RiverNaija

Proverbs 13:20 NLT "Walk with the wise and become wise.’’ .Not everyone who starts out with us is capable of going where God wants to take us. Sometimes they don’t have the emotional capacity needed. Other times their vision is different from ours. So how can we know when it’s time to exit a friendship or another type of relationship? One way to check is whether it makes us feel drained. If it does, we may need to take a step back from it. This calls for setting clear boundaries. Draining ourselves emotionally and physically to make someone else feel needed might sound noble and self-sacrificing, but it’s not what God’s called us to do. He doesn’t want us to end up spent and burnt out, because when we get to that point, we don’t have enough energy left to reach our own God-given goal in life. If we feel a relationship isn’t going too well, we should pause, take a look, and also take it to God. View the sitiation objectively(seeing it the way it is and not by the way we feel)instea...

Amos 3:3 "Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction" . Having the right relationships can help us to soar in life, but the wrong relationships can hold us back. Here are three guidelines to help us discern which relationships are good and which are not: (1 ) When a relationship isn’t working, we need to acknowledge it. There are times when we have to cut our losses and accept the fact that sometimes our efforts aren’t enough and we can’t help everyone. Releasing someone doesn’t mean they’ll never improve; it just means that God is more qualified to help them than we are. (2) There’s a difference between helping someone and carrying them. This is especially true if we’re dealing with someone who always turns to us for help and tries to make us feel guilty if we’re ‘not there’ for them. Our constant help and availability might actually be preventing them from growing. Sometimes we need to step back and let them learn to walk on their own. (3 ) We mustn’t a...

The intersection. The carrefour. The crossroads. The junction of flummox. Corner of the fuddle. A confined space of disturbing discombobulation. A place of uncertainty, we all often stumble on. That is life’s intersection. Therein, you don’t know what to do. But you’ve got to make a call. You’ve got to make a move. You are at the gate of decision. “Now, what do I do?” you silently inquire of your soul because you don’t know what to do. Is a right turn right? Is a left swing the best? What about surging straight on ahead, will crooked things be made straight? Going back to where you’re coming from, is that a good backup? And maybe staying still and stagnant on the same spot doing nothing is safest. But is it? Is doing nothing doing something? At the intersection, you still have to make a move. But you are not sure if making a right turn will turn outright. You aren’t certain if a left swerve will cause you to be left out all alone in the biting cold. You don’t want to turn backwards. ...

A brother’s message to me reads, ‘’How does one stay motivated to rise each morning to pursue a passion through which he earns income, considering the depressing happenings in Nigeria? “Why is it that when people who earned salaries lose their job, it becomes difficult for them to move out daily to generate income from another source? This is my current situation and it has led to untold challenges in the home front. How do you convince a man who is staring at age 50 and has no job, to stay motivated? I need motivation, please.” It’s true that the reality in Nigeria is steadily making a mess of even those who should know better. However, I do advise people not to be ashamed of starting all over again and as many times as possible. The first thing to do is to disregard your age. And any LOFTY ideas occasioned by the false sense of importance that our academic degrees are quick to bring to the fore. Then, throw away shame and pride. And face reality for what it is. The reality is that...

Marriage is an institution that values respect and dignity as love is made possible through appreciation for each other and it is impossible to love someone who sees the negative in everyone. Living with a spouse who has a negative approach towards life can be difficult; the partner sees impossibilities when you see opportunities and the differences in your attitudes can have a huge impact on your marriage, goals and aspirations. Negativity can be harmful Anyone can experience the negative feeling as nobody is immune to negativity because life can be challenging but when the negative emotion is poorly managed, it can have adverse implications on an individual’s health and wellbeing. A negative mindset can make life even harder when you or your spouse is constantly anxious, fearful, and uncertain about yourselves and the foreseeable future. This feeling can destroy the hormones in your body and weaken the elements in the brain that produce happiness, and this can further destroy your...