DOOMS DAY IS HERE - GLOBAL WARMING

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When we speak global warming, most people think it’s something that’s for the future, that it’s an event that will still take like a thousand years to come into effect. The existing ignorance and the inability of man to care for things that really matter is appalling. For example, we can spend our time all day long doing things that harm us on a daily basis and not even flinch.

For many of us, there are these glorious well-mapped-out experiences we will love to have, there are so many things we wanna do while we are still among the living on planet earth, but keeping planet earth safe isn’t one of them.

When we hear the word ‘doom’s day’, we gaze into the future and our imaginations mislead us into extrapolating fictional, cataclysmic and unforgiving events. We associate these ‘impressive’ events with doom’s day, while, a ‘less impressive’ event like global warming could easily be the doom’s day event.

We think that doom’s day will come when there is a solar flare outrage or when a major asteroid hits the earth or when for one reason or another the earth stops rotating or even when an alien attack happens.

While the events above might fit into the criteria of a doom’s day event, I would love to bring it to your notice that doom’s day is already upon us and the leading most likely event to bring suffering to mankind is global warming.

Global warming is man’s doing and it’s disappointing that we still engage in major activities and do several forbidden things like deforestation to exacerbate global warming.

One trait that is consistent in the Homo sapiens species is selfishness. We Homo sapiens are just selfish and all we think about is ourselves, always us first before we consider any other species, the environment and planet earth. Well, one thing is certain, If we don’t start putting planet earth first then we will loose her.

There are two major events of heat waves going on in the world today, one in India and the other in Pakistan. The first was the Indian heat waves which claimed more than 2,500 lives, than came the Pakistan heat wave which has already claimed more than a thousand life. In Karachi, Pakistan, it so bad that a worker at the grave yard couldn’t find space to dig new graves for the dead, the death rate exceeded the cemetery capacity and he now even has to dig up old graves to bury people in them. Also, more than one body has to be buried in one grave. Now that’s what you call doom’s day.

Let me bring in a comparison. The middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) in South Korea has claimed only 31 lives in total since it started. MERS is a virus. This shows that the global warming can be far more devastating than an infectious disease spread.

The polar ice caps are melting, the sea level is rising leading to major flooding events, heat waves are taking place. These all point fingers to global warming. It is also worth noting that in the last quarter of last year, the mean temperature recorded on earth was the highest ever recorded in history and it didn’t take time for that record to be broken. In the first quarter of this year, the mean temperature recorded became the highest ever in history.

You can act like these gruesome events haven’t affected you yet. Well, it’s just a matter of time before other places heat up to the extent that they start dropping humans like flies. We haven’t done enough to ensure the safety of our planet, but we’ve exploited her in every possible way and there must be consequences.

We are citizens of earth and earth is our home, it would only be reasonable if we start taking measures to combat global warming and keep our home (earth) safe. Think green! Go green!. 

20 QUOTES THAT WILL GET YOU FIRED UP

There are times in life when you don’t even know what you are doing anymore, when the burden becomes heavier than the desire to live and deliver, when the day becomes gloomy and the nights empty, those moments when it seems like you have been handed a tougher test than you could ever handle. One of the many remedies comes from the words of individuals that have been through similar situations before. Here are 20 quotes from individuals that have played the game of life and won (or are still winning). Their words are worth heeding to and their life stories are worth learning from. 

If you want to produce unreasonable results in your life, like living your dream and taking charge of your destiny, you’ve got to be an reasonable person. ~ Les Brown

We are all self made but only the successful will admit it. ~ 

When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is, your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life, life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact. Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, once you learnt that, you will never be the same again. ~ Steve Jobs

Be careful who you pretend to be; you might forget who you are. ~ Dale partridge

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to d o what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. ~ Steve Jobs.

Most people die at 25 and aren’t buried until they are 75. ~ Benjamin Franklin. This quote is trying to explain that most people aren’t really living, they are merely existing. They spend their lives merely existing until they are old and worn out and stop breathing.

Formal education will make you a living, self education will make you a fortune. ~ Jim Rohn

The only disability in life is a bad attitude. ~ Scott Hamilton

Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

You’ve got to find what you love, and that is the same for work as it is for your lovers. Steve Jobs

The version you are today is good but it ain’t great and it definitely ain’t phenomenal, but if your ready to make some adjustments, there is nothing you can’t have ~ Eric Thomas.

Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? too often it’s because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Not only is it possible for you to have your dream, but it’s necessary, it’s necessary that you go for what is yours in the universe. ~ Les Brown

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. ~ Mae West

Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~ George Bernard Shaw

When it’s obvious that goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. ~ Confucius

Every man dies, not every man really live. ~ William Wallace

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; If in terms of 10 years, plant a tree; If interns of 100 years, teach the people. ~ Confucius

When you feel like quitting, think of  why you started. ~ Dale Partridge

Don’t go through life, Grow through life. ~ Eric Butterworth

YOUTH SPEAK IS NOT A ONE DAY AFFAIR

Youth speak day just passed. If you don't know what it is, it's a day organised by AIESEC in order to get youths to speak up about issues they wish to get solved. The thing is there is this kind of a once-in-a-lifetime behaviour that youths tend to pull up during this day and think they will just spit out all that they stand for in words or even write them down on a cardboard, then just forget about it till another youth speak day.

