Welcome to Jhene Stephen's Blog...

I have a dream! The most common and inspiring words of Martin Luther king. Yes we can! The most common and inspiring words of Barack Obama.  We will all one day leave this world to a journey of no return. People have come and people have gone. We've had people of influence who not only did things to change the world but they did things because they refused to be changed by the world.  Today we are faced with a number of ill changes that have crept deep in our hearts. The lack to show and give to one another, as the greatest commandment commands, love your neighbor as you love yourself.  See our children grow without us giving them the love that they need. We must be alive to the fact that our children learn by imitating and each one of us is a model to them weather we like it or not, they will inherit this world.  A lot of our children have had their childhood stolen from them. Our children must learn their true intended purpose on earth because respect and love

Everyone of us has had a dream of living a better life but the evil winds usually sweep and blow us to places so far from our desired lifestyle. Life is a resting place like they say but why do we have to suffer before we leave? Alot have died and so are we to, before we can leave it to our young brothers and sisters to carry on. Everyday bears more pain and today's generation is better than the one to come.  Our lifestyle has been filled with a huge amount of killings, prostitutions,teen pregnacies, abortion and all the dark secrets we keep in our hearts. We are not free because some of these things were not dreamt of in our early years. We now hurt ourselves and refraining from these addictions isn't in our minds. We hurt ourselves and all those who are related or contributed to the problems we are facing therefore making us fail to concentrate and forgetting that every second draws us closer to the day we leave the world. Life is bitter and the best we ca

                                          Struggle! Why? how many people like struggling- why cant things just be easy! Here is a story of a butterfly. A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body (or head) and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

"Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it - Ernest Holmes" You will agree with me that we all want to live happy and fulfilling lives doing what we love and surrounded by the people we adore. Freedom and happiness is the ultimate quest of the human spirit. All  Submission human accomplishments can, in one way or the other, be traced back to the need to be happy and free. Everywhere you go, from the grandest capitals of western civilization to the forgotten corners of the African continent; whether be it the top executives in the skyscrapers of New York city or the poor street vendors in the corridors of your neighborhood; the cry has been, is and will always be the same, "We want to be free. We want to be happy."  The truth is that a truly happy and fulfilling life is not a product of chance (luck). It is an artifact of Universal Law; the hidden Justice that regulates all life. Life is a mirror, everything else

People sometimes think that success does not take hard work and persistence and speaking from experience it takes much more than that. For example, take a look at the structure of an Iceberg that floats in the water. Only a small fraction of an iceberg is visible above the water line, whereas the larger part of an iceberg is hidden beneath the water.  Everyone of us can see the outcome of a person’s actions and most of their accomplishments, whereas the efforts that were necessary to achieve such an outcome remain hidden and unnoticed. The majority of people tend to only see the great outcome that a successful person has achieved throughout their lives. These achievements blind us so that we often are not even aware of the huge efforts that were necessary to make these accomplishments possible. The “Iceberg Theory of Success” helps us to realize that every famous or extraordinary successful person had to invest a lot of effort and work until this person achieved his/her

Your life is not a coincidence, it's a reflection of you. If you'd like to know who is responsible for the majority of your troubles, take a look at the mirror and you'll deduce that it's time for us to stay out of our own way.  Life will give you back everything you have given to it. Our business in life is not to get ahead of others; but to get ahead of ourselves. It is impossible for man to be cheated by anyone but himself which implies that our best friends and our worst enemies are the thoughts we have about ourselves.  Here's the first rule of winning: don't beat yourself. Have you found that your biggest enemy is you? The basic problem most people have is that they are doing nothing to solve their basic problem. The problem is they build a case against themselves. They are their own worst enemy.  We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves. You can't consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.

All things come to those who persistently go after them. Perseverance is the result of a strong "will"; stubbornness is the result of a strong "won't". Success often depends on knowing how long it will take to succeed.  This is the secret of success: never let down and never let up. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Half efforts does not produce half results. It produce no results. Work, continuous work, is the only way to accomplish results that last.  The truth is that persistence can be a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit. When you're persistent it's proof you have not been defeated. You have no right to anything you have not pursued.  Life holds no greater wealth than that of steadfast commitment. It cannot be robbed from you. Only you can lose it by your will. We don't really want to take the 'seeds', we want the 'flowers'.  The truth is, the path of persistence pays. Most people don't realize how c

There is nothing quite so dead as a self-centered man - a man who holds himself up as a self-made success and measures himself and is pleased with the result. Don't become a legend in your own mind. The man who believes in nothing but himself lives in a very small world.  The best way to be happy is to forget yourself and focus on other people. The higher you go in life, the more dependent you become on other people.  Serving others is one of life's most awesome priviledges. The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one self to others. Hunt for the good points in people, then do something to help them. Love others more than they deserve. You can't help others without helping yourself.  Kindness is one of the most difficult things to give away since it usually comes back to you. If you sow a seed of kindness you enjoy the perpetual harvest. You can never expect too much of yourself in the matter of giving yourself to others

