a cooking pot and twisted tales
Thoughts and Tales…A Lifestyle Blog with a Zing.
A happy Easter to you.
May the gentle spirit
And guiding steps
Of Jesus Christ,
Be a beacon in your life.
Let the love of his pure heart
And the wisdom of his words
Remain a light to your feet
And a lamp to your pathways.
May the Grace of God
from the deep and above
Rest upon you and yours,
Now and always.
Shalom!
♥
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Image credit: Pixabay
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Harmony can hardly be arrived at when we have constant internal turmoils stemming from grudges borne over something.
A whole lot of times grudges stem from expectations placed on someone and when it’s not met, we become resentful and store that in a corner of our minds and hearts. Even when we say that we’ve forgiven the person, we keep a long list of records of all the shortfalls.
If we minimized our expectations from others to almost nothing, that way we leave room for pleasant surprises and also save ourselves that feeling of being let down.
An instance is our personal relationships. A lot of relationships fail because we go into it with a long list of dos, don’ts and infernal expectations.
They are not GOD, but fallible humans!
This virtually applies to everything that we do. For instance you might have a nasty boss. Zero your mind down to the fact that he/she has issues that they are dealing with and they possibly don’t know how to be different.
Once your mind has accepted their contrary prickly nature, you go about your business as effectively as you can without letting the acid of annoyance and grudge build up inside you. Getting into differences with such people will only hurt you more, because the likelihood is that they may not understand, don’t care or are insensitive to your feelings.
Remember that you cannot change other people, but you can change yourself. Who knows, your balanced sense of self and disposition might actually serve as a source of inspiration for such people.
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
It’s been a real struggle trying to resist joining a whole lot of challenges that I see flying around the blogosphere.
They always sound absolutely interesting that a tiny voice in me keeps nudging me to do more. My reluctance stems from the real knowledge and fair idea what getting involved would mean in real-time for me. MORE OF MY TIME.
I honestly don’t know how not to give a 100% and over when I am doing something.
I like to be that dependable. When I do less, I gain no real satisfaction and feel as if I am slacking off and letting something down.
I know these are good ways of connecting with others as well as practicing new techniques especially since I advise people to push the boundaries of their comfort.
Ruminating over it, I said to myself, Jacqueline my dear girl, you can’t seem to resist the bait of A-Z and more. Maybe, you should just take a little nibble and shelve something else. Hmm! REAL tussle in the mind. So what do you think?
Now, to get to some real talk on this post of mine.
It’s really been occupying space in my mind of late and each day the question grows.
We writers write for refined, elevated and so many other reasons. A writer will primarily tell you that they write for the love of it and not for the money. Sometimes, it does seem to me that we fail to calculate the real worth of our writing simply because the words flow easily from our minds to the tips of our pens and my wondering is that there might be need for a paradigm shift in this sort of thinking.
When you think about it, that passion for writing that we have, is been paid for with our time and other odd jobs. Won’t it be lovely if we shed other odd jobs and earned decent Ka-ching from our blogging, writing efforts?
I love writing. I love arty things. It’s beyond a passion for me and it’s not an alternative. It’s a compulsory pull.
I am trying to make conscientious effort to explore honest means of earning real cash from my endeavours. That’s the bottom line and it doesn’t make me less a writer to want to earn from the sweat of my fingers.
To live the lifestyle that I want without being enslaved to anybody, it has to work.
My conscientious effort requires reading more, researching more, learning more, having the courage to jump out of the window and all that. All these things will take some real good chunk of my time. There are no hard and fast rules to them.
I am however convinced that with dogged determination, hitting some pay; I am not sure about the dirt part, will really sweeten the pot.
Well there it is. Thank you Linda for today’s prompt word ‘real.’ It’s made me to dwell a little bit more on an issue that’s been running around in my head.
©  Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
![1457166336574[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/1457166336574122111.jpg)
Today’s featured blogs are:
Go and don’t tell or go tell Do you keep quiet when you should be telling? It’s worth finding out.
