Author: jacquelineobyikocha

A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, an eager mind and a burning desire to carve out tales. As I journey with my muse to that land of all possibilities and self discovery, I hope my personal evolution will serve as a beacon of inspiration for anyone who chooses to stop by.
Personal · This Is My Life

Where Did My Easter Eggs Go?

jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

Easter Bunny, Christian celebrations, Childhood, Christianity, Living in the Middle East

Easter came and sidled past like any other day – not like the Easters of my yesteryears. As much as I try to recreate and inculcate some of these joyous traditions for my children, I sometimes feel defeated by the lack of that communal warmth, excitement and feel of such seasons because we live in a place where most Christian celebrations aren’t much of a thing, and as a matter of fact, they mostly happen to be work days as well. I guess it’s one of the sacrifices that come with living in a cosmopolitan city where most times feel you invisible, overwhelmed and lost in the frantic lifestyle.

Sometimes, I question myself about the choices that we have made migrating and I silently wonder where the road will eventually lead. I guess as a parent most of us want to pass on the wonderful experiences of our childhood to our children and this is one of the times that I feel as if I suck as a parent ‘cos I just don’t think that I’m doing enough to create those beautiful memories that they can hold on to and possibly pass on to their progeny.  I hope you had a lovely Easter break.

Parenting · The Daily Post

When The Sun Is Sinking Low…

jacquelineobyikocha25 Comments

Daddy always said ‘rise with the Sun so that you set the tone of your day,’ and throughout my growing up years, like clockwork, we rose way before the Sun.

Sunrise, Sunset, Days of our Lives, Our loved ones, Reflection, Life, Parenting, Love

Today the most important things I inherited from my dad are the ethics, the values, the wise words, the memories and the parenting influence that he had on my life.

Ever so often, a saying of his will echo in my mind and I feel suffused with the warmth of his presence albeit through his words.

As a child, I truly had no deep understanding of losing loved ones’ – not sure that I still do – and like the sunrise and sunsets of my young days, I felt that those that mattered most would always be there.

Well, I am deadly wrong. I think that life is so unfair to take away those we love and yearn for, on the other hand, I am deeply thankful that I had the opportunity to know such love.

Knowing what I know now, the glorious rise of each Sun, reminds me that I’m alive, that I must embrace the day and that there’s no time to waste in looking back at yesterday. By the time the sun sinks low, I’m reminded to leave every form of acrimony and as much as is humanly possible to end my day with a cleansed mind.

Below is a little tune from me. Excuse the croaky voice 😉

Oh I often sit and ponder
when the sun is sinking low

where shall yonder future find me
only God in heaven knows

shall I be amongst the living
shall I mingle with the free

wheresoever my path may lead me
Saviour keep my heart with thee

Oh the future lies before me
and I know not where I’ll be

wheresover my path may lead me
Saviour keep my heart with thee

©

Jacqueline

The Daily Post: Rise and Set

 

Quotes For You

In A Nutshell…

jacquelineobyikocha7 Comments

Thinking, Reflection, Sunset

Your thoughts just don’t happen to you. Your thoughts are made to happen to you by you. Your thoughts emanate from what you dwell on.

Poetry/Poems

Lines of Time…

jacquelineobyikocha3 Comments

old, beautiful, aging, life cycle

With each engraved wrinkle

that time etched on

she lost her youthful looks

but never her twinkle.

≡

Her beauty’s matured

as her heart’s nurtured

the canvas of lines of time

stories of a precious lifetime.

 

Our beauty stays with us irrespective of how old and wrinkled we become. We only become a much more beautiful and limited edition 😉

Poetry/Poems · The Daily Post

The Little Flame..

jacquelineobyikocha10 Comments

The Fire within, Anger, Poetry, Rage, Minor and Major, Burning

 

Our silence sufficed. We thought that

if we didn’t talk about those micro things

that made us uncomfortable,

they would disappear.

 

So, we walked the fringes of invisibility.

Hiding our thoughts from fear and shame

hoping that no one notices

the tears running down our face.

 

Our silence became brooding anger.

Micro things became macro things

and in the fringe of invisibility, we plotted;

fueled by the stokes of little flames.

©

Jacqueline

An Igbo proverb says, ‘when we overlook the small pot, it puts off the fire.’ Never underestimate the little things, for they can become the big things.

The Daily Post – micro

 

Life · Lifestyle

Making Important Decisions About The Future

jacquelineobyikocha5 Comments

We all get to a certain point in our lives where big decisions need to be made. You need to start thinking about the future, about the next steps you want to take and the actions in which you want from your life. But, what would you class as an important decision for your life? What would impact your life the most? I wanted to share with you some of the scenarios that would be classed as an important decision, perhaps you can relate to some of them yourself.

