This post focuses on memorable events which occurred in our childhood.

It also reminds us of the importance of being involved in the lives of our children rather than just buying gifts or toys in order to make up for lost time. Our children really need all the love, care and discipline they can get from us.

In my experience, it’s not that easy raising children and my aim is to be the best dad(work in progress). I also acknowledge we have difficult schedules; but if all we can give is 30 minutes of our time each day(which is quite small), they need to have our full attention for that period.

The results of a survey published today show at least half a million children in the United Kingdom. are unhappy with their lives.

The key findings in the report include:

• Choice and family have the biggest impact on children’s happiness.
• It is not the structure, but the relationships within a family that children care about. Loving relationships between a child and their family are ten times more powerful than family structure in increasing well-being.
• Stability is important. Children who experience a change in family members they are living with are twice as likely to experience low well-being. Almost a quarter (23%) of children who have moved home more than once over the past 12 months have low levels of well-being.
• Low well-being increases dramatically with age – doubling from the age of 10 (7%) to the age of 15 (14%).
• Children as young as eight are aware of the financial issues their families face. Children in families who have experienced a reduction in income are more likely to have low well-being.
• Children who do not have clothes to ‘fit in’ with peers are more than three times as likely to be unhappy with their appearance. Around a third say they often worry about the way they look. Unhappiness with appearance increases with age and is greater among girls.
• Children who had been bullied more than three times over the last three months were significantly more likely to experience low well-being (36%) than those that had never been bullied (6%).
• Children like to be similar to their friends. Children who have a lot less, or even a lot more pocket money than their friends, have lower levels of well-being.

The report also gives 6 “key priorities” which are essential to a child’s happiness:

• Providing the right conditions for children to learn and develop
• Ensuring they have a positive view of themselves and a respect for their identity.
• Enough of the items and experiences that matter to them.
• Ensuring positive relationships with their family and friends.
• Providing a safe and suitable home environment and local area.
• Providing opportunities to take part in positive activates that help them to thrive.(Culled From The Good Childhood Report 2012)

It’s a sad report to read and my focus will be to draw attention to those fond memories we have of our childhood with a view to drawing us closer to our children in order to create that same or better experience.

My childhood wasn’t rosy and I dare say it was tough growing up. I can recall so many unhappy events but my parents were always there for me even when I misbehaved(laugh!)

This post reflects on the the events or things that brought joy to my heart as a child and I hope to take you down memory lane to relieve those precious moments.

In no particular order, they are as follows:

• Watching wwf(wrestling) with my dad.
• Pillow fights with friends in school.
• Being a boy scout.
• Taking part in school plays.
• Talking to girls.(I almost turned it into a hobby laugh!!)
• Watching my mum bake cakes.
• Watching super ted, voltron, sesame street, animal quackers and the muppet show.
• Drawing super heroes and making comic strips with my cousins.
• Spending quality time with my sisters despite their constant nagging till date(laugh!!)
• Having cousins, relatives sleep over.
• Joining the choir
• Playing basket ball.
• Meatpies and sausage rolls
• Going for birthday parties.
• Going to the supermarkets with the whole family
• Going to my grandmas house and getting apples off her tree.
• School holidays because I could fly my kite.
• Birthdays, Christmas, Easter because they were special occasions to drink a bottle of coke.(My mum and dad made us have fizzy drinks on special occasions only)
• Being loved and cared for by my parents.
• Having an ice cream from my dads bowl.
• Going on trips with the whole family.
• Getting my first police car with a siren.
• Dinner time with the whole family.
• Judo Classes.
• Sadly.. wearing a bandage on my arm. I fractured it 6 times.
• My dads approval and smile combined with mums hug.
• Eating left overs from my eldest sisters plate.
• Going to the park and throwing the frisbee.
• Eating jollof rice and chicken.
• Having a huge stock of provisions in boarding house.
• Getting toys.
• Growing my own back garden with my mum.
• Helping a particular neighbour because we were always rewarded with sweets.
• Playing the flute
• Visiting days in boarding house.
• Playing with the neighbours and we are still close friends even after 25 years.
• Having a best friend.(Although we are not as close as before but I can always run to her/her family if the need arises)
• Going to the pond with friends.
• Wood work and Metal work with Mr. Carlos.

I can go on but I suspect it’s beginning to bore you.

Sigh! Those were the days. Fond memories!

Things have changed now with all the technology, video games, fear of the unknown….

The Challenge

Be inspired to create and maintain an atmosphere of love and care for your children to grow up in.

So,

What made you happy as a child?

I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

NB: That’s me in the picture

It’s that time of the month again and ………

I am pleased to inform every reader and subscriber to this blog, the twenty-third edition of The Life Skills Magazine is out now!!!

