Category Archives: Happiness

Adeolu Akinyemi
June 17, 2006

The $1 Million Test


If you won $1 million today, what would you do? Will you resign from your present job?

Research says that over 80% of people in the US will resign from their present jobs, do you have an idea what the statistics of Nigeria will look like? The interesting thing is, if you will resign from your present job, then you are in real trouble.

It means you have gotten the order wrong! You are waiting to make all the money you need, to begin to do the things that you love. It sounds like a good thing to do, after all, ABBA sang, ” All the things I could do, if I had a little money”. So you are waiting to have more money, then you will live the life of your dreams. It reminds me of the story of a fisher man. This fisher man was visited by an consultant from town, and they decided to go fishing together. The fisher man worked for 4 hours, caught a lot of fish, and retired for the day. The consultant was shocked, and the following conversation ensued.

Consultant: Do you know that I can show you a way to make a lot more money by doing this same business?

Fisherman: Aha…really, but what will be the need of that?

Consultant: See, if you spend 4 extra hours, making 8hrs fishing, you’ll catch double this number of fishes, you’ll be able to feed your family, sell the rest, make more money, re-invest it into your business, continue again tomorrow and before long, you’ll have enough money to buy a ship!

Fisherman: What will I do with a Ship?

Consultant: You’ll be able to go to sea, catch a lot more fish, supply the cities, and make a lot more money.

Fisherman: Then what?…Smiling happilly

Consultant: Then when you have made a lot of money, you’ll retire back to your village, work for few hours and spend the evenning chilling with your friends.

Fisherman: But that’s exactly what I do now! Why do I have to waste my time going that long route?

AHa…I hope you got that. Happiness is not the result of working tirelessly to make ends meet, then going ahead to do the things you love. Happiness is about finding the things that you truely enjoy, and following it with a passion. Successful people will tell you that they don’t work, they simply have found ways of being paid for what they love. In the words of Dale Carnegie, success is about finding what you love, and getting someone to pay you for doing it.
So take the $1million test, and be honest with yourself, what will change about your lifestyle and career? Whatever will change, needs to be changed! Start working towards it!

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Adeolu Akinyemi
June 8, 2006

In a HURRY…?


Where are you rushing to? What’s the hurry? These are questions I have been asked growing up, at different times and occassions. I can vividly remember a time when an uncle brought it to my notice that I was eating with close to the speed of light, talking like I had hot coals on my tongue, certainly I must be in a hurry to get somewhere.

Growing up however, I have discovered that there are things that can be rushed, and their are some things that you better allow to run their full course. A proverb says that we don’t rush up hot stew, else our mouths will get burnt, and we will not be able to use burnt mouth to lick cold stew. In other words, when the chicken lands carelessly on the rope, neither the rope nor the chicken are comfortable. I have since been able to draw up a list of what you can do in a hurry and what you shouldn’t.

In a hurry to be rich, men kill themselves

In a hurry to to grow up, girls betray themselves

In a hurry to arrive, guys end up “the late”

In a hurry to be great, many bite the hook and miss the bait.

What’s your hurry? The meal taken in haste seldom is enjoyed. The chinese say that when you eat for an hour, you won’t be hungry for long. Don’t rush the clock, savour the moment. While my search brought me to see that haste was waste, I also discovered that there is a time to crawl, walk, run or even fly. There are times you must fly!

If there is one thing I’m in a hurry to do today…I’m in a hurry to be happy!

Happiness is an interesting concept. It’s not really a matter of events, its usually a function of perception of events. Happiness is a state of thoroughly enjoying what one does. Of all things in life, happiness is not something your can successfully postpone, if you are not happy today, it reduces your chances of ever becoming happy.

“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.” -Anne Frank

While in life you ought not hurry for many things, happiness is a state that must characterise you today! The seed is similar to the harvest, in fact you can estimate the fruit from it’s seed, in some cases the seed is even in the fruit. Today is a seed, if happiness is not in the seed, tell me, should it be in the future? In different ways, happiness is what we all seek. We must not however wait and wish, that by some stroke of genius or in ways unknown, we will suddenly find ourselves living lives of happiness. Happiness requires action!
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. -Benjamin Disraeli

So ask yourself, what will make me truely happy? What will I do for the rest of my life if money was available to live my dreams. Happy futures are never a product of sorrowful pasts. Happiness is the reward of those who find happiness all through the journey on the way to happiness. Successful people are usually people doing what they enjoy, until success comes.

Don’t mortgage your happiness…find what makes you happy today…and commit your energies to it! At the end, one man said, all that will matter in our actions is whether or not it won the respect and admiration of God, family and friends. When the chips are down, what matters most is happiness.

And in case you are wondering if being happy is entirely a selfish do it now project? Try these quotes on for size
John Templeton
Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth… Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it. .

Lord Byron
All who would win joy, must share it; happiness was born a twin.

Happiness is like peeing your pants: Everyone can see it, but only you can feel it’s warmth. –Unknown –:))Are you happy today? Find true happiness…the seed is in the fruit and the fruits in the seed.

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