THE IP MAG

Hi, I'm Sam,  The wonderful thing about connection is that its not premeditated, you don't plan out how to get connected to someone. You can play by your rules and do things a certain way to create connections with someone and the truth is that if the connection is there, you'll know and when it's not there, there's absolutely nothing you can do to get it. Another thing can be that you're looking for the connection from the wrong angle. Its ok to have the desire to connect with someone from one angle, but when that angle doesn't work, you can either try another angle or let it go completely. Before I was chosen, someone looked at me and assessed me based on a list of requirements or was fascinated by what made me unique. Something that wasn't easily identified in someone else as it is identified in me made me stand out and something that otherwise made someone else unattractive, made me attractive in a way I probably wouldn't be able to ...

Hi, I'm Sam,  Some people say they want to perform on a level playing field, all the external and internal factors should be the same for everyone. No one should have an upper hand, but I have always wanted to know what makes the playing field level for everyone. The plain fact that not everyone wants the same thing has already made the playing field seem uneven. The desire not to want so much out of life might make it seem like someone has it easier than someone who wants so much of everything out of life, the desire not to stress for so much places your comfort and acceptance level lower than that of someone who wants everything possible. No one is better than the other, the only important thing is that you're doing exactly what you desire. I always wondered how older people are so ok with getting old and living happily, then I realized that the same way that I have no desire to relive my teenage years and focused on getting better everyday and enjoying each day ...

Hi, I'm Sam,  I remember reading the novel "Two to Tango" in secondary school and if I'm being honest, the book didn't really make sense to me and with a little research, I found out that tango was a type of dance but one thing I took away from that book was "it takes two to tango". If you see someone dancing alone, tango won't come to mind because you'd need two persons to tango. As I got older, one other thing I realized was that as much as it takes two persons to tango, they need to work in agreement and unison, if not they will end up stepping on toes and ultimately injuring one another. There won't be anything like disagreement if agreement wasn't expected, Its easy to get into war of words when agreement is treated carelessly or neglected. When you make peace with the fact that all people can do is either agree or disagree with you, then you can start living your life. As easy as this sounds, it's something so many ...

Hi, I'm Sam,  Some may argue that the expectation of something makes the emotions less intense, which is probably the reason why so many people will admit that they love surprises, because they have no other choice but to react in the most genuine way possible for them. It is a fact and I know that the sun sets every single day in my region, at this point it is something I expect to happen but I don't look out for it, I only take note when it delays or probably doesn't happen which I have never experienced. Because I expect it to happen, I'm no longer fascinated by it. One of the hills I will gladly die on is that, there's no right or wrong way to grieve. There's no manual to it, you only react to the exact way you feel and depending on your emotional strength, you can suppress some emotions and control your actions. In several cases, no one plans for death, so all you have to do is react to it. You don't get to pick when and who it happens to, so you'r...

Hi, I'm Sam,  I don't announce it every 3 business days but I'm a Homebody. This was something I found particularly hard to accept because I was the liveliest kid in my family and everyone just concluded I was an extrovert. I changed when I was about 15 or 16 and by 18 my sister concluded that I was either depressed or battling with inferiority complex and I thought about it for a few days and immediately accepted that as the logical explanation to what was happening to me. I accepted that logic because I really loved how lively and outgoing I was growing up and I desperately wanted to go back to that, so if I know the problem, maybe I can find a solution and get my old self back. One of the most annoying things with people pointing out something about you is that when they do, whether they're just being plain mean or critiquing objectively, most times, you're bound to see what they're saying and then the battle within starts. The battle where you t...

