MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD

This picture speaks volume. Looking at it takes my mind down the memory lane. It reminds me of my childhood. Though lots of details have escaped my mind and remain too remote to be recalled one thing keeps on beating my imagination….how I survived with all the risky adventures I was engaged in.The twin hill standing tallest was my highest mountain in the world.With my associates we will ascend and descend tens of times a day aimlessly in excitement.We just spent hours chasing tiny little insects called grasshoppers.Most of the times the hunting was fruitless but we never seized to continue in same unyielding exercise may be because we hadn’t other sources of distraction…no toys to play with ,no internet to browse, no television to watch.From the top of this hill one could have a telescopic view of the whole village….the undulating hills encircling a vast valley….that was our world, our heaven and earth.


The plantain and banana trees were our hide and seek ground when we returned from the hill.
The coffee farm around our family home was the biggest plantation one had ever set eyes on.Just like the little girl starring we used to wonder what the world beyond could be offering and it never occurred in our wildest imagination that there was any place on earth more beautiful than our neighborhood… True None Is!!!.The narrow stretch of untarred road which served concomitantly as our football field was the only street known to us as our parents limited our perimeter of freedom not beyond this .

In the evenings we will gather by the three-stone-fire-side in one of the houses to listen to the mind moving stories recounted to us by the aged. Stories of the history of our land, Stories about heroes, stories about mysticism and black magic. All these sank down our minds and as as niave as we were left us in bewilderment.

One never thought of ever leaving this beautiful creation of God untill curiosity and the quest for the knowledge finally took one out of this garden.

Looking at this picture again reminds of my parted friends with whom we shared this common childhood…May their souls R.I.P.

Looking at this picture reminds me of how much I owe this little hamlet that gave me all I needed to realize my dreams.
 I hope I will be able to give back one day.

LUCK OF SUCCESS

When people succeed they attribute it all to hard work and negate any element of luck but when they fail all the blame is shifted to some malediction.This is a common occurrence in human life.We give ourselves all the credit when all goes well without even giving a second thought to the fact that some force(s) could have been behind our success.
I am of the school of thought that the luck of chance has much in common with success other wise how can we explain that million of people worldwide toil and moil  ,day in day out ,under the hot blazing sun and cold chilly nights but never see the light or we can simply say they were destined  not to succeed? These people are smart,hard working and even more ready to take the risk but are never at the right place at the right time...they aren't lucky.Contrariwise, we see some people within the twinkle of an eye make it and make it really big!The later usually narrate an irreproducible smooth life story of some sudden idea from some space which they rapidly transform into reality.With positive results they are termed the smarter ones as no one cares about the means as long as the yielded results are seen.But a critical investigation into these "success cases" usually reveals they had some natural advantages over their  unlucky peers.Some are from rich families that make provision for the starting income.Some are born in places with environmental advantages.
This in no way rules out the fact that hard work to some extend is a prerequiste for success.One has to work hard but no amount of hard work will bring success without opportunties whose timing  is determined by some forces beyond human control.....LUCK.We usually say "opportunity comes but once" with the implication that if wasted  there is no second chance.I beg to differ as life is a long journey with many hills to climb and those that reach the summit being the ones who fell but rose,those who persisted and perserved believing they were going to make it.Opportunities thus come many times not once,they do so several times everyday but simply shift to the next person when they meet us unprepared.

THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING

Our perception, thinking, judgment and interpretation of the happenings within and around us has a great influence on our lives. When this happens in the positive direction, our state is shifted to the right but when the contrary occurs then begins a vicious cycle of negativism. Negative thoughts about ourselves or the world around us negatively impacts on our output reducing our efficiency and effectiveness. This in turn affirms, confirms, reaffirms and reinforces our preconceptions and old beliefs deepening and worsening our condition. Mind rooted clauses like “I knew I wasn’t going to make it” or “I am always unlucky” subconsciously dampen our impetus and zeal to forge ahead. With such partis pris, our motivation declines and more and more we move towards supineness. We lose our ego, start hallucinating, having illusions and delusions. If we do nothing or no one does anything about it we finally go emotionally flat....becoming philosophers of life!
As humans we are endowed with a mind filled with unlimited and an overwhelming creativity. But this innate gift from the Great One only becomes dominantly expressed when one thinks positively …when one thinks positively about oneself, when one thinks positively about others, and about one's environment. An finally if I may borrow from the words of an anonymous wise one “in the end, life is not about what the world does to us, it’s all about how we react to the challenges we encounter along the way. Failure is a word; of itself powerless. Only we can allow it to become a state of mind”.Be a Positive Thinker

I am Proud of My Heritage..I Love Cameroon

Welcome to Cameroon.The most fascinating place on the surface of the Universe.Baptized with
the appellation "Africa In Miniature" it is situated at the hinge of Africa spanning from the arid north through the central savanna green-land to the thick equatorial forest of the south.
With barely 20Million people in this microcosm,more than 250 different languages are spoken a few of which are mutually comprehensible.It is a center of great civilization integrating an umpteen of folklore all over Africa.
It is unique place to visit or live in with an immense geological,cultural and religious diversity.Cameroonians are very welcoming , hospitable and loving.
The following video elucidates some of the salient features of this "Garden of Eden".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABROLkGLmYs