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Taunet Nelel means 'New Beginning.' This blog is about finding purpose and living in purpose. It seeks to inspire hope and help you live a fulfilling life. One with "No Regrets, No Fear, No Shame and No Anger."
Showing posts with label inspire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspire. Show all posts

Many 'Second Chances'

Thursday, November 29

Personally being given a second chance in life is a great feeling. It rejuvenates my attitude towards any given situation.

In fact, my attitude towards seemingly discouraging situations sometimes is the problem.

I hit a snag at work recently, I was receiving phone calls with clients making complaints and they needed help. My mind blanked out for some time. I simply couldn't think of a way to help.

After speaking with my superior, it just dawned on me - I had my perspective all wrong.

I had tuned into "I-CANT" instead of "HOW-CAN-I"  help station.

That there was my second chance to redeem myself. Long story short, I managed to help even more than I had perceived I could.


                             photo credit: hyperion327 via photopin cc


Andrew M Greeley said, "We're given second chances every day of our life. We don't usually take them, but they're there for the taking"


Every day is a second chance

It might be cliché, but it's true. Everyday you wake up, you have a second chance at life. A second chance to live life better, and to do things better.

You get a second chance to forgive.

You can choose to love better.

Tell the people you love that you love them. More than telling them show them.

Forgive those that have wronged you. Give them a second chance.

I know we know that we are also imperfect, and sooner or later, we will need to be forgiven.

Failure is not fatal and Success is not final

Winston Churchill said that, I think he was talking about second chances.

It takes courage to stand up and dust yourself off from a failure with lessons.

It takes even more courage to walk away from perceived success knowing that there are more battles to be conquered.

Live right with God

If there is any one I know who is more gracious and merciful, it is God.

If you are looking for a second chance, I can't think of anyone better to look to than God.

Excerpted from Nehemiah 9:31-32 (MSG)
But when they called out for help in their troubles
    you listened from heaven;
And in keeping with your bottomless compassion
    you gave them saviors:
Saviors who saved them
    from the cruel abuse of their enemies.
But as soon as they had it easy again
    they were right back at it—more evil.
So you turned away and left them again to their fate,
    to the enemies who came right back.
They cried out to you again; in your great compassion
    you heard and helped them again.
    This went on over and over and over. 


Do you need a second chance? What are second chances to you? Leave a comment below and share about the many second chances we have in life.

P.S. I lost a friend earlier yesterday. He inspired this post.

Inspired to Inspire - Part 2

Monday, January 23



Have you ever fallen where there were so many people? You're shoe (how did that happen?) hit a rock and before you could even understand what was going on you find yourself on the dust, in the mud, oil, large pool of water, who knows? It was too fast, too quick, nobody asked you?

I've fallen many times. And most of the times the-fall didn't hit me, until I hit the ground (Does that make sense? Let me know). What I mean is I don't know what hit me or what exactly I hit to get to the ground? I couldn't predict that I would fall there of all places! Once I was in a race back in school, right at the finish line I fell face flat on the ground. Wow, that was something. Trust me, I was exhausted, and that's the last race I ever ran, sadly. Far from that, many times I like to laugh at myself. It helps ease the tension of the fall, and just to get my head into perspective. And if by any chance, the people watching me fall are laughing at me, we end up laughing together. So I don't feel that bad at the end of the day.
Let's look at an analogy to explain my point. Back in University, we had this lecturer who coined jokes that only he understood. So while he ended up laughing at his own jokes hysterically, the whole class was left to painfully catch up with the joke. Truth is his jokes were dry! Or we just didn't get what the fuss was all about. Anyways, we ended up laughing at the fact that he was laughing at dry jokes and he joined us in the laughing. So that made it even more funny. We are laughing at his *dry* joke, he thought the joke was that funny and continued laughing.

No offense to the lecturer, sometimes the jokes I pull ain't funny, so I've also had to laugh on my own at times. The POINT I AM MAKING is it's healthy to laugh at yourself sometimes. Don't take life so seriously, so much that you can't laugh at your mistakes.

