THE HAMSTER THEORY OF LIFE

OPPORTUNITY SEEKS OUT THE PREPARED MIND AND FINDS IT.

Imagine a hamster, that lives in a cage, and has an exercise wheel, a water trough and a constant supply of food . Like the hamster trapped in a cage with the exercise wheel .It burns a lot of energy, gains a lot of momentum but never goes anywhere. Constantly spinning in that wheel, no matter the energy or speed it gain it’s effort are in vain However if that hamster sees the cage door open, what should it do? What would you think of that hamster if he didn’t take the chance to escape while the door has been left open for him to leave. He starts to give the excuse that , he doesn’t know where his next meal is coming from at least here in the cage he is secure. What if there is a cat out there to eat me up. What if there is a rat that has it in for me out there? He analyzes and decides that he likes where he is and is not going to out to the big bad world. Sadly that is how many of us are. We work harder and harder and we just don’t seem to be cutting it .Even with the ever increased salary it seems that our bills just get more and more, and we need another raise to meet those.

Like the hamster in that wheel, we gain momentum, we strive harder, but we are going nowhere fast and soon burn out from sheer exhaustion.We then sit back and fantasize about the day we would be financially free and live without the worry of money. It has been found that the wealth of the world lies with less than 20% of the population.

It’s an entrepreneur’s world and the world does not give way to those who just sit back and fantasize, it gives way to those that have a vision and run after it with everything the have got within them. They give up all sense of security and safety, they escape their comfort zones and leave themselves vulnerable to whatever comes their way during the pursuit of their goals and dreams. They give up their jobs and they plunge in after those dreams that tug at their heart strings. The stories of them that have succeeded are all around us . KFC, Google, Virgin, Ford,Kinkos, Subways etc. These are men and women who were sick and tired of just getting by .Broke busted and disgusted with having more month at the end of the money. Being in a JOB Just Over Broke. James Allen said “The vision that you glorify in your mind the ideal that you enthrone in your heart this you will build your life by this you will become”. This is exactly how these men and women reached where they are today. Many of them came from impoverished backgrounds , but they filled their hearts and minds with goals and despite all the opposition, Despite all those around them that said they could not do it ,we all know where they are today. It does not take a genius to realize that paid employment is never going to give you financial freedom. But like the hamster we are scared of what is out there, we are scared to launch into the deep and take our chances. One thing has to be emphasized though , a second thing that makes many of us different from these men and women who have achieved greatness is our mindset and way of thinking. Intelligence and academic achievement in life does not guarantee financial success. Think about it how many Professors or Doctorate holders d you know that are millionaires. How many of your friends who graduated as Valedictorian are financially wealthy? So that settles it that Diplomas and Degrees are not a determinant factor to success. Motivational speaker and business trainer Jim Rohn says “A formal education will make you a living, but self education will make you a fortune” He also advices Work harder on yourself, than you do on your job.

Robert Kiyosaki,Donald Trump,Bill Gates are some of the most successful men in the world . They are all advocates of personal development and what keeps them at the top of their game is that they are always reading. The constantly feed their minds by reading books, attending seminars , consulting with experts. While the rest of us would rather spend money on expanding our wardrobe or splashing out on that new car we passed by on the dealership. Yet we complain that our big chance hasn’t come by and those guys got a lucky break. Yes they did , if you define it as Labor Under Correct Knowledge.

They learned the principles of success and the applied them. Too many of us want the money but are not ready to learn the steps to get it for ourselves. You have got to build the mind before you build the money. If we can learn from the experts we can do what they did and achieve what they achieved. Theodore Roosevelt said “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat”.

DO TODAY WHAT OTHERS WON’T , TO HAVE TOMORROW WHAT OTHERS DON’T

It’s an everyday conscious effort to free our minds from the years of prisoner programming for “job security”,We wont master it in one day,but let’s move forward together and go out on a limb, after all, that is where the fruit is.