The ability to set a goal is the master skill to success. Success is goals, all else is commentary. You cannot hit a target you cannot see, if you don't have one. One of the greatest mistakes and a waste of life is living without a clear purpose or goal. A life without clear goals is a life doomed to failure.  Any man who selects a goal in life which can be fully achieved has already defined his own limitation. So the clearer you are about your goal, the more rapidly you'll attract people and circumstances into your life to help make that goal a reality.  Most people have their eye on the wrong goal. Is more money, a higher position or more influence your goal? These are not goals but are the by-products of true goals. We should work to become, not acquire.  Measure wealth not by things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money. Happiness is not a reward - it's a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment - it's result. 

God made the world so round so that we would never be able to see too far down the road. Significant achievements have never been obtained by taking small risks on unimportant issues. Go farther than you can see, don't just look at the present.  Think unthinkable thoughts, set your sights on big game. Too many people expect little, ask for little, receive little and are content with little. Dreaming is daring to do something regardless of the consequences. Let your faith run ahead of your mind.  Don't live within your means. Act bigger, believe larger and associate higher. Your outlook determines your outcome. So make your plans big. Certainly we should spend within our means, but not live there.  If shoe fits, don't wear it. You're not allowing room for growth. When you look up the word 'means', the dictionary tells average. When you decide to live within your means, you are deciding to live an average life. Don't stay where you are, know

Many years ago in one of the Southern states, a woman from the city and her country cousin were traveling in a horse-drawn carriage through a dense forest when darkness overtook them.   There was no moon, only a bit of starlight. Soon it was impossible to see the road. The city dweller became a bit frightened when she thought they had lost their way, but her country cousin seemed unconcerned.  She stopped the horse, stepped to the ground, walked around a bit, and came back, saying she had found the road. She got back into the carriage, and they continued on their way.  As they went along, the city dweller noticed  that her companion, instead of looking down at the ground, was looking up.  "Why", she asked, "are you looking up when the road is below us?" "Because", her friend explained, "that is the only way I can tell where the road is. The trees have been cleared to make way for the road. On a night like this it is impossible to se

If you find yourself taking two steps forward and one step backwards, invariably it's because you have mixed associations in your life. Choose your association carefully. The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve.  The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate with - for the good and bad. A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.  Our lives can never be better than the quality of friends we chose. This is a law of life. Your choice of friend should be made, based, and motivated by similarities of visions and values. Your relationships will influence your future.  They're are 3 levels of relationships that we have in life: relationships with those above us, relationships with our mates or peers, and relationships with those below us that we're helping to grow. Focus more on the first and last levels.  The more yo

Most humans have allowed themselves to be conditioned by their problems, environment, and difficulties to the extent that they have lost their true identity and have believed their circumstances to be their destiny. The quality of an individual is dependent on the quality of his thoughts and passion.  Passion is powerful in life. You will be remembered in life only for your passions. A strong passion for any object will insure success, for the desire of the end will point out the means.  Most winners are "ex-losers" who got passionate. The worst bankruptcy in the world is the person who lost his passion. When you add passion to a belief, it becomes conviction. Conviction get more things done than belief ever dreamed. The starting point of all accomplishment is desire. Feeble desires bring feeble results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.  Be passionate about your life. Every time zeal and passion are discussed, someone brings up ba

Life is tough,  ruthless and a bully. This is a valid fact. For every dream or desire that you have and want fulfilled, you must first be willing and ready to fight. There is no other way. Desire is not enough. Most of us are wishful thinkers and so naive to expect that life will deliver our expectations without any struggle or contention. What an illusion! But in the midst of this, one of the greatest discoveries, you can make in life is to find out that you can do what you were afraid you couldn't do.  The fear to do it, is faith in reverse. The worst liars in the world are your own fears. Worry is the traitor in our camp that dampens our power and weakens our aim. Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant assurance of disaster and belief in defeat.  Worry is a magnet that attracts negative conditions. Faith is a more powerful force that creates positive circumstances. Worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities wit

...To lose, you don't have to have anything stolen from you, all you have to do is take everything you have for granted. Be grateful for what you have, not sorry for what you don’t have. It’s a sure sign of mediocrity to be moderate with our thanks. Be contented with what you have. Some people are looking forward to have what your have, or wishing they were you.  An unknown authour writes: Thank God for dirty dishes; They have a tale to tell. While others may go hungry, We're eating very well With home, health, and happiness, I shouldn't want to fuss; By the stack of evidence, God's been very good to us. Thank God for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell, for by this stack of evidence, God’s very good to us.