Once again:

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to THE FINAL EDITION FOR THE YEAR 2011.

A TEASER TO WHET YOUR APPETITE

Does anyone want a copy?

Subscribe by email to this blog and get a free copy delivered to your mail box.

It’s that simple. Past editions will be available to new subscribers, and you also get two blog posts sent to you monthly. TALK ABOUT A BONUS!!!!

The Life Skills Magazine is collection of personal development and lifestyle articles from various personal development bloggers/writers with the aim of creating a purpose driven life.

The twenty-third edition contains:

Cheryl Paris of Cheryl Paris Blog Focuses On The Joy Of Laughter.

Stuart Mills of Unlock The Door Talks About Happiness.

Steve Aitchison of Change Your Thoughts Lists A Few Ways To Develop Your Mind.

Ken Wert of Meant To Be Happy Focuses On 25 Tips for Making Christmas More Meaningful.

The Positive Spin Column: It’s great to have Linda Hewett of the Positive Spin Blog share her journal of living as well as coping with breast cancer and her journey is quite inspiring.

Evan Hadkins of Living Authentically Discusses Four Ways To Help Us Resist Expectations So We Can Live Authentically

Dominique Small of 4 Walls And A View Says In Tomorrow, There Is Always The Promise Of Possibility.

JK Hustle of The Hustlers Notebook Says Please Don’t Believe the Hype…LOOKS REALLY DO MATTER.

The list goes on……….

Thank you so much for the time and effort you’ve put into making this edition come out successful.

Also a very big THANK YOU to Matt Jeffrey of MajDesigns who created the artwork, graphics, and design etc….making the magazine come ALIVE!!!

Please read to contribute to the next edition of the magazine

Oh!! One more thing; Don’t forget to GET A COPY by SUBSCRIBING TO THIS BLOG.

Enjoy reading this issue.

I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Hello Everyone

Hope you’ve had a lovely day so far.

I felt it was necessary to provide you with an update on how far the blog has come in 2011.

Although the year has been slightly difficult, one can look back and appreciate the gift of life, support from family, friends, colleagues, bloggers, readers…..

The blog is also gradually attaining the status of being a community and I’m so grateful and thankful to the wonderful people I’ve come across while embarking on this journey

The last three months have been extremely busy due to taking on more responsibilities at work, new childcare schedules blah blah and I accept there have been times were I’ve been totally absent from the blogosphere.

My sincere apologies to everyone who felt I should be doing more on the blog, posts, magazine, radio, social media…. I am trying my best to stay on top of things (as much as possible) but it’s important to emphasize, one can’t really bite off more than he/she can chew.

There were a few targets set at the beginning of 2011 and I must confess not all have been met.

Reasons: some were beyond my control, others got on the bandwagon of procrastination, then there were also instances were I was simply lazy on some tasks and finally time constraints.

But the bottom line is; this blog would be nowhere without the support of the readers, subscribers and bloggers who have graciously given their time and efforts to see it grow and mature.

The Blog Discovering Purpose:

The aim of this blog is to provide information which :

• Is a source of inspiration and encouragement to individuals.
• Gives/Promotes hope and optimism.
• Improves Relationships
• Focuses on life skills development.
• Creates a fulfilling and purpose driven life……………………..

and I hope it’s done so in it’s own little way for the year 2011.

There are areas that still need to be worked on such as:

• Design, Web Layout and Simplicity
• More Blog Content with fewer/no grammatical errors.
• Guest posting on other blogs(I think I had only 2/3 published in the whole year)(Please note: There’s also the opportunity to guest post on this blog any time. Please read for further information.)
• Possibly changing the design/format of The Life Skills Magazine
• Increasing the blogs presence on social media(i.e. Twitter, facebook,)
• Increasing the number of subscribers from 751 to 2000.

Blogging Schedule

After careful thoughts and consideration I’ve decided to stick to publishing one article each week for now. This would include guest posts if available. I know there’s a school of thought which suggests that a daily blogging schedule results in an increase in traffic and blog ranking but I ‘m not sure this would suit my style/concept of blogging.

Current Projects

The current projects I’m working on are as follows:

Listening Helps Program

In addition to blogging, working etc., I also run a one to one counselling or coaching service offered to individuals who want to share or talk about their current life struggles.

The program is designed to listen carefully and attentively to the individual; in a non judgemental manner and it takes the format of online chat sessions, telephone sessions and email exchanges.

Please read here for further information and you can check out my profile page.

The Life Skills Magazine

The magazine would be two years in February 2012 and it’s been great running each edition. I am so grateful to everyone who has contributed to the magazine each month. The magazine would be nowhere without your support .

It’s not been easy to run, costs money but it’s worth the time and effort because it’s a dream that has become a reality.