Home based business or Network Marketing(MLM) have given financial freedom to more people than any other industry ever has. In a book co authored by
Trump & Kiyosaki , they recommend it as a quickest means to financial freedom, Kioyaski has a variety of lectures on it, describing it as "the perfect business", Trump believes in it so much he started his own.
If you want to invest in one, do your due diligence and investigate which would work best for you.


investigate before you invest

Find a company whose products/services you can get passionate about and you tostay for the long term partnership. A great team that can help you towards achieving your financial freedom.

There are many companies out there, travel, nutrition, telecoms and a variety of other products, each with it's own unique compensation plan.


If you are interested in searching for a home based business with a great team and plan, where everything is done on the internet.

You can take a look at this video http://www.myfortuneroadmap.com/   and once you make a decision, you can sign up at http://www.harvest.lgnprosperity.com/


I leave you with the words of those that have made it happen big time

Decisions decide wealth- Tony Robbins

It's not in the blowing of the winds, but in the setting of the sails- Jim Rohn
Sometimes you have to jump, and grow your wings on the way down- Ray Bradbury

REMEMBER, if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have alway got.

ENEMY OF THE ORDINARY

“One machine can do the work of fifty men . No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man”.-Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)-A Thousand and One Epigrams

The Longman Active Study Dictionary defines the word Ordinary as:
1)Not special, unusual or different from other things.

2)It can also be understood to be unremarkable: not remarkable or special in any way, and therefore uninteresting and unimpressive.

I despise the ordinary, the ordinary never gets anything done. The ordinary is bland and is satisfied with just getting things done but not done properly.Many of us had parents that insisted that if we are going to do the chores they must be done to the best of our ability and not nonchalantly. Nothing in this world that has ever been worthy of recognition was done by an ordinary person. Persistence, tenacity and perseverance channelled by vision have been what has made impact in the world.

The seven wonders of ancient world, North America’s Mount Rushmore , Italy’s Sistine chapel , the great wall of China, The Sears and Petronas towers, the Sydney Opera house are all works of extra-ordinary men.

Beethoven,Mozart ,Handel were men whose music still influences performing artists today over 200 years later. Literary works by Alexander Dumas, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming ,Shakespeare and Charles Dickens are still relevant and several have been turned into motion pictures centuries after the fact.

Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Hannibal of Carthage remain some of the greatest military leaders in the battle history. Their battle strategies are still studied in many military schools all over the world.

Muhammad “The greatest” Ali , didn’t get to be the living legend he is today by being an ordinary boxer, he turned the “brutish” sport of boxing into an art form , displaying his unique talents in and out of the ring, fascinating both his fans and critics. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi were extraordinary leaders that went to astonishing lengths to make an impact on their nations. They saw a need for change and became they vessel for it, one can only wonder what the world would be like if not for such great men

Stand out from the crowd, think out of the box is my motto. So many people are miserable, stuck doing jobs they hate because they did the conventional like they were told, go to school, get a good job, save for retirement. There are so many people out there that could have been the next , Stevie Wonder, Michael Jordan Richard Branson or John Grisham but are stuck in the rat race, grinding away at that wheel, going no where slowly . How many people have within them that book they’ve been wanting to write or the business idea that they have been to afraid to carry out because of all the nay-sayers around them .

Yahoo, Google, Face book and You Tube are some of the biggest companies in the world today, with billion dollar net worth, three of them were started in college dorm rooms . Now their founders could have waited till they graduated college and settled for nice paying jobs and built a 401k, but because they took the road less travelled and now never have to worry about finances for the rest of their life, and guess what! they were all under the age of 30 when they hit their first million.

Many people have greatness within them but yet they are frustrated by their 9 to 5 jobs that give them no satisfaction but choose this life for the “job security” it offers them. As a creative person It is beyond me staying in a job that has me going over the motions day in day out. Such a life is the reason many people either commit suicide or loose their sanity. They hate their monotonous jobs and this starts a chain reaction that affects the rest of their life affecting their relationships, health and general well state of being.

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT, when the history books are open, only those that were extra-ordinary are remembered, even the exceptionally silly or stupid are remembered, nobody ever remembers the ordinary.

“Without the mediocrity of the ordinary, the excellence of the extraordinary can not be acknowledged”.

