I Won't Give Up...

Making a commitment involves dedicating yourself to something, like a person or a cause. 

A commitment obligates you to do something.

Making a commitment is a good thing. Once you define an objective and make a commitment to achieve it, the commitment holds the objective constantly before you. I am learning the benefits of making a commitment. It is a little over eleven weeks now since I posted my last blog entry. In these eleven weeks, I constantly remembered my two commitments:

• To write a blog post every week; and
• To read for 15 minutes every day

I kept the commitment to read for 15 minutes a day. In fact because I already have a love for reading, I read for more than fifteen minutes each day. I have since completed the book, Things I Wish I'd Known Before We Got Married by Gary Chapman and started to read "Love, Sex and Lasting Relationships" by Chip Ingram. However, I still struggle to read at regular times.

Writing a weekly the blog post has been a tougher nut to crack. Eleven weeks have gone by without a blog post. Did I just forget my commitment? Not really. Every day, I remembered it. Yet each week went by, without a blog post. I am slowly recognising that when I make a commitment, I need to make space for it in my schedule of things to do. For writing the blog, I need to make time for thinking about what to write. I need to also make time for writing the entry and posting it. And so I am at my desk resuming work on something that I have committed to do.

I'm glad I made a public commitment. It has kept me accountable. I thank you, my friends, who have inquired from time to time, about when you'll see my next post. Here it is...

The next couple of weeks will show me whether I am mastering the lesson I am learning about making space in my schedule of things to do for the commitments that I have made.

Now its your turn. What commitments have you made in recent times. How are you doing with keeping them?

Discovering Myself...

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” ~Henry David Thoreau

A few months back, I decided to write a blog post every week. My commitment was public and because I pride myself as one who keeps her word, I have since then kept that commitment in my face. At first, it was a struggle to even remember to put writing the blog post in my weekly schedule. And when I did remember, it was yet another struggle to write it. I chose to keep my commitment.

My blog was to share my journey as I build my life by learning from books. I am not sure there is any time in my life that I am not reading a book. I always have a pile of books beside  my bed. I do not leave my home without a book in my handbag so that if I find myself waiting somewhere I have something to read. I will rather read a book than watch TV. So I felt blogging about my journey with books will be a breeze. Alas!!! That has not been the case.

In these few months, I have discovered a few things about myself. One discovery that has surprised me is this: Though I have read portions of very many books, I have completed only very few. And so I know bits about many subjects because I have skimmed many books, but I am not sure I can have a rich conversation about these books and their content.

Do I hear you say, "What does it matter?" I ask myself the same question.

Prior to blogging, I would have responded that it does not matter. However, the goal of my blog is to encourage others to develop a reading habit and enjoy books. To do that I have to read books to and not just skim through them.

Last week, I made another public commitment. I decided to start a 15 Minute A Day Reading Challenge from today August 1. I will choose a book, read it for 15 minutes each day, and stick with the same book until I complete it. All through this week, I have struggled with the choice of which of my many books, I should read. I have concluded that it doesn't matter which book I choose. What matters is that I stick to the plan. Arriving at that conclusion made it easy for me to write today's post.

And so starting from today, I will read from from 6pm to 6.15pm every day. My first book is Things I Wish I'd Known Before We Got Married by Gary Chapman.  If I read for just 15 minutes a day - every day, for one year - I can complete 20 books! I am excited, just thinking about it.

Hmmmmmmnnn! I set out to write one blog post a week. I am steadily approaching the achievement of that goal. But look! See what I am becoming by achieving my goal.

What goals have you set for yourself? What are you becoming by achieving that goal?

I'm at the Starting Block...

There is no elevator to success…you have to take the stairs. - Zig Ziglar

With an elevator, you can close your eyes and be taken up to a higher level. With taking the staircase, you have to focus on where you are going, you have to exert yourself to get to the higher level .

Last week, I renewed my commitment to read for 15 minutes everyday. Start date for implementation is August 1.  In preparation for taking action on this commitment, I have all of this week been looking at my activities plan with a view to choosing the specific 15 minutes of the day in which I will read.