A quick reminder of what it is:-

The Life Skills Magazine is a personal development magazine available to email subscribers of this blog and it comprises of articles from different bloggers who are either authors, psychologists, psychotherapists, life coaches, counsellors, social workers, run their own businesses…….. and are heavily involved in personal development.

I’ve been asked about printing/delivering hard copies. It sounds like a good idea but not so sure about the costs… laugh!!

I am open various suggestions that would help in improving the quality of the magazine.

A BIG THANK YOU TO:

Galen Pearl of 10 Steps To Finding Your Happy Place

Barbara  Zarrella of Restoring Your Inner Self

Karen Cripps of  The Reinvention Tour

Stuart Mills of Unlock The Door

Frank Jennings of A Spark Starts

Amy Karet of Actual Amy

Bryan Thompson of Elevation Life

Ajen Busher of AM Experience 

Tara Miller of  PsychologyDegrees.Net

Catriona Boyle of The Counselling Directory

Jonathan Figaro of The Drop Out Kid

M.Farouk Radwan of 2knowmyself.com

Steve Aitchison of Change Your Thoughts

Ken Wert of Meant To Be Happy

Linda Hewett of the Positive Spin Blog

Evan Hadkins of Living Authentically

Dominique Small of 4 Walls And A View

JK Hustle of The Hustlers Notebook

Matt Jeffrey of MajDesigns.

I really appreciate all your support and contributions which has resulted in the growth of the magazine.

Anyone is welcome to contribute to the magazine as long as the article is related to personal development and it gets submitted on time. Please read here for further information.

************Please look out for the Christmas edition**********

Purpose Radio:

This is the newest development on the blog and I am so grateful to all the podcasters, bloggers, lecturers for granting me the permission to broadcast their material.

I look forward to expanding the station/programmes next year as well developing more content.

I am still a novice in this game and is still fiddling with the software but I am open to any form of advice, support or criticism of the station.

Speaking Engagements

This has kicked off on a small scale but I believe it would grow with time.

A special thank you to all the centres, support homes, communities , churches and youth clubs who opened their doors with a warm welcome and allowed me be a source of inspiration to them.

Please Note: I’m available for speaking engagements in youth groups, support centres, motivational forums or seminars, churches, schools ……………. within the United Kingdom.

Please click here to contact me.

Now the bad part(laugh!!)

I have abandoned the two books I was writing due to time constraints, domestic issues and the inability to do as much research as I want to.

However, it’s my intention to pick up this project in 2012 and we would see how it goes.

Finally, I hope I haven’t been too boring.

Once again, A BIG THANK YOU TO REGULAR COMMENTERS OR ANYONE WHO HAS LEFT A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG.

Thanks for taking time out to read this.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

Ayo.

It’s that time of the month again and ………

I am pleased to inform every reader and subscriber to this blog, the twenty-second edition of The Life Skills Magazine is out now!!!

My sincere apologies for the slight delay in publishing Novembers Edition.

Once again:

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this months edition.

A TEASER TO WHET YOUR APPETITE

Does anyone want a copy?

Subscribe by email to this blog and get a free copy delivered to your mail box.

It’s that simple. Past editions will be available to new subscribers, and you also get two blog posts sent to you monthly. TALK ABOUT A BONUS!!!!

The Life Skills Magazine is collection of personal development and lifestyle articles from various personal development bloggers/writers with the aim of creating a purpose driven life.

The twenty-second edition contains:

Galen Pearl of 10 Steps To Finding Your Happy Place Looks At Becoming A Victor From Being A Victim.

Stuart Mills of Unlock The Door Says Follow Through And Get Good At It.

Steve Aitchison of Change Your Thoughts Lists 8 Destructive thinking Patterns And How To Change Them.

Ken Wert of Meant To Be Happy Focuses On 10 Beliefs That Will Radically Change Your Life Forever.

The Positive Spin Column: It’s great to have Linda Hewett of the Positive Spin Blog share her journal of living as well as coping with breast cancer and her journey is quite inspiring.

Evan Hadkins of Living Authentically Discusses Four Ways To Deal With People Pleasing.

Dominique Small of 4 Walls And A View looks at 65 Things She Is Grateful For.

JK Hustle of The Hustlers Notebook Looks At Taking Action to Improve the Hustle: One Thing At A Time.

The list goes on……….

Thank you so much for the time and effort you’ve put into making this edition come out successful.

Also a very big THANK YOU to Matt Jeffrey of MajDesigns who created the artwork, graphics, and design etc….making the magazine come ALIVE!!!

Please read to contribute to the next edition of the magazine

Oh!! One more thing; Don’t forget to GET A COPY by SUBSCRIBING TO THIS BLOG.

Enjoy reading this issue.

I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

****p.s. Look Out For The Special Christmas Edition.****