TIME AND CHANCE

There is no great man on earth who ever attained a high level of success without considering the factor of time and chance (opportunity). Even great philosophers associated themselves with these precious entities of moment. Williams Penn stated ‘time is what we want most but what we use worst.’ Time has ever been known to man as the most valuable possession on earth. How then did such an abstract entity become so tangible to mankind? Success is affected by time, and time determines how valuable success is. A billionaire in his twenties is seen as a more successful individual compared to a billionaire in his forties. Numerically, they are both billionaires but time difference has been used as the gauge of measurement of the successes of both individuals.

Buddha quotes that the trouble is you think you have time. This simple sentence holds lots of meaning and however, would seem paradoxical to a youth in his twenties. If we then attach this statement to that of Charles M. Schula who said ‘I have a new philosophy. I am only going to dread one day at a time.’ They seem counterintuitive in opinions yet they drive us towards a common destination and that destination is in the statement of Marcus Aurelius-Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. The way we spend our time defines who we are. But then, in time lies the actual tool that leads us to success, and that happens to be chance. Chance signifies opportunities that veil up as problems. An amazing fact is that most people spend time analysing their problems and those of their society yet still fail to see the opportunities embedded in them and humorously, do enjoy doing that. This was why a philosopher said that the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Sometimes, life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you. Forget the risk, take the fall. If it’s what you want, then it’s worth it all. Don’t confuse your path with your destination. Just because it’s stormy now does not mean you aren’t headed for sunshine. Take every chance, drop every fear because you never know how perfect something might turn out to be. Nothing is worse than missing an opportunity that could have changed your life. Always remember that small opportunities are the beginning of great enterprises. The only time you run out of time is when you run out of chance, and that is when you stop taking them. Once more, dread one day at a time.  Maximise efficiently and effectively, the use of your time. If you think you’ve got no money, that’s no excuse because you’ve got time. If you love life, don’t waste time. For time is what life is made up of. The way you spend your time defines who you are and you create your own opportunities, therefore, time creates your opportunities.

You’ve got one life, one chance. And what you do with it is up to you.

MY STORY

Often times we take the earth as a physical environment dominated by physical laws and things, but have we considered the law of gravity or the speed of light or the speed force or the cosmos. If we really take our time to study these mysteries, we would be convinced that the planets as well as the universe are controlled by supernatural phenomena that we are yet to comprehend. Man has been in continual search for the solution to the ever unending conflicts and problems of the human society. Also, I have come to understand that nothing ever seems to happen perfectly according to the ways that we’ve planned them as there is always a modification to every event. A bride is never to think of a perfect wedding because something would still erupt that would counter her wish. The question we would ponder over is why? The reason is quite simple; it is because we are not the only ones who determine what happens on earth so why should we be selfish with our desires when there are other forces exerting so much energy to keep the world at balance.

As a child, I often wondered in the ignorance of my thoughts why no matter how much analysis I did over something, I wasn’t just perfect enough to see a little breach. As a Christian from Christian home, the imperfection of my human body led me into what we termed ‘sin’ or so I thought as you also would blindly agree with me. However, I have come to realise that the body wasn’t what led me into sin. Some supernatural forces had manipulated events so that certain things may occur so that I become guilty before God which would enable them have access to manipulate my life for their good (For it is not against flesh we have to struggle with, but against the sovereignties and the powers who originate the darkness in this world… Eph 6:12-13). The human weakness is not that we cannot co-exist with one another in perfect love but the means which is the only way we could achieve the latter is ignored. Our origination has been ignored. There is a connection between the physical and the supernatural but that connection is only utilised by those who are constantly aware of it. The body is a vessel meant to accommodate our soul and our Originator’s Spirit. Yet we ignore the spiritual part of our lives and concentrate on the physical part not allowing the connection flow through both. That is why man would continue to e in chaos because we have chosen forget our origin.

However, there is a solution. The freedom from sin and the peaceful, fair environment we desire to possess can only e gotten when we are aware that we are not battling with the flesh so we do not have to punish it. it is the vessel God has given us to live happily on earth and so should be made presentable to God when we return to him. We should put more focus on the real enemy- the darkness and fight against it daily with the Word of God.  Daily reading of His word would unconsciously and slowly cause a change in the life of a human being because we are also spiritual creatures of light. If every one becomes a faithful Christian, we won’t need a constitution or peace code to live in peace. Let’s stop searching for answers in the physical and turn to the spiritual for there lies our destination. This is my story which I wrote in style. I thought I was brilliant searching for a means to my salvation yet I fell more than many. I searched wrongly and I fought wrongly. I am not a saint but I am a sinner who wishes his life could start again. I pray God corrects it soon enough so that His divine purpose for me be achieved. Christianity would only be a lifestyle when we learn to live as spirits and not bodies.                         

EMBRACING YOUR LIMITATIONS

Fear is a companion of creativity. Often times as human beings, we tend to remain strictly in our “comfort zones” for the selfish reason of I can’t do it! never minding the truth of making fear our weapon of creativity. Creativity, so many a times is viewed as creating new ideas when it isn’t just about new ideas as you don’t need new ideas to be creative because new ideas don’t just surface every now and then. You need a new perspective to life itself. We see the world, and our work, through countless lenses of assumptions and habits ─ fixed ways of seeing and acting ─ and the ironic aspect is that we are often unconscious of them thus trading efficiency for creativity.

