MICKY REACTS

Sleep Disorders: Dangers, Types and Treatment

Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! What’s up guys and hope you’ve all been well? Thank you all for the support you show always. I appreciate it a lot. My very good friend asked me to write about sleeping disorders and upon further thinking, I realized some friends of mine find it difficult to sleep or stay asleep so it was an opportunity to research and scribble something down for you guys. I hope you learn something as you read.

One of the most essential parts of living is sleep. Being deprived of enough or no sleep can cause fatigue or body breakdown. Sleeping disorders can wreak havoc on your sleep routine and the way you feel during the day. The disorder can harm the quality required by the body to perform during the day. Taking too long to treat your sleep disorders can be mentally harmful which is never a good sign of healthy living. It is advisable to seek help from a medical and qualified practitioner if you have difficulties in sleeping. Having the requisite knowledge of the different types of sleeping disorders will help you understand your sleep patterns and set you on the right path.

WHAT ARE SLEEPING DISORDERS?

Sleeping disorders are conditions that affect the ability to sleep well or enough. The problem that surrounds sleep disorder is it does not only affect you but the quality of the relationship you have with the people around you. It also affects your safety, school and work performance, mental health, and weight. In a nutshell, not getting enough sleep affects the quality of your life.

THE DANGERS OF NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP

There are several effects of sleeping disorders. Sleepiness can interfere with cognitive functioning which can lead to difficulties in learning. Memory impairment can also be a danger and this affects people of all ages. Personality change can be frightening especially when the people around you start feeling uncomfortable and unable to deal with your mood changes. Depression, Obesity, Heart diseases, and a slower performance rate are also the dangers one is likely to experience as a result of sleeping disorders.

TYPES OF SLEEPING DISORDERS

Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Sleep Apnea
Restless leg syndrome

INSOMNIA

Over 40 million individuals have been estimated to have suffered from this disorder every single year in the United States. People who suffer from Insomnia find it difficult to sleep or stay asleep. They are likely to wake up often during the night and they have difficulties going back to sleep as though they do not enjoy sleeping. Insomnia is said to be chronic (long term) when it persists for at least 3 nights a week for 3 months and more. On the other hand, it is said to be acute (short term) when it lasts for one night and a few weeks.

No underlying or coexisting condition is the cause of this disorder. However, there are certain factors you are likely to do to experience insomnia. For example:

Losing your job
The death of someone close to you
Doing anything that stresses you out
Medical and Mental health conditions such as asthma, depression, anxiety
Taking certain medications
The fear of losing your loved one or your job
Working at odd hours or changes in sleep patterns
Your environment can influence your sleeping patterns
The use of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine excessively

NARCOLEPSY

Suffering from narcolepsy makes you sleep at inappropriate hours. It is a disorder that affects normal sleep-wake patterns. Narcolepsy can result in:

Excessive daytime sleepiness can affect your productivity throughout the day.
Sleep attacks – Can you imagine what would happen if you were driving and suddenly fell asleep without any warning? Your guess is as good as mine.
Excessive dreaming and waking in the night – Never did I think dreaming could be ‘abused’ in this manner but researchers have found out you could have dreams often the moment you fall asleep (hypnagogic hallucinations) and right before or during waking (hypnopompic hallucinations).
Unusual behaviors – Avoiding sleep can trigger behaviors you are unaware of and an example could be a student who may continue to write but in actuality, he is scrawling gibberish on the page.
Sleep paralysis – A friend told me a story about a guy who was awake during a robbery in his room but could do nothing because he was stuck in bed and could not even move a muscle. All he could do was watch everything like a movie.

SLEEP ANEA

The male fraternity has a higher risk of suffering from Sleep Apnea than females. Sleep Apnea is a disorder that stops your breathing for 10 seconds or more during your sleep. The normal breathing pattern returns with a snort or a choking sound. There is a possibility you could be loud in your sleep. However, people who snore in their sleep do not suffer from sleep apnea. Overweight individuals and children with enlarged tonsils or adenoids may also experience this disorder.

