My 4th day as a member of the 05:00am club

Yesterday was one of those days I don't ever want to wake up to in my life again. I woke up in the morning and tried to do my usual 5AM club activities... I did my exercise and lay down to do my devotional that was how I slept off. Like really slept from about 05:30 o about 09:30am.  This one hurt me in itself. I got ready and went to millennium park where I worried away the rest of my day. Meanwhile, I had a dream about my prince charming. He was so calm, tall and light skinned. I remember teasing him and calling him Ajebo. He was so patient with me and accepted me for who I was. In the dream I went to CODE, ,I don't know for whatever reason. But we were there. I remember we climbed a 3 storey staircase. He exceeded and I just almost branched when he saw me and lovingly came down. I don't know, but I felt so much love in the dream. It was nothing like I have ever felt before. I hold onto that dream until my prince charming shows up.
Meanwhile, I had to pray most part of he night for mercy. Somehow it felt like spirit of intercession and I began to pray. In all, I slept praying nd woke up better.

Day 3 5AM

So today is the 3rd day of my 5AM club exercise. Today I woke up with more ease and was able to do a little bit of morning exercise. It was not up to 20 mins though, but I did it. I woke up with a clearer head.

Something happened yesterday, as I was almost getting worried on how to fully fund my trip to Lagos, I stumble on a post on Instagram that says a similar training will be happening in Abuja. For 15k... I was saving up for a blender, but I just knew I had to let go of this morning. I am still trying to imbibe the habit of paying for knowledge, and I am sure it will pay off really soon. I reached out to the lady pleading for a discount and she agreed almost immediately. I started to second guess the efficacy of the training. But I took a lesson out of it. Never do favours on a platter, people will most likely despise it because of the ease at which it came

Its about 12 noon andi feel stronger and happier today, was able to set a goal and accomplish it. I feel like a heroine.

Yesterday, I went to the market with the intent of getting really nice new clothes. The idea was to boost my confidence and make me happy, but guess what. Right now, I don't feel any more confident or happier than I felt yesterday before I left for The market. The lesson for me is that joy is internal.
I have this friend whom we stay together, sometime last year we would seat and whine about the unfairness of life. But she seem to have caught a mastery of this whole life thing, she seems happier and less more concerned about life, while I still seem to hold on a lot to what happens around me. This part kinda contributes to my pain. Its like I am not growing or I am growing too slow. Sometimes I feel stripped. Like I don't know anything in myself. Its not an easy place to be in. I find out that I battle with unfulfillment, anger and sometimes, envy. I pray to be better soon. I can wait to attain inner peace.
Today was meant to be my second day on the 5AM club... I woke up, sat on the reading table and slept all through. I can't even seem to do the regular prayer anymore except the ones I say in my heart in desperation. I don't even know of God accepts such prayers. I just wish I know what to do now. Lord help me!

Updates on my new life

A lot has happened in the last few years. In fact, 2019 was quite a year for me. I felt like life paused me, drained my confidence and let me out. But this is 2020 and I am trying to find my feet. I feel my confidence coming back but not without the lace of fear and touches of doubts. I have resorted to an adventurous 2020 and although I still don't know how it will play out, I will still try.

Today, i successfully got my Daniel fast to 21 days. For me that's a great achievement and having been reading the 5AM club, I decided to start today. I actually did not decide to start, my friend had to wake me after the alarm had tried effortlessly for days. This morning was a huge struggle. I was feeling sleepy up until about 07:00 pm.

Its been a training ground for me. I had to brace myself to be able to show up at the Crash course Leadership program held at Transformers Leadership Academy. For one week. I will keep pushing myself until I can no longer breathe. This doesn't feel easy, but I will keep asking for grace.

WHAT IS YOUR EXCUSE??????

LOIS THE GREAT!!!!!!!!

One of the greatest women I know in the world, Unlimited and ever soaring. She is actually the first person I have personally met that I blog about, she is all about inspiration and motivation, always smiling and has a warm welcoming aura at all times. I thought you should know her too.

