STOP the "SUFFER SUFFER"

I chanced upon a cartoon video today but was quite loaded with a positive message for every person regardless of their age.

It was a video about a carpenter who had closed from work, turned off all the inside light and locked up his shop. At night, a hungry snake slithered from the nearby bush to the entrance of the carpenters shop. Finding a narrow crevice in the wall of the shop, it entered and welcomed itself hoping to find food to eat. In the shop, the snake moved over storage wood, working benches and looked under objects to find food. 

Through this action of moving from corner to corner, the snake accidentally bumped into a carpentry hand-saw with a jagged edge blade and wounded itself.

The snake without hesitation turned swiftly and took a deep bite at the carpentry object out of anger and thus injuring its mouth. (What could a bite do to a metallic object anyway?)

This feeling upset the snake more and out of fury and driven into a mood of revenge, attacked the hand-saw by coiling itself around this tool in a bid to strangle it. Of cause it got worse.

Early the next morning, the carpenter reopened his shop to only realize a dead snake on the ground coiled around the hand-saw.

The snake died not due to the carpenters fault nor any persons fault BUT rather due to its uncontrolled anger and revengeful attitude.

Question; is it always vital to respond to everything that offends us? 

Stop. Take a deep breath & evaluate.

We have gotten angry in our lives one way or the another. Many a time, this has resulted in affecting our mood negatively, having a direct consequence on health, clouding the mind & judgement, hurting ourselves, impacting  adversely on those who offended us, affecting persons that had nothing to do with the situation in the first place etc etc.

Make good of every situation and cultivate the habit of keeping a merry countenance regardless of the situation. Remember, its for your own well-being.

Quit renting part of your mind and soul to tenants such as anger, revenge and their siblings.

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THE SOURCE IS VERY VITAL

The picture within your view was taken yesterday and it represents a deliberate comparison between:
1. Leaves on a lateral branch (brown leaves) cut from the main branch and 
2. Leaves on a lateral branch (green leaves) but still connected to the main branch.

An observation to consider is that, the branches were cut off from the main tree over two weeks ago from the date of writing this blog.

Surprised to see the leaves still green on a branch not connected to the main tree after several days? Well, don't be.

The leaves are undeniably very important in that they produce food for the tree via a simple chemical process using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide,however its impossible to successfully do all that without been connected to the main tree. The reason is because, the the water needed for the chemical process is gotten from the ground through the roots, stem, branches and finally into the leaves. The connection source (no matter how insignificant it might seem) cannot be down played.

Humans can be likened to in a way to these green leaves. Disconnect a man from his source of life and he is gone for good. Sources of nourishment vary from person to person but what happens if your source dries out? Would you turn brown like the leaves as shown in the picture?

God, the Father of Jesus is our only ultimate source. Acknowledging Him and staying connected to Him does more good than harm. Reminisce on the Lords goodness & kindness and your will realize that He has been good to us despite all our flaws. A source that can never run dry.

The  Master was unapologetic and did not mince words when He said "I am the vine and you are the branch...for without me you can do nothing".

Remember, however hard a fish tries to stay out of water, it would perish in that state if its disconnected from its source perpetually.

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THE SAWDUST IN THE WHEELBARROW

I was told about a story of a man working in a lumber factory. At the end of each day, this worker gets some sawdust into a small container and carries home in a wheelbarrow. As a routine check, every worker goes through security at the main gate before exiting the premises of the factory to discourage internal pilfering.

For seven continuous days, the worker when stopped at the security is asked whats in the small container and he gladly responds by declaring in his possession the unwanted sawdust from the factory floor which he intends using at home. This went on for eight days straight.

At the end of the eight day and with this same worker approaching the exit, the security (even though full of suspicion) realised they could not accuse that worker for any wrong doing or theft thus they finally beckoned him gently and asked:

Security: I always suspect you are up to something but can't find a thing on you

Worker: Its just the sawdust i always carry home after work

Security: Please tell me what you hiding. I wont report you to anybody

Worker: Ok. The truth is, I am stealing wheelbarrows..

The morale of the story above is this, DONT be preoccupied with the small package that u miss the bigger picture.

