The power of your words

The world is a very superficial place.people will often judge you based on what you look like; the clothes you wear,  your hair, legs, nails and even the shape of your nose! It amazes me how callous people can be when talking. Recently I've heard all sorts in the form of 'joke' and I'm thinking that surely people should know when to draw the line on a joke. Let me share my stories and that of others and judge for yourselves if its insensitive or not:

"When you're pregnant na only nose we go dey see for your face"

"I'm sick of your hair, we gave up on that hair 12years ago please"

"Wow you're fat, where is that your small husband"

"Your legs are like broomsticks"

"When are you going to get pregnant, its been several years already" 

"You're getting too fat, lose some weight"

Etc etc etc
While these jokes are funny initially, they are utterly insensitive. First of all, Neither you nor I created a person, so what gives us the right to judge them? Secondly, did it ever occur to you that the recipient of your unkind words already feels conscious about their so-called "imperfections" and would prefer to be different? Thirdly, just because no one has told you that you have body odor, your mouth stinks or your teeth looks like something out of "Jaws" doesn't mean they haven't noticed!
The truth behind "jokes" is that it's a form of bullying and it affects some peoples self esteem. Saying crude jokes is also a way to personally validate yourself by putting someone else down, so guess what? You probably have self-esteem issues! I had a friend tell me recently that I should please make no comments when I see her because she's gotten way bigger than she used to be. While I'm not one to run my mouth before thinking, I wondered at how many of our mutual or her friends had made insensitive comments about her size to get her to warn me in advance!! Clearly her self-esteem is bruised and it got me upset. People just don't think before speaking and its a sign of foolishness.

God wasn't sleeping the day he formed me or you,  as a matter of fact He said that "You and I are fearfully and wonderfully made, MARVELOUS are HIS  works and this our soul knows very well (psalm 139:14)". Now it's up to you to interpret fearfully whichever way you desire but fearfully to me means that everyone should respect and fear God's creation. So next time you feel like running your mouth in a haste, stop and think for a moment how your words may affect the next person.

I won't extricate myself from having spoken callously before and I regret how my words may have hurt someone but I guess experience is truly the best teacher because I have come to a place of understanding and I'll never do it again nor tolerate it from someone else.

Food for thought people, get thinking before speaking.....

Coco C

Letters to God

With so much time on my hands, I spend my days in front of my PC and the TV. Life can be ironic. Only a month ago, I was too busy to find time to watch TV and now I'm tired of it. Oh well, c'est la vie..

Now unto my thoughts for the day... I saw a movie today called "Letters to God". This movie is based on a true life story about a little boy struggling with cancer but living with remarkable faith, hope and love in spite all of his pain. This 10 year old kid wrote letters to God everyday and after writing the letter, he would post it through the mailman! Post it to where?? Even if man wanted to create the fastest rocket and come up with a way to reach His house, God is in a physical address that is physically unreachable! I wondered where this kid thought his letters would go to. The mailman stacked the boy's letters and held onto them for weeks, not knowing what to do with it. He dropped it off in a church but the preacher caught him doing so and told him to go with it because perhaps God wanted the mailman to have the letters. Finally, he read the letters and got saved because of this little boy who selflessly talked to God about everyone who loved him. Another irony is that in his letters, the little boy wasn't praying to get better or questioning God as to why he had to go through the suffering, he rather talked to God about the seemingly mundane things of life.. He told God to help his friends, help his mother, he talked about the things he did everyday...He put aside his fears, frustration and pain and he embraced faith, peace, love and joy! He told his mother "that if he died he was thankful God allowed his neighbor to give birth to a cute baby boy who would be his replacement on earth". He said so he because he believed that for every death, there would be a life.. He had a childlike but wise spirit. He finally died but not before leading many people to God through his letters which inspired them to start writing their own letters to God and posting them...

It got me thinking about the way we pray these days, its often a quick 5 to 10 mins affair and if we're feeling generous to God, an extra 5 mins thanking God for everything but most likely putting in a request list that is longer than the gratitude list. Nothing wrong with it but I believe we can do more. What if when you got to your office, you take a few extra minutes and write God a lovely letter. Talk to Him about anything you want to, but just make that time, thoughts and paper, His own. Its a pity the postal system in this country is messed up if not I'd have suggested you post the letter! It'll probably get thrown out or maybe someone would open the letter and get inspired or saved. You could also write the letter and leave it on a colleagues table (if you're gonna do that, remember to pray for the colleague). Whatever you decide to do or not do, just remember to write God a letter as often as you remember.

To inspire you, i'll start with one;

Dear God,

I believe you wanted me to watch this movie today so that I could shed a few sympathy tears, and get inspiration to write on this blog which I keep remembering but being lazy to attend to. I don't know how many people read my blog but even if its just 1 person, I would like it Lord if you can speak to that person today. Remind them Lord, of who You are and of your purpose for their life. Let them understand and remember that they are letters, written not with ink on tablets of stone, but with the Spirit of the living God on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3) in the form of their families and friends, including me.  

Thank you Lord for your unconditional love and remind us to write letters to you as often as we can in Jesus name. Amen.

Your daughter,

Chinny.

For the love of money

Dear Readers,

I saw a movie today called "The Box" and I remember thinking what an odd title for a movie.. What was even more odd was the movie itself by the time it was halfway through. I was sitting in front of my pc in the living room battling with the internet (Nigerian internet connection is story for another day) and job applications when my eye caught the movie. I really wanted to get on with the job application but then something about the movie drew my attention and I called it quits with the internet. 

