Baggage Claim

In this festive season many of us are traveling to be with our family or for holiday, for those of us flying, we are accustomed to the baggage claim area of the airport. According to Wikipedia; a baggage claim is an area where arriving passengers claim checked-in baggage after disembarking from an airline flight. For international arrivals, the baggage claim area is typically located in a restricted zone, after immigration control and before clearing customs so that all baggage can be inspected by custom agent's.
As we head into the new year, we need to establish our own baggage claim and customs mechanism. We need to sit down and analyze the things in our lives that can't come into the new year with us.The baggage you may have may be a toxic relationship, it may be a mistake made in the past that condemns you to this day, it may be a disappointment we encountered in the year that really hurt us. We need to check all these at our customs agent and not take it into 2016. Forgive yourself, pick yourself up from the disappointment and start again,  end that toxic association that keeps hurting you. Take into 2016 the luggage you need to prosper, recognize the people who add value to your life and appreciate them,  carry a lesson from the past mistake made rather than guilt, take a new mindset into the new year; a trust that God has the best planned for us. Claim all these at your baggage claim and ensure you don't leave any behind. Throughout the year maintain this practice  and keep checking for what needs to go through customs and what we should add to our lives. Before you set your new year's resolutions, first pass by your baggage claim. Have a prosperous year ahead.

HELP: the four letter word.

Recently I had some work to do around the house, I usually do this by myself and I have even developed a system that enables me to effectively carryout this task. So I woke up early to start my work and as I progressed, my mother came to help me without my asking of her. At first I was reluctant to accept her help, I thought; I have been doing this work regularly, I know how to do it well, she may slow me down. However, I decided to work with her, which proved to be a wise decision. With her assistance, not only did I finish the work within half the time it usually takes me to complete the task, but also upon completion, the quality of work was superior to the one I do alone. If I had worked alone, I would have taken more time and used more energy. In life, we often think it's best to work alone and solely depend on ourselves, even though this may be necessary because of the nature of some projects, many instances give us an opportunity to coordinate with others but we choose not to. As a result we find our schedules hectic and cramped with  an endless list of tasks we are unable to complete. In many instances, we even turn down help thinking we are the only one's who can handle the particular task. Ironically, the final component needed to complete that daunting task may be that friend or colleague you have never considered asking for help. The individual you may think is not qualified to be of assistance may end up surprising you if given the chance. You may also know of someone who was like me, ignorant to the fact that they needed help, and you were unwilling to offer help due to fear of rejection. Next time take the plunge and offer to help, you may be surprised to find that all this while, they were looking for help and like you they also were afraid of asking for fear of rejection. In fact, helping someone else achieve a certain goal may end up enriching your life and in the midst of your activity you may get clarity to a situation that was puzzling you.  Lastly, if your among the people who understand the power of partnership, kudos! Today take some time to appreciate that person(s), who has had a helping hand in your life and guided you to your success. I leave you with an African proverb that says "if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far go with someone" (paraphrased)

I've been thinking about you!

Who/what have you been thinking about lately? Who/what dominates majority of your thoughts, more importantly, what thoughts be they positive or negative do you allow to grow and develop in your mind. When I was a boy, my friends and I used to go hunting for birds to keep as pets. I had not caught one for a while, which bothered me, so one morning, before I joined up with my pals, I woke up determined to catch a bird. I visualized in my mind taking my slingshot and hitting a bird on my first try. In my mind I was so convinced I would succeed that I sealed it with a prayer; nothing was going to stop me. When I met with my pals I told them I was going to get a bird that day, this however was met with a response of cruel laughter as my track record was wanting. This didn't deter me however as in my mind the dominant thought was; I AM GOING TO CATCH A BIRD TODAY. I took my slingshot and aimed for a bird that was perched on top of a tree oblivious to my intentions and bullseye! I hit it with my first shot to the amazement of my friends. This incident shows us that the dominant thoughts that we allow to grow and develop in our minds, determine the outcome of our experiences. You cannot control the ideas that come into your mind, but you can control those you allow to grow and inhabit your mind. You may be on the advent of a business, project, relationship or working on developing new habits to break the bad ones that are messing your life. Be sure that thoughts of failure will arise, in fact in the midst of your excitement, you decide to tell someone close to you about your new adventure and to your surprise they respond with ridicule and laughter. This incident tends to remain etched in your subconscious, and in moments of trial, replay in your mind like a broken record. However, there is always a choice, you can choose to ignore the negative and focus on the positive outcome of your project, you can choose to shift your focus from thoughts of rejection, failure, ridicule and prevent them from growing and developing your mental scope into that which is defeat oriented. Choose to stop highlighting the weaknesses of yourself, family or friends. Instead, let thoughts of growth, success, fulfilment and value an individual adds to your life dominate your mind. In life we experience things in a ratio of 80-20, we tend to get back 80 percent from our, business, project or a person. However we sadly tend to focus on the 20 percent we don't have, this can be toxic as it leads us to forfeit the 80 percent we have and go for the 20 percent we thought we needed only to later regret this. So I ask, what have you been thinking about? How have you been perceiving an individual or an opportunity, have you allowed th 20 percent you think you need to dominate your thoughts and devalue your perception of the 80 percent you already possess. It's not wrong when a negative thought arises in your mind, it's however wrong when you ALLOW it to grow and shape your mindset. Have a thoughtful day.


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