THE UNIQUENESS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NIGERIA

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NIGERIA MY CHURCH!

The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria is part of the world-wide tradition of Reformed and Presbyterian churches, and so believes in the Gospel of God's sovereign grace in Christ over all realms of life. The PCN has adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith and other confessions of the Reformed tradition as part of its doctrinal standards, subordinate standards only to the scriptures. Presbyterian witness in Nigeria began in April 10, 1846 through the initiative of freed slaves from Jamaica, Scottish missionaries and the kings of Calabar. The church initially operated as a Presbytery of Biafra, with its constitution in 1858, then as a Synod of Biafra with its constitution of 1921, and following that as the Presbyterian Church of Biafra with the constitution of 1945. In 1952 the name was changed to Presbyterian Church of Eastern Nigeria, and with Nigerian independence in 1960, it became The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN).

Ordination (P&P G 14)

The PCN trains and ordain into the ministry all sexes men and women. The first woman minister was ordained in 1982 in the person of Rev Mgbeke George Okore from Ututu Presbytery of the Synod of the East. Today there are over fifty women ministers serving the church. Every minister of the Church both male and female are sworn to oath to keep Peace in all domain of ministry:

ORDINATION VOW NO. 6:

“Do you promise to seek the unity and peace of this Church, to uphold the doctrine, worship, government, and discipline thereof, and to cherish a spirit of brotherhood towards all followers of the Lord

Minister replys:                    

YES I DO

MISSION

The church is currently engaged in mission work to traditionally non-Presbyterian and non-Christian parts of Nigeria, Cotonou in the Republic of Benin and Lomé in Togo, Burkina Fasso, Mali etc. This move into mission is coordinated by the National Directorate Of Missions established in 1998. The PCN has churches in all the states  of Nigeria including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. The present concerns is the establishment of a Presbyterian university, Hope Waddell University at Okagwe Ohafia to supplement the training of her ministers and members already going own in her two theological Colleges Essien Ukpabio Presbyterian Theological College Itu and Hugh Goldie Lay/Theological Training Institution Arochukwu. Peace and Conflict Studies are taught in the two theological instutions as compulsory subjects.

PARTNER CHURCHES

The partner churches of PCN are the Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Protestant Church of the Netherlands.

Interchurch organisations

The PCN is a member of the World Council of Churches, the All Africa Conference of Churches. She is a member of the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Christian Council of Nigeria, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the ARCA and the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the Reformed Ecumenical Council of Nigeria as of 2006.

POLITY STRUCTURE: CHURCH COURTS

The PCN runs a four-court system of church polity. These are the session, Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly. Each court has elected or appointed officers namely the moderators, clerks, and treasurers and appointed legal advisers. These officers have their dressing code to indicate their ranks. Each of the courts perform Legislative, executive and judiciary functions within the church polity.  The courts are not autonomous but a family unit observing a hierarchy of court order and relationships. The higher courts give orders to the lower courts while the lower courts overture the higher courts.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY. (P & P 1989) PART G. 13.0100)

The PCN General Assembly is the Supreme Court of the Church. The GA meets biennially with one third of the commissioners representing the rest of their brethren. The General Assembly has a Prelate and Moderator addressed as the Most Reverend. The GA Clerk is called the Principal Clerk and also has a Deputy Clerk. The G A Treasurer is now addressed as the General Assembly Accountant. The General Assembly Executive Committee (GAEC) does work of the GA while the GA is yet to meet. The General Assembly executes her technical services through technical and professional Boards, Committees and Commissions. Example of these technical board include Medical, Finance, Finance, Personnel and Training etc.

REGIONAL SYNODS (P & P 1989) PART G. 12.0100)

The Synod is the appeal court in the Presbyterian system for the Presbyteries under her. When there are disputes among Presbyteries and high ranking church officers, the synod usually looks into the matter in the Presbyterian system.      The PCN has at the present nine Synods. Synods have Moderators and Clerks with a Treasurer as her officers.  Synod meet once a year but her services are carried on during the year by a Synod Executive Committee (SEC) Synods also have technical committees that handle her services. Such committees may include Synod Education. Finance, Ministry, etc. Committees, The PCN has the following Synods at the Present:

•           Synod of Akwa with head office at Uyo

•           Synod of Calabar with head office at Calabar

•           Synod of the East with head office at Ohafia

•           Synod of East Central with head office at Abakaliki

•           Synod of Mid-East with head office at Afikpo

•           Synod of North with head office at Abuja

•           Synod of South Central with head office at Aba

•           Synod of Upper Cross River, with head office at Ugep

•           Synod of West with head office at Yaba, Lagos

PRESBYTERY: (P & P 1989) PART G. 11.0100)

