Statements of Encouragement: Space

  Hello and eku deede iwoyi o!

I would like to share these three sentences I read in a book some time ago with you;

 Between stimulus and response, there is a space.

In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response.

In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.

Those sentences really touched me that I even coined them for my classes.

I`m sure everybody has also learned from various sources about our freedom to choose our response to whatever happens to us. I have even shared something similar in the past but this aspect of space between whatever happens to us and our response to it is special.

             Stimulus   -------------Response

 I will spare you the detail, but I have come to understand that the size of the space is subjective, that is, it depends on our genetic makeup, our upbringing, and our present circumstances. To some it is wide or long, to some it is short. It is the use of the space that is very important. Some with a short space may cave in when facing adversity while others with the same or wider space size may swim upstream against their circumstances to happiness and make use of their priceless gift. The difference is that they used their space or their freedom to choose differently. The awareness of our freedom and power to choose can excite our sense of possibility and potential and our responsibility or response-ability and accountability. It is certain that there may be things that happen to us over which we have no choice. We still have the power to choose how we respond. No matter what has happened, or is happening, or will happen, there is a space between those things and the response to them. Even if it`s only a fraction of a second between stimulus and response, the space represents our power to choose our response to any situation.

We celebrate you if you were born in May. May you be gifted with life’s biggest joys and never-ending bliss. Happy Birthday!

Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy.

Eric O. Thompson

YAJ.

Statements of Encouragement: Perceptions

 Hello and eku deede iwoyi o!

I will like to share this story I came across some time ago. It goes like this;

A farmer walked into an attorney's office wanting to file for a divorce from his wife.

The attorney asked; May I help you?

The farmer said; "Yea, I want to get me one of those Day-vorces."

The attorney said; "Do you have any grounds?"

The farmer said; "Yea, I got about 140 acres."

The attorney said; "No sir, you don't understand, do you have a case?"

The farmer said; "No I don't have a case, but I have a John Deere....."

The attorney said; "No, you don't understand, do you have any grudges?"

The farmer said; "Yea I have a grudge, that's where I park my John Deere."

The attorney said; "No sir, I mean do you have a suit?"

The farmer said; "Yea, I have a suit, I wear it to Church on Sundays."

The attorney said; "Well sir, does your wife beat you up or anything?"

The farmer said; "No sir, we both get up at 04:30."

The attorney then said; “Okay. let me put it this way, Why do you want a divorce?”

The farmer said; “Well, I can never have a meaningful conversation with her.”

My experience is that, if people really try to understand each other, they will in most cases come to agree with each other because over 90 percent of all communication problems are caused by semantics or perceptions. Whenever people listen to each other with true empathy that puts them on the same page, then they discuss their disagreements in agreeable ways and may possibly solve them through synergy, the third side of the coin, or the third alternative or a form of compromise.

We celebrate you if you were born in April. Don't count your years but the life you live. Happy Birthday!

Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, get vaccinated, or get the booster shot as soon as possible if you haven’t done so, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy.

 

Eric Thompson

YAJ.

Statements of Encouragement: Reality.

 Hello and eku deede iwoyi o!

There was a popular song in the ’90s called “I Believe I Can Fly.” The song has made its way around the world, inspiring millions of people to believe in themselves. It’s of a similar theme to the old saying you’ve probably heard many times from a parent, mentor, or teacher: “If you believe it, you can achieve it.”

The truth is, just believing something doesn’t make it so. A pig will never fly, and neither will you. There’s a big difference between a fantasy and a dream. Fantasies exist only in the imagination, but dreams…well, dreams can come true.

But it takes work to make a dream a reality. After all, a dream that has no chance of becoming reality is nothing more than a waste of time.

That’s the tricky thing about dreams. The best dreams are bold and ambitious full of hope and possibility. But what makes a dream worthwhile is your ability to bring it into reality. The difference between a fantasy and a dream is reality.

We don’t have the ability to achieve whatever we believe. It doesn’t matter how much you believe you can fly, if you jump out of a plane without a parachute, the law of gravity will take over, you cannot change your mind and it’s all over.

