Midnight motivation and musings

Midnight Motivations and Musings # 97

Happiness[1]

It’s been said a billion times and yes I will say it again, ‘life is too short to live miserably,’ and at the end of this living what exactly would you have achieved if misery has been your only destination?

There’s never going to be one Eureka moment when happiness runs up to you at a bus-stop and clings to your pants legs with eagerness to become your life tenant.

Neither is it something that someone else can hand over to you. The people around you may help in stimulating your state of happiness, but they don’t owe you the responsibility of making you happy and as a matter of fact, handing someone the reins to your happiness is a big mistake that you can’t afford to make.

It’s an active emotion that must be pursued daily and requires your contribution. The state of being happy is not a one-size fit all recipe, and each person has to find their own mental and emotional state of well-being which exists not because everything in their life is perfect but because they appreciate and enjoy their imperfect moments.

No one should sit and wait for happiness to happen to them because the state of happiness is not a destination you arrive at, but a continuous journey of the mind.

Blessed be.

Jacqueline


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

From the very first poem, “Dreams,” this book captivates with passionate and perceptive words. Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha captures a broad expanse of the human experience in this book of richly layered poems.

Out of the silent breath

 

Everyday People

Repose…Every day beautiful people # 62

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it’s all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurelius

“Life is pretty much what we make of it and to finding peace and pause in the midst of a hectic day is the sweet spot.” Jacqueline

Resting_on_push_carts[1]

The weather has heated up quite a bit, but these men are able to find some repose on their push carts. The heat actually tends to make one feel a bit lethargic.


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

I have to say I’m in awe and spellbound by her poetry. She is amazing at describing love and life in her poems. She creates such beautiful images with her words. Truly, she is a talented writer and I’m so excited to have her poetry book and to continue reading through it.

Out of the silent breath

Uncategorized

Ramadan Kareem

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Wishing our Muslim friends a peaceful and reflective time as they begin their Ramadan fast.

May it be a period of reconciliation, understanding, growth, peace, forgiveness, and harmony.


Below is my first Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

Writer's Quote Wednesday

Flying Free…Writers quote Wednesday

“Free yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” Bob Marley

I totally love this quote taken from Marley’s song.

Birds

When I look up to the skies
and watch the way a bird flies
free from any inhibitions
that hinders its expeditions

I wonder if you and I
are free to fly that high,
or are we buckled down by precepts
handed over time to preempt?

True state of freedom, I find
lies in the state of mind.
For the one who seeks to be free
must learn first to master the mind.

Today’s prompt for writer’s quote Wednesday challenge is “freedom” and interestingly this is one theme that I’ve been thinking of throughout this week.

Freedom to be. Can we truly experience freedom in entirety as a human race? Freedom to be you without the silent permission of others?

I doubt it. Society can’t exist without rules. Freedom comes at the price of having responsibility and most people don’t like responsibility.

However, I cherish the freedom to pursue my passion one word at a time. The freedom of etching my words can’t be taken away from me.

P.S. You are invited to our monthly blog party this weekend. It’s fun and you get to meet fantastic folks:-)


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

May I live,

unafraid to breathe.

Free from a choke-hold,

that becomes a stronghold.

May I live,

unafraid to live,

clinging to my expectations,

with feral desperation.

*

*excerpts from my poem*

Gratitude

The speed of time…

Fast

We draw to the close of May so fast that I’m left gasping to catch my breath.

Yesterday  was just December, and now we are done with the 1st quarter of the year, with some water gone under the bridge and quite some notable celebrities have crossed over to the other side.

Today, my thoughts have been on a reminiscent drift. It’s three years today that my dad passed on and I find myself replaying a lot of scenes of the past in my mind. Not in a bad way but in a bitter-sweet way.

I find myself filled with peace.  Peace for having known him as my father.

I’ve not achieved all that I set out for myself for this quarter. I’ve been slow, but I’m thankful for the much that I’ve done.

