AS I SEE IT( How To Live A Balanced Life )

Part 4: Exposure/Vocation……………58

Connecting the Dots-----Times and Seasons----- The beauty of Self-discipline----- How to get anything you want in life-----

The Art of Creating (the artist in you)----- Everything in life is Progressive----- Understanding the force of Gravity----- Age and Exposure Matter----- Formal Education Matters (go to school)----- Success and Fulfilment----- The Psychology of Fear and Faith----- To Make a Big Change in life, Surrender!-----

Lifestyle Matters

Dedication

This book is fondly dedicated to my son Seth and as many as believe in the philosophies I live by.

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Acknowledgments

I wish to extend my deep gratitude to God and to my editor (my wife) for preparing my manuscript and turning it into the book it is today. Also I acknowledge the contribution of Jude Lawal and my Whatsapp community which helped in deciding an appropriate title for the book.

May God bless you all.

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NOTE:

To truly understand and get the best of the simple philosophies shared in this book; please discipline yourself not to read and study more than one per time.

Then take time to ponder on it until the light it holds, comes alive in your mind and then, implement. This is how it will excellently benefit you!

Also, feel free to contact me for clarity about areas of the book you don’t understand. For the goal is not just for you to read but to understand.

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Introduction

AS I SEE IT in a simple sentence, is the documentation of the collective philosophies I have gathered through observations and experiences for 40years on planet Earth and which has ended me up at a place of peace, joy, happiness and fulfilment.

A few days before I started writing this book, I reflected on if I am truly a happy person and honestly I discovered I am truly a happy man. I don't have everything yet - in terms of societal view nevertheless; I am, in truth, a fortunate individual at 40. You see, this means a lot to me and as simple as it seems writing about it, it's difficult to achieve, especially if you live in this part of the world (Nigeria).

It was like 6 years back. I was 34years old then when my mind shifted to observing the state of those around me when they clock 40-perhaps because I will soon be clocking 40 too. Well, I watched many of them and sincerely 8 out of 10 were neither happy nor fulfilled at 40, in fact, many just let it pass like it's not a milestone worth celebrating as according to them, there was nothing much worth celebrating…

hmmm. This observation got me quite concerned

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because as of then, even I wasn't happy nor fulfilled, still got lots of things in life I would like to put in place before I am 40 but I thank God that almost 70% were in place as at the time I clocked 40, hence, had reason to pause and note the age 40 as a milestone with joy and happiness in my heart and I mean genuine joy and happiness.

Well, in truth, this book isn't basically about age 40

rather it is about certain empowering philosophies, universal laws, that when properly understood and applied, will take you speedily into the realm of peace, joy, happiness and fulfilment. It doesn't matter if you are yet to hit 40 or above 40years; it is a body of knowledge- a way of viewing life that is assured to get you into the peace, joy and happiness zone early. And I am sure you wil love that…. so let's get it!

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FIRST THING FIRST

It's important to note that creating peace, happiness and fulfilment in life is an art and not a science.

What do I mean by that?

1 + 1= 2 and 2+2= 4. That's a science. I can give you an exact formula and anytime and day it is applied, it will give the same result, right?

But creating peace, happiness and fulfillment isn't gotten that way. It is not a science, rather it is an art to be consciously studied.

While growing up and even till now, we run into many programmes that promise us tons of money once we subscribe to them and this money will help us live a peaceful, happy and fulfilling life.

Now, having money or better put, getting our economics right sure helps in making us happy because it gives us a level of freedom and freedom always gives happiness. So, it's not the money in itself that made us happy, rather it is the freedom it supplied or enabled. More like the biblical saying

"The love of money is the root of all evil”….1Tim6:10

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Now, it is not the money that is the root of evil rather it is the LOVE for it, right? The same way it is here “It is not the money that is the reason for happiness rather, it is the FREEDOM it enabled”.

So I agree, getting our economics right will sure supply some level of happiness and I talked more on that in the third part of this book. But ultimately, from my years of observation and experience; peace, happiness and fulfilment aren't determined by just having money. It runs deeper than that. It is an art to be studied and developed. If having tons of money truly is the answer to happiness, then, every rich man out there should be happy and fulfilled, but you and I know this isn't true. The statistics abound of many rich people having miserable lives, unhappiness and unfulfilment. So obviously, just having tons of money isn't the answer to being happy and fulfilled. Even people with modest income can attain peace, happiness and fulfilment if they take their time to study the art and come up with empowering philosophies.

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What is a Philosophy?

We can say a philosophy to be a theory or belief system that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour or attitude.

One can either have a positive philosophy or a negative philosophy. Positive philosophies for me are termed "empowering philosophies", for they help us develop refined principles, attitudes, characters and a way of viewing life that is empowering. The opposite is what negative philosophies do.

Negative philosophies make a man weak hence unfit for the forces of the universe. Like James Allen once wrote, "Weakness cannot persist in a power evolving universe" . We live in a world that evolves powerfully, and the forces that drive it will only favour that which is in tune with its frequency, which is an empowered being.

Be a Student and not a Follower

So in the rest of the chapters of this book, I will carefully and as well joyfully share with you some

"empowering philosophies" which I have gathered for 40years

on earth through

experiences,

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observations and studies and which have proven to be effective, judging from my results and the results of many that have lived life with same philosophies.

Some walked the face of these Earth and lived successfully in it with similar philosophies long before I was born, which made me realize they are universal principles that, once accessed, will inevitably bring us Peace, Joy, happiness and fulfillment.

Now, here is the thing, we need to recognize the fact that no-one person knows it all therefore, I will suggest you subject my view of life as presented in this book to reason, debate, scrutiny and if judged true, add it to your collection of personal philosophies and if not, draw out that which is valuable in them and use it to formulate your own life philosophy. Now, this is what is valuable; the philosophy or philosophies you end up coming up with after passing the ones I present to you through the test of reason and sound judgment.

I will suggest you be a student and not a follower.

Students study, observe, reflect, experiment to come to a definite conclusion, but followers don't.

Followers simply swallow whatever they are given by

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those who they judge superior, line, hook and sinker, without ever stopping to ask "Is this true?”

I have never been a follower in life. I have always been a student, and that's what has helped me to develop into who I am today. I want the same experience for you, therefore,I will suggest you become my student and not my follower!

Philosophy 1: There are just half a dozen aspects of life to get right

One of my major philosophies in life is this "The

proof of understanding is simplicity" . The better we understand a subject or matter, the simpler it becomes to present it and the converse is also true.

"The proof of less understanding is complexity" The lesser we understand a subject or matter, the more complex it becomes in presenting it. Some feel that the proof of deep understanding is in how complex they make a subject appear. From my experience and observation, I have found that not to be true.

The better you understand a subject, the simpler it becomes. Simplicity is proof of understanding.

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So, I have observed that it takes just half a dozen aspects of life to get right to attain Peace, Joy, happiness and fulfillment and these half dozen aspects of life are:

 Health

 Relationship with God

 Relationship with Men

 Vocation

 Exposure

 Finance

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