My NYSC Orientation Camp Experience

January 20th, 2017: Four Missed calls.

I had been in my sitting room while my phone was on my bed. Apparently, Joyce had been trying to call me for awhile now but I wasn't picking. I picked up my phone and saw a text 'Where were you posted to'.

'OMG!' I thought to myself. 'Posting is out.'  In that moment, I started shaking, my heart was beating, so I called Mudia to hear from him first.

'Hey you, where dem post you go'.
'Sokoto.
...and I didn't choose it o' he replied.

'Damn! Wow! Now I'm really scared.
Oya stay on the phone, I'm opening NYSC portal now'. I said

A few Seconds later, I was breathing a sigh of relief as I saw on my NYSC Page.

State of Deployment: OYO.

.... Four days later, Joyce escorted me to Iseyin park at Ibadan as I boarded a bus that would take me to the place I was to camp for the next three weeks.

Disclaimer: I can't tell you everything that happened, I'm just going to drop my highlights.

The Popular Concept of Open-Mindedness is Flawed

A few weeks ago, I got obsessed with the concept of open-mindedness and this was because I was in situations and conversations, that required me to be 'open minded', nonjudgemental and receptive to people's different truth. It was a great test but as I explored and trained my mind to be more open minded I began to wonder if there was a limit and if yes! What was it? I mean, to what extent does one stay open minded? Does open-mindedness require you take everything? Does it mean to have no filter? No boundaries? Does been nonjudgemental mean you 'fit in'? Where is the stopping point?

The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became and so of cause, I kept thinking about it - and doing surveys - until I found for myself (Lord, Thank you for blessing me with an amazing analytical mind), an answer that felt right (Mind you! This is my opinion). With this answer, I concluded that the 'general perception of open-mindedness' is flawed. Here's why.

First of all, let's define open mindedness.
I asked a few friends what open mindedness meant to them and most of them responded by referring me to the Zen Story of a cup of Tea. And so it seemed that open-mindedness is likened to being open to new ideas/opinions, being open/receptive to learning, not necessarily having a filter but coming like a child, always open to learning, not holding your opinions and beliefs as truth but willing to accept the opinions and beliefs of others (if they argue well enough. Lol). This is correct, even Wikipedia says open-mindedness is receptiveness to new ideas.

This is also where I think the concept of open-mindedness is flawed because I believe there should be a limit of some sort to how receptive we are to new ideas and opinions due to how gullible and credulous the mind can be.

Yes! The mind is gullible, it easily bends to what it is continuously exposed to. What you watch, read and hear forms the content of your mind, produces your thought pattern and ultimately forms who you are (as a man thinketh, so he is). This is clearly seen in babies. They come into the world blank, open, and ready to take in, and oh! Take in they do. With No filter, no experience or lessons to look back to, they take in everything they see or hear.

Apostle Pauls advises in Rom 12:2 that we should constantly renew our mind so we can be transformed by God's word lest we would conform to the things of the world. It other words, Focus on God's word so your mind and thoughts do not get filled with the things of the world because once you pay much attention to those things, you would naturally conform. 

And so when we are advised to be receptive to new ideas and opinions, it is an advice that puts our minds at risk. Because if what we are being told makes sense, If it sounds logically correct and the other person knows how to put forth a great argument, then it would be easy to convince our minds to pick the new information and call it truth.

This bothered me a lot. I began to think, does this mean that I should stay closed minded? Do not partake conversations that are contradictory to what I currently know? {Yes! In business, being receptive to new creative ideas is highly advised (I advise it too)}, but when it comes to our belief systems ... That gave me a pause.  If I stay closed minded in an attempt to protect my mind (Prov 4:23 CEB - More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it), then how do I learn? How do I grow?.

This new set of questions, drove me into another round of obsession but as usual, if you diligently seek light (knowledge), you would find it (James 1:5 - If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking).

So Anyway, I realized that a great way to stay open-minded (receptive and willing to new ideas/opinions) is to develop a backdrop for your mind, a foundation that acts as a filter to which all new ideas have to pass through before they settle in. This way, while you still listen to and engage in open-minded conversations, read various kind of books et al, you would always have a filter that every information has to pass through and 'fight with'.

I recommend no other filter that the Word of God - (lol, for the atheists and non-believers, I guess you would have to figure out for yourself your core beliefs and stick with them otherwise, you'd be continually tossed back and forth, left and right by every new opinion you hear, by motivational/inspirational messages, and by logically sound ideas).

It's great to be open minded, that's the only way to learn, but you have got to protect your mind and ensure that it doesn't mess with your beliefs. It's important to love your truth, but to live your truth, you have to first discover what your truth is and always leaning to what you read in motivational or what not books wouldn't help.