The Presbytery in the Presbyterian church of Nigeria is the conciliar Bishop that handle the conflicts and cases of ordained ministers, parishes and worship centres Presbytery is created by the Acts of the GA and inaugurated by the Synod Presbytery oversees the affairs of the parishes and minister within her boundary. They oversee the places of worship and services of ordinal.  Presbyteries officers include Presbytery Moderator, Clerk and Treasurer. The moderators though not bishops has purple has dress code for ecumenical reasons. The Presbytery officers make up the executives of the Presbytery. Presbytery is an open court and voting membership include all the inducted or received ministers within the bounds and equal number of commissioned elders in writing from parishes or equalized by the power of the presbytery. In attendance to Presbytery could include such resource members as the Parish treasurers, GA officer holders within bounds, Probationers and Provers, Arms leaders etc. These have no voting rights and cannot be part of the Presbytery meeting in camera.

SESSION (PARISH) (P & P 1989) PART G. 10.0100 & G. 07.0100)

Personal cases and conflict between members of the Church are handled by the Parish Session in a closed court form. Session settle conflicts and bring peace to members and the parish.  Each created and inaugurated Parish has a Parish Session, formerly called kirk (church) session, as the court of first instance for the members and congregations within the Parish. Each Session is moderated by an inducted minister. Only elders ordained and admitted by the Session are members of the Session. The Session is the only CLOSED COURT in the PCN polity. None members are not allowed into the Session unless on invitation for specific agenda. Session information are not for general consumption unless those for intimation. Sessions determine who is a member of the PCN.

PARISH BOARD.

This was formerly called congregational Board. The Board membership is equal number of elders to equal number communicant members drawn from parish roll book. One third of these equalizing members retired annually and are replaced during the stated annual meeting. The Parish Board is not a court but a committee that handles the material and financial resources of the Church.  The inducted minister of a parish, by office, is the chairman of the Parish Board, but where he declines, a member of the Board could be elected to do chair the board for a period.

INSPIRATIONAL LOVE QUOTES

Everyone says that loves hurts, but that’s not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Everyone confuse these things with love but reality, love is the only thing in this world that covers up all the pain and makes us feel wonderful again.

When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far, no one can ever tear them apart.

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly – Sam Keen, from To Love and Be Loved.

Love is a language spoken by everyone but understood only by the heart.

In true love, there is no mountain too high to climb. No river too wide to cross. And most of all in true love there is no ends.

Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad, but it’s everything in between that makes it all worth living.

Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control.

Falling in love is like jumping off a really tall building. Your brain tells you it is not a good idea, but your heart tells you, you can fly.

What is love? In math: an equation; in history: a war; in chemistry: a reaction; in art: a heart; in me: YOU.

You really love him, don’t you? a simple psychological question, no name was mentioned but suddenly someone came into your mind

I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best. - Marilyn Monroe.

You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not. – Jodi Picoult.

You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.  – Dr. Seuss.

You’ve got to dance like there’s nobody watching. Love like you’ll never be hurt. Sing like there’s nobody listening. And live like it’s heaven on earth. – William W. Purkey.

It takes a minute to have a crush on someone an hour to like someone and a day to love someone but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

How Role Models Influence Youth Strategies for Success

As teenagers grow to young adulthood, who are their role models? Who do they emulate? Why?
The most popular article at Roots of Action this past year has been What is a Role Model? Five Qualities that Matter to Teens. Collected from research on highly successfully, civically-engaged young people, it describes their positive role models and the kinds of attributes that most influenced and inspired them to be their best selves.
Because of the high interest in the topic of role models, I decided it was time to revisit the subject, drawing on additional research.  After all, teens are influenced by a variety of adults and peers. Role models can be instrumental in developing career aspirations, educational goals, and consumer behavior.  They can also motivate youth toward unhealthy behaviors, like bullying, cheating in school, or substance abuse. The more we understand how and why role models influence teens, the better we can support young people in their journeys toward adulthood.

Youth Learn Through Modeling

A substantial number of studies have shown us that humans learn through modeling others.  As these experiences accumulate through adolescence, teens decide what socially acceptable behavior is and what is not. They also learn strategies for achieving their goals.
While we often think of role models as people with outstanding qualities like the ones mentioned by civically-engaged teens, the truth is that role models can have positive or negative impacts on children.  For example, many of us know teens who emulated the wrong role models – people who were detrimental to their lives.  Yes, these people are role models too!

