Things to never apologise for.

1. Being truthful. Many people like to hear only positive things about themselves and their relationships, even if it means lying. Why accept the lies when nothing good comes out of it? Yes, the truth hurts, butbeing an honest person is what makes you the very best that you are. It shows the other person that you care enough about this relationship, whether it’s a friend or love interest, and that’s really what matters. So, stop sugarcoating everything just to make someone else happy. The reality is that they will be much happier knowing the truth, rather than living a lie.

2. Having a good time. If you love to travel and you are always on the go, there’s nothing wrong with you. If you find yourself loving to dance to music as soon as you hear one of your favorite songs playing on the radio, then enjoy. Who does it hurt? No one. So if anybody makes you feel like the things that you enjoy are not worth it, then take a step back and realize that perhaps they’re not worth it.

3. Being successful. We all want to strive for success in some way, so why feel bad about it when you do? It doesn’t mean that you are better than someone else, because everyone has their time to truly shine. Instead, be thankful that you are able to accomplish goals that you’ve set for yourselfand hopefully that will help to encourage someone else to do better. If anyone feels that they are not happy for your success and tries to constantly break you down, then these are not people you should be around. Why not be happy? It’s a positive thing, so you shouldn’t stop succeeding to appease someone. Keep striving for excellence!

4. Your Friends. The good thing about friends is that they all are different. So they all bring something different to the table, which makes for great conversation. Could you imagine if your friends were all alike? There wouldn’t be different opinions, everybody would agree on everything and everyone would be right. Overall, your relationship with your friends would be extremely dull. How much fun would that be? A real friend will tell you just how it is, no matter how it comes out, so you know they have you in their best interest. So why apologize for having a friendship? There is simply nothing like a good friend.

5. The many things you like. So you like going shopping, you love clothes, you like to go out often and spend time with your friends, or maybe you just like keeping to yourself. What's wrong with any of that? Life is all about enjoying the things you like as long as it’s not harmful to yourself or anyone else. So, don’t feel bad about not liking the same things that everyone else likes. It’s okay! We were made to have likes and dislikes, that’s what makes us unique and truly ourselves.

6. Saying no. We often feel like we have to please everyone and simply saying “no” can be hard to do. It’s okay not to allow people to step all over you and to stand your ground at times. If you think saying “yes” is better, but actually feel like saying "no", then do it. Always be true to yourself. There’s no need to apologize for feeling the way that you feel. Let’s be honest, there’s just certain times where you feel like saying “no.”

7. Putting You First. After leaving a relationship where you sacrificed and compromised, the most rewarding thing to do is to prioritize what’s important to you. If you were in a meaningless relationship that was a dead end, you may have given so much of yourself that you can’t even recognize yourself anymore. So, allow yourself some time to concentrate on you. It’s not like you're being selfish; you are just starting to realize what’s best for you. So don’t apologize for wanting the very best for yourself, because you do matter.

Laura Yarborough is an editor and up-and-coming author who loves to inspire. She can usually be found writing about love, relationships, fashion, spirituality and interior design.


I found this write-up @yahoo.com and thought i should share it. I hope you like it & find it useful.
Be good to every one, especially yourself!!!

Why should we love?

The simple reason why we should and must love our neighbours, friends, family, and even strangers is this; because God is Love.
By loving we become gods. Happy gods.

Bridging the Gap

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve.
Anytime you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity.
An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.
As you grow, some of your associates will change. Some of your associates will not want you to go on, they will want you to stay where they are.
Friends that dont help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that dont increase you will eventually decrease you.

Consider this:
Never recieve counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problem with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed are always first to tell how.
Not everyone has the right to speak into your life.
You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.
Don't follow anyone who is not going anywhere.

With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it.
Be careful where you stop to inquire for direction along the road of life.
Wise is the person who fortifies himself with the right friendships.
If you run with wolves you will learn how to howl, But if you associate with eagles, you will learn to soar to great heights.
A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.
The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.

