#16 - It's 2010!!! The Christ in us - Love, Light, Warmth, Power/ The Potential in each one of us!

It’s 2010! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Oh, this year would be a year of abundance! A year of ACTION and RETURN ON INVESTMENT! lol. Yes, indeed. In 2010 we put aside the cheap Talk, and we take the costly road of Action. And for me, this is the year in which all our  previous  investments, in all its forms – physical, mental, psychological, moral, financial – will pay off! I declare it! You gots to declare it man. Isn’t it said that “Life and Death lies in the power of the tongue!”

So, I haven’t updated my blog in ages… It’s been a year! Lol. But I’ve been buuusssyyyy… among other things, my computer crashed in December (an IT genius resurrected it 2 weeks later), my eyeglasses broke and I was too broke to buy new pairs, my contacts tore too because of the dust of Yaoundé entering my eyes (but Phil came back from France with extra pairs of contacts, that were just coincidentally –or divinely- the right optical number for my eyes… but I’ve ran out of stock, lol), then there was Christmas break… and u know how it is… starting from the 20^th of December you become physically and mentally disconnected to everything that has nothing to do with xmas – i.e (in my case) work, the internet, Harambe (believe it or not), emails, etc.  But for those 2 weeks of vacation,  I had the best xmas break I can recall in yearsss. Still, in the midst of all the partying, chilling, and “Friendshipping” (my coined word ;-),  I kept jotting down some thoughts in my little yellow notebook, which I’ll type up in my next entry. This entry is just my trail of thoughts as they come today…

Writing my TRE is a way for me to slow down the speed of my life and relax or rather, reflect. U know, reflect on life and not just go through it. I really enjoy time by myself. It’s like oxygen to me, when I spend too much time in the shallow life, away from the depths of critical reflection - enjoying 'the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought', a feeling of emptiness cripples on me – what Dr Cornel West calls spiritual malnutrition and existential emptiness. So despite all the wonderful time I had this xmas break, at the end, I was yearning to get back to myself by myself.

It’s a way for me to live and not just exist. To not pass through life like food through a digestive tube. And so, I write about it. I translate my thoughts into writing. Yes, writing my TREs is some kindof therapy. It’s my shout out to the world! Maybe it’s my way of feeling what Dale Carnegie says is the greatest feeling in the world: Feeling Important. It’s a way for me to not just be a random person in 6 billion. It’s my way to add my distinct voice to the sometimes cacophonous chorus of the world...All this, in order to go through this journey from womb to tomb with Grace and Dignity, as Dr West would phrase it.

The Holy spirit constantly whispers new ideas in my mind. I know it’s the Holy Spirit 'cause it always feels like an epiphany! Like a divine revelation. That’s why I’m often confident when I propose my ideas, because I feel I have divine approval. As a Christian, I give credit to the Holy spirit. Buddhist might say I’m in Full consciousness . Paulo Coelho would say my heart is aligned to the heart of the world at that moment. However u’d like to understand it, the inspiration definitely comes from a force higher and bigger than my physical self! It might be the Christ in me.

Speaking of the Christ in me… These are my thoughts of Christmas and Christ being born during that period. Christmas is the period of the year in which we wait for Jesus Christ to be born and we celebrate his birth on earth.  As Christ is born on December 25^th, more than anything else, it should be perceived and experienced as a spiritual birth in both the world and in each one of us. If you believe, and you accept Christ in your life, you will realize Christ is born in you. So what is Christ? I'm speaking of the spiritual Christ. For me Christ is first and foremost LOVE. LOVE in it’s simplest and purest form – Doing on to others what you would like them to do unto you ( and I’ll add to this Golden Rule – Do unto others what you’d like them to do unto you, your brother, your sister, your father, your mother, your child, your husband, your wife, your aunty, your uncle, your grandma, your friend)lol.

