"Little by little" says the snail

One afternoon I strolled out of my office depressed and preoccupied with thoughts of a failed personal project I had been on for about a year plus, all the resources wasted! My time, sleepless nights, money all gone. Hot tears clouded my eyes, the tears of a young lady struggling so hard on her own, pushing it and trying to make a difference in life. I just wanted to go home fall on my bed and shed all the tears in me. I'm such a cry baby you know.

Then I bumped into a friend who had just succeeded in a similar project and had moved unto the next level. He tried to cheer me up with encouraging words. He said, " there's no level in life that is too little nor a point in a journey that is too far behind. What matters is that you're moving and someday you'll get to your desired destination. Someone else is somewhere praying to get to even half of where you are right now in your life"
Those words seemed so magical at that moment, because it gave my spirit some glister of hope.
 Little by little, the snail moves, but she eventually arrives somewhere. Many are in the grave afterall , thank you a Jesus for the gift of life.

Photo credit: animatedimages.org

The Giraffe women of Padaung.

The Kayan Lahwi  people also known as the padaung are a minority  ethnic  group with populations in Burma and Thailand. The padaung women are peculiar for their interesting culture of wearing brass rings around their elongated neck, even on their arms and legs. They are a serious attraction to western tourists who pay a good sum of money to see the "giraffe women" in flesh.

The Padaung girl begins to wear her neck ring between two to five years, following a ritual by a priest. Initially it's quite uncomfortable but begins to feel normal over the years. As she grows, the length of the coil is lengthened so that a full grown woman could have up to twenty or thirty something rings of brass wound round her neck giving her a seemingly elongated neck which is considered very attractive by their men.
No one knows for sure the origin of this weird culture but many of these women still hold fast to it in Thailand today.

Neck-stretching is form of beautification to the padaung women, they rarely remove the neck rings in their life time except on rare occasions like during medical exams. It's also said that a woman on committing adultery can be stripped of her neck coils as a punishment. When the ring is removed after many years, the neck muscle has atrophied and can no longer support the head normally. Besides that, the neck is usually scarred and discoloured leaving the woman with little or no option than to put back the brass coils.
(Image © Keystone/Getty Images) 

Does the brass neck coils really elongate the neck?
X-rays have shown that the ring compresses the rib cage and pushes the collar bone/clavicles and upper ribs  downwards giving the illusion of an elongated neck. The weight of the rings twists the collar bone and eventually the upper ribs at an angle 45 degrees lower than what is natural.

I'm enthralled by God's creation of varieties of beautiful amazing people with their unique cultures, many of whom we are not even aware of their existence.

Really, I respect this culture but I don't fathom the idea of disfiguring one's body out of a misplaced sense of beauty. Imagine the pain and inconvience those little girls have to go through with such heavy object on their neck.
(Image © Karl Lehmann )

Time changes yesterday.

Take a look at the scene in this 1956 photo, I see about four men bringing out a big structure from a container sorounded  by a crowd of men on suit. By the way they were eagerly waiting and watching you can tell that whatever was inside the box must be something very vital or amazing .
 Well, it's actually a 5 mega byte hard drive that had just been shipped  out by IBM. That's right! Only 5mb and its about the size of a small car.That was way back when the computer had just been invented, and that hard drive which can't hold more than a single track in an album was the scientific wonder at that era.

Today, over 6 decades later, I can store hundreds of movies in my 1 terabyte hard drive which is about the size of my palm or in my 64G memory card which is as tiny as as a nail on my finger. Well, such is life, time changes yesterday and change is constant in life.

Today as I look at this photo , it looks ridiculous and funny. But you know that's how life really is. Sometimes we find ourselves engulfed by trend or entangled in a prevalent condition that seems so overwhelming as at then, such that we might be forced to take one or two decisions. The truth is that it will all pass away.

Someday you will just look back at that same thing or situation that either amazed or terrified you (maybe laughing too) and be like "I can't believe I did this or that just because of this common/ordinary thing...."
Time changes so many things, including your opinions and perception of the world around you and life in general.

Photo courtesy of History in pictures

Separated from death - the story of a passenger.

