The Power to Influence:

We are each created as creatures of influence - to influence and be influenced. It follows therefore that we are each created to lead and be led. There is possibly no better place to see this than when you see two people going on a walk. They both walk at a new pace, different from their individual paces, but in sync with the terms of the engagement. Each is influencing and being influenced.

Equally true is the fact that these dual influences are not equal. One is determined by the environment one finds themselves. The other is determined by the state of the persons inner organization and war. A disorganized inner organization and a defeated person have little to nothing to influence others with.

Your power to influence and thus lead others is determined by the power obtained from organizing yourself, finding your own peace, winning the war within, and thus leading yourself.

Are you winning?

The Saint.

In this series:

Power Does Not Corrupt.

Empowering People.

Our Leverage.

Take Heed:

Ancient wisdom admonishes us to "Take heed therefore how ye hear." The world "hear" can be replaced with all the ways in which and by which we interact with, and interpret, both the visible and the invisible space or realm. Take heed therefore how ye think, talk, see, feel, smell, hear...why? It affects your disposition, attitude, and response to life, as a whole.

What stands between you and your true potential is how you think, hear, talk, see, feel, smell, and hear. Ancient wisdom expatiates further, “for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” Your increase (or decrease) is determined by the way you think, hear, talk, see, feel, smell, and hear.

'Tis an inside job.

The Saint.

In this series:

Attending to my Attention.

Be the Best You not Another.

The Extra in the Extraordinary.

Attending to my Attention

Attention is a word and concept most of us take for granted yet is what is at the center of who we are, how we affect, and are affected by the world around us. It affects and determines our attitude and how the world sees us, just as much as how we see the world.

Attention is the greatest gift we have and give to the people and things we hold most dear to our hearts. It is the way by which love is shown and seen above every other thing. Love is attention. Attention is love. It is the way people know they are seen, heard, understood, and thus loved, above all else.

Attention is limited. We only have so much of it. It is a scarce commodity. How we thus use it makes all the difference in the world. It is one of the ways we exercise our agency. What we give attention to is an exercise of our agency. No one or thing can make us attend to what we choose not to. We are thus responsible for how we CHOOSE to use our attention.

Let’s be mindful of how we use our attention. We only have so much of it and it determines our happiness or misery, richness or poverty, amongst many other things.

Together, let us finish 2026 strong, stronger than we started it.

I love and appreciate you.

The Saint.

In the series:

Take Heed

Be the Best You not Another.

The Extra in the Extraordinary.

Zero Male Suicide. (Part One)

Happy International Men's Day once again.

The theme for this year's commemoration is "Zero Male Suicide." I can hear some ignoramus already picking a fight with that. They are wondering why it should not have been "Zero Suicide." Why the focus on men? they ask. Why not? I ask in return. 'Tis our day after all. The focus on men does not negate the other gender. It is simply for the purpose of dealing with the specific nature of gender issues.

That brings to mind another set of ignoramuses, who supposed we are all wired the same. How so dumb? Yes, we are all the same at the human level, yet there are differences at the gender level. A man is a man and is so wired. Yes, first as a human, then as a man. In his humanity, he is the same as the woman. In his masculinity, he is different from a woman. Just as a woman in her femininity is different from a man.

How difficult is it to understand this? It sure takes a whole lot of effort to misrepresent this. Only those seeking some strange untoward agenda try to confuse this erstwhile clarity. He who created them, created them different in gender, but similar in humanity. The hormones that produce the differentiating physiologies in both act differently and not only affect the physiologies but also the psychologies.

Now this is getting long. And, I don't like long. I am going to break this down into manageable chunks. Will continue tomorrow. That will give me the opportunity to celebrate men, not only today but the whole week.

Happy International Men's Day, and for us here, Week.

The Saint.

#zeromensuicide #happyinternationalmensday

Link to Similar Articles:
To The Singles With Love: Be Humble (Part Two): Locus of Control.

The Big Five Personality Traits (Part Four): Neuroticism.

When Mrs. Strangeness is Married to Mr. Niceness: (Part One)

I Got This.

Power Over Witchcraft: Testimony #1

Below is a testimony share on power over witchcraft. Hoping it does bless you.

Testimony #1: By Anonymous.

I had an experience that shook me to my core a few years ago. I reconnected with a friend who was my classmate in college. 

Suddenly, there were a lot of stories coming up about her life. I buckled my belt. Every time we spoke on WhatsApp, she sounded weird.

After speaking each time, I get even more confused. My second daughter, who just graduated from college, was at home at the time.

She will take a look at me and bust out laughing, asking me what the problem was? I will reply that I had no idea but will soon find out.