There is a face lift you can perform on yourself that is guaranteed to improve your appearance. Its called a smile. Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper – it solves a problem and make things more acceptable for a while. Every time you smile, and even much more so when you laugh, you add something to your life. Every time your mouth is turned down, you lose 60 seconds of happiness(…that's the reason some people is gonna look older than their age because they’ve been frowning or boning). Unhappiness indicates wrong thinking, just as ill health indicates a bad regime. If you can laugh at it, you can LIVE with it! Smile, it adds to your face value. Its the 2nd best thing to do with your lips..

“..Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note – torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one” (Henry Ward Beecher). Never is God operating so strong in our lives as when we forego revenge and dare to forgive an injury. If you want to be more miserable hate somebody. Unforgiving does a great deal more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than the object in which it is poured. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you. The one guaranteed formula for limiting your potential is unforgiving. Hate, bitterness and revenge are luxuries none of us can afford. Life is an adventure in forgiveness, forgive..!

Success or failure often depends on belief When you truly believe in something, it will become truth If you believe you can, yes! you are right If you truly believe that you can succeed, you will That’s how powerful belief is. You can only act upon what you can think of You can't act upon something that is out of your mind If you truly believe you can get what you want, you will It is a self-fulfilling prophecy; you get what you expect Again, that how powerful belief is. The subconscious mind does not understand joke! If you believe its white, it will be white for you If you keep believing it's black, it will be black for you That is why, if you think you can, you can! That’s how powerful belief is. You surely will if you crave deeply for what you want You surely will if you act on getting what you crave You surely will if you keep working on what you love God willing, your dreams will soon come true! That is the amazing power of b

8. Anybody who is afraid to look bad is a loser. He is the same person you can beat every time. CNN founder Ted Turner says: If you never quit, you‘re never beaten. Quitters have never won. Winning has nothing to do with how you look, it has everything to do with your tenacity and resolve to win. The question is not: How do I look? The question is: How am I going to solve this. Somebody says: People are strange: they want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the center of attention. Winners know how to set their priorities right. 9. Most trouble is produced by those who don't produce anything else. They complain, criticize and suck up the life, and energy of other people. Be positive and be productive. This is the path to joy and happiness. A wise person says: "The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra!" Do your best work today and for the rest of this week. Do not be a painter, be an artist. Always give more than what you ar

Accomplishing your dreams is a process, not something that happens overnight. Often we get discouraged because we don't think we are making progress, and the next thing we know we have veered away from that goal. The key is to plan a course for how we want to achieve our goals. And each and every day, take a few steps closer towards our goal. You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing. Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labor is immense. "Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way,

Opportunities hide behind obstacles. Not all obstacles are bad. In fact, an opportunity favourite disguise is an obstacle. You will always meet obstacles in the road of your answer because no one is immune to problems. Being a diligent person does not remove you from the world and his problems, rather it positions you to live in it productively and victoriously. Obstacles will reveal what you truly believe and who you really are. They introduce you to yourself. Your life will be much more productive if you understand that obstacles are a part of life. If you want your place in the sun, you'll have to expect some blisters. God hides things by putting them near us, so the best opportunities and ideas are hidden near you, but you must be on the look out for them. The door to opportunity swings on the hinges of adversity. Problems are the price of progress. The obstacles of life are intended to make us better, not bitter. Obstacles are merely a call to strengthen, not quit. Bet

Criticism is a complement when you're doing the right thing. Foes and critics are never interested in solving problems, and they never offer a better solution. So if your head sticks up above the crowd, expect more criticism than applause. If someone belittles you, he is only trying to cut you down in his size. While throwing mud, critics are simultaneously losing ground. You can tell a failure by the way he criticizes success. Those who complain about the way the ball bounces are usually the ones who dropped it. Small minds are the first to condemn great ideas. If people talk negatively about you, live and work so that no one will believe them. Fear of criticism is the kiss of death in the courtship of achievement. A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. People with momentum all share one trait: they attract criticism. How you respond to that criticism will determine the rate of your momentum. Don't ever give ti

A man is not old until regrets take a place of dream. Regrets looks back. Worry looks around. Vision looks up. Life can be understood backward, but it must be lived forward. The past should only be viewed with gratitude for the good things. So look backward with gratitude and look forward with confidence. Your past is the start of your fresh start. A wise man says "I've shut the door on yesterday and thrown the key away; tomorrow holds no fear for me, since I've found today". Use the past as a launching pad. Dreams of the future are more valuable than the history of the past. Never build your future around your past. The past is over. To succeed, you must be willing to shed part of your previous life. What lies behind us is insignificant compared to what lies ahead. Don't make the mistake of letting yesterday use up too much of today. One of the deceptive beliefs of those who live an unproductive life is that "today" is not an important day. Ever

