Was I Truly Guilty Or Is It My Mind?…

December 1, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha18 Comments

There are moments in life that I look back on and wished that it could have turned out differently and this is one of those guilty moments: a letter to the young man that died.

However, with the realization that the past is where it belongs, one can only strive to a brighter present.

I have managed to get above and beyond these feelings by first and foremost, conscientiously working hard at forgiving myself for something that was beyond of my control.

At times, no amount of penance can get rid of the burden of sadness that weighs down on my mind when I ponder on some of the guilt-ridden episodes in my life but the amazing thing is that I have found that the more I reach up and look up to the sky, the less burdened I become.

Through Grace and Mercy which are not of my own will, but by succumbing to faith, hope, prayers, I can actually say, that I have the peace of The Lord which surpasses even my own understanding and that the haunting has ceased.

”My Grace is sufficient for you; for my Power is made perfect in weakness: 2 Cor: 12:9.”

The Daily Post prompt The Guilt That Haunts Me.

Share a time when you were overcome with guilt. What were the circumstances? How did you overcome you guilt?

Creative Writing · Life · Photographs · Poetry/Poems · The Daily Post

The Transitions Of A Neighbourhood…

November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

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The cycles of a neighbourhood,

Are the same, even in Hollywood,

And I daresay, also Bollywood.

Dawn to dusk, Year after Year,

We break our backs with wear and tear,

As we aim to make it good.

The Daily Post Photo Challenge prompt Transitions.

Blogging · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Inspiration - Motivation · Musings · Success · The Daily Post · Writing

Yippee! It’s Over Now…singing a song

November 30, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha63 Comments

Tra la la la! Yippee!

I did it, Oh yes I did it!

I am doing a jig and a boogie-woogie at the same time 😉

I managed to finish the NaBloPoMo with a flourish.

Not a prompt missed.

Honestly, there were some mornings that I woke up and wanted to play truant, but the little effervescent encouraging voice in me kept prodding me to try, and this was in fierce contest with the little imp of discouragement that kept saying ”come on, just a day’s kicking back won’t hurt.”

It seriously, wasn’t easy trying to do this, coupled with other posts that I usually make, in essence, each day, I was posting 3 to 4 original articles per day.

Some of the prompts were fly by the seat of your pants prompt like The Daily Post; I love participating in The Daily Post because you just never know what the prompt is going to be all about, so it helps my thinking quickly on my feet.

Somethings did suffer a bit with all these writing and the very first one was my butt. This is my little ditty about a writers flat butt.

The second thing that took the flake was my book. Instead of a thousand words a day, I was limping in at 500 words.

Each night, by the time I read two paragraphs of the John Grisham that I am currently reading, I am out cold and I bet I was snoring too – mind you we ladies don’t snore, we just make delicate noises.

My hubby is too nice to tell me that I am snoring. He knows the side that his bread is buttered on *wink* if he wants his nice hot meals 🙂

Now to celebrate, I am just going to kick back for a couple of days; I will still post each day as usual; but not with the rabid intention of the past few days.

Where is my Irish cream and some deep tissue massage?

Hmm! I feel the relaxation coming on before the next upheaval.

Thank you for staying with me my dear friends and for all your beautiful support.

To persevere and to finish is really a good feeling 🙂

NaBloPoMo prompt – Monday, November 30

What do you like to do to celebrate an accomplishment?

Blogging · Inspiration - Motivation · The Daily Post · Writing

It’s A Consuming Art…

November 29, 2015November 29, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha27 Comments

Until I started blogging, I didn’t realize that not only is it an art, it could also be an intense affair which gets a bit addictive, most especially if a blogger is striving for excellence in content and building connections.

It is also a slow burning, time consuming venture. You’ ve simply got to love writing, learn how to organise thoughts, have a schedule, set sensible goals in order to make it less stringent as well as interesting.

It is easy for a blogger to burn-out if the balance becomes badly skewed heavily to work and just more work. Once it becomes tedium, it loses its appeal, so striking a balance between fun and professionalism is also taken into account.

I am still learning the ropes as I go and making the rules that work well with my circumstances.

There are days my brain cells feel as if they are getting fried from all the original content writing, connecting and browsing other blogs, coupled with the rest of my life’s exigencies.

I notice my stress when I start feeling my shoulders bunch up, which is my main stress point and once I feel that way, it is time to de-stress.

It is time to take a step back and relax. I let the phone and the rest of my paraphernalia lie fallow for several hours and do something different to detox my brain.