On one of my trips to western Nigeria, a passenger shared this unique story of how God singled him out from death. Mr John is an elderly man who has spent most of his life as a Christian evangelist.This is his story;

Mr John wanted to travel to Lagos, Nigeria.  When he arrived the park, the que was terribly long and it seemed the transport  company had sold out much more tickets than the number of seats actually available.  There was just 2 luxurious buses  currently available, with the passengers all lined up according to their ticket numbers patiently waiting to get into their seats.
One of the transport officials came to a point just in front of Mr John and devided the  que asking Mr John and those behind him to move into the second bus. Inside the second  bus, there was chaos as many passengers did not sit according to their sit numbers. In the midst of the confusion and quarrels,  Mr John lost his sit and was peturbed on realising that he was the only one without a sit.

Fortunately, a third bus came along soon and Mr John was asked to move again into the third bus which he did without complaining. But suddenly someone came out to inform Him that there was a mix up and there was actually a vacant sit behind in the second bus. Now fed up and not minding that he was still the only passenger sitting in the third bus, Mr John declined and decided to patiently wait for the bus to get filled. Just then a fat woman arrived, a woman whose destiny had already been sealed!. She seemed to be in a hurry and quickly demanded to have the vacant sit in the second bus.
About an hour plus later Mr John's bus moved. Mid way into the journey, they were forced to stop at an express road where a large crowed had just gathered in front. It was an accident, a luxurious bus had just run into a fuel tanker and there was a huge fire.  It was the second bus that Mr John was sopposed to be in and there were no survivors!

As John narrated the story I could feel the pain in his voice and tears in his heart. He emphasised on how much God cares for and protects his servants. He also admonished us to be however ready at all times because no one knows tomorrow .
Well, that's a scary story to hear while you are on a journey but thank God for journey mercies .

by Chioma Morah

If wishes were horses.

I thought I had a mountain of a dream
A dream that seemed almost impossible
Day and night I prayed and wondered
Do dreams still come true?

I thought I had a mountain of a dream
One that kept my mind constantly preoccupied
Night after night sleep eluded me
As my heart cried, God, will I ever get there?

Then I saw this touching picture
It's of a little boy with a very big dream
he was courageous enough to nurse it
A desire that seems almost impossible.

No one deserves to be incomplete
I know that miracles do happen
but I also pray that someone helps him.
A prosthetic leg at least would do!

by Chioma Morah
photo credit: unknown.

Why old couples look alike.

Ever wondered why many  old couples have striking resemblance? It's a popular observation and scientists have proposed some explanations for this. These are some of the explanations given.

Decades of shared emotions.
Research reveals that the happier the marriage, the more the couple resembles each other. A study was conducted at the University of Michigan by psychologist Dr Zajonc & Co-researchers. Test subjects were randomly given photos of people with the background blacked out. They were told to match the men with the women they most resembled. Twenty-four pictures were of couples when they first married. The other Twenty-four  were of the same couples 25 years or more later. The couples were white, lived in Michigan or Wisconsin, and were between 50 and 60 in the second photos.

The judges discovered that the young couples showed little or no resemblance to each other while there was marked resemblance between the couples who had been married a quarter-century.While the resemblances were not dramatic - some seemed to involve subtle shifts in facial wrinkles and other facial contours, for instance - they were marked enough that the judges were able to match husbands and wives far more often when the couples were older than when they were younger.

Dr Zajonc proposed an explanation for this; common life experiences over years and years can alter facial musculature and wrinkle patterns, leading to an increased resemblance. Couples unconsciously mimic the facial expressions of their spouses in a silent empathy and that, over the years, sharing the same expressions shapes the face similarly.

Similar  environment
Similar environment, similar diet, similar disposition, postures, gesticulations etc

Initial resemblance
Some others are of the opinion that some couples initially look alike when they got married.

If all the above is logical, then what happens in the typical  african polygamy scenerio?  Will a man look like his 4 or 5 wives at same time? Or will they all find a way of collectively looking like each other?... just thinking aloud!

photo credit : www. Stopcoloncancernow.com

When People Change

"You have really changed"! Some of us receive this accusation quite often. Initially, I would usually try to defend myself, while at other times I would get hurt and raise my voice. This was just until I got to learn the other meaning of those words, the real implication behind the sentence, I'll tell you.

Every human has his own way of life, we all have our perculiar personal battles and issues. ln life, you sometimes have to take decisions which in your own judgement is the right thing to do in order to achieve certain goals. This means therefore that you cannot have it as a goal to please every one around you all the time.
Having said this, I have come to realise that there are some people in one's life who are there to pull you down the ladder. When they say "you've changed o! What they actually mean is,  "you have stopped living your life the way we want it, you've stopped placing us first before you, you've stopped filling us in on little details in your life,  you've  now taken charge of your life and we don't like it,  you have changed!"