To summarize the movie, a regular couple with a kid fall prey to the clutches of greed and the lust for more than what one should have, especially if not obtained through credible means. Imagine you wake up one morning and a package wrapped in a box is in front of your door, you open the package and you find an even more exotic looking box and all you see is a button to press. The box comes with a note telling you to expect a visit from someone at a certain time of the day. Your visitor shows up and you open the door to the most scary looking man you've seen in your life. He's scary but his manners precede his looks and so you invite him into your house because your curiosity gets the best of you (after all, we're only human) and you want to know why this box has been delivered to you. The stranger tells you that you have 2 choices: "you press the button and somewhere in the world, a stranger unknown to you dies and you receive a million dollars!!!" OR " you don't press the button and you don't get a million dollars, and he comes back the next day to retrieve the box and its as though the event never happened". What would you do? Option #1 or option #2? Think about it carefully before you answer within yourself... Imagine that this money would: pay your child's school fees, take care of your mother's hospital bills because she's ill with cancer, you'd be able to get rid of your rickety second hand car which you've driven for as long as you cared to remember, your wife could afford new clothes and a holiday which she's been nagging you about and lastly your landlord wouldn't have legal right to kick you out of his house because you've been living in it rent free for 6months!! Whew, talk about a 'blessing' in disguise right?? 

So you and your wife have 24 hours to make the decision and you tell yourself "there's no catch to the offer because someone unknown to you somewhere in the world would die anyway and besides, we're all gonna die someday right?!"... So you did it, you pressed the button and guess what happens next?  You get the million dollars and instantly you can't believe what you've done! Your conscience eats at you and you don't want the cash anymore but its too late, Pandora's box has been unleashed! Your life for the next couple of days is a living hell, you can't make sense of what is going on, the voice of conscience and morality speaks through strangers to your soul, you can't spend the money because its ill gotten, the strange man won't stop calling you and you feel like you're soaking up the heat from hell. You want OUT of this nightmare, you wish it was a dream but its real, so real that your son is kidnapped and when he comes back to you., he's blind and deaf and there's only one way to undo this mistake.. "kill your wife (she pushed the button, go figure!! its always the women bringing the men down aye? thanks eve!) and your son's senses are restored OR enjoy the million dollars for the rest of your life but live with the consequences of your actions at the peril of your son's sanity"... Wow, talk about "everything that can go wrong, going wrong", all because you made a mistake...

This movie was kinda scary but it was deep and soul searching and those with a third eye can appreciate the moral of the story.. And so I ask this question, "how far would you go for the love of money?"... Its easy to think that you could never do something like this, and yes you're probably right to think that you wouldn't go as far as indirectly taking another human life for money. What if it wasn't a life at stake but someone's job, or a company's financial stability, or even your job? Worse still, what if your soul was at stake all because of your desire for more money?....

This movie is not just about money, its about the choices that we make and the waterfall effect they have on us, other people and outcomes. Think about how the way you live your life reflects on other people and more importantly on your soul.. Where do we draw the line between our desires and our conscience? 

Food for thought... 

Coco Chinny. 

The Best Things in Life Are Free

Hello fellow bloggers and blog readers! Been awhile I came on this blog I sadly must say.. The last two times I visited MY poor abandoned blog, it wasn't pleasant.. Anyway I am here on a lighter and pleasant note and from the title of this post you should be able to tell!

Luther Vandross and Janet Jackson knew exactly what they were talking about when they said "the best things in life are free"! I'm beginning to think everyone should have a poster up on their wall which says so! Yesterday I was at the train station waiting for my friends to buy their tickets so we could head to a Ballet, when someone comes up beside me and taps me.. I look down from my elevated height (4 inch purple strap suede shoes) to see a tiny little princess (probably 3 or 4 years old) with her blond hair and her pretty little pink dress smiling at me.. I smile back and try to make out what she's saying when her mum says "she's saying she likes your shoes"! And then I start to smile and say thank you when the princess smiles at me and with arms outstretched and her eyes locked on my shoes says in her cute American accent "I like your shoes"!! I tell you that was the highlight of my day!!! My heart completely melted.. Not because she liked the shoes but because she knew what she liked and she had the courage to say so to a stranger because it would bring her joy! I told her thank you and would have scooped her up and given her a kiss if they were not walking away..

That little act jogged my memory to my thoughts 2 days ago when I thought of my family and wonderful friends and then I said to myself, "the best things in life are free".. They are free because they are so simple and so easy to put smiles on our faces; they cost nothing to receive and nothing to give; they are just free!

It's all about;

The smile of my gorgeous little niece with her big gooey eyes which melts your heart,
The sound of my tiny nephew's voice calling me 'Chika' (which is my twins name and is easier to pronounce than mine)
My mum trying to feed me three meals in one on my recent trip to naija (perhaps she thinks I'm too skinny?")
My twin sending me a blackberry smiley emoticon to say good morning
The inspirational music on my iPad which brings me peace in the midst of a storm
The phone calls from my older sisters who want to know if I'm doing OK in school
The unexpected pleasant gift filled email surprises from my bf 
The messages of appreciation from friends who love me just the way I am

And so on and so forth.. The list is endless but I don't wanna bore you ;).. But you get my drift by now right?!

I'm just happy and I had to share it because happiness is FREE too and should be shared so that we all can truly know and believe that "THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE"!!!

Woohoooo!!!!

Cheers everyone! Enjoy your life, appreciate the little things and be thankful for the big ones!! Caperdiem!