Its amazing how very cluttered my life is that to find just 15 minutes to spare is tough. However, because my decision is public and because I like to be accountable, I have not given up on finding the time to read for 15 minutes daily. I realise now, that it is good that there is some time lag between when I made the commitment and when I am to start its implementation. The last one week and the remaining days of the month of July are affording me the privilege of thinking through my commitment and how best to implement it. If I were to have implemented the decision last week when I made it, I probably would have given up by now. I hear you asking me "Why?"

I'd have given up, because, I had not yet answered some important questions that are critical to helping me achieve the goal. Some of these are:

1. Which time of the day was I considering?

2. How would my current daily activity plan be affected by using this time differently?

3. What adjustments do I need to make to accommodate the expected changes?

4. Which book do I want to start with?

Not having answers to these questions meant that I was already falling down right from the starting block. I have learnt an important lesson. When I set a goal, that is just the first step. My current activity plan will require some adjustment to accommodate the steps that I will take in order to achieve the goal.  I need to ask and answer the questions:

• What are the small steps that will help me to achieve the goal? 
• How would my current daily activity plan be affected by implementing these steps? 
• What adjustments do I need to make to my present activity plan?

I have chosen two 15 minutes segment in my day for reading my book daily one in the morning and one in the evening. I chose two so that regardless of the pressures on my time, at the worst, I'll have 15 minutes daily, at best, I'll have 30 minutes daily.

If I read just 15 minutes a day - every day, for one year - I can complete 20 books! I am excited just thinking about it. 

Will it be easy? I'm not kidding myself that it will. But  I will give it my best effort. 

Will you join me in the 15 Minutes a Day Reading Challenge? Click here to find out more about it. Let me know in the comment box if you're accepting my invitation.

I'm Taking My Own Advice...

Advice is very easy to give to others but quite tough to implement in one's own life.

As a bookstore owner and a lover of books, I very often dish out advice to others with a view to encouraging them to give time to read good books. In 2013, I read a blog post on Lifelong Learning by Jen Harris and learnt that:

• If you read just one book per month for 12 straight months, you will be in the top 25 percentile of all intellectuals in the world!
• If you read five books on one subject, you are one of the world’s foremost leading authorities on that subject!
• If you read just 15 minutes a day — every day, for one year — you can complete 20 books!

Based on this discovery, on Hidden Treasures Bookstore's Facebook page, we invited our fans to  join our 15 Minutes A Day Reading Challenge. Here's how the challenge worked. Participants were to:

1. Choose a book to start with and get the book;

2. Choose a specific time in the day when they'll read the book EVERY day for 15 minutes, e.g.     6.00 - 6.15pm;

3. Start reading the book every day at the scheduled time;

4. When they finished reading the first book, take a second book and repeat the cycle;

5. Share their experiences (if they like) with us on our Facebook page as they go on this journey;

6. Invite their friends to do the same.

Since I resumed blogging about my experience reading books, I have done some self assessment and found that I have not taken my own advice. I haven't put in my daily schedule time for reading as advised in the 15 Minutes A Day Reading Challenge. Invariably, my desire to read regularly is not realised as other activities overwhelm any efforts I make to fulfil that desire.

The time has come for me to take my own advice. I really do want to share my experience about reading books. To do that I have to read books on a regular basis. So I have come to the place of a new commitment. I commit from August 1, 2014 to take the 15 Minutes A Day Reading Challenge.

I invite you to join me in this challenge.  Let me know in the comment box, if you're accepting my invitation.

Encouragement from Books

Books are great tools for encouraging yourself.

As I dwelt on the matter of book piracy and its devastating effect on the Nigerian Book Trade in general and Hidden Treasures Bookstore in particular, for the first time in the history of my bookstore, I considered shutting down and moving on to some other business.

While in this mode, I  had a trip to make to the village. I would be there for about ten days. When I go on such a trip, it is my practice to go with a book. The atmosphere in the village is serene. In addition, life in the village is a break from my regular routine. I find that I am able to speed read a book while there.