Teens’ Mindsets Determine their Choice of Role Models

Researchers have discovered why some teens are drawn to positive role models and others to negative ones.
The answer lies in the mindsets they adopt toward achieving goals. For example, young people are more likely to be inspired by positive role models when they have growth mindsets – when they see themselves as active learners and achievers who accomplish goals through hard work and perseverance. With this type of mindset, youth strive to achieve their best selves. And they look toward role models to show them the way.
A growth mindset can be contrasted to a prevention mindset.  When youth approach life with a desire to prevent or avoid disasters and negative outcomes, they are more likely to gravitate toward role models who will help them learn avoidance strategies. These strategies might include cheating on tests or using drugs and alcohol to escape life challenges.
Simply put, when young people have a growth mindset, they are more likely to choose role models that provide the kinds of strategies that support their way of thinking. When they have a prevention mindset, they are more likely to choose role models who provide them with preventative strategies.
Positive role models boost young people’s motivation by modeling a guide to achieving success. For example, they likely have 1) an ability to inspire others, 2) a clear set of values, 3) a commitment to community, 4) an acceptance of others, and 5) an ability to overcome obstacles. They illustrate for youth a way of achieving successful goals and a sense of self-worth. Youth who have a growth mindset are likely to gravitate toward these types of positive role models.
Negative role models also boost young people’s motivation, but in different ways than positive ones. They do so by guiding youth toward strategies for avoiding failure. They often have a deep personal fear of failure and have found various coping mechanisms and strategies to avoid misfortune at all costs. Young people who have developed a prevention mindset are likely to find these types of role models very helpful because they share similar fears.

Helping Youth Find Positive Role Models

It is obvious that helping youth find positive role models is not a clear-cut or simple task, particularly if they have adopted prevention mindsets during their growing-up years. We have to dig deeper – to help raise kids with growth mindsets! Below is a list of five things you can do to help children grow in ways that bring positive role models into their lives.
1. Read the book:  Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Carol Dweck’s ground-breaking research on growth and fixed mindsets gives parents and teachers new tools to help kids achieve success.
2. Teach children that failure is necessary for success.
3. Encourage youth to participate in initiative-building activities, those they choose for themselves because it gives them internal rather than external rewards.
4. Help young people know the difference between good grades and internal strengths.

5. Talk with youth about inspirational heroes from movies and books. Heroes show children how to overcome a variety of life challenges and encourage a growth mindset from an early age.

FROM SHOCK TO ACCEPTANCE

Breaking up is hard to do. Much like the passing away of a loved one, breakups have stages of grief. Here's an outline of the breakup process -- and how to get through it.

Breaking up isn't as hard to do if you understand that everything that is happening to your heart, your mind and your body is totally normal. That's right: Consuming endless pints of ice cream one day and being disgusted by the sight of food the next is normal under the circumstances. It is also normal to want to slash your ex's tires and want him back all at the same time.
What isn't normal, though, is to stay stuck in your confused, lonely or sad state. Breakups have stages of grief, as outlined below. These breakup stages may not be in order for you, and there is no telling how long you will stay in each one, but consider progress of any kind positive. Be gentle with yourself during a breakup, and don't stop reminding yourself that, no matter how dark the day, you will get through this.

7 stages of a breakup

Shock: "What the hell just happened?"

Shock is the body's natural protection against pain. And when your relationship first ends, you just might not want to deal with what's coming next. It may be too scary, too lonely, too confusing. A state of disbelief could last minutes, weeks or even months and likely lasts longer if you are on the receiving end of an unexpected breakup. Don't be surprised if you feel a sense of blurriness about the actual breakup scene, a literal loss of breath, or trouble sleeping.

Do/Do not:

• Do prescribe yourself calming cures like meditation or long walks.
• Do not freak out. You will make sense of all of this!

Denial: "This is so not happening."

Denial is rejection of reality and a storage of feelings. The thinking is that, if you don't accept the heartbreak, then it didn't really happen, thus leaving hope for reunion. During this stage of a breakup it is common to call, email or even Facebook-stalk -- anything that feels remotely "normal" about the relationship -- in an effort to put dealing with the heartbreak on hold.

Do/Do not:

• Do open up to a journal or trusted friend to begin unleashing fears, identifying unreasonable thoughts and more.
• Do not minimize the situation. Pretending your breakup doesn't have to be dealt with will lead to emotional numbness and leave you stuck.

