Yes, Iโm proud of myself because I worked hard to get here, walking and jogging through autumn, winter, spring and summer. And oh boy, my baby has been a great sport and awesome company!Bless her!๐ฅฐ
๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป! Document your journey! Take a lot of pictures! Videos even! This way youโll have memories to look back on to ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ you.
Because listen ๐๐พ the problem is not the naysayers nor denigrating comments but that voice inside your head that keeps telling you that you canโt do it; that itโs not worth it; that stop because you are not seeing any results, that why bother because you may gain the weight back; that it is what it is after giving birth ๐คฐ๐พ to a child; that get comfortable; that choose easy; that you are breastfeeding and so itโs not necessary because you are already burning calories!
Well, guess what? I got news for you! ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ! The journey is much about you as it is about your family. You want to be able to play and run around with your childrenโand you know they have lots of energy!๐ Also, you want to have the energy to be able to take care of your family. So, take care of yourself! Be healthy for them. Yes! But above all be healthy for ๐๐ผ๐!
๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป! You want to see results? Then donโt use the same methods. You may have lost the baby weight naturally before after previous births but ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ rely on the same strategies or the old ways of doing things. Chake mษ! Yes, change it! Switch things up! Be consistent even if itโs 5,10,15 minutes, stick to it and youโll see that you will begin to fall in love with the new routine and even most importantly, with your absolute frigging self!
When you are in doubt of how far you can go look back at those pics and look at how far you have come!
I am gradually moving from the 30 speed zone into the 40 speed zone. Soon, I will find myself in the same speed zone as my counterparts, some of whom may be ahead of me because they set off earlier or they found other routes to use to get ahead faster. But is it about acceleration or about direction? Whether figuratively or literally I believe the life lesson here is to keep going and purposefully while at it.
A lot has happened to me in this past year, not in terms of quantity but in terms of significance. Sometimes, I have recalls of experiences many years ago that impacted me in binary ways of good and bad. But I digress. Last year brought me to a different country, gifted me with another beautiful baby girl adding to the two God blessed me with already. Now, thatโs lots of good charm in the power of three! I published my first book in the same year and Dominic, my husband, and I moved into our flat with our new born to begin life as a family.
Now, with the housing crisis in the UK, we were very lucky to have gotten a social housing in less than three months of searching. I was heavily pregnant at the time in my ninth month when we went to view our flat; and I imagine those who understand the UK social housing system will say that put me ahead of the queue. Understandably so, but I was not entitled to anything and so this was a good combination of good luck and divine providence.
Whenever I think about all these and other experiences from the year before last year, I feel very fortunate and grateful! I look to the future with enormous hope and trust in God that everything else will fall into place. He has indeed looked upon His word and fulfilled it in my life perfecting His will in my life all to His glory.
So, as I inch into the double 20s I noted down some โ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒฬ๐โ which have manifested for me and also some ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐. I hope that you will be encouraged by them too as you wait for your own manifestations. And so in no particular order of importance I share with you these clichรฉs and lessons that have been tried and tested in my life:
1. Dreams do come true. The path to your dreams may be precarious and treacherous but believe me when I tell you that they do come true. Case in point, Josephโs story in the Bible. Josephโs dreams, sounded grandiose and โridiculousโ whenever he told them to his brothers but in the end they manifested. Of all the dreams that I had, I believe one that holds very precious to me is that I have three daughters; something that at some point in my life I desired so much. Indeed, we serve a God who knows whatโs best for us!
2. The waiting period may be the hardest but fill it with purpose. Do an activity you enjoy or volunteer your time to the service of others. Is there something that you may have put off for later? Now is the time to get back to it. I revisited my writing ambitions; I became more serious with my blog, I refocused on publishing my book and I wrote for others when my service was needed.
3. Life is not perfect. You are not perfect. You will definitely make mistakes in the journey towards your dreams. If I tell you that the mistakes are part of a grand plan, believe me. They are leading you right to the centre of your dreams. And I mean that literally. I find that I have a higher chance now of visiting France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
4. You have a solid support system even if itโs with one person. But you definitely have so make very good use of it. Not everyone is agog to run off with your struggles as a topic for gossip. There are still very genuine people you can count on. When I fell on hard times, I was caught by my family and very good friends. They were there for me wholeheartedly; they offered even when I didnโt ask; they shared their time, company, food and money with me and that helped me a lot!