I’m grateful for the Grace and Favour received each day, to wake and see the rising Sun and pursue my dreams. To drink my warm cup of beverage and hope for tomorrow. I’m grateful.

There’s always something to be grateful for. You canYou can join Colline’s  or Maria Jansson gratitude challenge platforms.

P.S. You are invited to our monthly blog party this weekend. It’s fun and you get to meet fantastic folks 🙂


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

When his face is sought with such fervent endeavour

huge burdens become less of a pressure

for he adorns us with unquantified favour

which takes us up to a higher measure.

 

Everyday People

Peace! Every day beautiful people # 50

“Don’t let people pull you into their storm. Pull them into your peace.” Kimberley Jones

Peace[1]

The ladies in the photograph hold their fingers up in the sign of peace.

Peace! We all crave it. We all cherish it. Yet it seems that in today’s political climate, peace is far from what a whole lot of people are currently experiencing.

May we have peace.


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

I hear you in my thoughts…

Your words of wisdom,

of love and encouragement…

They are etched upon my soul.

They keep me warm.

**

*an excerpt from my poem*

Personal · The Daily Post · Writing

My Writing and me…Personal

Like most humans, I’m multi-layered like an onion and beneath each layer is a different facet of me, but the thing is that every part of me is held by one thing and that’s my writing.Writing_beauty[1]

My restless spirit finds peace and rest through my fingers. My thoughts are better articulated, processed and understood and my pain is dealt with through the words that pour into my soul.

Writing fuels my creativity. Writing is a stabilizer for me and is a compulsion that I am drawn to on a daily basis. As melodramatic as this might sound, writing surpasses a desire but becomes a self-expressing way of being.

You can very well say that writing is my raison d’être and that’s the truth.

I am a better human, a kinder person due to writing. It takes stress off me. Nothing else under the surface of Earth brings me the cathartic satisfaction that writing gives to me. Nothing!

I am a better wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, lover, thinker, neighbour, teacher…. all due to writing. It took a while to correlate my periodical crankiness and my writing. When my spoken expression is at sudden loss, my fingers don’t fail me and I always feel out of sorts as if something is seriously wrong when I don’t write. It gives me pause to appreciate the beauty of life and all that surrounds me.

I have oscillated from different things over time, but my scribbles remain a constant which goes way back to as long as my conscious mind can remember. I fell in love with words at a very early age and that love keeps going strong and I daresay that if you are a writer, you need no one to tell you.

Encapsulating it, writing is a love of my life that no one can take away from me. A sacred place that gives me enough reason to hope, a sense of purpose and the audacity to dream vividly.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Raison d’être, The Daily Post Prompt


Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

Dance to your heart’s delight my African child, until echoes of your stamping feet, beating heart; bright eyes, smiling lips; and waving hands, resonates over and over like thunder claps, reverberating throughout the Universe.

Just dance.

Hope · Humans

Everyday Beautiful People #4…

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”  Carl Sagan

1459441840886[1]#We are all wonderfully made.

Devotions · Health · Hope · Quotes For You

The Strength In These Quotes…

For obvious reasons, there are so many biblical quotes that I hold very dear to heart and return to almost on a daily basis. They give me assurance, comfort, courage and strength. Some of them are: 1453908944212[1]

Fear not for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.’ Isaiah 43:1

‘All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose’ Rom 8:28

‘Commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish your plans.’ Proverbs 16:3

‘I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in Him I will trust.’ Psalm 91.2

When I am in doubt, worried, going through some rough patches and all that, I turn to my Bible and Psalms. I hum the words to myself until I feel calmness in my Spirit.

I honestly can’t begin to interpret what these words hold and mean to me.

All I can say is that in the sea of life’s turbulence, The Lord is my Hiding Place, for I know that the plans he has for me are for my good and not harm. To give me hope and a future.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

The Daily Post Quote me.

Do you have a favorite quote that you return to again and again? What is it, and why does it move you?

A link to my neighbours/Community · Devotions · Hope · Love · Photographs · Poetry/Poems

To You and Yours…

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