BACKGROUND

At the age of two (2), Lois Auta was affected by Poliomyelitis, an ailment that affected her legs, thus making her to use wheel chairs, but in her words, she said and I quote “I never allow it to weigh me down. It only affected my legs not my brain, therefore I’m equal to the task.  In disability, I see abilities, opportunities, hope and a brighter future. Some see their disabilities as weakness, I see mine as strength, others blame God for their disabilities, but I remain grateful for mine. What others see as deformity, I see as variety”. And these are not mere words, she has worked tirelessly to prove that she is able.

Lois comes from a humble background, and saw herself through growth and life, having lived as a woman with disability and grown through life as an orphan. This woman would have even been congratulated if she gave up at any point. But No!!! She didn’t.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Lois Auta, that’s her name. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Cedar Seed Foundation (CSF), and has over 5 years of experience in the development sector. CSF is a non-profit formed with the objective of mainstreaming the issues and concerns of persons with disabilities particularly women, girls and children with disabilities in Nigeria into the national development agenda based on the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD). She is also a Mandela Washington fellow and a Disability Rights Advocate. Ms. Auta is a sports athlete and sits as the president of the FCT Disabled Sports Club, Abuja. She is a Board member – Federation of Civil Servants Staff with Disabilities Multipurpose Cooperative Society. She is also the Founder and President of Women on Wheels Multipurpose Cooperative Society. Lois is a board member, Potters Gallery Initiative.

She currently holds the position of Vice President of the Mandela Washington Fellows Alumni Association, Nigerian Chapter and is a support staff with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). She is a Mentor with Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program and a YALI Recruitment Assessor for West Africa Regional Leadership Centre. Despite all these achievements that I have listed and even the ones that I have not talked about, qualities that can be used to qualify this young lady are: brave, courageous, a role model, independent, mentor, intelligent, hardworking, and full of innovative ideas.

What is your excuse??? The only person holding you back is YOU!!!!

How far are you willing to go for your dream

THE MOST CONFIDENT WOMAN ON EARTH!!! The Hijabi Woman on a mission to be an Anchor on the American Television.

Her name is Noor Tagouri, and she is a Hijabi (A hijabi is someone who covers their heads and some part of their neck, on grounds of religion, this act is found commonly among Muslim women).

Noor Tagouri

As a kid, Noor had identity crisis, she did not like the fact that her mum had to put on a Hijab every time she came around her(Noor), and her friends. she tried as much as she could not to ever talk about her religious background and culture. So obviously, for her a hijab at that age was a NO NO!!!

Which one of them is Noor? Can you guess

Noor’s role model was Oprah Winfrey, she especially liked the way Oprah asked questions and made people feel comfortable enough to share their most vulnerable experiences in her program. At a young age, she naturally wanted to take after her mentor’s footsteps, and with a very supportive father, who would take her on a visit to her favourite reporters, she was able to scale high.

Noor on Oprah Winfrey Network (Her role model)

To deal with her identity crisis, when they moved to Washington, she discovered that she was different and learnt to be very proud of it. That was when she decided to go under the veils and become a full hijabi.

Did you notice the Hijab in this picture?

After a research Noor made, she discovered that no Hijabi had ever been a presenter on the American Television. This singular discovery ignited a fire in her to want to be the first female Hijabi to be an anchor on the American Television.

On one occasion Noor shared a picture of herself in The ABC news desk, with the comments “Here is what my dream looks like”. Before the next day, the picture had gone viral, motivating lots of people to also put up pictures of what their dreams looked like. At that point she realized the power of social media. Capitalizing on this viral approach, Noor and her family came up with a hashtag campaign #LetNoorShine. This would encourage people to share and follow their dreams, no matter how impossible it seemed.

A Picture of what Noor's dream looks like

Despite other hijabi women warning Noor that “it’ll always be the scarf or the job,” Tagouri is confident that she won’t have to hide her beliefs to find employment. Besides, she says, “My identity is way more important to me than a job.” She is very confident that her dream will come true some day.

Currently, Noor is both a reporter and a motivational speaker. You can guess the area her motivation is tilting towards. She has talked on TEDx with the caption “Being Rebellious” and also travels widely to places like Paris to talk about the Hijab and the rights of women. Now she boasts of having more than 96,000 likes on Facebook, nearly 62,000 followers on Instagram and 17,000 on Twitter. Join the campaign today, to #LetNoorShine. What stands in the way of your dream, are you considering the option of giving up? Rise up, lets #Helpyoushine.

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