It is fine to experience a change in your sleep pattern once in a while as a result of catching up to a deadline or attending to an urgent situation. However, you may have a sleeping disorder and would want to consider treating it if you experience the following symptoms:

Feeling tired during the day
Breathing patterns become unusual
Depression
Unusual movement during sleep
Anxiety
Lack of concentration
Weight gain
Difficulty in falling or staying asleep
Impaired performance at work or school
Strong urge to take naps during the day

HOW DOES ONE TREAT SLEEPING DISORDERS?

Sleeping disorders can be treated medically or by changing lifestyle behaviors. Lifestyle changes can greatly improve the quality of your sleep.

Exercise regularly
Drink less water before sleeping
Consciously set a time for sleep and take away distractions.
Limit your caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco intake
Maintain a healthy weight
Eat smaller low carbohydrate meals before bedtime
The use of essential oils such as Cedarwood, Lavender, Neroli, Vetiver, Chamomile, and Sandalwood essential oils can aid you to have a good sleep
Eating disorders – Researchers have identified an overlap between sleeping problems and eating disorders. However, not everyone with sleep disorders has a problem with their eating. Night eating habits have a greater possibility of affecting your sleep.

The danger of a sleeping disorder is not necessarily the loss of sleep but the dysfunction it causes when you are awake. It is important to surround yourself with selfless people who will sacrifice everything to be with you in trying moments so you do not feel alone. Sleeping disorders can be dangerous so pay close attention to your sleep patterns and do not neglect your exhaustion as something normal.

©Micky Amankwah 2021

5 WAYS TO STAY CONSISTENT AS AN UPCOMING WRITER

As an upcoming writer, the need to stay consistent was quite a challenge in my early stages. It is true the euphoria and zeal one gets after starting anything can die out after sometime if care is not taken. I believe what makes one consistent in whatever they do is the passion and determination that drives them. It has been almost 2 years since I started writing and there are things I have learnt by experience and through fellow writers on all writing and social media platforms. Follow me through this and I hope your interest for writing heightens at the end of this piece.

‘‘How do I stay consistent?’ You may wonder.

These are the 5 consistent habits I have discovered as an upcoming writer and I believe it will help anyone who wants to walk this path I have taken:

1. WHAT DO I WANT TO ACHIEVE?

In my opinion, this is one of the most important; if not the most important question one can ask before embarking on the journey of writing. There are many reasons an individual makes a decision and this is what many term as GOALS,which I believe are the driving catalysts that give relevance to a successful idea. My interest to start writing started during the first ever Corona Virus lockdown. I wrote about anything that came to mind. There was no compass guiding me as a newbie so the motto I literally carried around was, “everything goes”. After knowing how the writing space worked, I understood the need to narrow down to a specific niche of interest. I did not struggle to pick a niche because I knew what I was interested in. A niche can be changed in the future so do not worry about being tied down to one niche throughout your writing career. The decision to be a Health and Wellness writer came as a result of the indiscipline and lack of knowledge people tend to exhibit when it comes to knowing the food they consume into their bodies. Seeing this, it was a great satisfaction to me, to enlighten people through my writing on what to eat, the benefits of the spices they have in their kitchen and the type of exercises they need to undertake. Knowing what you want to achieve will always give you a sense of direction.

2. KEEP AN IDEAS JOURNAL

I chanced on a tweet sometime back on the importance of creating a group on whatsapp where you can keep ideas that come to mind. I found it to be very important so I created this group and named it Ideas Arena (not bad right?); my best friend was not excluded knowing how it would be of benefit to her entrepreneurship career. Well, she has turned it into a storage platform but I am glad we get to keep lots of ideas there where we can revisit them anytime. In addition to the whatsapp group, I got myself a journal. The whatsapp group serves as a “bank” of ideas I get from people or other platforms whiles the journal serves as ideas that personally come to mind. I get my ideas from a range of sources: Books, articles, songs (I am particular about the songs I listen to and it is one of the things I am grateful to God for), experiences I had in recent times and last but not least, when I am under the shower. If there is anything I have learnt the hard way, it’s not to trust your memory. The habit to write down ideas has reduced the act of forgetting good ones.