Preventing social media from ruining your relationship It’s a fact that social media is affecting relationships, but there are ways to handle it if you are wise. Explore!
Ties that bind in Oba’s borrowed words  below…Hmm! I won’t say much. Find out yourself 🙂
The feeling of hurt and anger overwhelmed her as she responded to her husband.
I know he loves me,so why do I feel rejected by his not wanting to hold my hands?
We’ve forgotten how to be human: From Jill I quote below:
But for a time it seemed that we were on the path to becoming a kinder, more gentle society; a society that was trying to overcome prejudices and see others as different, but not inferior. But today that trend is reversing. Today we are regressing back to a society that views all who do not look, act, speak, and think like us as being somehow inferior. And that is just wrong.
What do I have to say about this read? Gosh! I think it’s a pamphlet every adult, parent, teacher, leader etc should read. Simple in it’s words, but teaches a thousand lessons.
Scuffle on the balcony : If you’ve been following this tale, you must be hooked by now. Mel always ends it on a cliff hanger that leaves you  looking for all the answers. My, my. Excellent writing.
I need these five items If you were stuck, what would you take with you?
Please visit their blogs and say hello. A few minutes may gain you a friendly support.
‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’
Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.
P.S. Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.
Thank you for your understanding and regards.
‘We create a cohesive community when we come together.’
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
![1458884358090[1]](https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/14588843580901.jpg)
The above quote can be likened to an ailing patient who buys all the drugs and keeps them locked in a cupboard for safe-keeping 
Of course, the patient will remain sick.
Change can only come about when it’s applied and not from wishful thinking.
Change is a deliberate decision, backed up with actions that over time and practice becomes a character trait.
Some are afraid of trying for change because of the fear of failure, which is a worse scenario.
It’s better to try and repeat over and over, than to sit in the same situation through a lifetime. What a waste that would be!
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
He was not fearless.
As a matter of fact
he was always filled with trepidation.
Yet he always found the courage
that galvanized his actions.
He walked into the burning house
and grabbed the little child.
He knew his soul would haunt him forever
if they burnt to death.
Never again he said to himself.
The memory of his mother
and his little brother
forever seared in his mind.
*****
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Fearless, The Daily Post
Image credit: Pixabay.com
Would you lend a hand
To help those hands
Hanging out of the pits
reaching for someone
anyone to help and give a tug.
*****
Would you lend an ear
to help listen to that sad soul
who needs a simple shoulder
just to lean for a bit.
narrow or broad, any shoulder would do.
*****
Would you lend a voice
to say no to violence
to help push a cause
that fosters human well-being
a common need for us all
*****
Would you lend a dime or two
to help a brother break some bread
for not everyone that you see that begs
is really a lazy never-do-well.
Some fell on real hard times
*****
Would you help to whisper a prayer
in the silent abode of your heart
for an ailing stranger
whom you know not
hoping that things will be for the best
*****
What would you do to help
those painful eyes
those limp, bruised arms
those hungry souls
those voiceless ones
*****
Would you silently help
or would you shift your eyes
pressing the phone aimlessly
in an attempt to appear busy.
and simply walk on by?
*******
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
Help. The Daily Post
Image: Pixabay.com
Today’s featured blogs are:
Soul Gifts Raili tells tales and I enjoy them. Her wit and views of life, stories, photos and poetry will delight you 🙂
Adventures of yesterday a short and sweet snippet that I enjoyed 🙂
Connect Sublime, peaceful, relaxing and smiling 🙂
Nicky’s day with autism a families journey with autism. I enjoy Nicky’s positive, hopeful and refreshing outlooks. It’s like looking into a candy store when I read her posts.
Light Calls In this magical Shayari land, will Sarn’s sixth sense save him from a horrific death as he plunges… Find out!
Please visit their blogs and say hello. A few minutes may gain you a friendly support.
‘Do you want more eyes on your words?’
Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.
P.S. Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.
Thank you for your understanding and regards.
‘We create a cohesive community when we come together.’
© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha
a cooking pot and twisted tales 