Manytimes in our lives, its the grain of sand that weigh us down and we lose focus of the bigger, greater and sweeter picture before us.

Quit looking so hard with your own abilities and allow the Master Himself lead you on.

His name is Jesus.
Shalom!

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TIME FOR REFLECTION...

Today is Sunday,
A day where most/some christians set aside as the reverent of all days. For some its a Saturday.

On these days (whichever applicable) sanctity is observed usually from morning. By afternoon, this reverent attitude tends to wane and by evening, every trace of godly feeling would have dissipated.

And then, Monday to Friday is hustle time till Saturday/Sunday when our reverent fever kicks in again.

Imagine your own young son/daughter deciding to only "show you face" just for some few minutes in a week (thats if you are even fortunate) or only shows up when they are in dire need of a thing.

Decades of existence and observation has taught us topics relevant to living a comfy & sustainable lifestyle and these include but not limited to:

personal hygiene - where we know how & why to take out bath regularly, brush our teeth to keep fresh and avoid tooth or gum deterioration, keep on clean clothes etc. etc.

Work ethics - where we know the essence in reporting to work early, behaving orderly in an organisation, working efficiently & been result oriented or face the consequences etc. etc.

Bodily satisfaction - where we know when to eat when our hunger stimulating hormone is secreted in the stomach thus alerting the brain & triggers the need to eat etc. etc.

Have we consciously set a mechanism in us that spontaneously causes us to tune into fellowship with the King of the Universe aside our "special" Saturday/Sunday?

God is not only a problem solver neither is He a Being worthy of worship only on certain days. There is no doubt that, what we tend to give attention to everytime is what we deem very dear to us.

Question, how dear is God to you?
He sent His Son Jesus for us. Is He worthy of your time daily?

Certainly and unreserverdly, He indeed deserves our all and our best.
Let us consciously live a life with Him been the majority shareholder.

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DO YOU HAVE A DREAM?

I have a DREAM.

Ask a child what he/she wants to become in the future and you will get an amazing response:
"I want to be a Doctor"
"I want to be a Pilot"
"I want to be an Engineer"
"I want to be a Fashion Designer"
"I want to be a Footballer"
"I want to be Bank Manager"
"I want to be a Lawyer"
 etc. etc.

Fast forward into 25 years later, the realisations of those declared dreams become a mirage and are just lost into thin air.

Its explainable and understandable because along the line, some lost interest in their dreams, some found a 'much better' dream to follow, some were encumbered financially and thus could not achieve same, others out of survival to live found it convenient to do something else rather unfulfiling etc. etc.

DO YOU HAVE A DREAM?
Some are concerned about them reaching their peak age and hence decide not to pursue a dream of interest. Time is a factor but should not be a limitation.

You need not wait to have all things settled before you step out into an activity. Its not always about the money but rather, have the idea, the audacity to implement and a strong mental fortitude to brave all odds even in the face of discouragement and taunting opposition.

WHAT HAS NOT HAPPENED IN THIS LIFE BEFORE??
 Grandma Moses was an american folk artist and begun painting on canvas in her 70's with one of her collections selling for US$1.2million in 2006

In her early life, she started out working on farms, cooking and sewing for families she worked for until arthritis set in. Her painting career then kicked in till her demise at age 101

What would be your excuse for not going after what you dreamed of??

Age indeed is just a number!!

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THE TOIL OF MOTHERHOOD

NEVER EVER underestimate the toil of mothers of newly born babies.
Hectic, pressurising, time consuming, stressfull etc etc.

The effects and impacts of carrying a few weeks old baby who refuses to lie down for sleep but constantly prefers to be put to sleep by resting their head on your shoulder.....woe unto you if you change positions; the tender baby begins to wriggle in discomfort accompanied by a shrill cry comparable to the siren of an ambulance weaving through rush hour traffic. Not forgetting the waist and back discomfort arising due to an upper body tilt (in a standing position) when the baby is carried on your torso region.

They say experience is the best teacher (not always) but just a taste of that particular experience puts you in an appreciative and sublime attitude towards these mothers (that was my experience today)

You got a parent, sibling, relative, friend who is a nursing mother? The journey starts not only during the 9 month pregnancy but also, after birth.