Isolation: "I just want to sit in this all by myself."

Once you've recognized the breakup, you get into the dirty work: Dealing with the dissolution of the relationship. You may replay the relationship over and over in your mind, trying to pinpoint where it fell apart and how it could have been saved. Your thoughts may feel very scattered and disorganized. This stage of grief has you in withdrawal; you don't even feel like updating your Facebook status or checking your voicemails. You may draw your blinds and not even want to leave the house. Sitting in silence, darkness or a pint of ice cream feels better than going outside and admitting to the world that, yes, it's over.

Do/Do not:

• Do take regular showers and create reasons to face the day (work, social activities).
• Do not indulge in self-pity by letting irrational thoughts like "No one will ever love me again" take over.

Anger: "I hate you for breaking my heart!"

In this stage, your heart goes from sad to raging mad. It becomes fueled with anger towards your ex for whatever his part in the breakup was, and/or toward yourself for your part. During this stage of breakup, you may find yourself burning pictures of him, holding his stuff hostage, slandering him to his friends or worse. If you are angry with yourself, you may do a lot of self-talk -- regretful thoughts and angry conversation with yourself. The deeper desire here is often to place blame.

Do/Do not:

• Do feel, write or talk about your anger.
• Do not act on it.

Bargaining: "What will it take to get him back?"

Sometimes involving prayers, this stage is often about getting your ex back, but other times, it is about absolving your own guilt if you did something wrong that caused the breakup. Desperate to negotiate with yourself or your ex, you may go to extreme measures to make deals or become something else (thinner, less jealous, etc.) to make amends -- when in truth, it is just about making the current pain go away.

Do/Do not:

• Do create a self-love list complete with what makes you happy and things you want for your future.
• Do not include wanting your ex back in the above list!

Depression: "I will never get over him."

You realize the magnitude of your loss in this stage of grief, and it can feel all too overwhelming. You may wind up in a state of deep sadness that can even resemble mild depression. At this point, recalling what your life was like prior to your relationship or what it could be like now can be hard. Just getting out of bed feels difficult, and you may even feel physical aches and pains perpetuated by deep feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and sadness.

Do/Do not:

• Do surround yourself with positive people and lots of sunshine.
• Do not fall victim to unhealthy behaviors such as binge eating or drinking.

Acceptance: "I understand why I was with him, why I'm not now, and that I will be better than just OK."

The acceptance stage of a breakup makes all the other really tough ones worth it. This is the one that finally gives you that welcome sense of exhalation. You come to realize what the past meant and what the future can hold. The sun begins to shine, and you begin to feel like yourself again, ready to move onward and upward.

Do/Do not:

• Do celebrate getting through your breakup.
• Do not be surprised if you still feel moments of sadness from time to time; it's normal. Just keep on your positive path!

When God Says, 'Wait' and Everyone Else Says, 'What's Wrong?'

Advice for single men whom God has given the desire for marriage but who have not yet found a wife.

Hollywood has made a lot of money portraying women pining for marriage but not finding love. The typical plotline is predictable. Woman wants man. Man wants different woman while blind to the wonderful woman already in his life. Woman desperately tries to woo man, but man has too many issues. The stereotype is confirmed — a seemingly quality, single, adult, heterosexual man is a blight on society. He has problems. If the man is a Christian, the speculation can really ramp up.
As I was single into my 40s and a senior pastor as well, I am very familiar with the bewildered looks and awkward coughs as my single status was discovered. I can summarize all of them with one experience I had while visiting some friends. The visit was going quite well until their 6-year-old daughter whispered all too loudly to her mom, "Is he married?" She replied, "No." The little girl proclaimed loudly, "That's odd!"
It is one thing for little girls to speculate; it is another when significant people in our lives do the same. This often creates crises of faith and identity and leads to painfully difficult questions. What if God has given the desire for marriage but has not providentially given the green light to marry? What if that lasts not a year or two but 10 or 20? What if you are "normal" while those around you suspect issues? Let me share some biblical principles that reflect my own experience and struggle as a single man who waited to marry.