The population of the youths in the world is amazing as it is higher than it has ever been in history and people such as Malala Yousfzai, Jack Andraka and Peter Spiegel to name a few are doing is incredible and f***ing awesome. Whenever I read about these people and hear them speak, they fascinate me and keep me motivated, they make it seem like all things are possible.

Am from Nigeria and the sad thing is that the youths in my home country don't seem to be this enthused or hungry like these other youths abroad. In fact, most of them don't know what's going on in the world. It seems like their tongues have been glued to their palate and they have been duct taped and told  not to move an inch. You know what?, even if they've been told not to do so, the alarming aspect of this is that they've chosen to obey the voice that quietened them. They've chosen not to speak up and stir the wheel, they've chosen not to take control.

The youth speak AIESEC  reminded me of how cold and subdued the youths in the nation seem to be. I am for youth empowerment, education, equality, e.t.c. and against child abuse, child labour, child marriage, e.t.c. I know the power that the youths have within them to break barriers, start-up the next big thing, speak and draw attentions.

The problem is that it seems that it's only few youths that actually know about this power they've got. Youth speak is meant to be an everyday event and not once in a month, a year or a lifetime.

There are various issues facing the economy and when you turn to most youths, all they end up doing is complaining. They complain and forget that they can make the difference they wanna see in the world, they forget that we all have the responsibility to come up with practical solutions for these issues. Instead, so much time is spent on complaining and talking about the problems instead of bringing up solutions for them.

The world will not change itself, violence will not solve the issues of racism, child labour and abuse will not come to an end if we don't act, equality will not become reality if we fail to address it and the environment won't be saved if we don't become the saviours.

Just pick an issue or issues you wish to see solved and then brainstorm on practical solutions for it and then start focusing on these solutions instead of the problems, the work on making your hypothesized solution become reality. 

DON'T TRAP YOUR KIDS IN DOGMA

The fact that parents have got enough crap from us to handle makes me respect them a lot, but most parents fail to understand that their kids are individuals with unique abilities, tastes, opinions, goals, dreams and life path in general (as if that was not obvious enough). This could make them think that they are offering their kids the best and setting them up for a very successful life when in fact, they are doing the exact opposite.

In the country, to go through high school to college requires that the individual goes through series of exams which is ok, plus it's also like that in other places.

The problem comes when the results are out and the kid involved doesn't make the grade required to go for degrees like medicine, engineering, law and other degrees that are usually sort for. I wouldn't have any problem with the person trying over and over again if the degree that he or she is retaking the exams for is the course he or she really wants to do, but you see! in most cases, that's not the case.

Most of these individuals were forced to go for such degrees by their parents.

Parents could be forcing their kids to do one of these professional degrees just because of the mere fact that their kid would be the first graduate in that degree in their village or because the parents themselves weren't able to do those degrees but wished they did or because of other ridiculous reasons, trust me the reasons are always ridiculous. These reasons are both frustrating and funny though.

I don't know if they need a rabbi to tell them that their kids are unique or sooth sayers to announce to them that their kids have different career paths as individuals (usually they are always waiting for the later). It will also be very wrong for parents to be comparing their kids to another, not even if they are identical twins.

As a result of this I have seen people that stopped playing football because their parents said that they had to go through medical school, I have seen potential photographers that never came into existence because they were told that they won't make enough living from it, I have come in contact with writers that gave up because they were told that writing wasn't highly rated in the country, what about entrepreneurs that died off because they were told that they had to graduate and get a job to ensure a stable income. They are always seeing these things from a poverty, an ignorant and/or a 'let's play safe' point of view.

The individuals involved in situations like this are left tired and frustrated. I hope that sooner rather than later, things start taking turns for the better because this is not how torturous life is meant to be. Parents  have to realise and respect the fact that their kids are individuals with their own personal goals, aims, opinions and ambitions in life.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the result of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And the most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is sDOecondary" ~ Steve Jobs. 

STAY WEIRD, STAY DIFFERENT, BE PRAGMATIC

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College and school in general is for learning and acquisition of skills, but are you not aware that it's not the only place skills are acquired?, I mean, don't you know that college isn't the only place where education takes place?.

There are different places where you can even get specific skills you need to move on in life to avoid all sorts of wasting being done in college by most people (especially when you know that the college isn't for you). I don't like it when people behave like college or schooling is the holy grail, well it's important, but it definitely ain't for everyone.

