Hello dear reader,
It’s been a while since I came up here to share any blog post with you. That is because It has been a super busy February for me. I can almost guess that it’s been the same for you.
Before I share with you today, please ensure to tell me in the comments how your February has been so far.
When one of the thought leaders I respect so much shared in an email about the significance of February it made me appreciate the month more and understand why it feels as though the month came with a truckload of tasks and events, and to-dos. Read the content of the email from John Obidi below.
For the masses, February is the month of love. They are constantly troubled, agitated and oppressed.
They need to be given festivals at regular intervals to keep them from engaging in ungovernable behaviour.
And so the Governors of this realm will waste no time in inventing an infinite supply of festivals, commemorations and holidays, anything to keep you from contemplating life at the level of the angels.
To you, February could be the month of love (well, sex actually).
To them, it is something entirely different.
Let us first examine the actual date in question – 14th February, Saint Valentine’s Day.
There are numerous versions of how it started.
Some say that Saint Valentine cured a young girl’s blindness.
Others say that he was martyred by the Roman Empire for officiating marriages for Christian soldiers who were at the time, not allowed to marry.
I cannot verify either account since I wasn’t personally there at the time, and history is typically edited towards the intent of whoever ruled the world at the time.
The second account looks more probable to me, and assuming that it is so, why do we not celebrate February 14th as World Marriage Day, a day to celebrate the covenant of the marriage institution?
Well, unfortunately, marriage doesn’t sell.
Sex does.
And here we are – the day of ‘love’.
But why toy with the people for a day when we can capture their powers of attention and intention for a whole month, aye?
Forget the day of love, give these undiscerning plebs an entire month to consume and make sure mainstream media drives this massively.
Not knowing their left from their right, they will think as we design, buy what we decide is trendy and for as long as we say is necessary in order to qualify as being human.
Christmas is waning in its marketing magnetism.
Val’s Day, I mean Val’s month it is.
Muhahaha…
Anyway, that’s not why I’m here.
February is the second month of the Gregorian calendar (this is the Calendar we all presently use).
The Gregorian Calendar is named after Pope Gregory XIII and it was introduced to create uniformity in how we measured the times and seasons, especially the inclusion of leap years.
February is itself the shortest month of the year and alternates between 28 and 29 days (on a leap year).
This is because it was discovered that the earth did in fact have 365¼ days, not just 365.
To accommodate the ¼ of a day, we add one whole day to February every 4 years.
What to do
Seasonally, February is the last month of winter (here in the Northern Hemisphere).
Winter is a period of darkness, not in a sinister sense, but with the connotation of rest.
Like bears that hibernate (sleep) in their caves all winter, you cannot be up and about all year long.
Activity has its time.
Be sensitive and you will see that much like the birds, the bears and the trees, you are not free from the impact of the seasons.
You can try to ignore this if you like, but you will be least productive in winter.
Winter is not a time for boisterous activity.
It is the season for burial, reclusion and the conservation of your mental energies.
Limit your exposure to the emotional tides of social media.
Journal extensively.
This is a season for enhanced contemplation of life and a consecration to spiritual wisdom.
Being that this is the last month of winter, it’s time to compile your lessons and decisively chart the course for the next season – Spring.
Spring is the season when plants are favoured to begin growing again.
It’s not here yet, but this is the final month to prepare.
Economic activity and travel will be reignited all over the world in this season and you must be ready to meet it.
Sharpen your farming tools – your websites, digital assets, your team, your travel documents, etc.
Finalise on all the training you will need for the year NOW.
Do not wait for Spring to meet you unprepared, for after darkness comes light.
February is the final month of preparation.
Now you know that this much about February, how does it connect to what comes next – March?
The month of March was named after Mars, the Roman god of war.
It was the month to begin all military activities that had been paused by the long Winter.
This is why most big and successful events all over the world tend to schedule from March and beyond.
Did you know that before the Global adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, March was at one time, the first month of the Roman calendar.