3. SET A TARGET FOR POSTING

In the early parts of this write-up, I made mention of the motto I carried along which made days for publishing of content irregular. After some time, I set a personal objective to publish a new post per week. While I fall short of that goal, I have still managed to publish at a fairly consistent rhythm. The target is to be consistent with whatever decision you make. You are not in competition with anyone so it is best to take baby steps. Scan through your daily or weekly activities and set a goal for publishing. Start small, go easy, and prove to yourself that the objective you set is achievable.

4. GET MENTORS IN YOUR NICHE

The key to becoming a great writer is to be mentored by one who has gone ahead of you in your niche and there are many of those writers out there who are doing extremely well. Don Moen got that song perfectly when he sang Our Father. A part of the lyrics goes, ‘…we are surrounded by many who have crossed that river before.’ You don’t need a personal relationship with these people. Read what they publish from an eagle’s lens and learn extensively from them.

5. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

It is important to embrace flaws. You will make mistakes but learn from them. Understand that, reach and popularity of your posts do not imply they lack quality. It is all about time and chance. The aim is to be a better writer and not just to chase after popularity from the get-go. I advise you to get a friend who will read through your writings to check for any errors. That is if you are not yet confident in yourself and your writings.

According to Letter.ly, bloggers worldwide publish 7.5 million posts a day and WordPress users alone account for 70 million a month. You are never too late to start writing. It pays well and on the road to financial freedom, you should employ yourself now. If we are being honest, the hours we stay on social media scrolling down feeds have never benefited us so why not replace it with something profitable. The good thing is, no degree or experience is needed and you get to work from the comfort of your home. Start now and let us meet at the top in a few years to come.

Editor in chief: Miriam

Did You Know?- The Benefits Of Ginger

Having the knowledge of something gives you the consciousness to use it and get the full results and not abuse it.
Micky

Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! It’s been quite a long while we came your way with some spicy gist on a “did you know” article but alas here we are. Today’s episode is to see the benefits in one of the most used spices in this world by almost everybody. Ginger being one of the most used spices as stated earlier is or can be found in almost every home and restaurant.

sliced ginger on cutting board — Pinterest

Ginger is said to be a member of the plant family that includes cardamom and turmeric. One amazing fact about ginger in the 13th century was, the value of pound of ginger was said to be equivalent to a sheep. That’s an interesting fact right? Imagine the number of sheep one has eaten in this era. Also, Queen Elizabeth the 1st is credited with the invention of the gingerbread man, which later became a very popular iconic Christmas treat. After this post you will look at ginger from a different point of view, give it the respect it deserves and also eat it with the awareness of what it can do to your body. As safe as ginger is, one has to consult his or her doctor before consuming it in large amounts. The unique fragrance of ginger comes from its natural oils with the most important of them being gingerol.

Benefits of Ginger

Ginger contains a substance called gingerol which has powerful medicinal properties and has a very long history of use in various forms of traditional and alternative medicine.

IT MAY AID IN DIGESTION ISSUES

Drinking ginger tea once a day has the ability of freeing or exempting you from constipation and indigestion. For those who drink sobolo (a locally made Ghanaian drink) daily can testify to this amazing ability of ginger. I once sold a bottle of sobolo to a man at the hospital who complained of suffering from constipation for several days and after drinking half a 500ml bottle of sobolo, he testified of a relieve.

WEIGHT LOSS

I think this is one of the easiest ways to lose weight if you want to skip the early morning and gruesome exercises. In 2016, a study was made on 80 women with obesity identified that ginger had the ability to reduce the body mass index (BMI) and Insulin levels.

May significantly reduce menstrual pains

One of the traditional uses of ginger is pain relieve which includes menstrual pains. Friends who listened to me and took in ginger tea everyday saw a reduced pain in their menstrual cycle. It is okay to take it before or during the pain.

MAY HELP LOWER CHOLESTROL LEVELS

MAY HELP PREVENT CANCER

Ginger containing gingerol appears to have protective effects against cancer. However, more studies is needed to ensure the authenticity of this proof.

