Maintaining Healthy Hair

Hello Divas,

Whiteroses welcomes you to this new issue… As she brings your way, valuable information on maintaining healthy hair.

Our hair is of great importance to us. It is our covering and “Crown of Glory” There is an onus on us to keep it healthy and neat at all times.

Our African hair is peculiar in nature. African hair is thicker, with tighter and smaller curls, and grows more slowly; contains less water, and breaks more easily than Caucasian and Asian hair. African hair comes in a variety of textures, ranging from kinky, coarse, to straight.

'Fabulousity' meets grace

I dropped to my knees.

It was the news I received that Yetunde had passed on. Shade said she was very ill for a while before her sudden demise. But how did this happen? We were out at a friend’s birthday party just a few days back.

Yetty was a lover of life. She had lots of friends, male and female and countless acquaintances as she was very pretty and sociable. She had the best of everything; clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, a house and two cars from her last “sugar daddy”, a Honda Element and the latest Honda Crosstour.

She had a sonorous voice too. She sang and danced at the Karaoke Bar she met her last “sugar daddy”

We both had “wonderful” times together: getting wasted at clubs and bars, parties, sleeping with men we fancied and ditching the ones we thought were “broke”

Hence, it was a rude shocker when I learnt she had passed on. It jolted me back to reality. Three words proceeded from my mouth almost immediately: “Just like that?” It took me sometime to absorb the fact that she no longer existed, at least, not on this same plane.

Another question inevitably followed: “Where has she gone?” Of course the question was rhetoric. I did not expect Shade, the bringer of the bad news, to have an answer to it. Shade had left almost as soon as came. She too was bereaved. Yetty was our friend. Shade’s friend actually. But we all became friends after our ordeal at the night club we first met; where we were almost beaten to death. It took God’s intervention that our lives were spared that day. Well, that’s story for another day.

The moments and hours that followed, I had to do some serious soul-searching. What if it was I? Would that be the end then? What would my existence have mattered? Of what use would I have been to those around me? And more importantly, where would my ultimate end be?

These and many more questions flooded my mind almost at the same time. Is this what it feels like for someone you know so well to no longer exist? Perhaps this was a warning to me. A checker maybe. I had to make my ways straight.  I had to amend my ways and align them with what the Holy Bible says. That was what the preacher said the other day. That death could come calling at any time and I would have to account of how I spent my life to The Creator who gave the life to me.

Yetty probably had no opportunity to right her wrongs. I do now. And I should take advantage of it…

FASHIONABLY RIGHT OR WRONG?

 Some ladies honestly pretend not to care about their physical appearance.  They try to convince themselves with the idea that their appearance has nothing to do with their personality, success, credibility, etc.

In this fallacious belief, they go about selling themselves off as “hookers”, “handy men”, “naïve-about-everything”, “incompetent”, etc.

Your physical appearance will almost always pass the first message about you to your clients, business associates, prospective employers, your fiance’s ex, his friends, or his parents!

You can’t wear, for instance, a mini-top and skirt, along with heavy make-up and long “witchy” finger nails to a job interview. You will only appear sloppy and unserious. In the mind of your prospective employer, it’ll translate to how reckless and careless you can be on the job. That in turn, translates to a “no-no” for your application 95% of the time—and this is fact!

Or imagine wearing these to visit your prospective parents-in-law for the first time. Except you and the man elope, I have little doubts that his parents will allow you marry him.

Dress for success. Dress to soothe the occasion!

It doesn’t necessarily imply spending lots of money on clothes, shoes and accessories. Only harness your inherent art of fashion. Combine clothes. It can be fun you know. Carefully plan it ahead of time so as not to get stuck in the rut of finding what to wear on the morning of an important event. I wish you all the best! :)
photo credit: Onyinyechi Ananaba facebook

A FEW THOUGHTS ON TIME PLANNING

Did you know that in every 10 ladies, 7 will usually spend lots of time doing things that either matter little or nothing at all?

We spend quality time making-up, dressing –up, watching our faces in the mirror, “gisting”, charting, etc. Not that these things are wrong in themselves, but for the fact that they add little development to our personality in the long run.

An old philosophy about time planning says that “time wasted cannot be regained”

The Bible also “talks” about a time for everything. Not doing every other thing and leaving a lot more unattended to.

Time is life!

You may not be perfectly able to manage your time, but you can make conscious efforts to plan your time. 

One of the many ways you can do this is by carefully setting aside a reasonable schedule of activities for yourself.

You should have well-written achievable visions for each month, each week and each day. Oh yea, it’s possible.

Action Point:

a.      Write down your plan for the month;

b.   Divide the strategies for achieving these plans into the 4 (or 5 as the case may be) weeks of each month;

c.     Before going to bed each night, have a clear understanding of what you intend to achieve the next day and how you intend to pursue same;

d.       Anticipate disappointments and make alternative plans;

e.       Chase after your plan vigorously! Time flies!

CHEERS!

Career choice

The word “career” can be considered as—

“The progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially those related to that person's occupation”

“An occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress”

It is your life’s journey and a means of adding value to the society and is radically different from a job which is described as -–

“A paid position of regular employment”

“A casual or occasional work”

Choosing a career is a complex decision for many students and indeed many graduates, since it determines the kind of profession that they intend to pursue in life. As students try to make career choices while in secondary school, they usually face the problem of matching their career choices with their abilities and school performance.

There are many reasons why Nigerian students chose the courses they do in the Universities:

·        1.    Ignorance

·         2.   Inexperience

·         3.   Peer pressure

·         4.   Parents and teachers

·         5.   IQ Level

·         6.   Poor Advancement opportunities

·         7.   Poor Learning experiences

·         8.   Inability to gain admission for the intended course

·         9.   Prestige attached to certain jobs

·         10. Career flexibility

·         11. Lack of adequate vocational guidance and career counseling

Consequently, many of them are unsuited for the careers they chase after as they usually find themselves in jobs where they could not satisfy their value needs. When this occurs, they constitute a nuisance to themselves and their employers. They are usually unable to contribute meaningfully to the society and ultimately become a liability to the nation.

We should therefore consider the following when making a career choice:

·         What impact would you like to make?

·         What career suits your personality type?

·         What are your natural talents?

·         What is your life motivation?

·         Where would you like to work?

·         Do you enjoy social interaction?

·         What’s your work style?

·         Develop transferable skills

·         Do the research

 The money factor:

You should be looking to give back to the society.

The right kind of money is usually an end-product. It will follow where you lead.

*Remember that the course you have studied in the University is not a limitation. You can always do what you’ve really wanted to do; what you’ve been called to do; Like +TY Bello who is an economist by profession, but a photographer and singer by passion.

*It’s easy. Discover it; acquire the requisite information, skill, training and qualification; and chase after it vigorously. Start by locating yourself strategically in the field.

Cheers!