For this trip, I chose Supernatural Destiny by Don Nori. Don Nori is the founder of Destiny Image Publishers, an American Christian Publishing company. Supernatural Destiny is the story of how he started Destiny Image. In his book, Nori shared the challenges he faced while nurturing his publishing company in the early days.

In  a chapter titled, "God Sends People to Encourage", Nori shared how God providentially sent people his way at different times in the early days of his business to encourage him. As I read about his experiences, I began to recall similar experiences in the years past of how God providentially brought people my way. I recalled how in my interactions with these people, I had received encouragement and assurance that I was not in the wrong business.

By the time I'd read through the book, "Supernatural Destiny", I was greatly revived. I remembered the dreams and vision that led to the start of my bookstore. I remembered the significant milestones, I had passed in the life of the  bookstore. I recalled the undeniable encounters which could only have happened because God showed up. I was revived and reminded that challenges and obstacles are part and parcel of life.

And so the thoughts of closing down my bookstore which arose in my mind as I reviewed the impact of book piracy on our operations receded. I love reading books. I want to share that love of books with others. I want to promote the love for books in the coming generations. The activities of book pirates will not discourage or deter me from working at fulfilling my dream.

If my experience encourages you, even in a small way to hold on to your dream, I will be delighted to hear from you.

Piracy of Books

I was discouraged this week and I'd like to tell you about it.

Piracy of books has been perhaps the biggest challenge that booksellers in Nigeria have faced in the last couple of years. Best selling books and bibles which form the core inventory of many bookstores have been taken by pirates who have flooded the market with illegally produced copies. In  the past, it was quite easy to recognise pirated works. The quality of the work and the paper used was very poor. With the advancement in technology, the quality of the pirated works is quite close to the original editions.

On the one hand, members of the public, largely ignorant, happily buy the pirated works, supposing that they are getting fantastic price bargains. They even accuse bookstore owners and booksellers who sell original works of being selfish people who are out to make excessive profit. On the other hand, bookstore owners have unsold inventory because their customers are now buying pirated books They have a hard time having enough funds to pay their suppliers and have to lay off staff. Furthermore, because they cash strapped, they are unable to bring new titles to the customers who are faithful and consistent in their patronage. Some bookstores have had to close down.

Many bookstore owners, yours truly included, have chosen not to deal in pirated works. It has been tough but we have stayed true to our choice.

"My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence" by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai was introduced to the local book market in January 2014. As with other bookstores, we at Hidden Treasures Bookstore, received enquiries about this inspiring book. In a bid to satisfy our customers, we ordered the book. To our chagrin, the pirated version of the book has flooded the market. And it is selling at one-tenth the price of the original work.

How does a honest bookstore owner deal with this? Customers' accusations, unsold inventory resulting in cash flow issues...

the truth is that the only way a customer can identify pirated works is to believe in the integrity of the bookstore from which he buys books regularly. if a bookstore's customer believes that the bookstore operates with integrity, he will be suspicious once he is offered books at ridiculously low prices. In recent times, customers who have patronised us for years at Hidden Treasures Bookstore have accused us of charging exorbitant prices. We have been horrified. Seeing that book prices have remained stable for quite some time, their accusations infer that we have not acted with integrity. Coming from long-standing customers, that was dreadful. That is what has discouraged me in the last couple of days.

Talking about it to you, my friends makes me feel better. May I ask that you be my partner in fighting piracy? Bookstore owners need you to tell others about what piracy really is and its impact. We may have apparently cheap books today, courtesy of the pirates. Those books are cheap because the authors are being denied the royalty that is due to the on the pirated copies. Pirating means that you are lowering the chance of the authors getting any royalties in the first place, and increasing the time it will take for them to earn those royalties> But will the pirates bring us all the different books that we want to see in our bookstores on a consistent basis? It is doubtful that they will. Let's join hands to work for a future in which we will have a steady inflow of good books to our community.

Facebook Friends...

Many people will not touch Facebook for all the gold in South Africa. Many more who use Facebook are very, very wary of connecting with people they do not know or have not had physical contact with offline. Given the scams and other such schemes that abound, I am not surprised that they are that cautious.

