Practical Influences

E ku deede iwoyio.

We are already in the second month! This year is running fast again.

As a continuation to last month on the theme of the year: Influence, I want to talk on practical influence that we may experience or give in our lives here or anywhere.Many of Japan’s principles for living can be found nestled in Japanese concept words that can help us organize our lives or understand purpose for living, or in our enlightenment to living in harmony which starts from inside. We need all these too, not only about our religious beliefs. Who will not be impressed with the clear separation of religion and education in Japan? They do a very good job by teaching children morality without tying it to theology depending on your personal opinion for or against that. You can be nice without following any religion such as being considerate to others, being clean inside and outside, being on time, etc. the common rules followed by everyone here. I believe we could be influenced by all these and live happily with each other and even take back to our home which eventually may influence the mindset of majority for betterment of our generation and generations to come. We may have or witness adversity or injustice sometimes, but the difference is clear and bad experiences are sometimes good because they teach us how to deal with life. Even then you`ll definitely receive justice if you seek for it. We can also influence other people here within our communities by being a good example. Just like the month of February is for Valentine, which is based on friendships or love, let’s keep working on giving unconditional love, even when it may be hard sometimes we`ll definitely enjoy it sooner or later.

If you were born in February, we congratulate you, we celebrate with you and we love you. To those who are still not sure to join or not,I was once like you, take your time , you are welcome anytime,but remember that "Aisimbe ni aibawondasi o" ,come and let`s put heads together for you and for me and for the association."Ao kereoko deleo".Have a good month!

President.

New Year!

Compliments of the season to you all Aseyi se amodun o!

Yes, it’s time to make the annual pledges to do more, less, or better. To quit, start, change, do this and that this year. Before you resolve what to do next, there are a few things you better take into consideration. You have all heard the legendary quote, “Begin with the end in mind.” This is a half-truth, and actually dangerous thinking.Begin with understanding of what got you to this point, and what you’re seeking to accomplish then, make a plan with the “OUTCOME" defined”

I however chose "INFLUENCE" as my theme for this year. It can be used in different ways, but I`ll start with this; we all know that living abroad gives you an opportunity to have a greater understanding of other cultures. We definitely experience a common societal, lingual, philosophical, aesthetic, and religious influence. According to a survey, the biggest influence on foreigners, as you might expect, was Japanese society itself and her core values. Most people felt that just being among nice and polite people was infectious. This year, let us be part of the people influenced by the positive aspect of the society and to allow cohesiveness, harmony, humility (less ego) and improved manners among us in our community. Let us think of ourselves less and to always learn from the society to exercise better manners. After all, good manners are free, they don’t cost anything. So as it appears that we benefit from living among good role models. Let us know the difference between Proud and Pride. Let us know how to work as a team, which is another Japanese culture. Someone said: “I learned that you can be outstanding without standing out.” Whether Resolution or Theme, let us listen more, love one another and be the solution to the problem this year and not the problem to our association or community Let`s be influenced by the society and see how it will help our community grow.

If you were born in January we celebrate with you and wish you a good success in the year. Have a wonderful year everybody!

Segun.

President.

Happy holidays!

Happy Holidays everybody,

E ku odun eku iyedun emi wa yio se pupo re laye ati laaye wa o ,

With Christmas a few days away, it's beginning to look a lot festive.

So, it's shopping time, party time, vacation time, family time, gift giving time, bonus time, travel time, football time, basketball time, TV time etc. With all of that, and the economy, and politics, and even the unrest world - it's time to celebrate!

How will you be celebrating?

These are my personal recommendations for maximum holiday enjoyment.

a. Send cards that are lovely to as many as you can.

b. Spend as much time as you can to play with kids yours and relatives`. They relax you and bring you back to a less stressful time. 

c. Get together with the people closest to you and tell them how grateful you are that they're in your life.  

d. Stay positive. Stay sober. And stay focused on family,

e. Make peace with at least one person. There's someone you'll see during the season that's not your favorite. Talk it out if possible and make it a better relationship. You'll feel great!

f Be your own Santa Claus. Buy yourself something nice. Something you really want if you can afford it!

I feel grateful to all members that YAJ is alive and functioning today.

You have missed a lot if you did not attend this year, but we love you and we missed you. Let’s do it together next year, igi kan kole da igbo se o.

Odun tuntun ti ombo yio se oju emi gbogbo wa o!

President.

Rounding up!

E ku dee de iwoyi o! meaning, good day!

Wow it`s December! It’s just like yesterday when we all said Happy New year, wasn`t it? We go through series of holidays or celebrations from Ileya (Eid al-Adha) Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas to close the year.