Today let's give some thought to falling in life. Where you fell. How you fell? Why you fell? Will you keep falling? Let's try to compare the falling with real life examples.
Everyone falls
Do you think you're the only one who went through that specific experience? I know it was beyond embarrassing. You couldn't even dare share it with anyone. Maybe you got cheated on, someone fleeced you of your cash, or who knows something really bad happened. You are not the first, nor will you be the last or the only one to go through that traumatizing time.
Let me suggest something crazy, share with someone what you've always said you'd never share with anyone. You'll get something off your back. It will help you realize, it wasn't that bad. In the most understood language I know, you'll realize it's kawa i.e. its the norm (Kawaida is a Swahili word that means norm, kawa is short for kawaida).
Maybe you'll end up saving a friend from going through the same experience by sharing.

Wherever you fell, it could have been worse. 
You may have fallen in the sewer, or off a building, or tripped in front of a moving bus (that's bad i know), but guess what, it could have been worse. Just ask around, you'll find out that your experience was just an orientation into the world of falling.
There's always someone who went through a worse experience. There always someone who's going through worse off than you ever will. Not that you are special in any way. Only they could go through that experience in those specific circumstances and still triumph.

So be encouraged, you're in a far better place than you could ever be.

However you fell, it's not the end of the world.
Now that we know everyone falls and you're not doing so bad. Get up from the ground dust yourself off and go on. They do say life goes on and that should be true for you too. You determine how long you stay on the ground.
Have you ever watched a playful child whatever age really, just playing the way children are and then suddenly they fall to the ground. Doesn't matter how and where they fall. If you start, being so emotional, saying all the sorries in the world; that child will surely cry. They'll turn on the ignition, step on the fuel and cry their tongues out. Why? Because you said sorry. Maybe they weren't even hurt.
But if you pretend you didn't notice, they'll stay on the ground a bit, play with the soil, stand up and dust themselves off. Then the games will continue, and they might even throw in some laughter to the fall.
Children are children that's how they act. But we should be able to learn not to let our falls last forever. Let them be a stepping stone to a much more enlightened maturity. Don't let the mud from the fall be your trademark. Let the scars you got from falling tell the story of your life. Not stories that end with "I am sorry that must have been so traumatizing" but stories that are filled with joy and "Wow, you are the epitome of true strength. I am so encouraged."

Whatever the reason of the fall, accept that you've fallen
Just because you hit a stone, or someone tripped you to the ground. Will that make you hate the stone or that person all your life? No, really. The truth is you've fallen. Forget the reason of the fall. First, acceptance is important. Accept that you fell. It doesn't make you any less of a person. You are still you. It's only you that can that can change what you perceive of yourself after the fall.
Was it that you ARE clumsy? Was it that someone distracted you? Or does that person just hate your guts that they couldn't pass the opportunity to see you fall?
None of the reasons make sense to me. They might be valid reasons but they don't hold any water. Reasons for your fall may vary and may even be valid, but the important thing is you learn from the fall.
The stupid never forgive and never forget, the naive forgive and forget. The wise forgive and never forget.
You should be on the guard. Don't fall on the exact same spot, in the exact same way again. When you see the same reasons or mistakes coming your way, take care that you don't fall. Derive lessons from the fall. You'll be surprised how many precious things you can learn. So it may not sound like much, guess what, the reason for the fall is the lessons learned and not the reason you fell in the first place (Hope that makes sense.)

Falling won't stop soon, you're not that special
Falling is frequent and you just have to be on your guard. It is of my opinion that pride is one of the major causes of falling. We think we are too good to fall, or falling happens to the likes of so and so. It's like you are of a special breed and it just doesn't happen to us special ones.

Think of it this way, as human beings we like to hear stories of so and so and how they went through something tough, maybe they lost their loved ones to cancer, or their marriage was a sham, or their children are the laughing stock of the town.
The story goes: Do you know Jane? The Pastor's daughter, she went abroad to study Medicine. Remember? Imagine she was deported back to the country because ... (fill in the details!)
Our ears are pulled to such stories. And our responses are Oh my? Poor Pastor, that's so sad? Children of these days! I just knew! And our responses never stop! We go on and on about how they should have done this and this! That's their mistake...

