Adventure and me

I realised that we had visited a beautiful place last 2 years and I wrote this post but never put it up. Reading it recently, I decided to re-live those moments. I’m feeling like some adventure…what say you?!

So, we went visiting the famous Olumo Rock in Abeokuta, you can find out about it here. Yet, having an experience of the place by yourself is totally awesome. The green scenes, the stories behind the rocks (where they hid during battles, the sacrifice point – I still saw feathers and fetish-looking things on the door…no I didn’t ask questions, remember I went for fun. The stories on your path to the place, the women selling adire and other local products. Their yams taste lovely, I bought some. wink!

When the photographer gets his shot…

…and we JUMPED! But not off the cliff!

One of our team members talked about the Baptist Church there, his grandfather who was instrumental to some stuffs there. I wasn’t there in my inquisitive capacity but just to climb the rocks, take pictures and have plenty fun. By my next visit, I’ll give you the stories.

However, I got a pair of earrings and my own Made-in-Naija designed glasses.

They were worth the memory!

We met one out of this world tour guide. He wasn’t our official guide but joined us on our journey through each level. I had promised to celebrate him when I write. He’s young, fast on his feet and added to my fear with the way he jumped lightly across each rock (no matter how sloppy, I must add), has speech impediment, very good photographer (no minding  the type of phone or camera you gave him), he knew the best angles to take and until he got the best, didn’t stop snapping away. He was a ready help, as he held my hands across several of the rocks which such ease.

The guide and some of us

Beauty amongst rocks and trees!

I didn’t get his name because he couldn’t say it. Maybe I should have written on the floor or something and inquired, but I didn’t. Good news is we took pictures with him as we were about leaving, so when next you are there, look for him and you will totally enjoy your tour.

NO NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS!

I realize that being the beginning of the year, the cycle of making resolutions without achieving solutions will begin and I wonder, when does this cycle end? For some, it never does, because making New Year resolutions have become a To-Do on their January schedule and it makes them feel ‘focused’.

Don’t mind me. I’m not here to make you feel guilty about making your New Year resolve, neither will I joke about the seriousness you’ve given to it this time. Probably, I’m talking to myself and some like me who make grand plans that don’t take shape or materialize by the set date or some who wonder why we even bother. Fear not, there’s hope!

So how do we remedy this?

Recognize that you are not in competition with anyone else. You are put under pressure by you, your eyes, your refusal to learn from your mistakes, your ‘greed’ and sometimes you forget that there’s a time and a season for every matter under the Sun.

Decide to walk at the pace that is comfortable for you, achieve something every day (as much as you can), look at the past goals you made last year, if you haven’t achieved them yet and still want to do something about them, by all means, do just that! Don’t create new resolutions yet – address the pending ones with a determination to get results. For all you know, all you need to achieve them is a change in strategy.

Read, Learn, Read some more, Listen to other minds that you admire and attempt to create something that is uniquely you. When you get stuck, ask someone for directions. Not everyone requires payment for free advice. You can get the best of advice in the most unlikely of places, from discussions with colleagues, to throwing open your idea and listening to people give their input (you have to be discerning enough to know what to take and what to dispose), even from the pulpit, the best of organizational and business strategies are enunciated !

Leave the blame game behind, reinvent you in a way that even you would want your autograph! Just kidding…probably not! Key focus here, is to do something about the ‘usual you’ and be intentional about the changes you want to make in that routine that hasn’t brought results yet.

If by the set date, you are yet to achieve all or half of what you penned down, give yourself another date, but don’t stop trying. Have a source of inspiration that can motivate you daily and use it!

I haven’t written and posted anything online for a long while, even my blog must be covered in dust now. But have I stopped writing? NO! I write in my journal instead and yes, being in my book doesn’t mean the number of people I intend to reach have been communicated to. But I’m still writing for the time I decide to post. Let’s do this walk together this year, find someone you will be accountable to concerning your goals and let it set sail. The ride will definitely be enjoyable with another cheering you on.