ABC Connections
A lot of what you’ll read here, are things you’ve heard of before.
ABC Connections aims to reconnect you to these basics; to remind you of the simplicity of life, to enable you to re-evaluate yourself, make new decisions and choices and to have the courage to take new steps.
Pleasant reading!
A for Attitude
The heights you attain in life is determined by your attitude to life.
The attitude you portray to the world, is the response you receive from life.
A good attitude generates a good response. A poor attitude yields a poor response.
What’s your outlook to life?
Are you confused about your existence and your purpose in life?
Does everything appear bleak to you at the moment?
Change your outlook to life. Look up into the sky and soar like an eagle, far above the pettiness of life, above the trivialities that take up all your time, above the discouragement that is holding you back, above any anger or bitterness you may harbour.
Approach life, people and situations with an attitude of a winner and you’ll win.
Relate to people with an attitude of respect and you’ll automatically be treated with respect.
You are born to win.
Adopt the right attitude.
B for Business
You are in business for yourself, just like everyone else, irrespective of if you run your own business, work for an employer or the government, if you are a full-time housewife or house-husband, a student or unemployed.
Think about this: if you had your own business, would you justifiably employ yourself, knowing fully and truly, your attitude to life and your attributes?
Examine the type of person you are. Are you better than you were last year, intellectually, mentally, morally, physically, spiritually or financially?
If you are not making progress in your life, then you are regressing.
It is your business to better yourself for a better future.
Do what you have to do to become a better, new improved YOU.
C for Change
The one thing that is constant in this world is “Change”.
You must have the courage to change with change or you’ll be left behind.
Change is a phenomenon to be embraced, not one to be scared of or fight against.
Many people are stuck in a rut because they refuse to change under the pretext that they have no choice. People hide under the excuses of being too old, too young, too black, too white, too educated, un-educated.
You have choices. There’s always a way out or around things, but you must be courageous enough to take that step towards change.
Each of us has an obligation to move forward and make progress.
Step out of your mediocrity. Step out in faith. Be bold. You have the power within you to change. Make the decision and make the choice to change for a better you. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is and how much better you’d feel.
D for Desire
Desire is the key to obtaining everything you’ll ever want, be it love, peace, money, success, position etc.
If you desire something badly enough, you’ll eventually get it.
If you don’t have sufficient desire, what you want will always elude you.
Desire is thinking, sleeping, dreaming, affirming, acting in faith and taking the necessary steps towards what you truly want.
Don’t mix lust with desire.
A desire for something may be achieved by obtaining something else. For example a true desire for peace for someone may be achieving complete financial freedom and for another it may be doing what they truly love with little or no pay.
Successful people have a burning desire for success. They sleep, dream, affirm and act successful.
Is your desire strong enough for what you want?
E for Education
You are better off with a good education than without.
Education may be formal or informal. Lots of people have educated themselves by learning to read and reading as many books and materials they can find.
Obtaining a qualification may be expensive, but obtaining an education does not have to be expensive. However, it takes the willingness to want to be an educated person.
An education will make you literate, open your eyes and mind to various possibilities, opportunities, world issues, give you the ability to make educated choices, make you less ignorant, make you alert to dangers, cheats and unscrupulous people, make you smart and confident.
There are lots of books and information readily available to you. Take time out to broaden your general knowledge, your knowledge of health, law, information technology, money management, spirituality, culture, sports, the world around you and beyond and whatever interests you.
Get educated. Get smart.
F for Focus
If you chase after two hares, you are not likely to catch either.
Focus on one project and see it through to completion. Don’t start another project until you’ve completed the last. Finish what you started.
Review all your uncompleted projects from painting the bathroom to doing a cookery course. List them out, prioritise and number them according to the degree of importance. Discard the unimportant or unfruitful projects.
Pick up the first project, complete it then move unto the next.
You’ll feel more satisfied, better accomplished and you’ll progress faster with the other projects.
Focusing on a project until it is complete is a key attribute for success.
G for Generosity
“Give and you shall receive”.
Generosity starts from the mind with generous intentions and generous thoughts.
Think kind and loving thoughts of yourself and towards others and you’ll be treated with kindness and warmth by strangers.
Help people in whatever way you can such as with a service, physically, materially or spiritually. Similarly, your needs would be met in mysterious ways by complete strangers.
Open your mind and your hands and let the kindness flow from them. Watch the same flow back to you in mysterious ways.
H for Healing
It’s time to let go of the past and give old wounds a chance to heal.