Happiness, Future Decisions, Lifestyle,

Image source

Deciding on your career

A big decision to make when it comes to your future is to decide on your career. Many people make this decision fresh out of school and it can actually be quite a difficult one to make. After all, how do we know what we might want to do for the rest of our lives at that age? Thankfully, people make this decision many times over, and career changes are often on the cards and can sometimes suit you better later on in life. If a career change is on the cards for you, don’t worry too much, just go with what your gut is telling you.

Getting engaged

Getting engaged is an exciting time for anyone. It is a great way to show commitment to the one you love, and sharing your engagement rings can be a great way to feel united as one. Planning a wedding, on the other hand, can be tricky, but it certainly can be a memorable experience. The engagement itself can be a big decision though, it might be something that takes you by surprise or something that you have planned.

Getting married

Which brings me nicely on to my next point the decision to actually get married. Getting engaged doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to get married. You can actually stay engaged. But getting married is a big decision for the future, you need to decide if you do it and how you go about it. Certainly, this is a lot to think about.

Having a baby

Often when you have been with someone for a while, or have gotten married the questions about starting a family starts to become a regular occurrence. However, it is actually a big decision to make in terms of the future, so it is something that you must think about. As well as deciding you want to, in many cases, it doesn’t always happen straight away for some, and it certainly can be an a optional rollercoaster to embark on.

Jumping on the property ladder

Finally, one less major life change, but an important decision anyway is to consider getting on the property ladder. It can be a great way to set yourself up financially for the future, as property tends to increase in value over time. Many people do this to ensure that they have some form of stability in their retirement years.

I hope that this helps you to become more aware of some of the big life decisions you need to make.

This is a collaborative post.
Inspiration - Motivation · My Thinking Corner

Tuesday Thoughts…

jacquelineobyikocha11 Comments

You have the power to change your life for the better. You have the power to get it right and to achieve your desired results. Take 100% responsibility for everything in your life.

Faith, Inner Strength, Faith Quotes

You create, you promote and you allow everything that happens to you every day and even when they happen indirectly from others, your response to them is your responsibility.

You attract the appreciation, love, success and abundance that you deserve.

Stay inspired. Keep pushing. You can do it. Just believe.

Blog · Blogging

100 AMAZING SITES WITH FREE STOCK PHOTOS

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Free Stock, Free Images, Photo, Public Domain, Image Directory

Without any doubt, images make your blog posts stand out. They act as eye candy and are an important part of design and professionalism.

If you often use images for your creative works, it’s important to bookmark a handy list of your go-to websites where you can find images that are absolutely free.

I literally cringe when I see bloggers slapping on photos or images with copyright and watermark credits stamped all over an article that they’ve taken time to craft. It looks sloppy and simply shows lack of professionalism.

Using copyrighted images is not the ideal solution. Such practice could expose you to issues of copyright infringement. To be honest, before I knew better, I made the same mistakes, but the good thing about information is that when you know better, you do better.

Online, there are millions of free images that don’t need accreditation, and one could equally create their own images through photography or by using creative solutions like Canva, PicMonkey, Powerpoint, Font Studios, Pic Art etc.

However, there comes a time when we are searching for something specific to buttress our message and when we don’t have a suitable one in our photo bank, we resort to other sources.

Quick Note About Licenses

Free Images, Free Stock, Free Images, Photo, Public Domain, Image Directory, Copyright, Infringement, Legal Restrictions,

Most of the images in this list are free from restrictions or licensed under creative commons public domain. It means is that copy, modify, share, use for commercial purposes – without permission.

However, some of these photos may need attribution and the best advice is to take a few minutes to check the restrictions of an image before using. If in doubt, contact the author of the site and even when attribution is not required, it’s always a nice thing to do.

100 Amazing Sites With Free Stock Photos

  1. A Digital Dreamer
  2. All The Free Stock
  3. Ancestry Images
  4. Barn images
  5. Big Foto
  6. Boss Fight
  7. Bucketlistly
  8. Budget stock photo
  9. Burst
  10. Cepolina
  11. Clker
  12. Creative Convex
  13. Crow the Stone
  14. Cupcake
  15. Death To The Stock Photo
  16. Designers Pic
  17. Dreamstime
  18. Epicantus

100 Amazing Sites With Free Stock Photos – The Art of Beautiful Expressions

Success · Writing

3 Things You Should Say No To While Writing

jacquelineobyikocha7 Comments

Struggling with your challenging essays and dream to become a successful student? Academic writing is not easy but the truth is that your success in college mostly depends on how well you can write academically. Unfortunately, we are not born good writers. If you want to improve your writing skills, you must work hard and be ready to make sacrifices. There are things you need to give up to succeed in your class.