We all have different life paths to take and because people close to you went to college doesn't mean that you also have to. There is so much you can do and there isn't time to waste going to college when you know that you are gonna be better off elsewhere. So just because others are going through the process and graduating with degrees from colleges doesn't mean that the process or degree is meant for you. In fact, there are many things others do that you don't do.

You just have to be pragmatic and not always follow rules and protocols. There are some rules and procedures you won't be able to keep up with and that's completely ok.

Think of how not fun life is gonna be or how mundane and monotonous each day is gonna seem if there were no diversifications or differences or if there was a manual which if you follow, will guide you to live your life without any uncertainty or if everything was the same all the time. 

We are all different and you are just among the condiments used to spice up the big soup (the earth and all within).

The thing that matters at the end isn't the degree or the prestige gotten from college, but your ability to find your passion and execute and the people you affected positively through your execution.

"The two most important days in your life is the day you were born and the day you figure out why." ~ Mark Twain.

You have to remain different and show case your talent and skills for the world to see and take note of. I don't like it when youths keep beating themselves up just so that they don't appear awkward or weird. If you let dogmatism rule your life, you will have so many regrets swarming across your fragile mind on your death bed or when you are no longer able to execute (for any reason).

"Stay weird, stay different" ~ Graham Moore (academy award winner for the best adapted screenplay, 2015)

IN A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES, WE BECOME OUR OWN LIMITATION

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There is this obvious problem with our regular system that I observed. When we are ready to move into senior secondary school, it's kinda mandated that we choose whether we wanna be part of science or the art department. It seems like an easy decision to make and seems not to affect much at that time, but I have noticed how it goes on to cause a massive ripple effect in some people's life as they progress into college.

The entire life of an individual is almost decided at that point and is dependent on this cheap decision which is ridiculous in my own point of view. If the individual involved chooses science or art, depending on what the case may be, the individual is expected to go through that field (science or art) for eternity. This decision limits a person to the range of courses based on the particular field in question and this is not a good idea.

I believe that those early years of ones life is very crucial for exploring all sorts of things and doing several new stuffs. That is how passions and interests are discovered. With this system, the exploratory part of life could be stripped from several people in a quest to choose a particular field when they might not even know much about those fields and career. Unfortunately, many become lost, pursuing what they don't wanna be doing and as a result only a few realise this and even fewer people get to find their way back. 

I have also noticed how easily youths can be pressured to go for a career they don't want to be doing. This is quite tricky, parents could be vocal about what they want their kids to be. The tricky part is that when their kids hear this, the information might just get registered in their head and they could also second their parents instantaneously, especially when they the career in question sounds cool to them. Then later, when they are fed up with it, they force themselves to like that particular career, maybe to avoid disappointing their parents. This is worse when the kid is a parent pleaser. 

Afterwards, the kid becomes completely lost and doesn't even know what will be the right career choice for him or her because they have swam in the wrong ocean for a very long time. 

You will be doing yourself a huge favour if you choose to break away from any sort of limitation and explore an different horizons, till you find the career you love and marry it.

THE ULTIMATE QUOTE

A wise man once said

"We are all self-made but only the successful will admit it." ~ Earl Nightingale.

This struck me when i saw it, and it's not like it's a whole new discovery, it's just that I never thought of it this exact way. The organisation of the quote made it glare more and it also had this little bit of fun element in it.

Try asking an unsuccessful individual the thing that kept them in the position they find themselves currently and you will hear all sort of stories about things going wrong, things that didn't go as planned, situations that were out of their control. Fingers will be point in all direction except within.

The case is quite different when you ask the same question to a successful individual. They will tell you about the hardship and dark moments they went through, incidents and thing that spurn out of their control, but they will also tell you how they worked tirelessly covered in sweat to try and fix things and to overcome the harsh storm because they believed they were in control and responsible for their destiny (admitting to being self-made ultimately).

So basically, we have the self-made poor man and the self-made rich man, the self-made looser and the self-made winner, the self-made unhappy and depressed individual and the self-made happy and enthusiastic one, the self-made problem solver and the self-made nagging and complaining individual, a self-made wise individual and a self-made foolish individual.

So we are self-made anyways, just that it's only the successful that will admit it. Begin to mould yourself into an individual you will be ultimately proud of when you look back in retrospect. Begin to shape yourself into a product that you're gonna cherish, begin to build a product of yourself that will be invaluable when it becomes a finished product.

The limitations that you really have is yourself and your imaginations, don't fail yourself. The worst moments in life are those moments in life are those moments are moments of regrets not moments of failure. Don't put yourself in a position where if you look back at your life you will be in a position to use that phrase 'had i known', knowing that there were things that you would have done but didn't do them because of whatever reason. The trick here is that when you look back and consider things that you could have done differently, they might have either succeeded or failed even if you did them the way you are thinking, but there is no way for you to know anymore. You will end up using your imaginations and regret will become your new name.

Like i said previously the pain from regrets is greater than the pain from failures. So that doing that thing that you have in mind right now!.