1. God wants you holy much more than married.

Nowhere in Scripture does God lay out for men or women the divine goal of marriage. It is a creational and cultural norm, but it is not and cannot be an ultimate personal goal. God's goal for a Christian man is summarized in Romans 8:29 as conforming us to the likeness of His Son. God is transforming the Christian male toward the attitudes, actions and affections that mirror Christ's. When our ultimate goal is marriage or non-marriage, we are downplaying God's greater purposes in our lives.
Better to embrace God's goal and whatever direction this pursuit takes us. This is critical in our single years as singleness and even dating are powerful tools God can use in us. I often cried out to God, "Why?" as if singleness was a divine punishment. Over time, I learned that in spite of my discouragement, if I believed God was good, then being single was, in God's eyes, good for me. How? Largely, it required faith to believe that my loneliness, sexual frustration and failure to meet Christian cultural expectations were something good if I received them rightly. Primarily this meant desiring my singleness to form my character and for this formation to be Christ-likeness. If I am on mission with God's purpose in me, then my singleness can be seen as a good means to a godly end.

2. Fear can masquerade as faith; it's not.

Getting married was the second biggest moment of faith in my life. My biggest was trusting in Jesus. Saying you want to be married is easy; doing it is not. It's easy to see this in others who live in a continual state of excitement about a new relationship, then a season of discovery; then disillusionment sets in and they're on to the next one. We describe this sanctimoniously as waiting for the right one or being appropriately picky. Both are needed and necessary. But too often this is cover for the real issue — fear. Obsessive self-protection. Lack of faith in a sovereign and good God. I know it well. I recall entering into a dating relationship and fear seized me. I couldn't sleep. I was filled with anxiety. It's always easy to break things off and explain it in some pseudo-spiritual terms.
Christian masculinity requires men to lead, to be bold, to live and date by faith. Many a single man could and would enjoy marriage if he could simply trust God enough to marry an imperfect woman. Disillusionment is inevitable as every woman is a sinner. We are Adams looking for Eves as if the Fall never happened. Where is this perfect woman? Bly calls this "the search for the woman with golden hair,"^[1] our quest for this latent memory of a pre-fall Eve. The power of pornography is largely this soulish and selfish pursuit. If we see our own brokenness in our desire for perfection, a whole world of godly Christian women becomes accessible and marriageable.

3. Nice is a turnoff; godly masculinity is a powerful attraction.

Ask the average woman what she is looking for, and "nice" might be mentioned. But a godly Christian woman is really looking for a deeply Christian and masculine man. What is masculinity? A masculine man is a self-sacrificing servant leader who willingly gives himself for the good of others. Now "nice" might be part of it, but it is a fruit of masculinity, not its source. How do we know? Look at the magnetic life of Jesus. Jesus is too often portrayed in media and art as skinny, effeminate and weak. Effeminate men don't inspire other men to leave their careers to follow them. Effeminate men don't draw crowds of thousands who hang on their every word. Effeminate men lack the courage and strength of character to face down the Pilates and the Herods and entire organizations like the Pharisees who want to kill them.
God may not call you to give your life on a cross. He may call you to selflessness as it relates to your family. He may not call you to be scourged, but He may call you to servant leadership in the church. He may not call you to do many things, but if you are a male, then He calls you to be a man, and to be a Christian man is to follow the example of a masculine Savior. When men are really men, the women near them get very feminine. Women want Christ-like men around whom their femininity naturally complements and elevates.

4. Don't get married for sex, social acceptance or anything else but to serve her.

Trust me, I know the pressure. I know the desires of a man's heart. Can we talk frankly about sex? God gave most men a very strong desire for sex. I remember watching married friends leave a gathering and assuming they were headed straight to the bedroom for hours of pleasure. Problem is, that's a fantasy.
For most single men, sex is much more important in our imagined marriage than reality could ever provide. This is especially dangerous when we date women based on our perception of how they or their bodies will satisfy us sexually. As one proverb notes, "There's a lot of livin' between the lovin'." This is why it would be unwise and unfair to a spouse to marry primarily to satisfy sexual desire. That is a recipe for disaster as the things that make marriage happy are not sexual but spiritual, verbal and relational. It will be the relationship that will make the bedroom dynamic, not the bedroom that will make the relationship dynamic.
Similarly, to marry because "that's what men do" or "mom expects it" is completely unfair to a woman marrying for deeper reasons. These sorts of men should do women the favor of just staying single and not dating at all.
Why should a man marry a woman? To lead her by serving her. While there are wonderful other secondary reasons for marrying, none are virtuous without this one. This is simply another way to say, marry for love as long as love is Christ-like love. The Apostle Paul couldn't make it clearer, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). A good definition of love is "self-giving for the good and joy of another." Marriage is an anvil that hammers on the character of the man. This character will either conform to God's purposes or break. The key? Love. Self-giving. Death to self. While this sounds self-defeating, it will be the opposite. A husband increasingly dying to himself will create a new man — a better Christ-like one.

