I saw this on my way home from work today and knew I had to share it. My dad used to tell me that every day is the same but what we put in a day is what makes it different. The political landscape of our country has changed today and this is as a result of decisions we all made.
What have you invested in today?
Only you can create your future.
Happy Weekend everyone!
Much love, always!!
(Extremism is like a cancer, eating deep into our freedom…)
As a lover of peace, freedom, and justice, I am appalled and sickened by the continuous senseless attack on innocent people by Islamist Extremism. Enough is enough! This evil must be rooted out, we can’t allow this to continue. Things has to change. Our tolerance as a nation is akin to weakness, most of my friends, even Muslims, believed as a country, we’ve pandered towards Islamist extremism, we need that to stop!
As a Christian, I can’t openly practice my faith if I were in Saudi Arabia but here in the UK, and every part of Europe, Muslims are free to practice their faith. I believe liberalism and political correctness is changing the landscape of this country.
In the wake of the Manchester and London Bridge Attack, I read William Blake’s poem with tears in my eyes!
I wandered through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
A mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every man,
In every infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:
How the chimney-sweeper’s cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.
But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot’s curse
Blasts the new-born infant’s tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.
************
Islamist terrorism will not prevail in our nation but I also believe the Muslim communities have a lot to do to eradicate the vermin of extremism.
What are the Imams teaching young impressionable youths in their mosques? Why are young virile Muslims full of hatred and bitterness against Westernisation? I do believe that most of those who hate this country shouldn’t have any business living here.
There would continually be an excuse for evil to reign. The West had been blamed for majority of the crisis in the Middle East but if I remember correctly, the Arab Spring was not caused by the West. I believe in love, forgiveness, and peace. But I also believe in justice. And if there was one consolation to the debacle and orgy of violence unleashed on our cities in recent days, the death of the three cowardly Jihadists was decisive and just.
In this sad times, I pray for the families of everyone affected by the Manchester and London Bridge Attack. As our Prime Minister had said, Enough Is Enough!!!
Tobias Amos slid the knife into the drawers, stealing a quick look back. He stared at his hands in dismay; it was as red as the sweet chilli sauce Mama bought a day earlier.
‘Where are you, Tobias?’
Mama’s voice bellowed a few yards away. He scanned the room in nanoseconds; saw the red gown Mama loved wearing on special occasions hanging loosely on the sparsely filled wardrobe. He dashed towards it, yanked it off the rails, wrapping it delicately around his crimson fingers, allowing the blood to soak through, his eyes the colour of a limpid pool.
He closed his eyes and was transported to the events of eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds earlier. He could feel the knife ripping through the supple milky flesh, the bones cracked, the gurgles of blood splintered about the basement like the paintings of Michelangelo. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down his long scrawny neck.
Mama entered the tiny room, she took in everything, the deranged look on her son’s face belied the calmness she felt. Tobias Amos stood still like a statue, watching his mother’s reaction.
There was an uneasy silence.
‘What have you done?’ She asked in an icy tone, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
There was no answer. He kept his eyes down, all the feeling of conquest and elation he’d felt had evaporated like a mist in the night.
‘Tobias Amos, what have you done?’ This time, Mama inched closer, towering over her whimpering son, whose bravado had dissipated…
******
I haven’t written for quite a while but today, this just came pouring out. I have lots of manuscripts I’m working on, and lumping this with other unfinished projects is a mammoth task. However, I don’t believe in letting a good story plot go to waste. We’ll see how this goes!
I hope you’ll all have a wonderful weekend. I’ve visited several websites and blogs, if I haven’t been to yours, please bear with me, I’ll touch base soon.
Much love friends!
:):)
Yesterday afternoon in my office at MoD, I was unduly worried about mundane official deadlines and paperwork when the afternoon was shattered with the security announcement of an on-going terrorist attack. Every single building in Whitehall was placed on lockdown as news filtered in slowly of death and carnage on Westminster bridge.