The greatest gift God has given to mankind is a MIND.
You mind has the power to prevent your wound from healing as well as the power to heal the most complex of wounds and you and you alone are in full control of your mind.
Forgive all grievances, release all injustices and erase all grudges from your mind.
Permit your mind to make you whole again.
Time heals all wounds.
Hope fades all scars.
Love cures all ails.
Give yourself the chance to heal.
I for Integrity
To be described as a person of integrity is a great attribute.
It depicts dependability and trust-worthiness. It is a great pride for someone to be able to stand up and say to you: “I trust you. I believe in you and I know you’ll keep your word”.
Can anyone justly and truly say that about you?
Have you earned such trust?
What has happened to the integrity of marriage vows?
Do you have enough integrity in you for your friend, spouse, child, parent or anyone to be able to stand up and defend your honour?
Be known as someone who is true, honest and faithful to what you say and do.
Most importantly, be true to yourself.
J for Jewel
Remember the saying, “You are the jewel of my eyes”?
If no one has referred to you as the jewel of their eyes, you tell yourself that you are the jewel of your own eyes.
Just like a jewel, you are precious, beautiful, cherished and priceless.
Be your own jewel.
Treat and pamper yourself like one and act like one.
By the law of reciprocity, others will treat you like a jewel.
K for Knowledge
“My people die from lack of knowledge”, says the Lord God.
If you knew that using a condom whilst having sex could save you from contracting AIDS, you’d use it, wouldn’t you? But if you didn’t know, then you could have sex, contract AIDS, become terribly ill and eventually die from it. This simple knowledge of using a condom could mean the difference between a healthy life and a horrible death.
Stop playing ignorant.
If you feel deficient in certain areas of your life, search for the knowledge, learn about it and become knowledgeable.
There’s so much information available to a great majority of you. Take advantage of this flow of information and learn from it. Applied knowledge is power.
L for Love
Love is the glue that keeps the world together.
The bible says that you may have the ability to do great things and possess wonderful things, but if you don’t have love in your heart, you are “nothing”.
The greatest thing you can do for yourself and for mankind is to love yourself truly and dearly and express love, acceptance and respect to other fellow human beings, irrespective of your differences and diversities.
Observe the way you treat your spouse, children, parents, friends, relatives, colleagues, and people in general. This is a reflection of how much or how little you love yourself.
Love is true.
Love is real and can only begin with you.
Search yourself and truly love yourself, then spread a little love around.
M for Manners
Good manners is an essential virtue.
Courtesy and respect for the elderly, the young, your colleagues, your mates, your spouse, should be something you express without being prompted.
Simple day to day words like “please”, “thank you”, “excuse me”, said courteously enhances your reputation as a likeable and courteous person.
A greeting and a smile to the bus driver yields a jolly ride.
Holding a door or pulling a seat for a lady, makes her feel great all day.
Social norms and etiquettes are nice if they are not used as a tool of superiority.
With good manners, everyone is respectfully equal.
Adopt good manners.
N for Nature
Connect with nature.
Respect nature.
Preserve nature.
We need nature for our existence. Don’t ill-treat it.
It’s each and everyone’s responsibility to take care of nature.
Doing little things, like recycling our garbage will go a long way to preserving nature.
Keep your home and environment clean.
Avoid unnecessary wastage of food, water, electricity and so forth.
Become nature conscious.
O for Opportunity
Opportunity knocks on your door every single day, but it appears like hard work. As a result, you ignore them.
What do you love doing?
When next an opportunity arises with the chance of doing what you love, no matter what it may appear like, seize it.
You may need more training and qualifications for this opportunity. Do what it takes.
You may need to sacrifice a few things, especially your time, energy and intellect. Do it.
Be prepared for when the opportunity comes your way. That’s an avenue to success.
Follow your dreams.
Seize the day.
P for Perseverance
In order to succeed, you must persevere.
You’ve got a dream. An opportunity to fulfil your dreams comes your way. You seize the opportunity. You make your plans. You carry out your plans. Low and behold, you hit a stumbling block. Do you give you up? No! You persevere.
If need be, you re-work your plan, try another angle, try another method, try another client, try another country, but you never give up. You persevere.
It is the person who perseveres the most that succeeds.
Q for Queens & Kings
Act like a queen and you’ll be treated like one.
Act like a doormat and everyone would wipe their dirty feet and shoes on you. Act like an easy lay and you’ll be approached as one.
