When stupid starts to define you

Definition of stupid: 

• lacking intelligence or common sense.
• slow of mind.
• given to unintelligent decisions or acts.
• acting in an unintelligent or careless manner.
•  lacking intelligence or reason.

We make certain risky choices because we don’t know better, sometimes we pick the easier choice because we lack patient or  the will power to forge ahead. On rare occasions we make a choice simply because we are overwhelmed  or confused by the wealth of information available to us. like a soiled nappy trails a baby, our choices shadow our steps into the future.

There are other times when our life choices seem stupid to others, it just doesn’t make sense to them. Labels are quickly brandished without caution, overtime this idea of who you’re presumed to be is affirmed in their minds by the fact that one never departs from one’s ideology.

In an age were rapid answers, rapid friendships, rapid gratification, rapid growth, rapid, rapid, rapid anything is considered the norm; an age were aggression or garrulousness are synonyms for assertive, and gossip is considered keeping abreast of things; one must not be afraid to be stupid. 

We frown at Trumps ideas but in the same vein we pull down another to achieve our aims, after all we want it now don’t we? We vent our frustration for not getting things exactly the way we want it on another by boxing others off and labelling them, perhaps a reflection of the same labels firmly sewn unto the hems of our heart, brains and minds in extra large sizes. Life on the fast lane is bound to have casualties and it might as well be them. It has absolutely nothing to do with your speeding gauge and ignorance of the other road users.

In an age where everyone wants to belong, same huge eyebrows (waxed, trimmed and pencilled in within an inch of it’s original life), same shoes, same clothes, same pout, same laughter and even lashes. It’s okay to be stupid if stupid means you stay true to you. It doesn’t mean blind loyalty to your flaws, No. In the same way one doesn’t wash out a stain with the hope of bleaching the entire fabric or wash a dirty dish with the hope of rinsing the decoration/design off, we must treat our flaws.

It’s okay to be stupid, in a world where up is down and fair is subject to who wins the stakes. It’s okay to be stupid in a world where everyone stands for everything like footballers defending the goalpost against a penalty except when the ball comes everyone finds a good corner to hide.

It’s okay to be stupid, I suspect it’s the new synonym for individuality.

Quotes on anger

Anger, worry and over-thinking has robbed me of a lot of things.

I hope to weaken their hold this year.

So help me God.

A post on awesome

This is an interesting award to receive especially as I am still, but a wee tot in the blogging world. Thank you so much Millie Thom for nominating me; Millie is an awesome writer who brings to life characters, places and events buried in history on the pages of her blog. Do click on the link: it promises to be informative, fun and colourful.

1. You are awesome; tell us why.

2. You are my friend; tell us about other friends.

3. Be creative, but it’s ok if you are having trouble with this one.

4. There are no direct questions to answer; let yourself run wild!

5. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

6. Notify your nominees.

I didn’t know what to write in response to this award, but after asking Millie a couple of questions, I thought why not start by defining the word awesome. According to the Cambridge on-line dictionary the word awesome can be used to refer to something which causes ​feelings of ​great ​admiration, ​respect, or ​fear. Nature is the one thing that universally elicits this feeling of awe from all of us at different times under different circumstances. It could be in form of a child’s picture, a beautiful sunset, the beating of waves against the beach or the observation of wildlife as they go about their daily activities. Whichever it is something about nature makes us standstill and appreciate it’s presence around us.

The term awesome is also used as an adjective to define people. Recently I came across two people whom I believe did some awesome things in their lifetime. The first is Dashrath Manjhi an Indian citizen also known as the mountain man who with the use of a hammer and chisel carved a path through a 360 ft long, 30 ft wide and 25 ft high hillock. The path shortened the distance between Atri and Wazirganj sectors of the Gaya district by 40km. Before the path was created Dashrath’s wife on her way to bringing him lunch slipped on the said hill and later died from her injuries. This incidence is believed to have inspired his twenty-three years journey to creating the path, that for me is awesome.

The second is a German citizen Oskar Schindler who saved the lives of one thousand-two-hundred Jews by employing them in his enamelware and ammunition factory. He started out as an opportunist who employed the Jews as they were cheaper and more affordable to manage. Over time, however, he came to value them and it is recorded that he spent all of his earning buying black market gifts to bribe soldiers in order to ensure the safety of his workers. In 1963 the Israeli government awarded him the Righteous Among the Nations award, (an award presented to non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis) and he is the only member of the Nazi party to be buried on Mount Zion.

For me these men did awesome things and they achieved it living their regular lives. I think it’s better to go about your daily life and if in the course of your activity an opportunity arises to inspire, lead or save another then take it, but being awesome shouldn’t be the goal. Being the best you can at all times should be the focus.

Now on the topic of friends, I’ll quote the words of social researcher Robert Putnam “The single most common finding from a half-century’s research on life satisfaction, not only in the U.S. but around the world, is that happiness is best predicted by the breath and depth of one’s social connections.” I have been blessed with an awesome social network, one I have constantly thanked God for.

And so my friends (online,offline, in the blogging community e.t.c) you have been the best, providing me with an ample supply of the traits below. Thank you very much.

 My nominees:

Ansumani at ansumani.wordpress.com

Deborah at notestiedonthesagebrush.wordpress.com

Draliman at dralimanonlife.com

Mandi at mandibelle16.wordpress.com

Angie at angietrafford.wordpress.com

Donna at dadojodest.com

Cherrytales at cherrytato.wordpress.com

Jessie at luckyjc007.com