Yes, I’ve added my part to the Golden Rule! Why? Because I think sometimes you don’t realize how your action might affect someone until you think, “what if someone was doing this to my mom,” or "what if someone was doing this to my bestfriend?" The most common example: When guys/boys cheat on their girlfriends, and u tell them “imagine a boy was doing that to your sister?” they’d be like “ no way, I’ll beat him up! No one fools with my sister!” u know? But he’s doing the same thing to someone else’s sister. So yeah… EMPATHY – putting urself in the other person’s shoe is a big portion of what love is. And this shouldn’ t just be when you don’t want to act a certain way, u shud use empathy also in a  (in lack of a better word) proactive way, i.e when u think “ I’d love to receive surprise presents randomly sometimes”, if no one does that for u, well do it for someone. Cuz when u wait for people to act in ways that will make you happy, u might wait till eternity. U can’t fold your hands and wait for happiness to come unfold them for you. U gotta unfold ur hands and go grab it. And if no one fulfils the secret desires of ur heart, try to fulfil someone else’s. It’s tremendously rewarding to make someone else’s day brighter, to perform random acts of kindness, and to be a blessing in someone's life! If you are constantly unhappy, or want to be happier, think about it? U might wanna change your conception of happiness - ur happiness shouldn't solely rely on u receiving, but mostly on u giving to someone ... (that’s a subject I previously wrote about, in my  facebook notes. I will elaborate on that another time).

Back to Love…

Love is Empathy, love is mindfulness.  Love is giving, and learning how to give, and to quote Dr West, the greatest form of giving is ForGiving (nice huh?)! Love is blessing. Love is encouraging. Love is serving . And without Love you are NOTHING.  That’s actually one of my fave quotes of the bible. Let me paraphrase myself… I had written a facebook note entitled If I aint’t got Love I am NOTHING. Read on:

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

My favorite passage in the bible. Verse 1-3 (before the description of Love) succinctly, cogently, and powerfully states the importance of Love. I encourage you to read this passage very slowly, very gently, very profoundly, and interiorize each.and.every.word.

The following verses (4-8) have been overused all over the world, in weddings, bible studies, and other ceremonies. But usually, the first part of this passage (1-3) is quickly read over, and people focus on the next verses: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs... ". Great instructions. But first, you have to fully grasp the premise:


"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love,
I AM NOTHING.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love,
I gain nothing." ( REREAD and REFLECT)

I may have all the wisdom in the world, I may have a faith that moves mountain,
I may inspire, lead, serve others, be the most passionate and successful individual in the world,
BUT IF I DON'T HAVE LOVE, If I am not driven by love,
despite all my achievements and all my blessings,
I gain NOTHING, and I AM NOTHING.

Love is the panacea to everything.

Everyday I wake up, praying God to fill me with Love.
That every step I take, every action I make, is driven by love,
Every word I state, every reflection I make, is filled with love.
I know without love, everything else is meaningless.
I also know, it sure is a utopic ideal, and I have a loooong way to go...
But I'm on my way.
And I'm confident that as I reach for such perfection, I will be perfected; with the help of God's amazing grace.

As such I have set myself a challenging goal:

To Always Love God, Relentlessly Love humanity, and Confidently Love myself.

It is a great and laudable ideal to live for – to Love Always. Yet it gets tough at times right? Yes… I can testify to that. When laziness cripples in, u don’t want to help with house chores (hehehe, scratching my head). When you are feeling down, sometimes you just get tired of giving, giving, giving, and u want to receive, you want sincere appreciation and you want to indulge urself. When you want things to workout your way, sometimes u just don’t  wanna be empathetic, u don’t wanna think how ur decision might negatively affect your brother/sister, u just wanna get what you want. So many things that makes it sometimes challenging to LOVE always!

Now, it’s not because it’s challenging that we shouldn’t aim for that ideal.  See, that’s one thing I don’t appreciate, when ppls say “well it’s not as easy as you think”, and they give that as a reason to not do anything, to not aim for higher goals, to be complacent and settle for less . U know? For example, I speak of Harambe, and ppls are like “it’s not as easy as you phrase it” (Yo, let me tell u for real, I’d appreciate other criticisms, u know, that are more thought-out!). Of course I know it’s not easy. If it was, then everyone would have done it. But the challenge... that’s the beauty of it. Making something seemingly impossible Possible! Isn’t it FUN!? I mean, if you wait for things to get “easy”  before you do it, I tell u, ur life might end up being extremely dull! Nothing worth it is easy. And as soon as you get that in your mind, as soon as you switch ur mindset – to tackle the challenge, vs ducking down whenever you see a problem or an obstacle - life becomes a delightful adventure! In this case, Love is a worthy cause. And it might be difficult to LOVE always, but the good side is that being aware of ur obstacles and challenges puts u halfway through ur journey of Love. The other half of the journey will be done probably with much determination to stick to your commitment to Love no matter what!