An act as simple as a leisurely walk, singing off key to favourites, going to the cinema, watching a comedy that makes you laugh until tears roll down my eyes, spending time faffing around with the kids, going to a spot to people watch, can go a long way in recharging my batteries, then I get back into it with gusto.

One smart blogging practice that I started, which I have found very helpful is that on the days that I feel up to it , at least once a week, I work flat out for hours, producing rough draft’s of different post’s. I go with my feel of the moment. It could be a poem, a story, a haiku, a thought, an inspirational post, prayer…

On days that the energy is flagging or inspiration is not kicking in as usual, those drafts come in very handy and I borrow from there.

This further reduces the hours spent staring at the shiny box, leaving you with more time to just be.

The Daily Post Bloggers Unplugged

Sometimes, we all need a break from these little glowing boxes. How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

Family · Life · Love · Musings · Quotes For You · The Daily Post

It Got Stuck On My Hips…

November 28, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha46 Comments

Believe me when I tell you that I ate so much humble pie in the earlier years of my marriage, that it’s not a surprise I got a bit more ample and humble over time.

There were so many instances, that I cannot even begin to recount.

At the start of married life, I assumed that my husband was an Almighty Druid who should be able to read my mind; this was regardless of the 6 months compulsory per-marital counseling classes that we were made to attend.

I think that my mind was doodling wedding gowns in the clouds and what not, when they talked about that communication part.

Well, after the lovely wedding and the romantic honeymoon, we got into the real deal. I had never lived with a man prior to that time, I had never had a husband, so it was trial by error 😉

I see things in brilliant and different hues of colours and my husband sees them in grays and black, so, I learnt that men are truly from a different planet; maybe Mars like they said and women in a World of their own. Though I can say that some of my colours are beginning to rub off on him 😉

After several erroneous assumptions, mostly on my part, and several courses of eating humble I-am-sorry pies, I had to re-calibrate as I realized that:

No, my husband is not a mind reader, though it seems that years of being together are now turning him into one.

No, he is not a druid but, like in the first instance, some magic is happening now.

I realized that in order to make it work, our communication had to get better than my sitting on my high horse with my nose stuck up in the air, expecting him to know those things that lay within my heart and mind, and I daresay that after 15 years, I think we are getting somethings right, since we even finish each others sentences these days 🙂

Now, it’s time to shed the pounds of the humble-over-the- years pies that got stuck on my hips.

The Daily Post Humble Pie

Tell us about a time you found out after the fact that you’d been mistaken and you had to eat a serving of humble pie.

Image credit – pinterest

Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Life · Little rants · The Daily Post

If Only They Knew…

November 27, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha23 Comments

It’s a given that the most beautiful humans that I see once I wake up each morning are my family.

My dear Himself – if he is not out of town and our lovely blessings – The children. They are never far from me. Hmm, come to think of it, it seems a selfie holiday is loooong overdue; though I doubt if that vacation will be as much fun without them.

Without doubts, I love them very much and I refer to them as ”ndi nkem, nji eme onu” in my native language which means, ”my very own that I am proud of. My jewels of inestimable value.

However, they are not the ones that I want to talk briefly about right away.

The ones that I want to discuss lightly are those strangers that cross my path of life on this strip.

Most mornings, after my folks, the next batch of people I always run into are the friendly porters who I think are from Pakistan and Philippines and because these ones have been friendly, I have not yet cast them as villains in any of my short stories, just Mr. PT who I turned into a nice portly porter in a short series that I am writing.

They are followed by other folks from wherever, whom I meet sometimes in the lift, on the walkway, if I am taking a brisk morning stroll or at the children’s school and so on.

They consist of proud Emiratis and Saudi Arabians, the fair Russians, the Ugandans, the Ethiopians, lots of Indians, more Filipinos and Pakistanis and others that I am yet to discover where they are from.

Sometimes they reward you with a mere upturn of their lips in a forced smile (usually from the more western ones) and a lot of times with a glare of a look.

There are two particular fellows I love to cast as villains in my mind.

I meet them mostly at the neighbourhood gym where they hog the machines like cyborgs and get so annoying with their showing off exercising skill – my green jealous eye is wiggling here.

Hear me out, one of them sweats over the machines and does not bother to wipe it down after use. Urrgh!

The other one runs on the thread mill at an unbelievable speed and his heavy footing makes so much noise, that I can virtually see the tongue of the poor machine hanging out as it pants in exhaustion while holding on to dear life.

Thankfully, I tune them out with my headphones and just enjoy turning them into imps and ogres in my mind.

I am still searching for the character to cast as a shiny hero that will slay their monstrous behaviour and turn them into pumpkins.