We were in a state of shock at the enormity of the attack, the barbaric atrocities unleashed on innocent tourists and a police officer performing his duty infuriates me. The devilish perpetrator also ploughed into pedestrians on the bridge killing scores of people and wounding almost 29 people.
Today, I am proud to write that London is not on lockdown but sadness still pervades the atmosphere as we slowly came to terms with the callous attack at the heart of our nation. My condolences to the families and friends of PC Keith Palmer, mother of two, Aysha Frade, and an American tourist, Kurt Cochran.
Terrorists are the demons among us, and I pray their evil plans would continually be thwarted. My appreciation to the armed police officers who swiftly put an end to Khalid Masood’s murderous campaign.
I echo these brave words: We Are Not Afraid! London is a city that thrives against all odds, and we shall stand strong in spite of agents of destruction and division.
Much love to you my friends wherever you are in the world, and please, stay safe!
(Photo credit: Flickr)
On Friday, March 10th, 2017, it was precisely 7.25 in the morning as I walked up the steps of Westminster Station en-route my office. I walked briskly, mentally calculating ‘my-to-do-list’ for the day and then like an image out of a disaster movie, I saw two people, a man and a woman. The man was hovering over the woman, his lips quivering, his gait was like a man under the influence of alcohol, he tried to move away from the woman and almost fell. My gaze turned to the woman, her pale face had obviously borne the brunt of living on the street. Her face was lined with weariness, her eyes devoid of happiness.
I stopped in my tracks.
I didn’t know if I should offer money, or simply give a hug. People pushed past me, a man swore under his breath, but it was loud enough for me to hear the words. I fidget with my bag and moved out of the way, my heart broke into a thousand pieces as I watched them.
The man and the woman were oblivious of my presence, and sadly, I turned away.
Here in paradise, (at least that could be the thoughts of millions of people in other parts of the world) we shouldn’t have homeless people. Throughout the day, I couldn’t concentrate on anything. There was something about that couple, they may as well be working in one of the imposing offices in Whitehall, or maybe, as tourists keen to see where most decisions in the UK were made.
Centerpoint is a charity here in the UK helping homeless young people but what about middle age people, old men and women? I have a passion for the homeless, although I’ve read that some do make themselves ‘intentionally homeless,’ but still, I couldn’t expunge their image out of my mind.
I did some further research and realised that there are many homeless charities all around us. Below are some of the charities in London:
There’s also West London YMCA, they provide the same services as most of the organisations I’ve listed above. I think if we live in paradise, we should be able to do more for people less fortunate than we are (I know, we’re not all millionaires but we could always volunteer at a homeless shelter). I will volunteer at some of these wonderful charities doing such wonderful jobs, changing people’s lives.
If you’re living in other parts of the world, it wouldn’t hurt to give money to a beggar you see on the street or a homeless person. Some of you reading this may think, ‘well, she’s so naïve, most of these folks are drug addicts and rapists… maybe murderers.’
Maybe, some of them are, but some aren’t. Life’s just dealt them a hard hand.
Maybe Phil Collin’s song, ‘Another Day In Paradise’ would be a great way to finish this article.
I hope you’ll all enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Much love to you friends, always!
🙂 🙂
(Photo credit: Flickr)
‘These are strange times. Reason, which once combated faith and seemed to have conquered it, now has to look to faith to save it from dissolution.”
Well, should I write, Happy New Year? I think so because this is my first article for the New Year, yet the world has gone through and is still going through strange times. There was the story of a madman who insisted he must rule for a billion years (former Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh) and now we have a President of the free-world who insisted on building walls, and causing as much division as he wanted.
These are strange times indeed.
However, I’ll rather go along the Hannah Arendt line, which was self-explanatory:
”The ultimate end of human acts is eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all acts are but different means chosen to arrive at it.”
I guess we might as well pursue that which makes us happy. 2017 is a year I want to pursue a wellness of spirit, soul, and body, and I hope you can all come to a place of wholeness too.