5. Itโs alright to have regrets about something. Allow yourself to be guided by them. Let your moments of self-doubt, regrets and lowliness redirect you to God instead of away from Him. I understand when people say they โregret nothingโ or โhave no regretsโ. That is also fine. It is not my intention to elevate one above the other. However, it is my personal choice to regret some things that I didโemphasis on ๐๐๐๐. I hold on to those regrets as a guide so as not to repeat my mistakes. Like in the case of the prodigal son, he regretted his actions and went back to the father. And I am not oblivious to lifeโs curveballs and so when I am hit with a curveball, what lessons have I picked from the regrets to guide me? The response to a situation is equally as important as the quandary. The point I am coming from is taking responsibility for your actions.
6. You are allowed to reinvent yourself anytime you choose. ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ผ๐. That, one personโs experience was bad does not mean yours will be too. We walk different paths. Learn from othersโ experiences and just be guided.
7. Life has a way of humbling you to make you less judgmental. It will teach you to learn to pause before judging others or to hold back any judgements altogether. We are all scandals waiting to break. Be gracious in your criticism when othersโ break early. How you view a situation to judge is either from where you sit or standโnone gives a better view if your lens is broken or smudged. Sometimes, there are those delicate areas we are not privy to which can only be felt palpably by those who went through that experience.
8. You canโt force people to care but minding your business is another level of peace.
9. I am awkward when it comes to socialising. For someone like me, social media is a good setting for me to socialise. Social media is where I found Dominic. An introvert meeting an extrovert. What are the odds? And you will be out of touch with some people for some time but once they come to mind check on them and once it lies within your power to do so, work at staying reconnected.
10. Everybody has a phone and multiple social media accounts. What they post is their responsibility. After all, they are responsible for all phone bills. But the internet too never forgets so when giving an opinion or two on there, do so reasonably and courteously.
To conclude, I see a good domino effect at play in my life with beautiful events falling into place one after the other. Life threw many curveballs at me while at the same time moving me into a desired direction. I look to the future with a deep appreciation of the events and experiences of the past years and a heart of gratitude for the present moment. And I end with one more clichรฉ that says โwhat doesnโt kill you only make you strongerโโto which I add, โand smarterโ.
In the Temptation of Jesus, the devil brings this up. What was the intent of quoting scripture? Did he bring it up with good or bad intentions?
Also, if it were thoughts ๐ญ creeping into the mind of Jesus concerning who He is and His power as the Son of God, what was the intention behind that? To test God? To test His power and its limits? To which end?
Which voice are you listening to? What is the intent behind that voice? Will it serve you? How will it serve you? If you followed that voice, would you end up a better person or descend lower? Which thoughts are you entertaining in your head? Do they align with positive actions?
When snow came late and we made the most out of it.
I wrote this poem in 2008 the year I had finished my national service and I was home unemployed. I began writing in high school as far back as 2000. Twenty-two years later ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ was published. And the following year, 2023, what I imagined in the title ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ came to life!
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ poetry is available online on Amazon and BookNook ๐ฌ๐ญ (Ghana). Links below please. Thank you โบ๏ธ ๐๐พ
No, this is not how professional looks like. But this is the realest it gets outside of our (moms) professional lives. Look to your own homes, societies and families and you will find corroborative evidences.
Then again, when you look harder at this video, you will see how I am making it work and making the days count instead of counting the days when I return fully to professional life.
This part of my life right now is called ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐คฑ๐พ.
It doesnโt get more creative, more real and more fun multitasking, than this, as I market my book ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ , enjoy being a mom and not make excuses for achieving my goals.
And sometimes, things donโt go according to plan but God is still in the story๐. Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, feeling good to exercise but my boss baby Akua needed me๐คช. Yep, currently, I work at ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ๐, and when my boss says jump, I jump beyond her expectations ๐
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ is poetry for all! Get yourself and your relations a copy or two or three or four ๐.
Available on Amazon global (Kindle and Paperback) and on BookNook ๐ฌ๐ญ (Hardcopies only). Links below๐๐พ Thank you ๐๐พโฅ๏ธ
Looking for a reading material for your ward? Is your ward struggling to enjoy literature or English? Are you yourself looking for exceptional poetry to enjoy? Or are you looking for the right words to express to your loved ones? What reading material are you getting this ๐๐๐๐๐๐ or ๐๐๐๐๐๐? Ever thought that poetry was too dense and therefore not enjoyable?
Well, try ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ poetry๐ค. Poetry so simple and easy to understand. Poetry that will take you on a historical journey as you travel through nature with loved ones. Poetry that will elevate you to spiritual awakenings and help you to also navigate issues of love with remarkable fluidity.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐ is poetry for all! Get yourself and your relations a copy or two or three or four ๐.
Available on Amazon global (Kindle and Paperback) and on BookNook ๐ฌ๐ญ (Hardcopies only). Links below ๐๐พ. Thank you ๐๐พโฅ๏ธ
Akoma's Blog 