Note:
Be not mistaken. This is applicable to family as well as friends. Yes, do love, appreciate and be thankful for your family, for they will always be your family no matter what. Just know that they are human first, and though they are family to you, they may be a friend to someone else and will fit somewhere in the criteria above.

"In prosperity our friends know us. In adversity we know our friends."
"Never make someone a priority when you are only and option to them."
"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters."
Excellence is not an exception; it is a prevailing attitude..

General Collin Powell
American stateman and Four star General in the United States Army
Former Secretary of State to President George W. Bush
an African American

i came across this write-up, and decided to share it with you all.

Your situation is not as bad as you think it is!!!

I'd like to share with you a story that happened decades back in the western part of Africa, in Nigeria to be precise.
     A young man, successful by every standard: highly placed in the society,  a commissioner to his state government, happily married and with kids. He was the envy of his peers, respected by his associates, & greatly loved by those who were opportuned to know him. All seemed to be going well for this young commissioner until.. disaster struck.
    His wife was blessed with the friut of the womb once again, hurriedly travel plans were put together for her to travel to put to bed abroad. A few weeks to her time for delivery, she travelled in the company of her brother.. After putting to bed safely, she set out for Nigeria.
    The proud father of the newly born baby expectantly waited to see his wife and baby. The other kids waited the arrival of their new brother /sister.
When finally the mother and child landed at the airport in the then Nation's capital (Lagos). The proud, excited father sent out an advance welcome party (consisting of the other kids and an elderly relative) from their enugu base to Lagos to welcome the Mother and child.
    They arrived Lagos safely, exchanged pleasantries excitedly and then they set off on a trip that was bound to change their lives and those of their loved ones for ever. They all (except for her brother who had to go back to pick up a material which they had forgotten, with the intention of coming after) took off on a flight from Lagos which was bound for their Enugu base but was to never make it.
The Plane crashed.
All the members of that family on board, perished.
    The man on that single day lost his wife, mother-in-law, children, & 'new-born child'. To him his world had ended. He felt he had lost every reason to live on. HE GAVE UP LIVING.
He resigned his appointment, sold his properties and moved to his hometown to live without purpose. In his grief he considered life in his old rural family house too comfortable: life in a place affected by unstable power, unclean water, etc.
    He again moved, but this time to his farmland to live. He built a hut in the middle of his farmland, surrounded by bushes and wild animals and away from human companion or civilisation. He must have wondered "why fight on. why live on"...
...  
    Last time i heard, he was rescued by the love of his family & friends and lived to tell the tale. it's not time to feel pity or sorry for him, cos God knows why he allowed it all to happen, when it happened, and how it happened. I am telling you this to encourage you to hold on and be strong, for what ever tide you face surely will pass away & joy shall come in the morning.
REJOICE & HOLD- ON.

love pt 1

Love...
Looks beautiful to new lovers..
Looks either so perfect or outrageously stupid to non-lovers..
Looks natural to insiders..


Love is not just a feeling, its a way of life..
Love is not just an emotional place to go to, its a world to live in..
Love is not just about how you feel, it makes you conscious of what the other person feels..
...

Love should never make you cry, a loved one could..
Love never regrets, infatuation, obsession, & lust has more regrets than the word regret..
Love never asks, it gives..
Love never ends, every other thing that has a beginning does have an end..
Love can neither be separated by distance, time, nor space..
...

Love is the only word that no definition has been able to do justice to..
Love has no boundaries..
Love is not possessive.. It is rather generous..
Love is selfless..
...
In love, we feel secure..
In love, we find shoulders to lean on..to cry on..
In love there is that arm to hold & uphold us..
...
Love never condemn, it corrects..
Love doesn't ignore wrong, it completely forgives..
...
Love is love.
...

love pt 1

Failure an ingredient for success: Thomas Edison

“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

Thomas Edison.

Failure! Failure! Failure!