I hope you’ll all have a wonderful weekend.
Much love, always! 🙂 🙂
(Photo Credit: Flickr)
This year had been full of surprises. From Brexit to the election of Trump to the continual gluttonous appetite of the world’s politicians. The world was gripped by the drama that was the US Presidential election, and as a feminist, I was really rooting for Hilary Clinton. But that was not her fate, she lost the race.
On a personal note, I’ve experienced nothing but blessings this year. I’ve also had my share of challenges, don’t we all? I’ve had dreams postponed but not denied, I’ve seen plans stalled but not destroyed. I’ve had manuscripts shelved but not forgotten. I’ve met new friends and learned some vital life lessons.
The great thing is, if you’re reading this, that means we’re still walking through time, our lights are not snuffed out yet, for that, we should be grateful. No matter what you may have gone through in 2016, as long as you’re still breathing, and walking, there is hope yet. Don’t give up!
On that note, I wish all my friends here in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the world, may you have a wonderful and prosperous 2017!
Happy New Year!!!
Much love, always. 🙂
(Now this little girl’s what I call a treasured Link. Photo credit: Flickr)
”The truth is that we can learn to condition our minds, bodies, and emotions to link pain or pleasure to whatever we choose. By changing what we link pain and pleasure to, we will instantly change our behaviours.”
Tony Robbins
Our pursuit of wealth (or survival as my dad called it) in life is ridiculously overshadowed by things that ought to be more valuable to us like family, friends, and scheduled times to reflect and truly enjoy life. We work all day, some of us are doing two jobs to make ends meet and that doesn’t really mean we would have enough. The only thing certain in life is time, and at a point, that would also end.
Time is certainly cruel. It flies by quickly and before we know it, the tangible things left are links. But some of us destroy those links, how, you may ask? By what we choose to link our minds and memories to.
If a poor man chooses to link his memories to struggles, he may find it difficult to actually overcome poverty. And if a rich guy links his mind to his wealth, he would lose himself in the pool of his assets, and everything else would pale into insignificance. Basically, everything still boils down to our choice and perception in life.
So friends, link wisely! 🙂
Grasmere lake with autumn colours and reflections, Lake District, Cumbria, England
I haven’t been able to write an article for a while because of certain projects I’ve been involved in, which would be wrapped up soon in the first quarter of next year, God willing. I know I’ve missed a lot of awesome posts. I’ve begun the pleasurable journey of visiting as many blogs as time would allow, I can’t wait to read to my heart’s content.
I hope you’ll all have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Hopefully, I would write one or two articles before the end of this year. Live free and enjoy every bit of your moment on this part of heaven.
Much love to you all! 🙂
(Photo credit: Flickr)
My office is in a prestigious and historic building in Whitehall, and every day on my way to the office, I love saying hello to the cleaners making the place a beautiful sight.
They are as important as the Prime Minister, Theresa May.
Maybe some people might not agree with me, but we’re all important. From the bus driver struggling through the morning traffic to the chef in the restaurant trying to bring sanity to the chaos in the kitchen to the cashier at the grocery store who might endure muffled abuse from disgruntled customers to the care assistant who takes care of our older relatives or the nursery assistant who has to endure the incessant screams of restless babies and yet, has to smile and reassure parents that all has been well when it hasn’t.
I reckon, we’re all the same.
The feeling of ”I’m always right and I know everything all” has the hallmark of a ‘jerk syndrome.’ I respect all the men and women holding two to three jobs, trying to make ends meet while also bringing up their children at the same time. They are superheroes.
Now don’t get me wrong, life isn’t a straight line, but it would augur well to appreciate people who appear to be doing menial jobs. I once got into an argument with a former boss who refused to allow his driver in the same lift with him, I didn’t mince my words when I told him in no uncertain terms that he was wrong. You can imagine what happened after that, I got fired? Hell no (forgive my language), he apologised to his driver and increased his pay. Although I later realised that the truth is a bitter pill to swallow.