It is now up to the individual to choose where to belong

SIT DOWN AND LEARN FROM AN INTELLIGENT BLACK MAN

As a born and breed African kid, many people are surprised when they meet me. They are surprised by my articulation, and my command of the English language ,bewildered that i know more than the words "give us free" and that i don't talk like the characters from "The God's must be crazy". They are marveled at my exposure ,knowledge of their history and understanding of culture, when they don't have an inkling on mine. Luckily for me, i have not had the experience that many of my friends have had.When some ignoramuses come up to them and ask if they had pet lions, or lived in trees and wore clothes when they were in Africa, and how they able to learn English.

Africans perhaps more than any other race have suffered stereotypes from Hollywood. For many years movies about "Africa" have been one dimensional, and portray Africans as; limited thinking, quarter illiterate "yes massah" characters.

Heavy caricature ,often imbeciles with no thoughts of their own. When that is not the case, they are swinging from trees, or running around half naked in loin cloth, movies like "King Solomon's Mines" Stereotypes and profiling is one of the reasons that society is still where it is today. The blanketing and general statement in a recent article, that black people do not read is one from which i beg to differ.

There was a recent article on how black people don't read, now that is as crazy a statement as all Chinese men know Kung Fu. It's an ignorant , unfounded and unfair generalization . I am in my twenties and for as long as i can remember ,books have been a huge part of my life. I would have to plea guilty as charged if accused of being a book worm. As a child i read book by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl,Judy Blume and Alan Ahlberg,in my teenage years i moved on to Jeffery Archer and John Grisham as an adult i read both fiction and non fiction ranging from David Balddachi , to Dr Myles Munroe ,Jack Canfield and currently , The Road Less traveled by
M Scott Peck.
I am more than just literate, i can intelligently hold my own in virtually any conversation , i may not be an expert , or be broad on the topic , but at least i can make some form of contribution, and i have MANY friends with that same capability.

-We chew over if Japan would be the economic force it is today if Hiroshima has never happened.

-Postulate on the application on Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" in modern day business.

-Discuss on Greek and Roman mythology .

- Deliberate on the possibilities of time travel based on the "Theory of relativity".

-Analyze business lessons from Vito and Michael Corleone.

-Debate on if economic growth and prosperity in the USA during the Clinton administration, could really be attributed to him or the dot com revolution that happened during his tenure.

-Wonder if the USA would have become involved in World War 2 if not for Pearl Harbour, and what would the world be like if Hitler had succeeded in his campaign.

Was the Cold War really about communism, or truly a fight between the USSR and USA on who was the Alpha male.....(Hey! Who mentioned ROCKY over there.)

to relax we can switch over to mundane issues

We can equally discuss over Cristiano Ronaldo ,and if he has erased the legendary name from his Brazilian predecessor .

If Muhammad Ali , and Michael Jordan still hold on to the legendary status we hold them up to in their respective sports.

If Bruce Lee would beat Jet Li in a street fight ?

Why Batman though the only human(without powers) in the Justice League is the most feared and respected?

If Robin Hood and King Arthur truly existed ,and if not, how did they become so big and so legendary that we think they actually did exist?

The lessons of tenacity, perseverance and never give up mentality that we learn from Top Cat,Wile E Coyote and Yogi Bear?

Ask our selves based on the evidence if a lazy animal like the Lion is truly the King of the Jungle and not the Tiger.

Why people hold a vindictive claim that abstinence doesn't work , because they won't admit that they like sex too much to give it up.

If He Man would be able to kick Lion O's ass in hand to hand combat.

Would Naruto be as cool, if they spoke in English?

When would Samuel L Jackson stop playing the Angry black male card, (think about it, what was the last L Jackson movie you saw that he did not YELL!!!!)

AND

Which movie between "The God Father" and "Citizen Kane" is truly the Greatest movie Of All Time?

We discuss both real issue and mundane things, and i believe that any discussion that comes up, to a very reasonable extent, we can contribute without looking foolish.

It's unfortunate that in the 21st century, with the wide range of knowledge and exposure to the world available at the stroke of a keyboard(a global village), people still can't see beyond their little world. Many people still see the continent of Africa as one huge Safari, where the animals run wild right outside your front door.