That much dreaded result that no one wants or expects to have. The society abhors it, and individuals have learnt to do same. Failure is the inability to; achieve a preset goal, hit a preset aim or target, inability to get a particular/expected result, or plainly the inability to achieve a preset objective. It occurs due to: difficulty of the task, lack of adequate preparation for the task, or occurrence of ‘unseen circumstances’ during the process of trying to achieve a preset goal or result. 

Failure as defined by the inventor is the process of learning how not to do a thing (a learning process!). From his definition, we are to view failure from a positive standpoint. Thomas Edison who discovered the electric light bulb did not find it to be an all easy or ‘rossy’ venture. It is widely known that he had a couple of failures and setbacks in the quest for the electric light bulb. These failures where more than enough to discourage him from going further but his mentality, perception, and dedication kept him going at a time when intellectuality could do little or nothing to assuage the fears and doubts that had been built in the minds of those around -at that time-. He could as well have given up and relented from moving further and the price to pay would be a society of huts and lanterns in the 21^st century and beyond, up until another ‘Edison’ came along. Edison’s numerous failures were not a result of laziness or a lack of preparedness for as we can read from an excerpt culled from a Microsoft Encarta article on his life and work ethic:    

“Edison worked on his experiments with extraordinary intensity. He lived in his laboratory, getting along on four hours of sleep a day and eating meals brought to him by an assistant. He often kept vigils of 48 and even 72 hours when an experiment neared completion. Often, as in the cases of the electric light, the storage battery, and the experiments on synthetic rubber, success or failure depended on the discovery of a suitable material. In each case, he conducted thousands of experiments to find the right materials.
Before starting an experiment, Edison tried to read all the literature on the subject to avoid repeating experiments that other people had already conducted.” Perhaps the best illustration of Edison's working methods is his own famous statement: 'Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Accordingly a ‘genius’ is often merely a talented person who has done all of his homework.’

A Day with Thomas Edison

In 1922 filmmakers recorded a day in the life of American inventor Thomas Edison. From the first practical version of the lightbulb to systems for distributing electricity, Edison’s inventions quickly became essential to modern life. As seen in this film, he continued to work at his laboratories into his late 70s.

From the above we deduce and rightly so that Thomas Edison was rather a workaholic, he focused on his work so much that he spent little time with his family. He avoided most social situations, and often wore dirty shirts and shabby working clothes. Many of his associates also spoke of Edison’s virtues, however, such as good humor, even disposition, honesty, and genuine affection for his family.

Now we are left to wonder how a man with such work ethic -who seemed to at all time dot his I’s and cross his T’s- could have had as much failures as he did. Edison was always well researched and prepared for his experiments and work before he engaged in them. So we see, clearly, that failure was only a part of his preparation. In more than a few occasions they clearly paid off. I wouldn’t be wrong to say that if he had not failed severally he wouldn’t have succeeded once - so true- and I am sure he knew that and so he seemed to ‘enjoy’ it, though he hoped to change it (succeed).

We must learn to always be positive, because that same positivity is what we would breathe into all that we do and those around us: giving birth to hope, for ourselves and others. The message is not to love ‘failing’, but to use it as a stepping stone to greater success. To see every bad result as an opportunity to do better in the next try. To see every ‘No’ as an opportunity to ask again and get a ‘Yes’. To see every time we get knocked down and out as an opportunity to get right back-in and get victory in a rematch. To see every time we miss a target or goal as an opportunity to aim again and score a point... in whatever endeavour. Failure is a good enough reason to try again at succeeding. As a popular saying goes; nothing good comes easy and so we just have to try, try, and try again till we get it right. For the person we need to feel pity for is not the man who keeps on falling but the man who falls and never gets up.

Our motto should be; never back down regardless of what may, keep up the fight, stay in that race, with your eyes on the prize, for when you at the end brace the tape, all the sweat and tears shed on the way shall do nothing but make your victory priceless and your tale more sweet to the ear.

HOLD ON!!

Written by

Okoli Godson.

                                                        Thomas Edison