5. How do I wait? By becoming the kind of man a godly woman will be attracted to.

When I look at all my years of singleness, dating and waiting, I could see them as years of waste, but I would be wrong. God was using those years to make me into a new kind of man. I believe that if single men would embrace this and seek to enhance it, not only would growth occur as a Christian, but it would also produce a deeper attractiveness to a potential wife. The one common denominator for every quality Christian woman who wants to be married is that they want to marry a godly man. The greater the godliness in the man, the greater the desire in the woman to marry him.
While our desire to grow must be primarily motivated by the Gospel and pleasing to the Lord, one wonderful byproduct is that I am becoming a man of character, integrity, selflessness, mercy, service and leadership that a woman of spiritual character will want.
My wife and I have a single, Christian, female friend for whom our hearts ache. She is deeply spiritual, theological and servant-hearted. She will not compromise on the spiritual character of the man she marries. Yet, who will she marry? Where are these masculine Christian men? Wherever they are, they will not be spending their primary energies on personal grooming, hobbies or career building. To marry a woman of this quality will require a man who has spent his singleness serving the Lord, others and the church. He will have cultivated and demonstrated a life of Godward living, and if they meet, he will find in her his feminine counterpart. Neither will have to settle. Both will be surprised, and their marriage will be the ongoing discovery of grace, Gospel and godliness.

There is nothing "wrong" with being single or staying single. But if you want to be married, that holy desire must be pursued with holy passion for God that makes nice guys deeply masculine and prepares them to lead and love beautifully feminine women.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

I love inspirational quotes and This collection includes classic quotes. If you are serious about making great achievements in life and what to cut to the heart of what really works and what does not, you simply cannot go wrong with this quotes. Unleash the power to succeed, read quotes every day.

1.                     You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand. - Woodrow Wilson

2.                     Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best. - Theodore Isaac Rubin

3.                     Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.- C. S. Lewis

4.                     We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. - Cesar Chavez

5.                     Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. - Napoleon Hill

6.                     Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. - Steve Prefontaine

7.                     Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. - Benjamin Franklin

8.                     Being a father has been, without a doubt, my greatest source of achievement, pride and inspiration. Fatherhood has taught me about unconditional love, reinforced the importance of giving back and taught me how to be a better person. - Naveen Jain

9.                     Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting. -  Edward de Bono

10.                The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. - James Allen

11.                High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation. - Charles Kettering

12.                Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

13.                Too many people buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t know.  Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

14.                If a person wants to be a part of your life, they will make an obvious effort to do so.  Think twice before reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.

15.                Saying someone is ugly doesn’t make you any prettier.

16.                Your intent is for the future, but your attention is in the present.

17.                We don’t need to learn how to let things go; we just need to learn to recognize when they are already gone.

18.                God’s gift to us is more talent and ability than we’ll ever hope to use in our lifetime. Our gift to God is to develop as much of that talent and ability as we can in this lifetime. Abraham Ndu

19.                People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said; BUT, they will always remember how you made them feel.

20.                Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

21.                Worry . . . looks around: Sorry . . . looks back: Faith. . . . Looks up.

22.                Kids don’t care what you know till they know that you care!

23.                “There’s no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen” - Wayne Dyer

24.                “Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent.” - Sophia Loren

25.                Storms don’t last forever … sometimes they make a mess of things, but there always appears those rays of hope that help you put your sails back up to keep moving on.” – Abraham Ndu.

26.                The secret of getting ahead is to getting started.

27.                “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently” –Henry Ford

28.                “If you don’t manage your life, your life will manage you” –St. C

29.                When Wealth is Lost, Nothing is Lost; When Health is Lost, Something is Lost; When Character is Lost, Everything is Lost.

30.                “Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.”

31.                The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it. - Arnold Schwarzenegger.

32.                You can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent. - Arnold Schwarzenegger.

33.                A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. -  Paul Dudley White.

34.                ‘The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

35.                Commitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you.

36.                Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. - C.S. Lewis.

37.                “You have the opportunity to choose who your children’s parents will be.” – Abraham Ndu

38.                “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” - Colin Powell

39.                If at first you don’t succeed, try something you’ve already been successful at and become masterful at it.

40.                The best way to find your self is to lose yourself in the service of others. – Anonymous

You can add your own. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment please.

QUESTION OF THE DAY!

What is the only thing you cannot do for money?