Now, I understand that just because one is open-minded doesn't mean they accept any idea the minute it is presented to them. It's expedient that you always consider thoughtfully or evaluate new ideas and beliefs before you accept them as true but my issue is this: The more you are exposed to an idea or opinion, the more likely you are to accept it. The more eloquent the person selling the idea to you is and the more motivational/inspirational and logically sound an idea is, greatly increases the likelihood of its acceptability. Thus, without you consciously developing and using your filter, the more gullible (albeit subtle) you would become.

So in this coming year (2017), DELIBERATELY PROTECT YOUR MIND. GUARD YOUR BELIEFS. FIND YOUR TRUTH AND LIVE IT.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do share with me by commenting. Gracias!

I Just want to rant and be vulnerable; Just this once!

I'm scared...
I'm constantly living with fear. Fear of what you may ask? Well, I can’t even explain it. All I know is everyday I leave my house, I'm scared... Every time I begin to work, I'm scared...

I constantly feel my heart beat racing... I'm constantly working to prove those thoughts wrong... I'm just trying not to let fear stop me.

What if I tell you I'm still trying to figure myself out... What if I say, I don't know what I want to do with myself yet. What if I say, I worry too much?

Lol!

What Does Christmas Mean To You?

What does Christmas mean to you?

The quality of a tree is seen in its fruits...but without the planting of a seed, they would be no tree and thus, no fruit... Christmas is the seed planting day...The day Jesus was born into the world, the start of the tree of life, a life free of sin and death and so, Christmas for me its a reminder of the gift of Salvation. The day Christ was born, the day The Word became flesh. The beginning of the end of the rule of sin. The physical expression of the Love of God to humanity.

What does Christmas mean to you?
To me, it means

Birthday Special ---> 65 things about me

Yaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's my birthday today. In my last post (find it here), I said I was going to write things about me, so here it :

My Birthday Wishlist

In an earlier post, I said my birthday was coming up on the 8th of October (which is 26days away). I'm pretty excited but not really (don't mind me, I just happen to be one of those people that get mixed feelings about birthdays and getting older). Anyway, in honour of my 19th birthday and the people who don't know what birthday present to get me, I  have come up with this wish list (with pictures) to help you all out (yea, I know I'm nice. hehe).

What I want for my birthday.

1) A cute LEATHER back bible that is not King James version please. Preferably, it should be The living translation or The message translation or the New living translation or Good news bible. NO KING JAMES Please.

My rendezvous last week

Last week was one of my most awesomest week ever. I made loads of new friends - cool, smart, creative friends #nojokes, I learnt sooooo much about so many things - sooooo many things, and I had serious fun (no wonder I couldn't bring myself to sit, focus, think and write a blog post #myapologies). I could gist you guys about my week but then I'm trying to keep my personal life as personal as blogly possible *hehe* but still I am going to fulfil my promise as my blog caption says and tell you guys some lessons I picked up last week.

So sit back, relax and read away...

National issues; Boko Haram, Chibok girls and now Ebola virus

I was at a branding seminar today when in the midst of it, my mind wandered as usual. (I dont know o, but my mind is a wandering expert. It can touch a million things - be it, events, memories, issues, book, video, ideas, basically anything -  in a millisecond before settling on a particular topic to brood on.  Its just crasy like that. Anyway back to the subject at hand). So, my blessed mind wandered and settled on Chibok girls (maybe because one of the speakers referred to them in her presentation) and then it moved to Bokoharam and finally the ebola issue.
Majorly, I just thought of how alot of us are indifferent to most of our national issues and I think its mainly because these incidents haven't gotten close to us yet.

Uhmm, allow me use my experiences to portray my point.

It's time to mix up with 'bad' people...

"We have the tendency to want the person to be a finished product while we give ourselves the grace to evolve"

Charles was from a Christian home but he didnt know God personally. He got into the university and got into drugs, he slept with every girl he could and soon, himself and his 'gang' got into robbery. He managed to finish his education and when he did, he got into drugs and internet fraud full time. He did make a lot of money tho.

Amy was a church girl. She came from a Christian home but unlike charles, she stayed through. She was born again and  had a steady relationship with God. She went to the university and came back unchanged, still godly.
Working at her Church office, all she wanted was a man who loved God more than he loved her. Oh! Of cause, she wanted him to be cute, smart, ambitious and financially stable enough to take care of her but the major prerequisite for a relationship was the love for God.

Life happened....

Charles and Amy crossed paths.

Stop Learning!

"The soul always knows what to do to heal itself, the challenge is to silence the mind."

Alot of us has gotten so engrossed in learning that we have stopped thinking. We have gotten so accustomed to listening and picking people's ideas and stories that we have stopped looking at life from our own perspective.

Totally new stuffs are not created anymore, new ideas and theories are not shared anymore, everyone is busy recreating or redesigning something already created or spreading already existing ideas and theories.