While I also exercise a great deal of care, I like Facebook and the ability it gives me to reach out and touch other people. I have met quite a number of people on this medium who are in the process of becoming good friends. Some I have had face-to-face meetings with. Others I am yet to meet. I am amazed at the impactful positive use that these friends are making of Facebook.

One friend has used the medium to connect friends who have resources with widows who were despairing and had no one to run to. Another has used it to raise funds for medical treatment for a little girl who desperately needed it but didn't have anyone to who she could turn. Another is using it to connect young wives in different corners of Nigeria who want to have balance in their lives, husbands, children, work and everything else. Another is using it to help people understand how to make their marriages work. Yet another is using it get his friends to examine their beliefs in the light of the Scriptures and not just hold on to long held myths. I could go on....

I have been thinking about these as well as all the very negative uses that Facebook has been put too by many other people. I realise that friendship on Facebook, indeed any social media is no different from face-to-face or physical contact friendships. We make good and bad friedship choices.

Dr. John Townsend in his book, "How to Be a Best Friend Forever", (that's the book I'm reading now, remember?) said, "Most best friendships begin as we simply pass through life and meet someone we like".  According to him, people meet their friends in the one or more of the following sources:

• Your kids are friends with their kids
• Childhood and school days
• College
• Workplace
• Neighbourhood
• Church
• Introduction from a mutual friend
• Chance encounter

I like to think that social media falls into the chance encounter category.

In life, we should choose friends based on principles. Dr. Townsend posits that a friendship should have three elements.

1. Knowing. Having objective information  and personal experience with the person which provides the foundation of whether or not this relationship will be a friendship, and how deep it can go
2. Liking. You are drawn to each other's presence.
3. Presence. Friends spend time together, that's how knowing and liking happens.

I like the sound of that. It gives me a basis for evaluating my relationships even on social media. Although, deceitful people provide false information in their profiles, I find that by applying principle 1. above, I shut out a significant percentage of them. I think that my friends who I mentioned above have achieved the success they have with social media because they have chosen their friends based on principles.

Should you want the book, "How to Be A Best Friend Forever" by Dr. John Townsend, let me know in the comment box below.

And now it's your turn. Would you like to share with me something from the book you are reading?

I Choose To Be Accountable...

An accountability partner is someone who you trust to hold you to the standards that you set for yourself. As stated in the quote by Bob Proctor in the graphic below, "Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results."

Keeping a commitment to friends is difficult. You really want to be seen as a person of your words. And yet when the going gets tough, you have a reason that you think is good enough to explain why you have not kept the commitment you made to them. What can your friends do? They accept your explanation. Those who hold you accountable listen to your explanations, but, remind you not indulge yourself in excuses.

Last week, I didn't write a post for my blog. A number of my friends checked in with me to find out why. They reminded me that I had requested them to keep me accountable in writing posts for my blog. I am grateful to them that they did. It set me thinking about the commitment I made to you my readers that I will write one post every week. I realised that ultimately keeping a commiment to others begins with keeping a promise to yourself.

And so, this week I choose to keep the promise to myself and then to you.

As I searched within myself to find out why I was not writing my blog posts., I admitted to myself, that in some way, I expect the post to write itself. I hear you asking, "How do you mean?" One I'd written a post and published it, I went merrily on my way and I didn't give the blog another thought until it was time to publish another one. Of course, it's not so easy to think up a subject, develop it and then write a post in the twinkling of an eye. So, I'd struggle with it and when I make no headway, I'll then say to myself, perhaps I'll just leave it off till the next week. I see now what may have led to my blog going comatose in my earlier attempts.

I am learning that I need to think ahead. I need to choose the subjects I'll write about well ahead. I need to include in my schedule, time to develop my thoughts and time to write my posts.

You my friends are doing a good job of holding me accountable. Now I need to show by the provision I make in my weekly plan that I intend to keep my commitment, first to myself and then to you all. That I will do.

Now is there some way I can reciprocate the favour you have done to me of keeping me accountable? Let me know......