Before I digressed for so long on the subject of love, I was saying that with Christmas, Christ is born in us. At least in those who believe. And Christ is first and foremost Love. And he’s LIGHT, and he’s WARMTH, and he’s POWER. He’s the light of the world, who brings warmth in this world, and has divine power.  Imagine Christ in you. The Christ in you has all those characteristics: Love, Light, Warmth, Power… when you fully believe in that , you definitely become a new being. I myself, I can't say I have fully interiorized this truth (and, I may not always act according to it), but I firmy believe it’s true. Sometimes I drift off from myself and forget, but I know it’s fundamental truth. And everytime I remind myslef that there’s a Christ in me that is Love, Light, Warmth, and Power, I exude it in my life. Because of that belief, I am able to live  more freely,more intensely, more abundantly! It’s a truth not just relevant to me, I believe it’s relevant to everyone. You just gotta believe in the spiritual Christ in you.

-          The Love: Loving your neighbor as yourself and your mother, father, child, sister, brother, grandma, uncle, aunty, friend.

-          The Light: You are the light of the world. Just like a candlelight in a dark room. Just like a star in the night sky. And u’ll shine! Shine like the star you are. Like the Light of the world that you are!

-          The Warmth: is the warmth you emit to people around you. Your warm energy.

-          The Power: He that is in you is greater than He that is in the world. You have the power to accomplish great great things!

That’s my 2 cents on Christmas. The Christ is born in those who believe in Him. And he’s present in you, with abundant Love, Shining Light, Warm energy and Power to make the impossible possible!

So let me tell you one thing I love more than being praised and admired by peers (which is wonderful!): it's to see I’ve inspired some of my peers to Action. I want to see more of my peers, friends, sisters and brothers not just applaud me for chasing after my dreams, but realize their own dreams, or at least be actively working towards them. I want each single one of my friends, brothers, sisters, peers to interiorize that universal truth, that YOU CAN ACHIEVE WHATEVER YOU PUT UR MIND TO, AS LONG AS YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN! YOU CAN DO IT! Once you really interiorize this fundamental truth, you will prosper and succeed in all you do, cuz all the forces of heaven will be working in your favor. You got to believe!

So for me, It’s more gratifying to see people take control of their lives and become the leaders they are, become the shining stars they truly are! Really, It’s wonderful to see someone switch from being a victim to a victor. It’s all a personal choice, and if you don’t believe in your ability to achieve whatever you set your mind to, you will not achieve. You will just be existing in this world, as a passive subject!

It’s actually that drive, to inspire more people TO ACTION that made me structure the Harambe-Cameroon program the way it is. Cuz I Know, I’m convinced that  if given the chance, most Cameroonians will discover the leader and changemaker they can be. And so even the questions we ask the students in the Application form will get them to think a little bit more than usual and hopefully discover something in themselves. For example, question 8 of the Application form is: What is your passion? Sounds like a simple question right? But try to answer it! Have you ever given it much thought? Have you really found your passion yet?

That’s right; I want my Cameroonian brothers and sisters, who might mostly be drawn to the competition by the cash-money reward at the end, to think deeply, to find their light, their passion in life.  Cuz it’s so important to identify that passion we have in life. If not you will just live… with shallow ambitions, and be unfulfilled.

That’s not all we want to encourage Cameroonian students to do. In order to win the first in three competitions, you would have to:

            Identify A Problem in your Community

                 Propose A SOLUTION to that Problem

          And, Articulate that Solution in ONE MINUTE.

As long as you are CREATIVE, CONVINCING, and ENTREPRENEURIAL you have great chances to win the 150.000FCFA Reward.  

If you are one of the top 30 amongst 50 contestants, you will move to the next round where u have submit an executive summary. For the Executive summary, once again you’ll have to think: State your Objectives, explain your methodology, describe your long term vision… You see, through this competitive process we will get students to THINK, and put their thought to ACTION.  Oh!!! Just thinking about the multiple effect this could have on an entire generation of young Cameroonians makes me want to jump off my feet, throw my hands up high, and dance left-to-right, lol! Seriously, it’s EXCITING! 

The date for the competition is February 12^th, 2010 at the 5-star Hotel Mont Febe, Yaounde-Cameroon.

Alright, that’s that for now! Gotta go respond to all my emails before all my recipients realize I’ve posted a new entry on my blog and have not responded to their email yet! Lol. (and If this concerns you, please excuz my procrastination, I had to take this off my mind first ;)

Peace and Love,


 Olivia.