#10FsForASuccessfulLife- (1) #BeFRIENDLY

...But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. #Proverbs 18:24

Be a friend who can be Befriended! (Tweetable?DoIt). Man is a social being and at any given opportunity, we will need to relate to people....sometimes outside the immediate family of a person. The reality of friendship is that you are always going to be influenced be it positive or negative. (Tweetable?DoIt). Interestingly, we are attracted to our kind! Peer pressure never ends after teenage years. At any given age or level there are peers who will influence your thoughts, behaviours, choices etc and its from out of these do we choose to form friendships.

Friendship is by choice not by force. (Tweetable?DoIt). Being friendly isn't acting needy. Friendship is a mutual agreement between two people sometimes spoken or not for the benefit of all. Friends are God sent when they fit the purpose for which they were sent. They carry with them answers to challenges we face as we go along.  Even Jesus at some point needed friends. He chose disciples people whom he later called friends. #John 15/15. 

The value of friendship cannot be equated to money. It's most seen when someone you call a friend is there for you in times of challenges. It carries with it the strength to endure difficulties together. There is nothing beautiful as having someone you can confide in and commune with on issues no one seems to understand. (Tweetable?DoIt). Interestingly, a true friend will stick closer in all matters relating to your life. Growing up, I had loads of people I called friends. Age has taught me that many of those were just acquaintances who really didn't fit into what I will term friends. I can't stand disloyal people and a such I am quite careful on choosing people for friendship. 

Many will disappoint you in your quest to sieve through the number of people for friendship. (Tweetable?Do it). Friendship and its definition has changed for me as I mature. Your need to be fulfilled in life should be considered when desiring to find a friend. They should carry enough to impact your life. Their influence should create a visible change for all to see.  I consider friendship in a three step way - those who will feed my need for insight, wisdom and information for my vision , those who I can share my knowledge with on the same level and finally those who I can teach things I have benefited from to in life. (Tweetable?Do It).

David and Jonathan's friendship is an example of that which is for life. Jonathan the Prince saw greatness in David and defended him even from the imminence of deathly threats from his father King Saul. If you find a friend who sticks closer than a brother, then you can really rest assured that some of the challenges you might face in life will be halved. (Tweetable?DoIt).Be friendly for it pays not only when we need people around...but I believe two heads are always better than one. (Tweetable?DoIt). There is someone out there whom you can trust with the fine details of the challenges you are facing in life. Loneliness by choice or circumstance does nothing better for a person. Reach out to someone who needs your company. Be friendly!

[CURRENTLY WORKING ON MY FIRST BOOK AND ONCE ITS COMPLETED, I WILL TELL YOU OF HOW YOU CAN ACQUIRE ONE FOR YOURSELF]

#My10CommandmentsOfRelationships ~ (7) APPRECIATE!

“Don’t go chasing waterfalls please stick to the rivers and the lakes you’re used to” is a song by TLC which was quite popular when we were in our teens. It resonates with my next commandment when in a relationship- “APPRECIATION”.  I believe people who cheat do so because they never appreciate what they have. (Click here and tweet this).

Appreciation I believe means to increase in value without any further look into the dictionary. Every commandment we’ve learnt so far regarding relationship connects to this commandment of “appreciation”. When the attraction is mutual, you relate to your kind which also means you go for what you need. It’s only through this that you can have a common vision for the purpose set forth. Finally you will understand why I have been saying make it a win- win deal. I doubt if you will hurt someone you truly respect. (Click here and tweet this).

Appreciation becomes the next commandment to practise. Until you are satisfied with what you have, you will never put value on it or appreciate it.  Personally and from others I have remonstrated, not being appreciated is the worst that can happen to the desire a person has in relating. Ever killed yourself for someone or for a purpose and not received even a nod or word of appreciation? You felt angry and disenfranchised. You know why…there is an innate desire in everyone to be patted on the back, given a look of acceptance and to be told thank you. (Click here and tweet this).

Appreciation is what empowers a person into doing more and also exceed or stretch themselves beyond the norm. (Click here and tweet this). It stirs within you a supernatural ability that transcends your everyday strength.  The currency for longevity and promotion is “APPRECIATION”. Society is now been filled with whiners and complainers. We complain almost about everything without due appreciation for the things we freely have. Others  will relish an opportunity just to have a taste of what you easily discard and dismiss with impunity. 

When the truth of God’s word hit me hard a few years ago, I came to one conclusion- I appreciate my experiences and the person I have become inspite of my short comings. This is the only way you can move forward despite your past and what it represents. Ebenezer simply means this is how far God has brought us! (Click here and tweet this).

David of bible times teaches us the power in appreciation even in the face of imminent death from the enemy. Inspite of all King Saul did in order to kill him, when he had the opportunity he did the opposite. (Click here and tweet this). He protested vehemently against being pushed by his compatriots to spill innocent blood. Secret- he was a “nobody” even when he Killed Goliath. It took the acceptance of King Saul into the palace to bring him into prominence. He was forever indebted to the kind gesture of the King and had always harboured an immense amount of Appreciation for the King.

If you learn to appreciate, it will be easy to forecast for the years ahead. Relationships no longer have longevity because many easily discard the rivers and the lakes they’ve been used to for the waterfalls at the least whim.

Question: What does APPRECIATION mean to you in a relationship? Kindly leave your comments on the blog.

Yours In His Service

Joe Akuoko II

“3Pees” Of Life ~ PREPARATION!!

Thou preparest….

Preparation! Not many want to go through it if we will be honest. It is one of the most excruciating moments of a person’s life especially when the question of peer pressure and threat of living with failure comes to mind. (Click here and tweet this). Imagine being powerful yet had to remain silent for eighteen years before you are allowed to make your move? Jesus experienced it, I have experienced it and you also might be experiencing. People saw a “King” in David when slew Goliath yet he had to run because it wasn’t his time. He had to run because he knew it wasn’t his time. David understood what PREPARTION is all about thus he was willing to wait and go through the process.

The gift, talents, skills you possesses comes in their raw form. The factory of life would have to stretch you so you can mature in the handling of what God has given you. (Click here and tweet this). Patience, character and attitude are the most important components you need in your preparation period. Until you begin to see as God wants you to, there will always be a delay in the reason why God had to take you through preparation. Your gift, talent or skill will take you anywhere in life, but do you have the prepared character to sustain yourself? Once you have been prepared, you can have longevity in your sphere of your endeavour.

Moses, one of the greatest leaders histories will ever produce, had to go through forty years of PREPARATION before being released. From a prince to being a fugitive of the Egyptian penal system, God prepared him for forty years before being release at eighty. He encountered so much changes going through the preparation period. The process bred in him a divine level of maturity to handle difficult issues. When everyone around him wanted to give up, he could easily inquire on the Lord for his next move. Patience is such a powerful virtue that any one called onto greater works needs to pray for it. (Click here and tweet this). For preparation without patience only leads to a destruction and disgrace.

Questions: What does preparation mean to you? Have you gone through a period of preparation before? Has having the patience to be prepared produced result? Kindly leave your comments on the blog!!!

Yours In His Service

Joe Akuoko II