Lets help make this cycle a lovely and memorable one.

I know very well today 8th Sept. 2016 has not been set aside to honor mothers but for me, its a thumbs up to all mothers!!!

FIRE, FIRE - a menace and possible solutions

 

Fire can easily double as a useful servant or in some scenarios as a fiery master. The spate of fire outbreaks in Ghana for the month of January this year 2015 has beenquite alarming and quantum of destruction with regards to life and property is huge but avoidable in most cases.

 

With the recent fire outbreaks of the Central Medical Store (CMS) in Tema and Medical Store of Tamale Teaching Hospital which led to huge losses estimated to run into millions of Ghana Cedis, it is imperative that we have a lot more to do in terms of prevention and mitigating losses when they occur.

 

The Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service (GNFRS) an agency under the Ministry of Interior is tasked with numerous functions of which the basic one most are aware of includes offering rescue and evacuation services to those trapped by fire or in other emergency situations. The GNFRS has and would always be an indispensible agency in our history when it comes to fire outbreaks. However, it is clear that challenges impede their smooth operation.

 

Having been a first-hand witness to a recent fire outbreak on the 20th January 2015 that occurred on my neighbours premises, I would be in the best position to rate the efficiency and procedures adopted by the fire fighters called in controlling the fire on the said day.

 

A few things I registered as challenging during the fire outage process included the lack of mobile/affixed water pump, smoke masks, flash lights, coordination and efficient communication between fire fighters. The fire outbreak was caused as a result of a lit candle which was placed on a fridge after lights went out (dumsor). This led to thick smoke emanating from the source of the fire and this virtually spread to other rooms. Upon arrival of the fire service personnel’s, the first noticeable challengeswere the absence of flash lights and smoke masks needed to immediately aid the fire fighters to commence action. Flash lights were later made available by some observers who have gathered to witness the showdown.

 

After the hoses were connected and water made to run through from the water tender, another challenge noticed were holes and cuts in the hoses which leaked most of the water intended to reach the other end of the nozzle to quench the fire. The big issue came when the water run out in a matter of minutes and there was not an immediate back up water tender anywhere near the emergency area. Fortunately, we had a reservoir full of water in our homebut the fire fighters made me understand there was no pump to even aid drawing the water from the reservoir into the emergency area. This was marred with coordination and communication lapses observed between the fire fighters.

 

The agency per this observation is not well equipped to fight fire on a large scale when the need arises. This might not necessarily be a national representation of the situation on ground however lessons and correction could be deduced from this.

 

It is quite obvious that our current power outage problem might extend its visit longer than expected and thus every concerned citizen would have to activate the fire outbreak prevention mode or/and in addition insurance against the hazard of fire. Some prevention tips include not refueling generators when its running, not leaving lighted candles on combustible surfaces, appliances turned off after an outage to prevent surge leading to fire when lights are turned back on, cylinders kept away from fire area amongst many others. Insurance of commercial properties which is mandatory under the insurance act 724, 2006 section 184. Subsection (1) one states that “every commercial building shall be insured with an insurer against the hazards of collapse, fire, earthquake, storm and flood, and an insurance policy issued for it.” Many might not appreciate the intended purpose of this act but subsection (2) two explains it further and it states that “insurance policy shall cover the legal liabilities of an owner or occupier of premises in respect of loss of or damage to property, bodily injury or death suffered by any user of the premises and third parties.”

 

As a risk officer, my humble appeal would be to advise residential property owners to also insure against hazards of fire. As the popular saying goes, nobody on his/her own knows tomorrow. These Fire insurance policies are offered by insurers who cover for any resultant legal liabilities in respect of loss of or damage to property as a result of fire.

 

Money and food can be used as a test of ones character, in the same vein, events can be used to tests thestrength/weaknesses of services which are legally tasked to respond to them. It is my hope that the Interior Ministry help to fully equip where necessary the GNFRS with the needed tools/kits to fight fire efficiently and also for citizens to consider preventive fire measures and/or fire insurance policies available for adequate protection in the event they occur.