We’re all connected.
Imagine the scenario where we’re all rich, every single soul on this planet is wealthy. Where would you find the shopkeepers, drivers, butchers, child-minders, just to mention a few? So, why not give that sweaty waitress a sincere smile and the cleaner at your HQ an appreciative grin? Maybe I’m wrong, let me know what you think.
Have a wonderful weekend friends, and may the coming week bring you peace!
Much love, always. 🙂
”The most beautiful as well as the most ugly inclinations of man are not part of a fixed biologically given human nature, but result from the social process which creates man.” Erich Fromm
Recent events in the world are enough to sum up the fact that humanity’s ugly side appears to be dominant. We are very quick to tear apart than build, we hate anything that remotely differs from our way of thinking. We want to love but find that so difficult, rather it’s easy to be suspicious, have zero empathy and yes, we find a safe haven in hatred.
James Carroll got it right when he wrote, ”we cloak ourselves in cold indifference to the unnecessary suffering of others, even when we caused it.”
Hatred brings out our ugly side when we hide behind our knowledge of what’s right and wrong. We believe our lives are somehow a priority compared to others and when we’re not having things going our way, we’re quick to complain, bemoaning our fallen state.
We’re also beautiful creatures, that is when we want to be. Imagine doctors risking lives and limbs to save Ebola-stricken victims in a remote village in Africa or people pooling resources together to save Syrian refugees from the freezing sea. That, is the beauty of human nature just to mention a few.
However, we all have ugly sides, if not, why do we have laws trying to curtail our nastiness from spiralling out of control?
I penned this article shortly after the Nice truck massacre, somehow I couldn’t publish it but it’s still relevant today. Most of the time, it’s very difficult to comprehend when such tragedies occur, like the killings of African-Americans by rogue white police officers or the killings of thousands by the so called Isis’s mad soldiers or the time when Lord Gen Jeffery Amherst, British Commander-in-Chief of America wrote to Col. H. Bouquet to use Biological weapons (small pox laden blankets) in July 1763 against Native American Indians. He wrote, “You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race.” Hitler wanted to wipe out the Jews and subject the world to his madness. In the end, I think our lives shouldn’t be mapped out based on such events no matter how sad.
Humanity is renowned for fortitude in the face of extreme violence. Hitler was keen to turn the world into a huge wasteland, but he failed, even though, in the process, millions lost their lives. The incredible thing I’ve realised is this, our ugliness and monstrosity would not prevail over the beauty and love inherent in us (this is where free-will comes in). That’s contradictory but it’s the truth. As Daniel Goleman wrote, ”societies can be sunk by the weight of ugliness.”
There’s real hatred in the world, just check social media where some segment of humanity compares others as inferior to them. It’s heartbreaking but over the millennia, it’s been part of the history of mankind, the pervading hatred, the palpable feeling of helplessness experienced by slaves which brought the brutal book, ‘The Heart Of Darkness ,’ written by Joseph Conrad to mind. More than ten million people had died in the Congo in the 19th and early 20th century under the rule of the notorious Belgian King, Leopold II. The Congo had been plundered and its inhabitants killed with ruthless efficiency. It’s one of the greatest acts of mass murder in human history. That’s humanity’s ugliness at its height. According to a review on Amazon, ”Conrad makes it painfully clear that the heart of darkness can reside within us all,” how sad!
Unfortunately, the killings in Congo is still ongoing, according to an article written by Owen Jones in the Guardian Newspaper on 6 March 2015, he lamented, ” African lives did not matter enough: a death toll of up to 6 million would surely not have been tolerated elsewhere. For the West, it is a country of little strategic importance.”
Overall, I still believe that our ugly sides can be tamed, maybe I’m wrong?
This article is open to debate, let me know what you think.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend wherever you are in the world!
Much love, always. 🙂
S. S. David 