Student, Studying, Writing

image credit

Learn to Prioritize

College is really fantastic and the most memorable time for everyone but it’s a great challenge as well. How can find enough time for studies and having fun with your friends? It’s really hard to get down to work and write your essay when there are always a lot of people around you and every day could be an exciting party if only you wanted to. Socializing is great but you should remember that you are in college to study and gain new experiences necessary for your future career. You should learn to say no to going parties and hanging out with your friends when you have homework to do.

Devote Your Time to Writing

No one can expect you to become a confident writer in a few days. You should plan your time ahead and work every day. If you work consistently, your skills will improve and you will write better. Besides, academic essays are complicated projects and require a lot of planning, doing research, outlining, writing, revising, editing, and proofreading. So, you should say no to laziness and procrastination when you have several papers to complete.

Many students cannot resist the temptation to procrastinate and waste a lot of time instead of working hard on their assignments. Sometimes, they remember about their essays on the nights they are due. Luckily, they can always get fast and cheap help online.

You just have to find the best cheap essay writing service and ask: “Write my assignment for me!” If you are lucky to find a reliable custom writing service, you will be able to sign with relief even if you have to submit your paper tomorrow morning. Experienced writers work fast. So if you decide to buy cheap papers as a way out of a messy situation, make sure you deal with an essay writing company with a good reputation that has experienced writers on the staff.

Give Up Unhealthy Choices

We all know that junk food can be tasty. It can be enjoyable to play video games the whole night instead of going to bed early. It’s hard to exercise regularly instead of watching an exciting TV series. But when you live an unhealthy lifestyle, you may end up being burned out and it’s impossible to study hard if you don’t feel well.

So if you want to achieve more in your studies, you should consistently make healthy choices. Join the gym, eat right, go for walks, and get enough sleep every night. Adopting a healthy lifestyle will help you stay more productive and achieve success.

This is a collaborative post.
Health · Self Help · Wellness

Dealing With Chronic Pain? You’re Not Alone

jacquelineobyikocha3 Comments
Chronic Pain, Ailment, Lego Pain, Support Groups
Flickr Picture

According to a recent report, 11 percent of people suffer from chronic pain. Chronic pain can impact a number of areas across the body, but it is typically common in the back and limbs. If you have RSI, you might have chronic pain in your wrists and arms. Whereas, individuals who have suffered an injury after lifting a heavy object may experience chronic pain in the lower back.

It is important to be aware that chronic pain can grow worse as time goes on. You might think that the issue remains constant, but this is not the case. It can also lead to further complications such as arthritis and difficulty with mobility.

Can Chronic Pain Be Cured?

It depends on the type of chronic pain that you are suffering from. Some chronic pain can be fixed with surgery. However, this can be both expensive and intensive. It can also be a coin toss as to whether or not the surgery actually has a positive effect. If you are thinking about getting surgery to deal with your chronic pain, you should consult your doctor. Make sure that you are aware of the possible side effects and issues that can be apparent even after the surgery is complete.

If your chronic pain can’t be cured, there’s still a good chance that it can be alleviated or indeed reduced. There are numerous studies exploring this possibility and researchers have seen good results with aqua therapy. Particularly, for patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Doctors may also recommend medication but this can be a slippery slope, and it’s easy to become dependant on the meds that they recommend.

How Does It Impact Your Life?

People with chronic pain may struggle to maintain their career because of an inability to concentrate on a job or task. For instance, people suffering from RSI will have difficulty completing typography work. This is an issue as typically the condition is caused by jobs that involve typing. As such, you could suddenly be unable to complete a job that you are trained for. It’s for this reason that people often find that chronic pain can impact their income dramatically.

That’s why you should think about the cause of your chronic pain. It’s possible that the pain was due to an accident that wasn’t your fault such as a work-related injury. If it was due to another’s negligence, you could be entitled to a large settlement that will help you in the future. Don’t forget, people with chronic pain often have large medical bills to pay.

Coping With Your Condition

If you are suffering from chronic pain and you are struggling to cope, a support group could be the answer. There are various support groups online for people who are struggling with the same issues as you. By talking to them, you can get coping mechanisms from people who have first-hand experience of your condition.

We hope this helps you deal with your own chronic pain and some of the life challenges that may come with it.   

 This is a collaborative post.