Experts find it hard to see a problem from an ordinary person’s point of view because they have lost sight of how much specialist knowledge they already possess

A philosopher once said “every child is an artist” meaning that children see things with a totally different perspective and in the process cross their familiar boundaries of thought. A strange sense of unfamiliarity in the familiar reveals opportunities or solutions you hadn’t previously noticed meaning that you don’t have to change what you see, you just need to change how you see them. In order to achieve this feat, you must embrace your limitations ─ the way you perceive situations should be accompanied by making conscious the thought that there should be solutions outside what I’m thinking.

An appropriate method is giving yourself demanding challenges you feel you can’t handle. Research has shown that the human brain is most responsive in a situation of fear. That is the reason why cognitive reasoning is more felt in debates because at such scenario, the brain is in a state of the fear of being challenged thereby searching both the finite restricted areas and also the infinite space of probabilities where if dismisses the use of logic and experience and uses probability to create solutions. This rarely used part of the brain is still though dependent on the level of limits it has been presented with. In application, when starting out your day, begin with something you feel you can not do and do it! You’ll find out that your thinking process during the rest of the day is improved.

Prevent fear from being a tool that is used to keep you from doing challenging task and use it as an arbitrary instrument to measure and classify the things you run from doing. If you feel that you can’t write as good as someone else, then start writing. You’ll be so much surprised at how much you can do by just doing it. Why is it that determined people are usually successful? Why is it that determined people are always courageous? Determination, courage and success are all linked by the underlying principle of embracing one’s limitations, and fear isn’t their enemy, rather is the tool used to differentiate the easy from the daunting.  

EDUCATION

Often times we come across this life process but tend not to live it. The philosophy you are about to encounter might be quite counterintuitive to the primitive minds our forefathers passed unto us. A clergy once said your philosophy of life determines how you live your life. This logically infers man to be an intrinsic philosopher by survival instincts. Nevertheless, how does education relate to any of the "gibberish" I scribbled down before thee?
Education is theoretically said to be gained by formal and informal means. Once more I question my thoughts, what does thou mean by "formal" means? Formal, as at the era of the stone age would probably mean a forceful and wasteful effort on behavioral nature resulting in a realm of a deceitful perspective of life which is ostensible. It simply illustrates using ambiguous words rather than simpler expressions in defining "formal" just as I have purposefully done here, hence causing chaos instead of creating understanding. Education needs no formal methods, needs no lecturers but teachers, needs no exams but practical applications, needs no dogmatic individuals who call themselves intellectuals but students.
Education ought to be a life process where we learn to re-invest in ourselves. The environment some formal settings creates is an atmosphere of depression in the mind  when education is meant to prevent us from the horror of depression. Education is only achieved when we decide to live what we learn. Formal methods inform us about environmental pollution yet the ozone layer persists in its degeneration. It ain't the education that isn't effective but its methods of distribution. Strangely enough, people get educated for the major aim of using it as a source of income apparently when some the wealthiest people in the world had little or no formal methods of education.
The philosophy is revealed, we are aware there is a breach, but where lies its source...our philosophy of life. In order not to sound as a critic towards formal education, a simple illustration will get the job done. Reading just the concluding part of this write up decodes the message in a similar manner the whole write up would have equally done but the whole write-up did one extra thing-waste your time-the same effect formal methods have.
Re-orientate your philosophy, and your life will re-orientate. Educate your actions not your theory-the learned differ from the educated. Learn to apply what you learn and be ever conscious that life is learning in itself. Asides what you learned in formal settings, what else have you learnt today?

THEORY OF VALUE

A theory becomes a good theory when it satisfies two requirements. It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations. The theory of value is holistic rather than a partial description of an abstract element whose end illusion. Value denotes the importance of an entity or its price or cost. From the perspective of contrasting elements, value gives rise to good and bad, bearing in mind that that the terms good and bad is relative to the value a thing or person possesses.
Not to take you too far into a world of fantasy, create a scene where you happen to sit before an interviewer and after he asks you for your name and qualifications, the next question you astonishingly hear is-what value do you have? The first intrinsic feeling you get can be inferred in just a single word-"lost". Thoughts start roaming the streets of your mind, some such as - what does he mean, I studied in the University of Ibadan and graduated with a first class degree, was the best graduating student with a cGPA of 6.9 and my english is so fluent... what else can be better than this? Hell no! You are so confused because there are surely a thousand things better than these. They are achievements and not value. In Nigeria where I come from, there are so many graduates with better achievements than you so why else should the interviewer employ you. If you follow me through, the best question any interviewer can ask is - why should I employ you? This simple sentence construction I tell you can't be replied with a corresponding analogous sentence construction. I hope you see the picture.
Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired by long and patient study nor is life long enough to allow any mortal to attain the highest possible perfection in it. Therefore, do not analyse value, thus accidentally analyzing my thoughts. Possess value. The more common something becomes, the more it loses its value. Therefore my definition of value isn't a rhetorical question - what do you have that others don't? My readers, do not analyze my definition either. Answer it