Keeping My Promise....

It's two weeks and one day since my last blog entry. I had reasons to postpone writing an entry but I remembered the commitment I have made to you all, my friends. When I restarted my blog in April, I committed to writing one blog post every week. So here I am, keeping my promise to you.

In the last fortnight, I paused reading Dr. John Townsend's "How to Be a Best Friend Forever". 

What happened? I hear you ask. 

First, I went on a business visit to my bookstore, Hidden Treasures Bookstore in Enugu. Because I had not visited for some time there was quite a lot to do. To accommodate all that I had to do, I assigned low priority to reading my book. Since I didn't do any reading that week, I felt I didn't have anything to share with you, my friends.

Sometime during my stay in the bookstore, my eyes rested on a book "When I Lay My Isaac Down" by Carol Kent. As I moved about in the bookstore, I was intrigued by the subtitle of the book, "Unshakeable Faith in Unthinkable Circumstances".  At some point,my curiosity got the better of me and I picked up the book from the shelf where it was and looked through it.

The book outlined transformational principles that Gene and Carol Kent learnt  in the process of facing the news that forever changed their lives. Their twenty-five year-old son, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy with an impeccable record shot and killed his wife's ex-husband. Long recognised for his exemplary character, their son, now walks a path no one could have predicted - and his family lives in the aftermath of a devastation most cannot imagine.

To say that I was shocked as I read the book is putting it mildly. I wondered again and again, what would I do if I found myself such an unthinkable circumstance? At first, my reaction was "God forbid!!!" as we would say in local parlance. Then I recalled a number of people around me who had in recent times found themselves in unthinkable circumstances. I decided to read the book not just for reading sake, but to walk with the author, Carol Kent, and learn with her, the transformational principles she wrote about in the book.

A week ago, I copied this from the book,

 " All of us have circumstances that produce varying degrees of personal loss and devastation. Will we maintain our grip on hope in the process of defeat? Will we live our lives with passion and purpose even, if in this lifetime, we are not permitted to have an answer as to why something has happened? Will we choose unshakeable faith, or will we give up on God? I believe God's great invitation is to engage us in the process of discovering the power of choosing faith when that decision makes no sense.There is hidden power in our unthinkable circumstances."

In less than twenty-four hours after I copied this quote into my journal, I received news of an unthinkable circumstance that shook me and made me to ask God "Why? How did You allow this?" As I struggled with my thoughts and emotions on receiving this news, I recalled the quote copied into my journal. I recalled the story of the Kents as they walked with God in their unthinkable circumstance. I realized that I was being presented with an opportunity to choose faith when the decision made no sense.

I found that reading a book had become the means by which I received advance preparation to cope with my unthinkable circumstance. And so I have gone back to the book, "When I Lay My Isaac Down" for now.

Have I given up on my earlier book, "How to Be a Best Friend Forever"? No. I have only paused for a while. I will return to it shortly.

And now it's your turn. What book are you reading? And what are you learning from it?

A Pause Along the Way...

Another week has rolled away into history. 

This week, I did not do much reading. 

Every one who makes an effort to read books experiences this. For some, they have many activities in their schedule that crowd out the time they have allotted for books. For others, it may be that the activities they have been involved in tired them out. And for some others there may just be no desire to pick up a book to read.

The difference between the habitual and non-habitual reader is this. The habitual reader understands that this is just a passing phase. Here is where having a commitment to follow a reading schedule pays off. By a reading schedule, I mean, a commitment to read a certain number of chapters a day, or to read for a some set time, (fifteen, thirty minutes, sometimes one hour). As their hectic schedule eases off, they return to their commitment.

The non-habitual reader, on the other hand, reads, when they have time, or when they feel like it. Once the pressure of a hectic schedule or a calendar full of activities hits them, their reading plan goes into a spin. Recovering from that spin is an uphill task, because there is no prior commitment or plan for the recovery phase. Frequently, it's at this point that the non-habitual reader gives up on reading.