HELPS RELIEVE NAUSEA, ESPECIALLY MORNING SICKNESS

The effectiveness of ginger to relieve nausea is very high. According to a review of a study that was taken among a total number of 1278 pregnant women and 1-1.5 grams of ginger was given to them. It was then found out that ginger could significantly reduce morning sickness. To those who feel sick when traveling on a long journey, I advise you to get a little piece of ginger on you so you can chew it along the way.

WORKS AS AN ANTI AGING SUBSTANCE

To those who are conscious about how their skin looks at all times, I have good news for you. Ginger is packed with an anti-oxidant gingerol that has the ability to fight free radicals and as a result, it gives you an even tone and a glowing skin. Looking at another side of this, ginger tightens the skin and fights the various signs of ageing.

GOOD FOR YOUR HEART

Suffering from cold, flu or a blocked nose, ginger is one of the best things to treat yourself with. For my fellow Ghanaians, this is one way to treat colds very fast and it’s done by cutting ginger into pieces and adding a little bit of sugar to it. Your relieve is in a few minutes after chewing the ginger dipped in sugar.

HOW TO MAKE GINGER TEA

honey added to cup of ginger tea — Pinterest

Note: I’m not going to give a measure of what to use because I don’t want to restrict anyone from making a little or too much of the ginger tea but per your own discretion, make something that won’t go to waste.

Use a zester to grate the ginger or crush it and put it in a bowl.

Boil some cups of water and add the crushed or grated ginger into it.

Once the water has boiled enough on a medium to high heat for about 5-10 minutes, remove the boiling water from the stove and allow to sit for another 5-10 minutes.

Strain the liquid if you grated the ginger or pick the ginger pieces out if it was crushed.

Add honey and stir well. You can squeeze lemon to it if you like your tea with some lemon.

See you in the next episode of Did you know. Till then, stay safe and protect yourself from COVID-19.

©Micky Amankwah 2021

Things You Can Add To Your Bucket List

We are not always priviliged to be in the company of friends or loved ones and in that moment, life doesn’t come to a halt for them to return. Many have relied solely on the company of others and in so doing, the battle of depression never ends, the choosing of wrong relationships has become a norm just because we want the validation of others, etc. Here are some of the things you can do on your own without necessarily involving another person :

Volunteer at an orphanage : There are many orphanages around us and you don’t need so much to visit the less privileged. Often times, your presence alone can cheer them up. If you have the means, you can also buy them some food items, toys, balloons, books or some clothes.

Go on a hike

Make a meal you have never tried before. Could be a foreign or local meal but try out something new.

Donate blood : I am yet to do this but the thoughts of saving a life is really cool don’t you think so? With your fear of needles, just imagine someone making it out surviving an accident or operation because of your donated blood? Amazing!

Go to a concert : If an artist you love is having a show near you, buy yourself a ticket even if no one else wants to tag along. Should you sing along to the music at the top of your lungs? Absolutely, especially if you’re surrounded by strangers.

Go to a stage play : My favourite especially if it’s comedy. The first time I went was with a companion but I haven’t had the opportunity to go alone yet. Some comedy stage plays have been booked for next year though.

Visit a Museum and learn some history or see some art that could be of interest you. One thing I have realized about going to the museum is, your scope of creativity widens.

Watch people : On your free day, buy a cup of coffee or tea, sit outside the shop and just stare at those passing. You can create stories in your head to make the coffee drinking much interesting.

Read a book : I suggest you get a target of lets say 10 pages a day, 15 books in a year. Reading of books is one of the best ways to keep yourself busy and also educating yourself as well.

Start a garden : One of the things my mom never jokes with. Still not sure why she hasn’t won BEST GARDENER in Ghana😂 (if there were any).

Try out a new hairstyle

Complete a random act of kindness : It shouldn’t necessarily be someone you know. Give not out of compulsion but rather, do it because you want to. Compliment a friend or stranger. Make sure to put a smile on someone’s face daily.

Make a new friend

Try a sport : Could be any kind of sport. Once it excites you, try it out.