With National Geographic,The History Channel,Animal Planet, and the many educational channels, many people in the western world, by western world i am referring to Europe and North America, think that Africa is a country. Hence we hear them say "I'm going to Africa", "we want to help Africa". Thanks to Oxfam and Feed the Children, (all good causes on their own), many still walk around thinking that ALL African children are bloated bellied and starving.

That perception is like a foreigner thinking he can learn about life in the UK by watching Big Brother .

The generalization that black people don't read is like thinking Indians randomly burst into song and dance in the middle of the street or that all American's behave like the guests on Jerry Springer.

We are all individuals and can not classified by the actions of a few. Unlike many people of both races whose idea of classic literature is Katie Price's or Jade Goody's biography, i prefer to read something that would actually add some value to my life and future.

A while back,a friend of mine was livid about the launch of MTV Base Africa, which played about 99% Hip Hop and R&B. What right did they have to restrict our music to only those categories. This is another stereotype that is all around the world. The assumption that black people only like those two genres of music. What about Alternative,Rock ,Pop,Swing, what makes them think we don't listen to that?

Now i don't know about anyone else, but i listen to a whole range of music. I croon to Frank Sinatra's "I got you under my skin",karaoke to Air Supply's "All out of love" and Barry Manilow's "Copacabana". Back in my University days some of my friends called me a "white boy" just because i loved listening to Nickelback ,Linkin Park , Blink 182 amongst others. When the truth is i can scream to "Smells of teen spirit" as well as bust the mic on "Hit em up". I can serenade to Barry White as well as lay back and appreciate Chopin's Symphony.

It's ignorant and unfair to classify people by what we see on television. Yes there are starving kids in Africa, but there are also homeless, malnourished kids in the UK ,USA and Eastern Europe. Like there are different social classes (lower,middle ,upper, rich , stinking rich) in other parts of the world, the same exists in the nations of Africa.We have sky scrapers , and no we do not live in mud huts. We have cities and we hail taxi's , take the bus, drive drop tops, and 4x4s. We hustle by day and play by night, have night-clubs, Pubs and raves. We go on dates, hang out at the mall and catch the latest movie at the cinema.

The Africa that most of the world sees, is either news reports on war , famine and starving kids. The Africans that they portray the dictators and those who even if they had a transplant from Einstein , wouldn't be able to find their way out of a paper bag.

They fail to mention that it was a Nigerian ,Philip Emeagwali , that wrote the formula which is the back bone on which the Internet runs, he has won numerous awards (computer scientist of the year at least three times)back to back , and has been awarded the science world's version of a Nobel prize .

Wole Soyinka that won a Nobel Prize in the 80's is still one of the most respected literary minds in the world and is on the lecture circuit world wide. There are many more achievers too numerous to mention.

American writer W.E Du Bios is known to have said

“Europe has never produced and never will in our day bring forth a single human soul who cannot be matched and over-matched in every line of human endeavor by Asia and Africa”.

Does it matter that i am able to answer 90% of the questions on The Weakest Link on auto pilot, or 70% of Jeopardy and Who Wants to be a Millionaire by reflex. Is it a matter of my race that i like the music of The Temptations as much as i like Franki Valli & the Four Seasons ? Or that i have no rhythm whatsoever despite the fact that "ALL black people can dance". No.

Everything i am ,is because of who i am. I have the knowledge i have , because as an individual i take interest in those things. Just like not everyone in the world can roll their tongue, not everyone is interested in the things i am ,or has the variety of taste that i do.

It is my individual choice to listen to Both Marvin Gaye and Dean Martin, George Benson and John Mayer, Tracy Chapman and Alanis Morrisette. The fact that i can answer most questions on quiz shows is because of all the time i spent an unhealthy amount of time indoors watching documentaries, reading journals, encyclopaedia's, news reports and believe it or not sitcoms and Looney Toons cartoons.


My exposure and knowledge does not make me better than anyone else, or smarter ,because most of my life if you wanted to give me a seizure all you had to do was mention MATHS and i would quiver like a leaf . And those that, do know maths and came out with a first class degrees, may not be able to engage in some of the discussions that i mentioned earlier.