1. Failures most successful strategy is "Procrastination". Now is the best time to be alive and productive. If you want to make an easy job seem difficult, just keep putting off doing it. A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid, it is only deferred and we must come back and settle the account at last. Do not allow idleness to deceive you, for while you give him today, he steals tomorrow from you. Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging-on of an uncompleted task. "Start" is what will set you apart. 2. To lose, you don't have to have anything stolen from you, all you have to do is take everything you have for granted. Be grateful for what you have, not sorry for what you don't have. It's a sure sign of mediocrity to be moderate with our thanks. Thank God for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell. For by this stack of evidence, God's very good to us. 3. In the game of life, nothing is less more important than the score at half time. Success c

Success is not something that only a chosen few can achieve.  Everyone can be successful in every area of his or her life.  You just need to know how to do things in such a way as to make sure you succeed every time. Success comes as a result of forming certain habits, and continuing in them. Consistency is key. To succeed, you need to be a certain type of person. Don't be discouraged if you are not yet that type of person. With practice, anyone can become a successful person.  The successful person thinks in a certain way, talks in a certain  way, and acts in a certain way. The list below briefly outlines 10 of those ways (and a bonus tip!).  Anyone who consistently applies these principles to any area of  their life "will" experience success in that area. 1. Vision: Have a clear picture of what exactly it is you  want to achieve or become. Keep this picture at the top of your mind at all times. Doing something you want to do, because you want to do it, will mo

I'd like to tell you about a man who was a profound inspiration in my life... I never even had the pleasure of speaking with him, but the imprint he has left on my heart and life is truly awesome. This gentleman was in his middle seventies when I had the honor of being in his presence. He was a retired college professor, and was taking part in talking to my Developmental Psychology class about the aging process. He was very frail, and yet he had a heart and spirit, which were so infectious that they dominated the room. I remember him telling us, "I have over half a dozen different types of cancer, and I know that laughter is the best medicine, because what can I do except to laugh and go on!" He was actually laughing as he made this statement. I was profoundly moved by this man's attitude. Despite all the pain he dealt with on a daily basis, he still managed to be happy, and even laugh about it all! "Wow," I thought, "if he can laugh about life, who

For a tasty flow of increased abundance in your life, you'll need to first gather the following ingredients: 1. A large helping of vision.  In other words, think about your dreams, your hopes, your needs and desires.  Imagine all the good things that you're currently lacking.  In what areas would you appreciate having more?  Would you like to have increased financial stability, greater fulfillment in your work, or more loving relationships?  Dream!  Imagine!  Hope!  Really get your vision firmly implanted in your mind and in your heart.  A seed must first be gently planted before it can germinate.  It's the same with vision. 2. Several large cups of intention.  Intend to make your vision, your dreams, your hopes, your desires, reality!  Take action steps to help your vision to come to physical fruition.  If you want more fulfillment in your work, for instance, ask yourself what steps you can take right now to make your job more satisfactory.  Maybe you could brighten u

It was many centuries ago in a remote village in India. Word began to spread that something was about to happen that no one had seen in their lifetime — their forgotten little village. The prince was coming to visit. Everyone was excited but no one was more excited than the village beggar. Every day he eked out another day by sitting by the road with his little cup, hoping to get enough money to buy the rice for one more day. He actually had two cups, one for collecting money and one for his few grains of rice. But now the prince was coming –the wealthy prince! When the prince finally arrived, the beggar mustered his most impassioned appeal –Alms! Alms for the poor! And the prince stopped. The beggar‘s heart was pounding furiously. Give me your cup of rice. That was all the prince said. The beggar slumped down in disbelief. Here was the wealthiest man in the land, asking for his lousy little cup of rice. The beggar was about to refuse, but instead he reached in and he put three gra

"Jacquie Sewell"  apologizes to "Robert Fulghum" because she uses his popular book: "Everything I needed To Know About Life I learned In Kindergarten", reshapes it and came out with an article entitled: "Everything I needed To Know About Life I Learned From A Jigsaw Puzzle". Let me share it with you. Here are the lessons: 1. Don‘t force a fit-if something is meant to be, it will come together naturally. 2. When things aren‘t going so well, take a break. Everything will look different when you return. 3. Be sure to look at the big picture. Getting hung up on the little pieces only leads to frustration. 4. Perseverance pays off. Every important puzzle went together bit by bit, piece by piece. 5. When one spot stops working, move to another. But be sure to come back later (see #4). 6. The creator of the puzzle gave you the picture as a guidebook. Refer to the Creator‘s guidebook often. 7. Variety is the spice of life. It‘s the diff