Teach yourself a new instrument

Against all Odds

Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! Today’s post is going to be a short one actually. I started this blog not thinking of the number of countries I could reach. The target was Italy and Ghana but I decided to check today and found out DailyReacts has reached a whooping number of 40 countries *clapping*. It’s quite amazing to see the blog reaching a large number of people and it makes me happy y’know. Most especially, I was surprised to know India is the second highest country to consume my content. I have 2 or 3 ‘kewl’ (as one of them would say) friends from India and visiting there is part of the bucket list. Places like Rajasthan and Kerala has already been booked. A big thank you to the people from the motherland. The numbers from Ghana exceed my imaginations but I know there’s more room for growth. To all 40 countries, I am thankful and to those who share my content so that others could also read, you are the real MVP’s. I will leave my social media handles below so you can connect with me outside WordPress. The plan is still to come your way with amazing, informative and educative content as we always do so don’t leave me yet. Thank you once again and have a nice day.

© Micky Amankwah 2021

Warm and Attached

Your smile is not just a therapy to my soul.

It is a tattooed to my heart and made of sunsets as red as blood.

An embroidery of sunflowers decorated in a crimson lace and dreams wrapped around each and every inch of my skin.

© Micky Amankwah 2021

Better Days Ahead

Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! Whats up guys and how’s everything going in this pandemic season which doesn’t want to leave us alone? So I got my first vaccine shot on Wednesday 04/08 around 17:30 ish. It was quite the experience and I actually had my reservations about this vaccine when it was first announced due to personal reasons. From the look of things, a time is coming whereby the vaccine will serve as a pass if you want to travel and as long as you have it in mind to travel, you will need it. I talked to a friend in the United States and she told me, one can’t be allowed to come to school without being vaccinated so you have no choice either than getting vaccinated. In a country like France, it’s now mandatory for all health workers to get vaccinated which actually makes sense.

In several countries with Italy included, you can’t play football without being first vaccinated or passing the Covid-19 PCR test and that should be within 48hrs after doing the test. After 48hrs, you will need to do a new test. I had to choose between these two and of course I chose the easy and pain free path which was the Vaccine. The Dr threw the injection like a dart and I felt nothing. It was as though I had no feelings. I don’t think anything has ever scared me that much but when it comes to this PCR test, my bones shiver and my intestines sweat. Not even Maths scared me that much. Lemme share 2 quick stories with you on friends who did the PCR test.

let’s call her Joy. So joy didn’t know when she started crying when the swab went deep into her nose. She was crying as though her last 1 euro for pizza had been stolen. I just couldn’t hold in the laughter when I was listening to her.

smile is the next friend. Smile almost removed the coat of the Dr though she didn’t feel much pain. Smile already had a painful experience a week earlier so she wanted to use the Dr’s coat as compensation for her pain. Imagine your patient trying to wrestle you for your coat. Hello Smile!!!

The thoughts of these funny and sad stories never encouraged me to take the PCR test so the vaccine was the best choice. It’s like how one can never get used to winter and summer. After being vaccinated, I got a slight headache but I don’t think it was from the shot. I was just hungry and the weather was also hot so the headache must have sprouted from those two (heat and hunger). I Had to wait for 15mins for the Dr to check whether I was fine before I could go back home. I was in perfect condition after the wait so I left and immediately I got home, I prepared rosemary and ginger tea. Check out my post on Rosemary if you haven’t read it yet. My next post will be on ginger so stay tuned. These and many other herbal teas you can take anytime in the day and commendably, I 100% recommend this for all my followers. You can thank me later by following my page and sharing my contents to your friends.

To be honest, I had heard of any people who complained of pains and fever after taking their shots so I was literally in my room waiting for my body to get hot or get a severe headache at least. This made me further understand how powerful the words we speak and our thoughts are and how they can paint a mental image in our mind. It’s been 5 days and I didn’t react negatively to the Pfizer vaccine. One of the good things about getting vaccinated is, it’s free here in Italy and I’m not sure about other countries but it should be free everywhere. I don’t know how to end this but yeah I got vaccinated😅

Shalom✌

Is It Worth It?

Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! Todays post may sound a little controversial but try and take in some deep breaths then you will understand it clearly. Coming up with the name ‘MickyReacts’ gives me that kind of free range to talk about everything going on around us. I’m going to react to one of the most cherished moments in our lives. Regardless of where you find yourself, weddings are the most increasing events in todays era be it public or private. Notice how I didn’t say marriage but rather weddings because these are two complete different things.

All we see is not all there is. It takes discernment and an ordered step to make right choices.
a wise man

As at 2018, 47% and 57% of males and females in Ghana were married respectively or were living in a union. Lets talk about how white wedding came about and how far its spread all over the globe.

White wedding is said to have originated from the Great Britain and the term stems from the color of the wedding dress obviously and it first became popular when Queen Victoria wore a white lace at her wedding ceremony. Thinking about this, would it have been called black wedding, green wedding, pink wedding, etc if she had worn any of these colors to the ceremony? Surprisingly, Americans during this period wore a plethora of colors during weddings. Victoria’s wedding spread across parts of the globe especially the Atlantic and throughout Europe and after that the Elites adopted this wedding style. Etiquette books begun to turn the event into a traditional activity and the white gown became a popular symbol of status which also carries a connotation of innocence and virginal purity. This form of wedding in the UK is known as the traditional wedding.

Let’s now shift the focus to our local setting as to know how it’s done here in Ghana. The traditional wedding here varies due to the different tribes existing in the country. As a result of this, the dress code is varies but the most typical is the brightly colored Kente which is worn by both the men and the women and it’s also adorned with gold jewelries and a regalia. One question I have always asked over and over again is, ‘if both are traditional weddings, why do we opt for both and not just go for one?’ If you have any answers kindly share them in the comment section, Thank you. I believe we are all aware of the cost factor involved as well and this is one of the many reasons why some people are held down when they want to get married.

An outfit from the Northern part of Ghana

I believe one problem we have as humans is the power of choice. Though a great blessing, it can also be a curse in the sense of choosing to go out of your means to have something grand only to please people then later reap the consequences. Our focus is mostly on what others will think when they attend our ceremonies whereas most people don’t even care how you funded the event. We find people having expensive weddings only for them to divorce after a few months if not a few years. Why waste so much money only to end up divorcing? By the way lemme emphatically state that, a huge wedding is not the reason for divorce. This is not to talk you out of having a grand wedding or buying the most expensive gown. You can do that if you can afford that.

Recently, there was a trending news on a married woman who got beaten up by her husband (actually, it was a two way beating with the guy ending up in the hospital. In no way should you start what you can’t finish 😅) and upon further investigations, it was brought to light that they borrowed 40 or 400 million cedis (it wasn’t specified whether it was the new or old currency) which is equivalent to 6,750,471 or 67,504,715 USD respectively for their wedding. Outrageous right? After their calculations before the wedding, the expectation was to get huge returns from well wishers but things didn’t go as planned so they were left in DEBT. Fast forward, they are getting a divorce after 2 years of marriage. Then again I ask, ‘are people living according to their means, or they are trying to impress people who don’t care?’

What we forget is, after the wedding you are left alone with your spouse to either enjoy the marriage or bear the pain. Under no circumstance am I saying don’t spend lavishly to have a white wedding. Even the traditional weddings in Ghana can also be expensive. This is to bring to our awareness that, living according to our means should be the most important priority. In all happiness, know that a good marriage stems from a strong foundation, knowledge and the grace of God. Why do you want to spend your lifetime with him/her? Is she interested in your vision? Is he ready to support you in your career? Can you still accept him/her after 5,10 or 20 years? A few of the questions should be asked before making that lifetime decision. God bless us all and give us the grace to make the best decision. Lemme know what you think about this.

Shalom✌🏽

Source: Wikipedia

PC: Wikipedia and Pinterest

HIS FRIEND, HER CONSISTENCY

A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves.
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! It’s been a long while guys and I believe all is well? Was caught up in some undivided attention making it quite a challenge to post some content. Today is an exception as I feel bound to scribble down some truth so we soak ourselves in them like the dew of the heaven. By the way, I still owe y’all the final part of the verdict and I promise to bring it your way soon. The production team is having some technical challenges now so please bear with us.