Act like a dog and you’ll have bitches on your tail.
Hold your head up high. Treat yourself with respect and you’ll be treated with respect.
The bible says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise”.
Associate with and emulate queenly and kingly figures.
Feel and act like a princely figure, so you can be treated as one.
Get your crown on!
R for Responsibility
Each and every one of you is responsible for your life.
You may be dependent on someone or something, but you are responsible for your dependence.
You are responsible for where you are today, either directly or indirectly.
Stop blaming your spouse, parents, friends, employer, the government and especially God, for the way your life has turned out. Whatever the case, you have the power to make new choices and to take different actions.
If you don’t like where you are or what you are doing today, make the decision to change.
Take action and responsibility for your actions. Remember, no decision is right; you make your decision right.
If each person took responsibility to improve their little world, the culminating action of everyone making this decision and taking action would bring about a better world.
Blaming never solves anything. Taking responsibility and positive action does.
S for Smile
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
A prayer a day keeps the devil at bay.
A smile a day keeps you youthful and gay”.
A smile does to the mind, what the sun does to the earth.
Nothing beats a warm loving genuine smile.
Make it a rule to smile on every cue.
T for Today
Today is a present from God. Rejoice and be glad in it.
Yesterday has come and gone, never to return again.
Allow the anger, hurt and grievances of yesterday go with it, never to re-surface in your life again.
Learn from yesterday’s mistakes and make new choices today.
Enjoy the memories of the good old days, but don’t hang on to it for dear life.
A brand new day is here for you today. Revel in the pleasures of this new day, for it is only here, today.
Don’t worry about tomorrow. The thought of tomorrow brings hope.
U for Unity
United we stand, divided we fall. The force of one can conquer a thousand, the force of two can conquer, not two thousand, but ten thousand. That is, not double, but ten times more than the force of one.
United as a team, makes you a formidable force.
People with evil intensions are aware of this force and use this strategy to create chaos in marriages, amongst families and within nations. By creating divisions between families and nations, they weaken the united force.
Husbands and wives, come together in unity. Overcome the intrusion of outsiders in your marriage.
Brothers, sisters, family members, resolve your internal conflicts and re-unite as one.
Tribes and nations, get smart. Accept, respect and embrace each other’s differences and diversities. Use the quality of your diversity as your strength. Stop the fighting and killing. Come together and start talking for the sake of unity, peace and progress.
Use your united force for a better world for you and your children.
V for Vocabulary
Do you realise the significance and impact the vocabulary you harbour in your mind makes on your life?
When you harbour and use words like, “I can’t”, “I’m tired”, “I have a headache”, or “I’m sick”, over and over again, you come to realise that you can’t do simple day to day things because you are always tired and sick.
On the other hand, when people ask for how you are and you respond with enthusiasm, saying that you are on top form and you feel great, you feel you can take on whatever the world dishes out to you.
Rethink your vocabulary.
Replace words that lower your spirit with those that elevate you. You’ll love longer and healthier with the right vocabulary in your spirit.
W for Words
The words you emit from your mouth are very powerful. They will carry out the mission assigned to them.
Offensive words bring about offensive treatment. Kind and respectful words, yields decency.
Be very careful about what you say especially to your children, spouse, relatives and friends.
Words are formative.
Words have power.
Words have life.
X for eXample
Be the example that someone in the world would wish to exemplify.
How do you wish to be remembered?
As a stunning example, a horrific person, or not at all?
Someone, somewhere will always remember you by something. Make it a good memory!
Y for Youth
Take care of your body whilst you are young, so it can take care of you when you are old.
Don’t abuse your youth.
Keep your brain, mind and spirit, clear and focused. Don’t muddle it up with substances and ill-thinking.
Never subject yourself to any form of abuse and don’t engage in illicit sex.
Nourish your body with healthy nutrition.
Keep your body clean. Wash daily and wear clean garments.
Do an exercise of your choice on a regular basis.
Get sufficient rest.
Your youth is the period of your strength.
Take good care of it.
Z for Zero
Everything in this world will ultimately boil down to zero.
So why do we bother to strive for a good life?
Well, because we don’t know when the world will end.
So live and love for today.
Make the very best of the life you’ve got now.
It doesn’t really matter how you die, it is how you live that counts.
‘Change takes courage, but it is to your benefit.
Connect to your source’.
Pleasant reading!
Look out for other ABC Series:
ABC of Self
ABCs of Relationships
ABCs to Avoid
Sasha’s Chronicles
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