The Daily Post The Luckiest People

Who was the first person you encountered today? Write about him or her.

Family · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Inspiration - Motivation · Personal story · The Daily Post · Tips for the day · Weave that Dream · Writing

If I Teach You Something, Will You Reciprocate?…

November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha21 Comments

There are things that I do often and quite enjoy doing. A lot of these things are physical and some are not.

I cook every day to keep myself and my family well nourished. One of the dishes that features in most West African homes is Jollof Rice. Maybe, some day, I will share the secrets of Jollof with you 🙂

I dance a lot too. Not the gymnastic, acrobatic tumbling all over the place, but I dance virtually everyday to the tunes of my music of the moment. However, I guess except I turn to you-tubing, I may not be able to teach you much about my dancing.

I write ever so often. I don’t bother tallying the amount of time that I spend penning something because writing to me is akin to breathing, laughing, reflecting and crying through my fingers.

I have been known to write on serviettes or tiny bits of receipts to catch that fleeting thought – and you need to see me on the days that I am scrambling through my bag trying to find that little piece of tissue on which I wrote something 😉

I actively search out ways to maintain a balance of my inner peace of mind in a chaotic life.

I am not a religious fanatic, but I am unapologetically a Christian.

At most times, I am a peaceful, humorous, friendly, loving and hopefully a kind human.

Let me share with you the little things that I do to create peace within and around. Maybe, we share somethings in common:

I dwell on positive thoughts – even if it is just one thought that I meditate on each day.

Walking or finding an hour to exercise either very early or much later in the day. It clears the cobwebs in the head and helps my health as well as the waist line 😉

Those thoughts that bug me, I write them down and them take time to tear the piece of paper into bits. Its a way of releasing and letting go for me.

Sometimes, wacky it may seem, I go into the bathroom, face the mirror and just speak my mind, make faces …

I say my mind if someone has hurt me and I move on. I let go of grudges as quickly as before I go to sleep.

I am always quick to apologize if need be. No need aggravating and dragging an issue that can be quickly nipped in the bud.

I doodle, draw and reflect as I draw. The doodle in the picture was my last work done two days ago.

Writing happy stuff.

Searching out amusing things to read or watch and laughing out real loud. I like people who can make me laugh.

Having a date with myself at least once a week. It could be going to the park, spa, museum or as simple as a cafe alone.

Rest when I am tired (still working on this though, because sometimes other events overtake my intentions).

Honesty is a key in life that I don’t compromise on and practice. Especially in my relationships.

Talking to people and not just family and friends. Total strangers too.

Minimized drastically the amount of time spent watching TV.

Keeping away as much as possible from negative and toxic conversations.

Working consistently towards my passion and financial goals.

Avoiding the spirit of envy and jealousy as much as possible and giving myself a hard telling off once I see the green eyed monster rearing it’s ugly head.

Accept those things that cannot change and leave bad memories in the past where they belong.

Learning to be more patient and tolerant with family, friends and everyone else.

Trying to focus my mind on what needs to be achieved at the moment and living in the moment and keeping it as simple as possible.

These things translate to my inner peace which leads to external peace. What one does not have they cannot give.

So what will you teach me today? I am listening 🙂

The Daily Post prompt Teach your bloggers well.

We all know how to do something well — write a post that teaches readers how to do something you know and/or love to do.

Hope · Inspiration - Motivation · Life · Musings · Personal story · The Daily Post

LET GO OF THAT POISON!…

November 25, 2015November 26, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

Have you ever had a mill stone tied around your neck? No? You are not sure? Well, unforgiveness is a mill stone!

Bearing grudges does not only feel like the weight of an albatross sitting on your neck, it is giving free rental space in the hardware of ones brain to issues better tossed out.

Forgiveness frees your heart and mind in ways that are beyond measure.

I forgive, not even for the sake of the person who has offended me, but to set myself free.

You forgive for your own sake, because not forgiving is called slow poison.

This poison taints your heart, taints your mind, taints your life and it is a hindrance to the fullness of your joy because it will always remain a dark shadow and an acid leaching away at the insides of the unburdened.

It is a given that somethings may happen to us that makes us feel as if we can never get past it to the level of forgiveness, but indeed we can, when we seek the grace, even if we don’t forget the incident because it is difficult to delete certain memories that have become ingrained in our memory banks.

However, our minds are very resilient and will fight for us if we give it the chance to. Sometimes, if I am mad at someone and they are within reach, I simply unburden my grudge and move on. It is not worth nights of lost sleep. Not one bit.

I speak deeply from painful life experiences that I thought would make me cynical, embittered and an unforgiving soul.