Well, there's no way you can progress  in life if you must please everyone around you. Even the only perfect man Jesus had a million haters. It's important to be nice to people around you, but the main goal is to please and glorify God not man.

by Chioma Morah
Image courtesy of animatedimages.org

Dirty diamonds don't shine.

Mathew Henry once said, "there's great worth often hidden in despicable packages".
There's an attitude in the society that is not appealing to many neither is it to God, it's an attitude of pride, arrogance and a feeling of superiority (proverbs 16:5).
 All humans were created equal with same substance and design, no man is made of gold while his neighbor is made of copper or wood. We are all same, flesh from dust! The only thing that creates the differences is the opportunities and privilege that one man has over the other and these mould our various destinies.

That not withstanding, no one knows tomorrow, that boy feeding from your trash today might just be the man in whose hands your life or destiny may lie tomorrow.
Never look down on anyone, because some people due to certain conditions are just like precious stones wrapped up in dirt or clay. Because u know what? dirty diamonds don't shine.

So, what's your excuse?

I saw these photos on face book, I can't remember who posted them or the original source but I saved them because they sent a message straight to my heart. The photos were captioned "what's your excuse". 

Now, I don't know who the guy in the photos is, nor his name but I can see what he's doing. Maybe he's an engineer,  construction worker or something but I'm moved by the fact that he did not allow his disability become a limitation in his life. Didn't the bible say we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4: 13). What's my excuse if I don't become what I ought to be in my life?

Meet Dr Ain - the orthopedic surgeon with a difference

Dr Micheal Ain ... A Dwarf Surgeon , a living source of inspiration for all those who Underestimate their Capabilities. ... He became a Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon from one of the best Universities John Hopkins after being refused from 30 programmes. ... He never left trying hard even after Multiple Failures and Refusals.

‪#‎BIOGRAPHY‬
Dr. Michael Ain is an associate professor of orthopaedic surgery and neurological surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His areas of clinical expertise include achondroplasia, clubfeet, orthopaedic surgery, pediatric orthopaedics and skeletal dysplasias. Dr. Ain is the director of the Residency Training Program in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Ain and his colleagues have developed groundbreaking surgical techniques for patients with spinal deformities and skeletal dysplasia, including the design of prostheses and instruments for people less than four feet tall and the use of pedicle screws instead of hooks and wires for scoliosis surgery.

Dr. Ain received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Brown University. He earned his M.D. from Albany Medical College of Union University. He completed his residency at Albany Medical College and performed a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dr. Ain''s research interests include skeletal dysplasias, scoliosis, achondroplasia, pediatric trauma, pediatric spinal deformities, hip dysplasia 



Photo credit & writer; Anonymous 

Why some remember their dream and others don’t – Study

Everybody sleeps, but does everybody dream? This, among other related issues, is perhaps one of the most interesting and unsolved mysteries surrounding human existence, and possibly one of the many questions that have not enjoyed relative unanimity in response from people.

When asleep, eyes are closed, the postural muscles are relaxed, the nervous system becomes inactive and consciousness is practically suspended, but in the midst of all these is the phenomenon called dream, which can be described as a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.

Dreams can be interesting sometimes, coupled with its psychological and spiritual colorations. It is not even uncommon for people to find themselves in some fairyland or paradise while dreaming but wake up to find themselves where they were before sleeping.

Even though scientists argue that everybody dreams, some people maintain that they do not dream while some others say they can’t remember theirs. Be that as it may, a study by some French scientists has revealed the reason why some people remember their dreams and others don’t.

The study was carried out mainly to unravel this puzzle and to identify which part of the brain differs between those who remember their dream and those who do not.

In the course of the study, the researchers, led by Perrine Ruby, of Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre, used Positron Emission Tomography to measure the brain activity of about 41 volunteers during their sleep and while they were awake.

The participants were then shared into two groups, with the first one comprising those (21) who used to recall their dreams at least 5.2 times in a week and the other group comprising those who rarely recall theirs, like twice in a month.

After observing the spontaneous activity in their brains both during sleep and while awake, Lyon and his team found that when the brains of people in the two groups were examined, there was some variation in the spontaneous activity in two regions of their brains, namely, medial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction.