It has been a wonderful year and I`m sure we all have something to thank God for this year. We want to thank you all for attending our last meeting. We also thank you all for your contribution especially Mr. Gabriel for sharing his experience on how to successfully raise children in Japan despite a very short notice. Even though there was no much questions for that Q & A slot we created which was a forum to air our opinions, ideas, complaints, concerns etc. We do not want to assume that everything is fine. We always want us to, like someone put it,” dare to ask” and “let`s agree to disagree” to give room for creativity in solving problems in our community. The fact is that most of the biggest catastrophes that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and out there, but that we are willfully blind to, because we can't handle, don't want to handle, the conflict that it provokes. But when we dare to break that silence, or when we dare to see or ask, and we create conflict, we enable ourselves and the people around us to do our very best thinking. It was an example of what we experienced at the last meeting and it is a healthy way of helping the association to grow starting from each one of us developing habit of being patient, listening more, understanding one another more and to love one another more.

Open information is fantastic, open networks are essential. But the truth won't set us free until we develop the skills and the habit and the talent and the moral courage to use it. Openness isn't the end. It's the beginning to taking our association to a higher level.

Thank you everyone once again, wishing you a happy and healthy month as we round up the year especially if you were born in December.

Segun.

Happy holidays

E ku deede iwoyio!

Develop good habits.

E ku dee de iwoyi o meaning good day!

It has been a great pleasure to be able to share this topic with you all.

It is hard to believe that we are in November and the year is almost running out. We have talked at length about habit and or attitudes and we can never exhaust the topic. Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thoughts.The bottom line is that a good habit is a major road to succeed in life.A habit is a tendency or practice that is difficult to give up. While some habits can be positive, others are bad and we could certainly do without, especially those that are relics of a previous era. Developing new habits or expectations can lead to a cultural shift and to new organizational norms.The process for developing habits, good or bad is the same. Habits are not instincts; they are acquired actions or reactions. Once the original caused is determined, it is within your power to accept or reject it.

SOME HABITS ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN!

The following may help you in changing bad habits into good ones.

1.   List your bad habits.( it may be toward your spouse or partner etc. causing you stress)

2.   What was the original cause?

3.   Determine a positive habit to replace the bad one.

4.   Think about the good habit and its benefits.

5.   Take action to develop this habit.

6.    Daily act upon this habit for reinforcement.

As you proceed, you will be amazed as this will go viral in our community and as lives will turn from ashes to glory.After all said and done our community will excel which is what we all hope and pray for. Make a pledge about these and actions you will take or changes you will make and be part of a movement to move the association forward.Tell people with negative norms or thinking or mindset or attitude toward the association that their thinking is outdated!Tell them to come and be part of the good things happening and about to happen or they will miss out!

Our newly elected executive inauguration was a wonderful experience.

Thank you all for making it happen.

We look forward to your support in various ways.

Have a wonderful November.

Segun.

PS. Our sincere birthday wishes to you if you were born in November. Good health and prosperity always.

Habit-Importance.

Eku deede iwoyi o meaning good day.

I chose this title from part of this question; why is habit or attitude important? To be on the track of this year`s theme. We are on the last spot and hope you are not tired yet of all these messages, I’m sure you must have gained one or two things. Hardly a day passes without the word habit or attitude entering a conversation. It may be used as a complaint or a compliment. It could mean the difference between a promotion or demotion. Sometimes we sense it other times we see it.Yet it is very difficult to explain. A person who gives a look that kills is not probably singing "something good is going to happen to you today "inwardly. Attitude is the advance man of our true self, its roots are inward, but fruit is outward. It is our best friend and our worst enemy. It is more consistent and more honest than our words. It is a thing that draws people to us or repels them and it is the prophet of our future. A Yoruba adage says “eefin niwa..” meaning, attitude or character is like smoke, it is never content until it is expressed. Having known this, think of your goal and where you are presently. Evaluate your attitude what is your performance indicator as a result of that attitude in other words, how do you think your habit or attitude is affecting or influencing your life progress toward the goal , your association, community or people around you. Do it for yourself and make amendments where necessary. No matter how old you are, you can still change some bad ones. The very fact that the attitude makes some and breaks others is significant enough for us to explore its importance.

Congratulations to the newly elected executives, congratulations to the electoral committee and congratulations to all the members for successful and peaceful election. We have a lot of work to do and we need to do it together.

A o ko ere oko dele o. Oodua yio gbewa o.

Have a wonderful October!

Segun.
PS.Happy birthday to you from us if you were born in October.Wishing you good health and prosperity always.