Hi, I'm Sam,  A lot of people I've come across often quote "Curiosity killed the Cat" for the tiniest excuse to get out of answering a personal question or any question at all they'd rather not answer. I always respond "but I am not a cat" and they always laugh but I will still push to get an answer to my question. Is that me prying ? I don't know but I still wanna know. I don't want to know because I want to tell the next available ear or use the information to keep my seat at the table of those who "know" things about people. I want to know because I want to learn from your experience, I want to conduct myself and act appropriately around you. I will want to know as little as possible if you're a stranger to me and my curse for as far back as I can remember is that people find my easily trustworthy. I love it because it makes people very comfortable around me which makes me comfortable but I hate it because it makes pe...

Hi, I'm Sam, Nothing is truly the end of something, where one thing stops, another begins and who doesn't love a new beginning. Yes, new beginnings can be nerve racking, the uncertainty making your heart beat so loudly that you wonder if the carefree teenager sitting next to you on the plane can hear it and ask you what's wrong and you try to act all cool like nothing is wrong and truthfully there's nothing wrong but something in you is trying to scare and convince you into thinking that something might be wrong. You've done everything humanly possible to analyze the end of something to better prepare yourself for what is to come, trying to ease yourself into the new normal but as a human, you can only prepare to an extent but whatever that will happen will definitely happen and this end might be premeditated or simply coincidental, but the scary thing is that there is always more and the good thing too is that there is always something more. In so many...

  Hi, I’m Sam, I need to find a new thinking position, cross-legged in the dim light seems like a better position to think, laid back, and observing life. Some things happen or repeat themselves and you know this requires serious analysis. Why did this happen? What triggered it? What didn't trigger it? Will it happen again? If it does happen again, what should I do? What is the best way to react? Should I be scared? A deep, sincere analysis will answer all these questions and more. Some days I observe life, on other days I comment on it, sometimes I act on it, sometimes I react but most times I ignore it. There's really no point crying over spilled milk, either I belittle myself and use my bread to soak it up from the floor or wash it off, but I will have to do something. The point of my thinking is not to get rid of the peace in my life, but to ponder enough to take things that happened as seriously as I should.   One of my favorite things to do is daydream, that is my ...

Hi, I'm Sam,  I can wholeheartedly say now that I know what willing consistency looks like; I completely agree that it is something that has to be experienced and not explained. I had to stay consistent in this, and a lot of fears, deep fears that I had stepping into this have completely disappeared, although new fears spring up, not anything I can't handle. It's one thing to be consistent in something and completely another thing to be consistent willingly. The thing with the second one is that you may not necessarily have any material thing to gain while soaking your feet in the pool of consistency, but you just keep going because you know that there's something to gain at that point in time, even if you can't explain it to someone else.  In the course of my consistent work on this blog for the past year, I realized that I wasn't doing it on my own, and it gave me a confirmation that this is my purpose; I am not idle, and I refuse to be idle. Somet...

  Hi, I’m Sam, I am likely an over-thinker but so far it hasn't been in a bad way at all, I think I should find another word to describe it but for now let's use "over-thinker", if anything it helps me keep myself and my interactions with people safe, direct, and moving. I always have intentions behind everything I do, sometimes I may not be proud of the intentions but it’s always honest and something I want to do and not what I'm being pushed into doing in any way. At times the intentions behind my actions may not be entirely very good, but it’s always honest and based on the information I have and what I think is best at that particular time. I don't have a cheating bone in my body, my actions may show that I want to put myself first but never to make someone else feel bad or cheated but of course, I can only act a certain way no matter what my intentions maybe but I can't choose how someone else reacts as a result of my actions.    Just like any o...

  Hi, I’m Sam, It may seem as though saying "Be consistent" is one of the basic requirements for becoming a motivational speaker. That is a phrase used so much by official as well as unofficial motivational speakers. And as watered down as it may seem, that is one thing everyone needs to hold dear to their heart and always remember while doing anything. It's been said so much that it may sound like it has no value but consistency really is everything. Consistency will help put your foot into rooms you didn't even know existed let alone knock on. Inconsistency is like a disease you get on your own, you fight it and overcome it all alone. It is a battle you cannot enlist anyone to help you with when you're not ready to face it head-on. While dealing with inconsistencies, you will stumble and fall and you will have two options, pity yourself, whine, and stay down, or get up and keep going. Sometimes the cheers from outsiders are audible enough to encourage you, som...