Think about the difference between fantasizers and dreamers:

Fantasizers rely on luck. Dreamers rely on discipline.

Fantasizers wait. Dreamers initiate.

Fantasizers make others responsible. Dreamers take responsibility.

Fantasizers focus on the destination. Dreamers focus on the journey.

Fantasizers minimize the value of work. Dreamers maximize the work they do.

Successful people don’t leave everything to chance. They focus on what they can do and they do it.

If your dream is unrealistic, you will depend on things that are outside of your control to make it a reality. There must be a balance between the boldness of your dream and the reality of your situation.

Successful people have mastered the art of reaching beyond what they’re capable of while depending on factors within their control. This is called aligning your dreams with your talent and skills.

I want to challenge you to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself about your dreams. Are you trying to do things that you really aren’t suited for?

Reality is never the enemy of a dream as long as you are depending on factors within your control. Factors like your knowledge, your skill, your potential, your habits, and your attitude.

Ask yourself these questions as you seek to find that place where dream and reality meet:

What is my dream? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses?

What are my positive habits? What are my negative habits?

How long must I practice my positive habits to reach my potential?

Believing in your dream isn’t enough. You must understand your reality if you want to see your dream come true. I want to encourage you today—dream big, dream bold, and dream beyond imagination!

But more than that, I want to see you accomplish your dreams. And I believe that is possible—with a lot of work. So what are you waiting for? Go for it!

 

We celebrate you if you were born in March. Wishing you the happiest of birthdays and many more that top the year before, and may all your wishes come true!

Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, get vaccinated, or get the booster shot as soon as it`s available, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy.

 

Eric Thompson

YAJ.

Statements of Encouragement: Priorities.

 Hello and eku deede iwoyi o! It`s already February everybody!

I will like to follow up on last month`s write-up with this because they work hand in hand.

Anytime a person doesn`t know what his priorities are, he can find himself in trouble because he is liable to make poor decisions. German Poet John Wolfgang said, “Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.” I must admit this has been an area of weakness for me such as pleasing people at my expense. I experienced a crisis that caused me to come to grips with my priorities.

What are your priorities? I once asked my students this question and I want to ask you; In fifty or a hundred years from now what are you doing now, that will still be important? The house you live in, the car you drive, the position you hold, the money you have, etc. won`t mean much. What really matters? I encourage you to work hard to keep unimportant from becoming important and vise vasa. I must tell you that the secret of your success, depending on what the definition of success is to you, is determined by your daily agenda. It boils down to what you do today. Every day of our life is merely preparation for the next. Each is a process.

Growth, success, and fulfillment come from making wise decisions on the priorities for your life and managing them well daily. You need to know what priorities to set for every aspect of your life. It is also necessary to be disciplined and persevere to be able to maintain it and avoid distractions daily.

We celebrate you if you were born in February. May you always follow your own unique path when walking through this life's journey!

Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, get vaccinated, or get the booster shot as soon as it`s available, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy.

Eric Thompson

YAJ.

Statements of Encouragement: Distractions.

 Compliments of the season everyone, Odun a yabo fun wa o!

I will like to encourage you not to be distracted as we are experiencing the rise of omicron, the new covid-19 variant. I will like to share this story with you;

A man and his son were once going with their donkey to market. As they were walking along by his side a countryman passed them and said, "You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?" So the man put the boy on the donkey, and they went on their way.

But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said, "See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides."

So the man ordered his boy to get off and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other, "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along."

Well, the man didn't know what to do, but at last, he took his boy up before him on the donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passersby began to jeer and point at them for overloading the poor donkey. The man and boy got off and tried to think about what to do. By the time they arrived at the market, they were carrying the donkey on their shoulders.

Don't let this covid-19, omicron, and other variants or people keep you from pursuing your dream.

This is the time, 2022, to stay focused on your purpose.

We celebrate you if you were born in January. Your birthday is a perfect occasion to pause, reflect and promise yourself another great year full of adventure. Wishing you a wonderful year ahead!

Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, get vaccinated, or get ready for the booster, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy.

Eric Thompson

YAJ.

Statements of Encouragement: Tenacity.

 Hello and eku deede iwoyi o! Welcome to December again everybody! I'm so glad you're still here and healthy during this difficult time. Hope this year`s statements have given you a little bit more backbone, more courage to face some of the difficulties that we all are surrounded by at this time especially with the new omicron variant.

Margaret Thatcher said, ‘You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.’ She was a wise leader, and she understood that when we go to war against crisis and adversity, we don't get this victory easily. It doesn't come quick. If we win a battle, that doesn't mean we won the war against this adversity. It just means that there's probably another battle coming and another battle coming after that. You see, crisis tests two things in our life. It tests our tenacity and it tests our persistence. You have to understand it's not easy. It's uphill.

There are no easy wins. Imagine when we thought that the covid-19 was going down and suddenly the outbreak of another that can be contracted even after taking the full Covid-19 vaccine shots. Glad though that it`s not as deadly once you`re fully vaccinated.

A major leader in Israel in the area of military strategy once said Eric, if you're fighting the enemy, and if your advance is going too smoothly, to be honest with you, you're not winning that battle. You've run into a trap.’ In other words, they've just let you have it easy so they could surround you. And I just want you to know almost everything easy in life, whether it's in the military or life itself, is probably a trap. Remember what Margaret Thatcher said is true wisdom. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.

We celebrate your trip around the sun again if you were born in December. Wishing you a very special birthday and a wonderful year ahead!

 Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, get vaccinated, or get ready for the booster, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy until we will be able to gather again possibly soon.

Eric Thompson

 YAJ.

Statements of Encouragement: Changes.

 Hello and eku deede iwoyi o!

I was going to write about Change as the topic for the month then I remember that I have written a lot on the topic 2 years back way before the pandemic. Please go back and read again if you have the time because they are just as very useful now.

However, I will add that one of the most distinctive aspects of the traditional worldview that has always assisted Jews to cope with change is the view that humans aren’t ’ merely smart animals but are qualitatively distinct and unique beings. You may know the old childhood guessing game of “ animal, vegetable, or mineral. ” Well, the view is that there is a fourth category to add to that three — human. 

Minerals undergo almost no change through the ages. Marble, for example, is cut from a quarry in Italy and shipped to New York City where it will form the facade of a bank. The years go by, and the marble remains virtually the same as it was. Finally, the building may be demolished, but the marble is preserved to be reused in another building.

 Vegetables don’t last anywhere near as long as minerals. During the existence of, say, a radish, the vegetable changes more than a mineral does, but its changes are minor. It may grow larger, it may become redder, but it is still just a radish. There is only a small quantitative difference between a ripe radish and one that still needs a few more weeks in the ground.

 Animals change far more than vegetables. A newborn puppy dog can be almost irresistibly appealing; yet the same animal a few years later might be a mangy cur, the scourge of the neighborhood. A newborn calf must be nurtured by the farmer until it can take its useful place in the herd. That mature cow is very different from the calf it started out as, but once it is mature, it will change very little in appearance or even in milk production.

Humans are indeed unique. Not only does the appearance of a person continue to change throughout his or her life, but so do experience, character traits, and skills. Few people would like to be judged by the way they were 20 years ago. People change; and for the most part, they would like to think they change for the better.

The only way to prevent change like this pandemic from utterly dominating your life until you are driven to distraction by the absence of any fixed framework of reference is to make sure that your life does possess a fixed and unchangeable framework of reference. Your ability to embrace some changes and to profit from them depends on your ability to staunchly resist other changes too though.

We celebrate with you if you were born in November the only month with NO. We wish you no sickness, no accident, no failure in all areas and no weapon formed against you shall prosper.

Have a wonderful month everyone! Stay safe, get vaccinated, or get ready for the booster, stay strong, mask up, and stay healthy until we will be able to gather again possibly soon.

 Eric Thompson

 YAJ.