Russia’s calendar also started from March 1st.
Great Britain started their year on March 25th until they too accepted the Gregorian Calendar in 1725.
Coincidence? I think not.
This email was to be about February. I had to connect it to March so you’d see how the road ahead.
Enjoy Valentine’s Day if you must but let it move on quickly.
Also do not ruin it for those wish to indulge, for everyone at whatever level of awareness, is perfectly playing their role in this Cosmic Taxonomy.
It is only for your personal intelligence, to understand that in the Grand Scheme of things, Valentine’s Day matters very little.
Sharpen the saw.
By now, if you are not going Wow! Wow! Wow! Like a siren then you should probably stop reading this blog post. Now before I go any further, if you would like to get weekly thought-provoking emails from John Obidi, then you should sign up HERE. I promise you will come back to thank me.
Now, let me address my headline above. I have worked on so many projects this month that I am just in awe of the strength that God has given to me to be able to show up the way that I have shown up the last couple of weeks. I once read or heard that the reward for hard work is more work. And it’s making more sense to me now.
I’ve had more opportunities come my way this season simply because for every opportunity I have to serve I put my best into it. Am I perfect? Not by any standards, but am I showing up with excellence? Absolutely yes, to the best of my ability per time. And because of this, I’ve had people call me up to plug me into opportunities that I wouldn’t have had access to, had I not showed up, or had I showed up haphazardly.
So why I am sharing this with you today? I know you might not have had access to the type of information I have and hence not had my kind of drive to show up strong for yourself and for the assignment that God has called you for. And I believe that is why you have someone like me in your life. To point you in the direction of sound information, content and resources. It is not an assignment I take lightly. And I hope that you are one of the ones that I might help by the type of resources that I share. Be that my original content or content from people that I admire and respect. Whatever the case, I appreciate the role that I play as a signpost and a connector and I hope that you’d take advantage of it.
So, my message for you today is that whatever you find your hand to do, do it well. Never let the fact that no one is watching deceive you into doing things shabbily or half mindedly. Let every opportunity you get to show up and serve to be one that you give your best shot as if that is the last service you’d offer. I know this might not always pan out the way you intended, however, if your intentions are right all the time, you would become consistent in showing up with your best self that everything you do will carry a trademark of the best. So, keep showing up, and don’t do it just anyhow, but with your best at all times.
Check out a few things I’ve been up to in the past couple of weeks.
I moderated the TAAS Masterclass on Feb 8th. You can catch the replay here. If you are an African business owner then you want to be a member of the association. It is FREE but requires your commitment and dedication. You can do so HERE.
I was a speaker at Academic Excellence & Entrepreneurship Summit. You can watch the replay below.
I was a part of the She Awards Press Conference and you can catch what that is about in the video below.
To be a part of this event click HERE to register.
I had the pleasure to MC a phenomenal women’s event put together by the RedLipstick Revolution tagged Zimbabwe Women Do Dubai.
And the most exciting is the just concluded CREATED FOR MORE SUMMIT. Which I had the pleasure of planning and moderating. It was a phenomenal event and I will be back to share some of my take aways. If you missed it, wow I don’t know what to say. But you can access the replay to all the sessions HERE.
This was insightful
Thank you ma’am.
Wow! It’s been amazing going through each of your activities this month. Super proud of your achievements EJ. One thing I can boldly say is that you have been consistent since I have known you. Of course, this is evident in the progressive and outstanding results you have gathered over time. Thank you for showing up and sharing daily regardless of the responses of viewers back in the days. This is my take home~every opportunity to show up is an opportunity to show FORTH! I am committed to showing FORTH going forward. Thanks EJ.
P.S
I went through each of the replays. By the way, the Becoming Summit has been disabled. So I couldn’t view it. Just for your awareness. Thanks EJ. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Wow!!! Thank you so much, Michelle. You are simply amazing. God bless you for your feedback.