  Hi, I’m Sam, Each decision we make, no matter how serious or irrelevant we may think it is ultimately impacts the course of our lives. I like to think that we're our choices irrespective of the reason behind the decisions. Sometimes we make certain choices without thinking and that is a result of a history of making similar choices. The direction of our lives is altered or improved by our choices in various areas of our lives, so have it at the back of your mind that every decision matters big time.   Mornings are usually vibrant, with so many different choices, no matter how insignificant or major they may be. There's always a fresh feeling attached to mornings, like an opportunity to make things fresh and new. So many choices are attached to mornings, whether to have a slow or rushed morning, and each decision is like planting a seed for how the day will go. Some people have decided not to ever joke with their morning decisions.   I think it's both liberatin...

  Hi, I’m Sam,   Where memories blend into soft edges, and time slows down just long enough for me to marinate myself in the moments that once meant so much to me and ultimately framed me. It’s a period where the past becomes more vivid than the present, and I can give a lot to spend as much time as possible there, in a place that seems to feel very familiar and so peaceful. In this place, everything feels just right as if nothing truly fades, and I find comfort in the echoes of what once was.   My favorite thing to do is sitting alone, listening to music playing in my ear, the bass almost vibrating my brain, and then taking myself back to past moments. My trip down memory lane can be just memories or a blend of memories and daydreaming to make it even more interesting.   Another favorite thing I love to do is scrolling through my gallery to relive moments. There is a very indescribable feeling you get when you start scrolling from the present to day...

  Hi, I’m Sam,   It's intriguing living life in retrospect and it’s also an eye-opener for me. It is very easy for me to gloss over moments as they happen and it happens to someone like me who tries as much as possible to live in the moment. I love sitting alone, listening to music playing in my ear, the bass almost vibrating my brain, and then taking myself back to past moments I may have overlooked. And the weird thing is that the moments I go back to almost always have nothing to do with what is happening around me in the present.     Sometimes I try to think back to little prideful moments around me and I ask myself what little things am I proud of. I always end up listing things as little as being about to finish 2 or more chapters of a book despite having a chaotic day that the old me would rather use as an excuse not to read, or stay hydrated, I even had to buy myself a big water bottle to help me always achieve my goal of staying hydrated or keeping m...

  Hi, I’m Sam   I am not the first, do I even want to be the first? I don't think I have given the idea of being the first an actual thought, it is always an in-passing thing for me. It feels good to be the first but I don't think being the first is what motivates me to keep doing anything. Should it even be enough motivation to do anything? That should be the correct question. I believe it can be one of the reasons to keep at something but if it’s the only or major reason, the motivation cannot be sustained.    I am the last baby in the house, so I am very much used to learning from people ahead of me. I still make my own mistakes but I try as much as possible not to repeat any mistake someone close and older than me made, that would be dumb actually. I have always thought that being surrounded by older people would shield me from making mistakes, but that would have been likely if there was always one wrong way to do something or one right way to do things....

  Hi, I’m Sam ,   I want to thank the official and unofficial content creators who take pride, care, and joy in capturing and sharing moments on social media. It’s one thing to capture moments either for personal use or public consumption or for both and it’s another thing to share it. My perfect evening is lying on a soft bed or sofa in a very unusual but very comfortable position scrolling through Instagram or X and Tiktok (I'm still trying to get used to tiktok though) and taking in all the funny, beautiful, educational content on social media and honestly scrolling through social media might seem like a waste of time for a lot of people but it helps me be creative and fine-tune my creative ideas.    I think there are different ways we can choose to look at life; some may believe that life is slow for them because they've not gotten to the stage where they would like to do certain things but unfortunately, they can't do those things, other might think that...