While the medial prefrontal cortex is responsible for making associations between context, locations, events, and adaptive responses like emotions, the latter is the information-processing hub in the brain, responsible for imitation, and forming pictures of oneself and other people in the brain. The two, according to the researchers, help in creating dreams and remembering them, more so that medial prefrontal cortex plays a huge role in memory and decision-making function of the brain.

After the observation using PET, the researchers found that in the brains of those who usually remember their dreams, there is a higher level of activities in these two areas of the brain and the section of the brain that responds to external stimuli compared to the level of activity in the brains of those who rarely remember theirs.

They added that those who react more strongly when their names are called by other people and those who tend to wake up by any slight interference in their sleep are more likely to remember their dreams. Funny as the latter sounds, the researchers stated that that brief moment of being awake, whether by interruption or naturally, helps such people to encode (commit) the dream they already had to memory.

The researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology and reviewed by Daily Mail added, “High dream recallers have twice as many times of wakefulness during sleep as low dream recallers and the brains of the high dream recallers are more reactive to auditory stimuli during sleep and wakefulness than those of the low dream recallers.

“This may explain why high dream recallers are more reactive to environmental stimuli, awaken more during sleep, and therefore better encode dreams in memory than low dream recallers. Indeed the sleeping brain is not capable of memorising new information; it needs to be awake to be able to do that.”

The researchers explained further that people are more likely to remember the dreams where they had memorable encounters than others where there was nothing much of interest.

On enquiry, findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that people (almost everybody) want to remember their dreams, possibly everytime they close their eyes to sleep, which has been appeared impossible. Thus, the question, what can people do to remember their dreams?

A report on Medicaldaily pointed out certain things that could be done by people who want to remember their dreams. One of such is for people to train their brains to remember and recreate things, which it called the window treatment.

The report advised people to watch scenes unfold outside a window, observe everything to detail, including colours, objects, people, animals and movements.

The report added, “The goal is to detail in your head everything you are seeing. Don’t generalise. Once you’ve done this, write everything down in a notebook. By experiencing the events and recounting them, you’re training your brain to remember details in real life, and eventually your dreams, too.”

Another recommendation by the report is that people should wake up naturally instead of being interrupted suddenly, such as splashing water over a person sleeping or shouting the person’s name vigorously which could wake the person suddenly.

“Waking up naturally is a much smoother transition between dream sleeping and wakefulness, and chances are that dreams could be more easily remembered this way. Even taking an extended nap can improve a person’s chances of remembering,” it added.

The other recommendation is that people could keep a piece of paper and pen beside them before sleeping, such that the moment they wake up, even if it’s in the middle of the sleep, they should quickly record every information they remember from the dream.

It added, “Rather than waiting for the morning to write in the paper, keep it close to you at night, and as soon as you wake up from a dream, write whatever you can remember again, all the details, like you would with the window treatment. If you don’t want to write everything down, take notes of the key points. Soon enough, dreams should start to become more vivid, and remembering them should be easier as well.”

A similar report on asdreams.org pointed out that reminding oneself of the need to remember a dream and keeping a paper and pen or a tape recorder by the bed side to take notes could help improve one’s dream memory. It added, “As you wake up, try to move as little as possible and try not to think right away about your upcoming day.

“Write down all of your dreams and images, as they can fade quickly if not recorded. Any distractions will cause the memory of your dream to fade. If you can’t remember a full dream, record the last thing that was on your mind before awakening, even if you have only a vague memory of it.”

Commenting on the spiritual implication of not remembering one’s dream, Pastor Nons Amano, explained that it is not good for a Christian not to remember his or her dream.

He said, “The implication is that such a person is missing the information that God is releasing to him or her because it’s the time Heaven is broadcasting. It’s a moment that vital information about destiny and things to happen are being released. So, if you don’t remember your dreams, devil is keeping those ideas and information so that you won’t be aware of it. Then, you must learn to speak in tongues to activate the spirit, which is like the antenna, to be able to pick signal in the spiritual realm.”

He also advised that when people eat heavy food before sleeping, or they leave their phones on such that it could ring to wake them suddenly, or they start talking the moment they wake up, they might not be able to remember their dreams.

Also, a cleric, who identified himself simply as Adebayo, said there was nothing wrong for one not to remember his/her dream but that “it is wrong to share your dream with a stranger that is not your trusted person.”

In his response, a psychologist, Prof. Toba Elegbeleye, explained that people could lose track of some of their dreams but that “when dreams are very (thoroughly) impactful, you tend to remember.”

This article was extracted from PUNCH.
Photo credit : Getty images & www.cliparthut.com