Plenty story... from this old school mate, asking me if my husband still has clothes in the house as he was in Nigeria at the time. 

She will ask if I am not the one running the house now? My reply was that my husband was still in charge and takes care of his family. 

The story went to... she will bring her daughter to stay with me. My reply I don’t want to raise your daughter. It’s your responsibility. 

Okay, we (herself and her 4 children) want to come on holiday. And then she added that my husband will not come back! Hah! I dropped the phone to this day... 

What you wrote now resonates with me. That was classic manipulation!! The Bible says manipulation is witchcraft. But more significant is He that is me than He that is in the world. 

The devil failed and will always fail! Thanks for your patience in reading this. Good night!

St. Akin's Response:

Wow! Very apt and straight to the point. Only God knows the kind of evil He delivered you from. The lady had a bag of ulterior motives. May God continue to deliver each of us from evil. We each need to be in a place God can reach us to direct and deliver us.

© 2021 Akin Akinbodunse.

Link to Related Article:

What Is Witchcraft?

Stop Kidding Yourself

"Satan watches for those vessels that sail without convoy." ― George Swinnock.

I know they probably lied to you in Sunday school. They told you satan is powerless and that he is a fool. Really? No wonder a lot of Christians are being eaten for lunch. They take the devil for granted. 

Let me give you the rude shock that your pastor probably never told you. The devil is powerful, and he is not a fool. He is crafty and good at what he does.

The question is, are you good at yours? And stop listening to those who have no clue. Even our own folklores teach us better. A Yoruba adage puts it this way, "Esu lagba koni igbala." 

That is, "the devil has power, but no salvation. How so true? How else do you explain the increasing mental sickness cases in our generation, both the obvious and the seeming unobvious?

What about all the running from prayer meeting to prayer meeting, one revival to the other? When are we going to stop running from reality and truth?

When will we get over our sentiment, start reading our bibles and honestly believe and run with what it says, not what we want it to say? Do we have to wait for the incidences of life?

Satan is real, crafty, and powerful. He would rather have you believe otherwise. That way, he can find a weakness in you. That is a pathway in which he can enter into your life to oppress and get you off the perfect path.

Satan is a predator. A predator always seeks for weakness, not strength, to attack. Your power is a deterrent to the devil. For as long as you fellowship rather than be a loner, you give no place for the

to use against us.

We are called to strength, not weakness. That is our we over in all things, in every area and every day of our lives.

Get my drift?

Your Neighbor

St. Akin de Sage.

© 2021 Akin Akinbodunse

Blessed with Challenges

Challenge is a dragon with a gift in its mouth. Tame the dragon and the gift is yours. ― Noela Evans 

Challenges are an essential part of living. If you stop having them, pinch yourself. You are either dead or in some state of illusion. To live is to have challenges. So, the question is not whether or not you will have challenges. The question is what do you do with them? There is basically one of two choices to make. You either confront and address the challenge, or flee, trying to avoid it. One will cause you to grow, the other will stagnate you.

To live is to have challenges. To have challenges is to have the opportunity to grow and keep on living. For, to live is to grow. When challenges come, the intent is not to kill you. Rather, it comes to stir you up, prepare and push you into the next stage (level, height) of your life. Without challenges we all will not have the impetus to grow. The familiar always looks comfortable and less risky. The challenge is, it has an expiry date. Past its expiry date that which hitherto was a blessing begins to be a curse.

Imagine a child who never makes the attempt to try walking. That which we hitherto were comfortable and okay with begins to be unacceptable. So, by instinct the child makes the attempt. He/she does not make the attempt because it is easy, but rather because it is something that MUST be done. No one really loves challenges, in the very sense of it. We take it only because it is the way to life. It is something that must be done as a part of being living beings.

The eagle does not necessarily enjoy stirring her nest, and risking the life of her offspring. She does it because she knows it is something that must be done if they are to survive and have the best in life. Though it might be difficult and scary, it is by far the best amongst the options. That is the way we each need to see challenges. They do not necessarily come because we have sinned, nor because anyone in our lineage sinned. They come to promote us, to take us to yet greater heights. They come to push us into our destiny.

It is a blessing to be challenged. For, then I am able to call on all the resources I have been endowed with and cause them to work in my favor. The more I use them the better they get, and the more new ones I find. Hence, I am equipped for even newer and more difficult challenges. 

There is no limit to the height a person can get if only he/she faces his/her challenge squarely, and keep challenging him/herself. Nothing is ever good enough. All things can always be done better. That is the secret to life. That is the secret to excellence. That is the secret to greatness.

The Saint.
@2015

First Published: September 26, 2015.