Coming up with this theme was quite a challenge as always and I’m still not convinced whether it fits the narrative perfectly but I am certain the picture will be crystal clear as we delve into His Friend, Her Consistency. Huge respect to every writer out there who breathes in and out themes to fit their writings. You are the real MVP’s. A few days ago, I had a conversation with a friend and she voiced out her concerns about how inconsistent her friends are and how they don’t contribute to the friendship as much as she does. Obviously she’s expecting a reciprocation of the affection, care and sacrifice she invests and a lack of that is making her bound on not investing into those relationships any longer. This has been the anthem on the mouths of many, especially, women. This is not to backlash the female gender or highly praise the male gender but it’s been proven that men have more fulfilling friendships than that of women. Having that conversation with my friend made me ponder over it as to why it’s not so easy for us to stay consistent in situations like these. I am convinced, not everybody has the knowledge that relationship is one the fastest ways, if not the only way for one to rise in this kingdom
be it through God or men. I have been friends with one or two persons for more than 8 years and others as well for less than 5 years and others months, and I must say, it takes more than years to remain consistent. It takes a heart of genuineness and a heart of sacrifice to stay consistent in maintaining a relationship. The
narrative has always been, “I was not cared for when I was friends with A, B, or C so I find it stressful to make friends now.” It is quite disturbing when you find Christians fall short in the affair of sacrificing for their neighbors. One of the basic truths in our walk is, the zenith of our transformation as Christians is love, and love as we know is never a feeling but a sacrifice –In John 3:16, God sent His only begotten son to die in the most disrespectful way for our sake. Looking through the Bible, we also find an instance where God demanded the son of Abraham from him and without hesitation, Abraham obeyed God. Amazingly and surprisingly, God made a profound statement which I find quite unfair, in the sense that, this man left his home to an unknown place commanded by God but it was after this act of sacrifice that the Lord said, “now I know that you fear me.”

The relationship journey is one to be seen as giving and not receiving. Those who frivolously enter relationships with the mindset of receiving only end up collapsing it (might not be the only reason though). In the place of sacrifice, your ego doesn’t matter, your knowledge doesn’t matter, your academic excellence does not matter also. Always forebear knowing that this friend of yours is human and has flaws so you have forgiven him or her in advance. Sacrifice is and will always be costly just as David said in 2 Samuel 24:24 so, you must be feeble-minded to keep that friend. That being said, don’t go about your daily activities throwing what is
precious to swines lest they trample on them and destroy you. I believe we have read the recent post of Chimamanda which is in three parts – It is Obscene. So many lessons to pick from that piece. Allow me to climax this with my own experience so we get a much clearer understanding of all that’s been said. Let’s call this amazing friend X, shall we? X and I have been friends for more than 8 years and still counting. It started as a casual relationship but with time we became closer and this was all thanks to how consistent we used to see each other. You may not entirely understand or appreciate how well a relationship meant until it’s been tested by some means and what you should know is, that test is overcome by both persons. Tests in relationships are inevitable. X and I were tested with distance and surprisingly, we both made sacrifices consciously and unconsciously to keep the relationship going. Many of you in a long distance relationships can tell how difficult this can be. To be honest, I have discerned the value and worth of X several times and I believe X has also done same. I believe this has constituted to how long we’ve been together as friends. I made a vow to X that, no matter what happens, I will pay the price to keep this
relationship going till the end of eternity. Until you have discerned the honor one accords you, don’t go around throwing your valuables on the streets.

Maintaining a consistent relationship requires a massive amount of sacrifice and pain. It’s not convenient. Have I been angry at X before? Yes, but I don’t see it as a means of coming between what we have built over the years. I pray we all get filled with the spirit of discernment today. Build quality relationships and pay the price to keep them. Make a conscious effort to check on that friend today and make that relationship worthwhile.

SHALOM

Editor In Chief – Mimi Amankwah

Source: Utmost.org Pinterest

Final moments

Yours is a lonely love;

The finest wine to inebriate the heart
but I cannot be the cup chalice that will hold you

Oh God i pray that another chalice appears that can embrace that love

Though gone, my mind will still wander in our steps and moments

Gone for good but not forgotten for good.