I still love cartoons as much as i did when i was eight years old. I still get cracked up when i watch Looney Toons,The Mask or The Flintstones .I still think that Top Cat is one of the coolest fictional characters ever created after Jason Bourne ,Michael Corleone,Chilli Palmer,Cool Hand Luke, and Captain Jack Sparrow(ok, he falls down quite far,but you get the point)

Does this make me immature or childish, you can think so if you want to ,but the fact is that, most of the classical music i know ,i first heard in Tom&Jerry and Bugs Bunny cartoons. Many of the words in my vocabulary were those i heard in cartoons and checked up in the dictionary, my home boy Daffy Duck taught me the words Stupendous,Obnoxious and Stuffy.

I remember i got into a serious and lively discussion with two other guys, one a medical student and an engineer. This went on for several hours and went into critical analysis mode, the engineers sister came round to listen in, and was flabbergasted when she discovered we had been talking about the evolution of the X-men and why Wolverine is not the leader. She couldn't believe it, grown ass men! , Graduates! Wasting their time with such irrelevant musing. She then asked us to please be quiet as she plopped down on the couch to catch up with an EASTENDERS omnibus.

We should not allow our perceptions and limited exposure to allow us to classify people or pigeon hole them into a category. We should take every person we meet as an individual and not a summary of the movie characters we have watched.Not all Chinese men are the next Bruce Lee, nor are Indians shop keepers. Not all Africans are starving nor do we run after animals chucking spears and clicking or tongues as we talk. Hollywood is not the place to learn about people's culture, due to the fact that they are of a country that has no culture of it's own, and a people whose names don't mean didly squat.

When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me, and we all know what assumption is the mother of.

CONFESSIONS OF THE DENOMINATOR

I am a denominator
the one recurring factor in the
vicious cycle that is my life,....my existence

I am obsessed with romance
I ignore all self control and throw caution to the wind
I enter relationships at the flick of a switch
driven by my hormones
i date whoever fires off my "feel good" neurones
regardless of if they lack character or respect me
I consider caring friendships that support me least priority
as they can never fulfil my romance fix
i jump in with my eyes closed and never test the water
and leap out scalded , because i never saw the fangs
showing as the lips peeled back behind that charming smile
and then i do it all over again because
well....all that affection ,care attention and support
from the sweet and nice person
still does not make my heart skip a beat
the way that charming devil, key word devil, does

Im lovely, why can't i find a loving relationship?

I am an attention junkie
I move from person to person
and get attention from wherever i can
i barely pay attention during a conversation if its not about me
I prattle on all about ME ME ME
and check myself out in anything that reflects
i compose songs about myself and sing it to everyone that has ears
I am an emotional leach and i suck as much attention
that i can from you and move on to get a better fix elsewhere

By the way, why don't you call me anymore?

I am like a tiger on the prowl
waiting to pounce and maul you
immediately you say something that offends me
i am berserker , I'll tear you to ribbons
if you dare speak to me in any such manner that displeases me
my amnesia for all the wonderful things you said and done
kicks in the moment that you criticise me
i am meticulous about what i condone
and i will not be spoken to, by you or any other
in a manner that i only know, and deem worthy
you are expendable and i can do without you

....Hey ! where have all my friends gone?

I hate conflict and try my best not to rock the boat
I do my best not to offend anyone
and say yes and nod in agreement just to keep the peace
I approach everything in an understanding manner
and try to be as diplomatic as possible
i pay attention and hold my tongue when i should object
because i just don't have the strength to debate about it
though it may be an issue that need to be addressed
I exercise patience even though you abuse that fact
every single chance that you get with no apology
I am easy to bully, all you have to do is
loose your temper, turn on the water works,
and i apologise even when i'm not in the wrong

Then why like Jabber Jaw, do i get no respect
from those i show nothing but respect?

