Stretch Your Mind - Weekly Food For Thought 9ja2020

Too often we adults become complacent with our learning. We are content, folding our hands, feelings as if we know so much already. We think because we have a university degree (or several) then we Know-It-All already. Yet, the challenges of Life, in particular of Nigeria, demand that we continue to grow and stretch our minds. The easiest, most affordable way to continued education is through READING books. In the words of the children’s author Dr. Seuss, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.” To take YOUR future to new heights you must open your mind and learn. Each person who knows how to read has tremendous power to explore the world sitting right in your home!To take a lead in transforming NIGERIA you must have a voracious appetite for knowledge and wisdom. The books you read today are crucial to establish yourself as a progressive, determined focused leader.Choose your books wisely. Here are some suggestions to get you started this week:
1. Why not read the stories of leaders who were able to transform nations in the midst of terrible circumstances –those like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela?
2. How about The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind -- the story of a young African boy named William Kamkwamba who was considered crazy in his village for dreaming of and then building a windmill that powered lights and water pumps in his community?
3. Get inspired by people worldwide who are finding solutions to local problems. You can find many of these stories of local heroes at CNN (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive09/index.html . Be challenged out of your complacency and despair by hearing of ordinary people who are living heroic lives! If they can do it, you can too!
4. Study current events and find out how Brazil and India have progressed and developed their nations so quickly in the past decade.I BEG, (Let me use my Nigerian idioms for you), yes, I BEG, start somewhere this week. Surround yourself by good books and periodicals. Sit down and read rather than watching TV. Share the books you have already read with people who would enjoy them!You, your family, your community and your nation will benefit greatly if you make this simple choice.


Reading with you,
Patricia Omoqui,
The Thought Dr.
www.patriciaomoqui.com