A new week is dawning. I'll be on a road trip for most of tomorrow, Sunday. I plan to catch up on my reading of Dr. John Townsend's "How to Be A Best Friend Forever" while on that trip. Already,from the book, I have learned that to deepen the attachment of the relationships I have with my friends, it's important to act in ways that foster trust and openness to each other.

The decision to let you, my friends know how I am doing has been a great help. Choosing to be accountable to you, makes me to keep my decision to read this book in focus. That's another important factor that habitual readers understand.

I invite you to join me in this journey of learning from books.  Tell me, what book are you currently reading? And what was your experience with that exercise this past week?

A New Beginning in Friendships

Wow! This is week number four. The excitement about writing my blog posts is still strong.

Having stated last week that I will read Dr. John Townsend's "How To Be A Best Friend Forever", I included it in my list of things to do for the week. I purposed that I will read the book for 30 minutes each day. 

Come Monday, I started reading the book. It has been an easy to read book.

As I read, I couldn't help but underline portions of the book. I learnt that friendships are critical. Friendships should be about: people we go to with our deepest dreams, needs and questions, and who are lifelines to us; people who bring us life. Longing for friends, real friends was stirred up in me.

  

"Research keeps pointing to the conclusion that all aspects of our lives are deeply affected by the presence or absence of friendships."

I do not have many friends. I am beginning to understand why. Even though I am always looking for more good relationships, I do not know the path to accomplish that. 

Dr. Townsend suggests that a friendship must have three elements:

1. Knowing. This is having objective information and personal experience with the person you are considering for friendship. Knowing provides a foundation of whether or not the relationship will be a friendship and how deep it can go.

2. Liking. This is wanting to spend time with each other. You want them to know about your life and you want to know about their life.

3. Presence. There is mutual commitment to be with each other, and you gladly pay the price for its benefits. Friends spend time together. That''s how knowing and liking happens.

I pondered on these words. I reflected on my experiences of friendship.

In some situations, I considered people my friends without having objective information and personal experience with them. As I found out more about them, I was disappointed and hurt. 

In some other situations, I met people that my knowledge of them made me want to strike up a deep friendship with them. However, I allowed perceived obstacles to prevent me from spending time with them to build the relationships. The potential for friendship was not realized.

After a number of such experiences, I decide not to venture into friendships again.

What has your experience been? Have you found and nurtured friendship opportunities? Have you been disappointed by 'friends" who, if you'd taken time to know some more about them, should never have been called friends? Have you met people who could have become good friends but did not realize the potential of such opportunities? Have you given up on finding good friends?

As I read the book, "How To Be A Best Friend Forever", I am inspired again to look for friendship opportunities. I encourage you to do the same.

A week ago, I had memories of friendships that did not work. I was unwilling to repeat such poor experiences. Now, a book has opened the door for me into a new experience of friendships. 

That's what books do.  They open doors into worlds you didn't know about.

Friendship...What does it really mean?

Today, I'm saying thanks to you, my friends who read my two recent posts, and who are cheering me on in my renewed efforts to keep my blog active. 

I have friends, you have friends, every one around us has friends.

Friendship is a part of life that is as old as mankind itself. And yet, its something that we don't quite understand.

Who are my friends? What makes them friends? How did they become my friends? Do they consider me their friends? What are my expectations of them? Are they aware of those expectations?  Do they have the same expectations of me, or different ones? Am I aware of my expectations of them?

These and many more questions often run through my mind when I think of the subject friendship in general, and my own friends in particular.

As I share thoughts with others, I hear these words, "I thought she was my friend. How could she have done this?" 

I want to make my friendships real. I want them to last a lifetime. I want them to be impactful for those I call my friends and for me too.

I went out to the book-store this week to buy a gift for a friend. As I browsed the shelves in the store, voila! a title caught my attention. "How to Be A Best Friend Forever" by Dr. John Townsend. Trust me, I picked it up, looked at the back and read these words,

"Friend. It's a word whose meaning is confusing, and whose usage is overdone in our fast-paced world. Increasingly, our circles of "friends" are a mile-wide, yet the relationships are paper-thin. Even so, there's nothing like the sustaining strength and life enriching power of true-blue, forever friends. And we need them now more than ever".