…But love set me free! I had to actively seek peace, forgive and let go for me to be free indeed. It was so bad at a point that I secretly wished every imaginable ill on Earth on the offender and when I say that it took the serenity and the divine grace of God to expunge my bitterness, I don’t mince my words.

When I accepted those words ”daughter you are loosed” over my life, my joy burst through that no dam could contain it. Now all I feel is pity! Maybe, one day, I shall speak of these things.

It took learning to realize that even though forgiveness does not excuse a behaviour, it prevents that behaviour from destroying one’s heart.

Forgiving was unlocking the door to set a captive free and that captive was me.

Not forgiving meant empowering the enemy some more and remaining a victim.

The Daily Post prompt I Can’t Stay Mad At You.

Do you hold grudges or do you believe in forgive and forget?

Creative Writing · Fiction · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · The Daily Post · writing ideas

Wowee! This Party is Hopping!…

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha30 Comments

Your delightful presence would be most welcome to a cosy dinner party that I am hosting.

You know how I love to liven things up and I can assure you that you will have a most relaxing and delicious experience.

I wouldn’t want to let too much cat out of the bag but I want to titillate your senses just a wee bit.

An exquisite and sumptuous banquet from top culinary artists will be laid out to feast on.

We would have the most entertaining dinner guests of the past few centuries, in the names of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Ernest Hemingway, Leonardo Da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Mozart, Chinua Achebe and James Brown.

Da Vinci will be seated between Jane and Charlotte where he will spend the evening admiring their profiles and twiddling his thumbs in earnest desire to cast them into esteemed timeless art pieces like the Mona Lisa.

Shakespeare will be at one side of Jane where he will whisper naughty poetic nonsense to her and Jane will definitely reply him with Pride but without Prejudice.

James will ensconce himself beside Charlotte as well and listen to her tales of Jane Eyre and her enduring love for Rochester. He will do a little footwork under the table to her blushing chagrin and admiration.

Mozart will keep us entertained with his sublime piano concertos and intermittently, Ernest would recite his poetry’s that will make us feel intelligent and at peace.

Respected Achebe would recline in deep appreciation of his company while penning ‘So Long a letter’ to his pal Mariama Ba about how things seem to be coming together at my dinner party (and not falling apart like in his book ‘Things Fall Apart).

He would also emphasize on the fact that under my auspices, every one is now at ease and also not like in his novel ‘No Longer at Ease’ which had been written after a rather poor dinner outing with the Westerns 😉

RSVP as quickly as possible and do tell me you would grace us with your presence.

The Daily Post prompt Seat Guru

You get to plan a dinner party for 4-8 of your favorite writers/artists/musicians/other notable figures, whether dead or alive. Who do you seat next to whom in order to inspire the most fun evening?

Image credit: Zazzle.com

Creative Writing · Humor - Bellyful of laughter · Love · Musings · The Daily Post · Writing

To A Dear Friend…

November 23, 2015 jacquelineobyikocha13 Comments

My dear best friend,

How ever could I have survived without you? I am sure that you are wondering that after all these years, I finally acknowledge the importance of your friendship above that of all those who have blood flowing in their veins.

You are inanimate, yet you stand strong. You neither disdain nor discard me. Always supportive with your constant non-judgmental ear and never have you tittle-tattled behind my back even when I have treated you so badly, crumpled you in annoyance and tossed you aside in utter disgust in moments of emotional turbulence. You are so trustworthy.

Each time you still accept my pick-ups without a word of complaint, soaking in the outpouring of my thoughts until I am drained and sated.

I know that sometimes you must be confused with all the different voices that races through your domain; the flighty, flirty and glamourous, the happy and sad, the joyful and sorrowful, the excited and dreary, the calm and crazy, the contented and disgruntled, the sexy and boring, the discombobulated and all the weirdos that I bring along.

You have caught my tears, held my laughter, my sighs and wishful thoughts. You have stoically shared my struggles, troubles and triumphs and only offered succour by serving up reminders of beautiful days past and a glimpse of finer days ahead.

What can I say dear best friend but thank you.

I sincerely appreciate you my dearest diary for keeping me sane all these years.

You and chocolate have been wonderful companions of mine over the years. Bearing my torture and sating my taste buds, you are truly the best team a girl can ask for.

Yours truly,

Your sometimes awesome, fabulous and crabby owner,

Jacqueline.

The Daily Post prompt Literate Today

Someone or something you can’t communicate with through writing (a baby, a pet, an object) can understand every single word you write today, for one day only. What do you tell them?

Image credit: Pinterest