worrisome habit and nature has made me realize that I take life and the blessings I have for granted. In other words, I have not adopted the principle shown in the picture above, that My ALTITUDE is not determined by My APTITUDE but by MY ATTITUDE!
In the last few weeks, i have read and heard saddening true stories of torture, illnesses, tragedies and misfortune people have had to face in the hands of this thing we call Life! I'll fill you in on what i mean exactly; is it the story of the now 21 year old girl who for the last 5 years, after over 70+ surgeries, has been in a battle to salvage what is left of her skin after the horrendous plane crash in Port Harcourt left her badly burned? Or the story of the child whose intimate part was mutilated by some insane ritualists and left for dead, but crawled her way to survival? Or the 14year old boy who is battling cancer and in tremendous pain from chemotherapy and needs jut N300000 ($2000) to complete treatment and can't afford it? Or the hundreds of people displaced from their homes and their already derelict properties lost in the recent Lagos flooding? Or the kids who've had to quit school because their parents cant afford to continue to pay their fees? Or the foreigner who lost both his legs to malaria because he refused to take an antimalarial shot? (whereas to me having malaria is like having the flu). I can go on and on but i'll stop here... Now can you see what i mean? I'm humbled by these stories. All true and quite sad and a big reminder of the many blessings we take for granted.
I have a house, a job, money in my bank account, food to eat, clean water to drink, opportunities to take holidays in different parts of the world, over 50 pairs of shoes (don't judge me), clothes up to 6 cases full, friends and family who love me and can help me should I hit rock bottom, etc.. I have all this and yet i'm not completely satisfied, I want more. Doesn't a scripture in the bible say "be content with such things as you have for he has said he'll never leave us nor forsake us"? (Hebrew 13:5), and yet I dare to speak or think covetously? May God forgive me...

No wonder scripture says "....to whom much is given, much will be demanded (Luke 12:48)".. I've been given much and much is demanded but I haven't started paying back or at least not as much as i should, because I've been so warped in my own cocoon of self-preservation and fulfillment that I've forgotten to be my brother's keeper.
So If you're reading this post, it means you can afford a computer with internet connection and you're most likely doing so from your desk at work which invariably means you have a job and you have money in your account and therefore YOU'VE ALSO BEEN GIVEN MUCH and MUCH IS EXPECTED OF YOU. So i urge everyone this week to reach out and touch a stranger in need and help them live a little!

Live and let live people....

Coco-C

And i write...

I resumed work yesterday and since then its been barely 2 hours since the Internet connection came back up. Almost everything 'network' in Naija in the last few days or week has been messed up as a result of the heavy rains that have wrecked havoc in Lagos! Lord help us with these rains, the whole place is flooded, people are displaced from their homes, cars are ruined and lives have been lost. Its terrible and worrisome. As usual trust Nigerians to take every hardship with a pinch of sugar, people have gone on to compose and send viral jokes on how wives, husbands, cars and even houses have floated into their premises as a result of the flood! Lol.. I've been praying to God for a 4-wheel drive to float into my compound, I'm desperately in need of a car! On a more serious note though, I wonder if the intensity of rain in Naija these days has anything to do with global warming as we haven't been blessed with rain such as this before!

Anyway I'm sure you guys have been wondering what's up with me and my blog right? Well I'm also wondering! I haven't had the luxury of internet access from a PC in almost 3 weeks and hence its cramped my writing style...smh... But I'm back now and i'm here to stay so make sure my page is on your list of favorite sites visited. 

Now back to my Kenyan experience, it began with a 7hours flight from Lagos to Nairobi in a regular boeing 737 plane with just two columns of three seats each with barely enough leg room! I was shocked to find Kenya Airways provide such a plane for a long haul flight such as this and worsened also by the fact that the journey was lengthened an extra hour by the stopover in Cotonou to download and upload more passengers! Nevertheless, stuck in the middle seat in between two friends, i slept most of the journey as it was a night flight. Landed in Nairobi and proceeded to immigration to get a visa for just $25! I must say it was a pleasant feeling to be able to hop on a plane without a visa and arrive a new country to get one stamped on the passport for such a peanut fee, kudos to the Nigerian and Kenyan government for seeing eye to eye on immigration. So my friends, Ib and Emmanuel, and I got stamped in and walked out of the International terminals with our suitcases to proceed to the domestic terminal so we could catch a flight to Kisumu from Nairobi. Unfortunately for us, the flight was fully booked and this was 8am in the morning. The next and only flight to Kisumu was at 4pm and then the hustle to get out of Nairobi began..... To cut a long story short, almost 9 hours later we made it to Kisumu after a 6hour bumpy ride through the beautiful towns of Kenya and with my bladder seconds away from bursting during the journey, that yours truly had to ask the cabbie to stop and hop into the bushes! LOOL! 

Anyway we settled in nicely into Kisumu and the rest is history... 

For picture viewing, see me on

I"m sorry but all the pictures i upload here from my BB camera wont rotate right!arrrrgggghhhh

Guess Who's Back?!

Agatha Christie! I wish! OK guys,  I, miss Chinny, missed you all so much and missed blogging!!! Where do i start from?! 8 days of exaggerated fun in Kenya, I could write a short story of 50 pages to tell it all! If i did that though you guys would probably tire to read it all here, so I'm gonna start a "guess who's back series! I can't say how many parts the series would come in as I'm not sure what my mental bank translates to in writing (lol) but I promise to keep you entertained as I always do!

I've been staring at this page and seriously wondering where to start from! How does one quantify a good time? Sorry did i say 'good time'? I meant 'blast'! Best holiday ever! Best place visited so far (and my travel resume hasn't done badly in my short life)... This was one of those holidays you come back feeling content and fulfilled that you just achieved a milestone in your life, and in this case the milestone being FUN!
Kenya is without a doubt an African country to identify with; from the people, to the culture, to the landscape, to the weather and to the lifestyle, its all great. In my words i would describe Kenya as a beautiful fusion of the West and of Africa, modern enough to accommodate the needs and demands of an ever changing and technological advancing world and traditional enough to accommodate the lifestyle and beliefs of a people common across a continent. They say there is no place like home but i say there are some places close enough to home, they come second on the list. For me for now, i say that place is Nairobi! Yup, i like it that much! Some of my friends have asked me to emigrate, lol! Not just yet guys, i still like my country, though these days with the incessant frustrations, i wonder.....
I would have loved to upload the first set of wonderful pictures taken across Kisumu and Nairobi but unfortunately i don't have my camera with me and 'm struggling to bring you this post from my sister's semi-slow laptop (sorry Uch :D). But I'll be uploading amazing pictures in my next post for your viewing pleasure and for your review of my long discovered unharnessed photography skill.....if y'all know anyone who would take me on as a protege, please ring me up on +23480........... nah you know i can't give out my digits here!

So for now lovely patient bloggersville readers, i sign off and i leave you with some words from my short but eloquent Swahili mental dictionary, NAKUPENDA blog readers!

Who else?!
Coco-Chinny :)                              

PS: 'nakupenda' for those who do not know, means I LOVE YOU!