I knew immediately that book was going home with me. I got the gift for my friend, completed my shopping and left the bookstore.

As I write this post, I have Dr. Townsend's book with me. It's my book to read in the coming weeks. I intend to read it and practice the things I learn from it. 

I will let you know what my experience is as I get on with reading the book.

Now, the floor is yours. For you, friendship...what does it mean?

Reading Books...Creating Memories

Some years back, I had just graduated from the University. The next thing on the agenda was to have a young man ask for my hand in marriage.

Leventis Store on Marina was still in its hey days. They had some great books in their book section. I bought quite a few titles from there. I cannot for the life of me remember these titles. One or two of them were about marriage.....

I read the books as though my life depended on it. As I look back now, I wasn't deliberately reading to prepare for married life. I just enjoyed reading books. I recall this story from one of the books.

"Tunde and Tolu (I don't remember the names now) were newly married. As they finished eating dinner one evening, they had some left over meat. Tolu remarked that her mum would have cooked some beans with the left over meat. Tunde, with a smile, said, "That's what my mum would do too!" They agreed that, the following evening, they'll have for their dinner, beans made with the left over meat.

The next day, all day at work, Tunde imagined his wife cooking beans just like his mum would do. Tolu, on the other hand cleaned the house and in the evening, lovingly prepared beans, just the way her mum would have done, She set the table, with a song on her lips, delighted that she had a pleasant evening with her husband to look forward to.

She heard Tunde arrive and went to the door to welcome him. Tunde, on arrival, was a bit perplexed as he walked in to their apartment. He couldn't perceive the aroma he had looked forward to all day long. He saw the table set and asked Tolu, "Didn't you say we'll have beans for dinner tonight?" "Of course, yes" she replied, opening the dish with flourish.  Becoming irritable, Tunde looked into the dish and snapped, "This isn't beans!" Close to tears, Tolu replied, "What do you mean? This is beans!"

They exchanged a few more sentences and then paused and sat down, not wanting to quarrel. As they asked each other questions and listened carefully to one another, they learnt that though they had used the same words, they meant entirely different things. What Tunde's family referred to as beans was completely different from what Tolu's family referred to as beans."

I tucked this story away in some corner of my mind.

Fast forward some years later, I got married to my fantastic husband. Ever so frequently I found myself recalling Tunde and Tolu's story from that corner of my mind. It saved us some massive misunderstanding when we used words which we thought we both understood, only to the discover that the words meant different things to my husband and I!

That's the power that books have in building lives. I don't remember the title of the book or the name of the author. Yet, the lesson I learnt from it is still so fresh in my mind as though, I read the book just yesterday.

Many times ,when you're reading a book, you don't deliberately set out to learn something. However, some of what you read, stays with you, tucked away in some corner of your mind. Ready to be recalled and put to use when the need arises.

So will you pick up a book today, and start reading, just for the fun of it?

It's Now More Than Two Years.....

A little over two years now, I started this blog and posted two entries.

I was full of enthusiasm. I love books. They have impacted my life positively. I was going to share my experience as I read books and saw their impact on my life.

What happened since then? Did I stop reading books? No, I didn't. I have read many books since 2012. Did they impact my life significantly? Yes they did. Did I blog about my experience? No I didn't.

Why didn't I blog as I had planned? Since the beginning of this year, I have given quite some thought to this  question. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that a desire remains a desire, if I do not have a plan for bringing that desire to pass.

In 2012, I created a blog. I desired to share my experience about how books build my life, thereby encouraging others to read books. I was excited.....but I made no plans as to how my desire will become a reality. As the days passed, my desire remained a desire. I promised myself, I write something tomorrow. Tomorrow came and I didn't write a word. My blog remained empty for over two years, twenty four months, seven hundred and thirty days...Not a word did I write.

Today, I awoke from my sleep. I really want my desire to become reality. I am taking the first step in writing this post. I commit to writing a post a week for a start.

A week from today, I will have another entry. I'll see you then....