Ciana Joy Inspires!

If you could start your life all over what would be different? What would you change now if you were able to wave a magic wand and start from scratch? Just imagine you have no ties, no burdens, no limits, no memories, and no past. What would your life look like? If the answer that comes to your mind is different than what you are doing, why is that? Is it because of someone else's opinion? Your parents, spouse, friends? The ultimate test of your life is to close your eyes and think of yourself on your deathbed. Lying there, preparing yourself to leave, look back at your life as you are currently living it. How do you feel? Are you satisfied you lived completely? Or do you wish you had done differently? Very few of our forerunners look back on their life and say, "I sure wish I had spent more time at the office!" Nobody says, "I wish I had watched more TV!" or I wish I had acquire more possessions! This is what they usually say "I wish I had been bo

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her! With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life w

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was talented, creative, handsome, and extremely bright. A natural leader. The kind of person everyone would normally have wanted on their team or project. But he was also self-centered and had a very bad temper. When he got angry, he usually said, and often did, some very hurtful things. In fact, he seemed to have little regard for those around him, even friends. So, naturally, he had few. “But,” he told himself, “That just shows how stupid most people are!”  As he grew, his parents became concerned about this personality flaw, and pondered long and hard about what they should do. Finally, the father had an idea. And he struck a bargain with his son. He gave him a bag of nails, and a BIG hammer. “Whenever you lose your temper,” he told the boy, “I want you to really let it out. Just take a nail and drive it into the oak boards of that old fence out back. Hit that nail as hard as you can!” Of course, those weathered oak boards in that o

The application period for OpenCon 2016 on November 12-14 in Washington, DC is now open! The application is available at https://secure.opencon2016.org/referral/ilew9  and includes the opportunity to apply for a travel scholarship. Applications will close on July 11th at 11:59pm U.S. Pacific Time. OpenCon seeks to bring together effective, engaged students and early career academic professionals from around the world to advance Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data—regardless of their ability to pay for travel costs. In OpenCon’s first two years, most attendees received full or partial scholarships to attend the conference. For this reason, attendance at OpenCon is by application only.   The benefits of applying for OpenCon 2016 extend far beyond attending the Washington, DC meeting. It’s an opportunity to find new collaborators, get connected with scholarships to attend related conferences, and be recognized by the community for the work you do to promote openness in re

Asogwa Chinonye is a year older today and I just see it as the perfect day to express my gratitude to her. Within you, I've found the perfect friend Someone who I know I can rely on till the end And they're not just thoughts I hope will fulfil But thoughts that will stand forever still Still as the wind on a hot summer's day Still as your friendship I'll never betray Still as the characters in a photograph Still as your breathless, silent laugh Within you, I've found the wonderful friend helping in a way I cannot comprehend A person I see that so much care about me A mutual relationship so lovely and carefree Carefree as a child who questions the world Carefree as a scream that goes unheard Carefree as an adult blessed with a dream Carefree as water flowing down the stream