I love adventure
I am down for whatever and up for anything
I love living for the moment and don't care for consequences
Whatever is the flava of the moment count me in
life is too short to think about the long term
we might not be here tomorrow so seize the day
if it feels good, just do it
i have all forms of myopia,
my hedonistic desires blur the consequences
of my instant gratification needs
I'm fun, I'm exciting , I'm full of life

Then why is everyone else moving forward
and in meaningful relationships except me?


I have a list of everything that you must be
You are to fufill all my need and desires
as i lean back and make no effort to improve myself
you have to maintain me and be pleasing in my eyes
I verbally strip you down because i have to keep you in check
I show no appreciation, because you already know
Read my mind, you know what i don't like
Change, Think, Keep that, Stop saying that
it's just who i am , and i like it that way

Wait , where are you going , Are you leaving me??


I am the Denominator

(C)2009 Oludascribe All Rights Reserved

DISTRICT 9- A CHALLENGE TO ALL NAIJA AUTEURS

The movie District 9 has gotten a lot of attention in the months of it's release. First the anticipation of a riveting Sci Fi movie. Then the people that were blown away by how well executed it was, then recently the concern and up rise of the portrayal of Nigerians in the movie.

I must admit, sitting in the cinema, every time "the Nigerians" was hammered in description to the negative characters, it stung a little but i carried on regardless. I wont say i hated the movie, because it was indeed, very well done.

BUT in retrospect i can see why peeps would be enraged. It's bad enough that Cop shows and Sitcom make us a punch line. But this was something else on a whole new level.

My consolation was that , they were not Nigerian actors, nor did they speak in any Nigerian language, nor did they have Nigerian accents. BUT , most non Nigerians would not detect that fact

Many people would say

"We have more important things to be worried about"

but we have to remember how powerful a medium film is. Both to the intelligent, and those that just absorb and believe EVERYTHING that they see on TV and in the movie, Film leaves a powerful impression on the mind for a very long time.

We all know how Germans have been associated with Nazi ,Neo Nazi History in the movies. The same goes for middle easterners as terrorists. Indians as convenience store clerks and Asians as martial arts masters. These portrayals find their way into the subconscious,and even if it is for a microsecond,affect our perceptions , and with a movie as popular as District 9, it looks like it is going to become a part of popular culture.

The fact is, the consistent reference and Hammering on "The Nigerians" was unnecessary, and "the gangsters" would have been sufficient enough,without specifying a nationality.


I found this quote on a blog , which i find very insightful

"Whatever any film maker may portray, the most important thing really is that Africans need to start telling their own stories more than they have done so far. Africans need to make their own compelling films – both fiction and non-fiction. As an an African proverb says “Until lions are able to tell their own stories, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”  -Supo Orimogunje

The Nigerian entertainment scene is growing in large proportions, TV ,and especially music which is now global.

Isn't it about time, we loose all the VooDoo, Advanced Fee Fraud(419) and Prostitution stories in our movies? There are sooo many other aspects of Naija life we can write and make films about.

Chimamanda "Purple Hibiscus" Adichie, has become the pioneer of a new generation of Nigerian voices. .A voice that the world has taken seriously because of the QUALITY of the compelling and captivating stories she writes .

Isn't it about time we do the same in our film making? Compelling stories, that are well made and excellently performed, that would sweep the floor and blow minds all across he world.

This is a challenge for all screenwriters,directors producers and all those involved in TV and Film of Naija origin both inside and outside Naija.

We have the potential to tell fascinating Nigerian stories, those grounded in reality, fairy tale or fantasy, which we have many.

What stops us from adapting stories by Soyinka, Cyprian Ekwensi,Chinua Achebe and others, into screenplays?

What stops "The return of Ikenga"(War Epic) or "Things fall Apart"(Historic) from being made into epics, or "Without a Silver spoon"(Triumph of the human spirit) from becoming Naija's answer to "The Pursuit of Happyness" . We have sooooo much potential, which can stop the recycling of predicable and somewhat contrived stories.

I've said it a million times "City of God" is a prime example to show the impact a well made film can have to an industry. It's a Brazilian film made outside Hollywood, on a minimal budget and no big names, and it took the world by storm. The Nigerian film industry has that untapped potential too.