Pride comes before a fall
Just remember that next time you fall. You're not that special. Just when you think you are standing, just like in my personal experiences, you'll be the name in the next juicy story, and it won't be an easy experience.
Try to put yourself in other people's shoes. Don't judge. Don't ever think that they deserve it, because they don't. Everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone deserves compassion. Everyone deserves a second chance. Everyone deserves new beginnings. We can't offer that love the way God does, but we should try to.

We are all fallen creatures.
I'd like to hear your views, or personal lessons from falling in life.

1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Inspired to inspire - Part 1

Monday, January 16



Let's ask some questions today, YOU know the answers. This is part one  : -
Are you making a difference in your life?
Are you making a difference in someone else's life?
Are you growing tired about something in your life?
Are you doing anything about it?
Are you waiting for someone to change?
Are you going to be the change you want to see?


The most important question is are you living for yourself? This means are you living out people's expectations of what you should be, or are you truly living out what you believe in, what inspires you, doing what motivates you? Pursuing your dreams, acting out and actualizing your goals and dreams.

Do you do things because others are doing them?
Do you fear being unique, being different, being you?
Do you sleep knowing you did all you could that do?

These are a few questions we need to consider today, now, not tomorrow or later. They are to be asked everyday, every time you wander in your own little cocoon. Did you hear the story about the ugly caterpillar that died? Apparently, this was announced tragically via the 1 o'clock news, just kidding.
But the caterpillar died in its cocoon after a hard tedious journey through the vast bushes, eating everything green it came across. And then one day it knew life was going to end and it spun its own 'tomb' (cocoon). After a long dormant almost death-like experience, a beautiful butterfly emerged flying to soar the air, sharing the stage with likes of birds.


Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.




George Halas

Can you apply that to your own life? What the caterpillar (you) thought was going to be the end of an ugly, treacherous life (filled with failures, let downs, mockery, mistrust, fill in all the scars in your life) in the bushes (your circumstances, unfulfilled expectations); was actually the beginning of transformation, the beginning of beauty in the midst of scars. Suffering has a way of molding us into the next phase of life. You have to go through tough stuff so as to get tougher.

Lessons to learn :
  • Learn from the past
Definition of Past: having existed or taken place in a period before the present 
Everything you go through in life helps in building a foundation for what tomorrow holds. You have to learn from the past. The past does not define who you are, nor does it dictate who you are meant to be. Don't live, don't dwell on or in the past. This will defeat the course of your journey.  Learn from your mistakes.  Take the strides you need to move away from the past. Let it be THE PAST.
This also means don't carry with you the grudges of yesterday, the let downs of ages ago, the broken expectations and promises of the past to today. Let them go.
  • Your present state says nothing about your future. 
 Definition of Present: now existing or in progress
This is where you are at in life. The present will be the best place to be if you are not holding on to the past or are not trying to manipulate the future. It is what you should be able to change. You can choose to live your present life differently. Don't let your present circumstances and fears determine how you live. Take them as opportunities to greatness and not hurdles as they may seem. Use them as steps to actualizing your dreams.
If you answer the questions above, then the present will be one good place to be.
Remember that you make the choices and decisions that shape the future. You may not know what it holds, but everything you do now will have a trickle effect into what the future might hold. Do your best. Today do your best with what you have now.
Don't sit worrying about the future. Otherwise the present will pass you by like the wind.
  • Your future is out of your hands. Get used to that!
Definition of Future: expressive of time yet to come
The future is molded by your present. It is a reflection of your past and present culminated into one. Very unpredictable.
Everyone would want to know their future if given a chance. The truth is your future is in God's hands.
You don't know whether you will be breathing in the next minute. It's not a given. People live all their lives for tomorrow when today is all that matters. NOW is the big picture.
What if you lived your life starting from the end (death) towards the beginning (birth)? Would you live differently?

Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 

Let's answer these questions honestly and we will start the journey of being ourselves.

Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

 
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