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| Ex-Kogi State Deputy Governor, Architect Yomi Awoniyi with wife, Elizabeth |
Being here
counts; being kind and considerate counts. Getting through each day without
seriously offending anyone or hurting anyone counts; having the largest
technology doesn’t.
counts; being kind and considerate counts. Getting through each day without
seriously offending anyone or hurting anyone counts; having the largest
technology doesn’t.
Sorry, I
don’t have a downer on technology. In fact, I probably have pretty much all the
latest gizmos. I just (a) don’t overtly rely too much on any of it and (b) see
them all as useful tools rather than having any intrinsic meaning in
themselves, in a status symbol or one-up-personship kind of way.
don’t have a downer on technology. In fact, I probably have pretty much all the
latest gizmos. I just (a) don’t overtly rely too much on any of it and (b) see
them all as useful tools rather than having any intrinsic meaning in
themselves, in a status symbol or one-up-personship kind of way.
Doing
something useful with your life counts; going shopping because you are bored
doesn’t. Yes, by all means, go shopping, but see what you do as counting or not
counting, being real or not being real, having real value or not, being of some
benefit or not. This does not mean chucking it all up and going off to some fly
infested swamp to work with the locals and catch malaria—although that in
itself would count, but you don’t have to go to quite those extremes to make
your life meaningful.
something useful with your life counts; going shopping because you are bored
doesn’t. Yes, by all means, go shopping, but see what you do as counting or not
counting, being real or not being real, having real value or not, being of some
benefit or not. This does not mean chucking it all up and going off to some fly
infested swamp to work with the locals and catch malaria—although that in
itself would count, but you don’t have to go to quite those extremes to make
your life meaningful.
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| Ex-Music Star, Chichi Onwuama aka Chichi of Africa |
I guess the
Rules means focusing on what is important, to you in your life, and making
positive changes to ensure you feel happy with what you are dedicating your
life to (See Rule 6). This doesn’t mean long-term plans mapped out to the
smallest detail. It means knowing, roughly, where you are going and what you
are doing. Awake rather than asleep. A fellow author, Tim Freke calls ‘lucid
living’—a perfect term for what we are talking about. There are some things in
this life that are very important and a whole lot of things that aren’t. It
doesn’t take too much discrimination to works out which are which. And there
are a whole lot more things that don’t count, aren’t really important, to chose
from. I am not saying we can’t have trivia in our lives—we can and it is fine.
Just don’t go mistaking the trivia for what is really important. Having time
for loved ones and friends is important, watching the latest soap isn’t.
Repaying a debt is important, what brand of washing powder you use isn’t.
Nurturing our children and teaching them real values is important, dressing
them in designer fashion isn’t. You get the idea. Think about what you do that
counts and do more of it.
Rules means focusing on what is important, to you in your life, and making
positive changes to ensure you feel happy with what you are dedicating your
life to (See Rule 6). This doesn’t mean long-term plans mapped out to the
smallest detail. It means knowing, roughly, where you are going and what you
are doing. Awake rather than asleep. A fellow author, Tim Freke calls ‘lucid
living’—a perfect term for what we are talking about. There are some things in
this life that are very important and a whole lot of things that aren’t. It
doesn’t take too much discrimination to works out which are which. And there
are a whole lot more things that don’t count, aren’t really important, to chose
from. I am not saying we can’t have trivia in our lives—we can and it is fine.
Just don’t go mistaking the trivia for what is really important. Having time
for loved ones and friends is important, watching the latest soap isn’t.
Repaying a debt is important, what brand of washing powder you use isn’t.
Nurturing our children and teaching them real values is important, dressing
them in designer fashion isn’t. You get the idea. Think about what you do that
counts and do more of it.
(Excerpts from the Book: The Rules
of Life by Richard Templar. Read
Rule 6 in our next post on Asabeafrika)
of Life by Richard Templar. Read
Rule 6 in our next post on Asabeafrika)
