Everyone wants this year to be better than last year. We've made resolutions for the new year, some of which we've gone back on already. My Dad said and I quote, 'Making resolutions does not change anything, determining to be better does'.

In today's post I'll be sharing with you 7 ways to make the best of this new year. I hope we all (myself included) try our best to put them to practice.

1. Pray as if it depends on praying:

 My mom tells my siblings and I this a lot. This year rather than pray 'God I want this... God give me that..', let our prayer be, 'Father reveal your will for me this year and give me grace to live according to it.' I tell you, it's easier, and we make more progress when we are running with the wind and not against it. So pray as if it depends on praying and as you do so remember to pray for others. What's the point of being successful if there's no one to share in your joy?

2. Drink lots of water: 

My mom always made us drink a large cup of water as soon as we woke up. Water therapy, she called it. We all hated it and soon she stopped bothering. Recently, I decided to try it out and see what the fuss was about.

  The first day, I could barely finish a cup but with time I got used to it. I can now comfortably finish more than two sachet of water in a day (I couldn't finish one before) and I feel lighter. It's also an anti-constipation treatment (I used to constipate a lot). Drinking water regularly, especially first thing in the morning, has a lot of benefits, all of which I can't start listing, but you'll be so glad you did.

3. Exercise/ workout: 

When we hear work out most of us come up with the ever-so-ready excuse that we do not have access to a gym or time to visit one. Well, you do not need to leave your house to workout, you do not even need to leave your room. 

There are lots of exercise routines on Pinterest and also apps on Play Store that can help you exercise in your room. If you can afford to go to the gym or to have a personal trainer, good for you.

 Remember you have to be determined and disciplined for it to work. Exercising makes me feel lighter, like I can handle anything the day brings. It also makes me feel better about myself. The advantages of exercise cannot be over emphasised. No matter your age or work schedule, there's a simple exercise for you. 

PS: It also hurts like hell. I had abdominal pain for 3 days because of sit up, so expect the pain. Besides, no pain, no gain right?

4. Read: 

Readers are leaders period. In Memories; Growing Up, I talked about reading a lot as a kid. But in all honesty, as soon as I started pre-clinicals proper, it was as if someone had put off a switch. Every time I picked up a nonacademic book to read, my medical books, Last Anatomy to be precise, seemed to be laughing at me. Through out last year, I read less than 10 books, a very disappointing number for someone used to finishing books over night. 

  This year I have decided, and you should too, to read as much books as I can and put the knowledge garnered to practice. This includes fiction and nonfiction. The author of the book I am currently reading said that reading even outside your immediate scope is a good way of excelling and becoming better if not the best. I know we all want to be the best we can be.

5. Study The Bible For Yourself: 

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding on what the Bible says or does not say. Many people depend on what their pastors said and when the time comes to defend what they claim to believe, they fail to  do so convincingly. The theme for my church this year is; Living by the word of God. You can't live by what you do not know or do not understand.

 This year, determine to make out time every day to study the Bible personally. Understand what God demands of you and the promises He has made available for you. To excel this year we need Him more than anything else. Remember, He has promised to teach our hands to make wealth. 

PS: Proverbs is a good place to start in case you don't know where to begin. Also, there are lots of good devotionals out there, I recommend Daily Guide by Scripture Union.

6. Be Friendly: 

Let's all try to be better. Be more sensitive, be more tolerant, be more forgiving, be more considerate. Let's go out of our way to help others without expecting something in return. The sky is big enough for everyone.

7. Be Diligent: Put your best foot forward. No matter what you do, always give your best. 

Proverbs  10:4  says, He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

That's it guys! 7 ways to make the best of this year. Feel free to add your ideas in the comments section down below. Have a fruitful year ahead. Thanks.

Image Sources :
Create a smile project 
LibrErin
Christianity Today 
Lies Young Women Believe 
Shuttershock
Dave Miller's Mexico 

                                      One of the characteristics of a new year is the oh so famous new year resolutions. At the beginning of each new year, most people write out or just say what they hope to achieve in the new year, areas of their lives they plan to work on, goals they hope to achieve, new skills to learn, relationships to work on and what have you.But it is no secret that most of these plans and goals seem to be forgotten by the end of January. Some people say there's no need making a new year resolution since they won't keep to it. What is a resolution and why do we more often than not fail to keep to it? 

  A resolution as I've earlier mentioned is a plan,usually written, of what we hope to achieve in any new phase of our lives. According to the dictionary, it is;A statement  of intent, a vow .
Reasons why we fail to keep this vow include but are not limited to;
1. Procrastination; Most of us (I am a good example) have mastered the art of procrastination, we procrastinate everything. We keep saying tomorrow and by the time we realize what's happening it's August and we are yet to start on most of our plans.
2. Laziness; This goes hand in hand with the aforementioned point. Laziness leads to procrastination and procrastination they say is a killer of time.
3. Lack of priority and cluster; Most times we have so many plans for the new year but we fail to prioritize, this leads to confusion and might later lead to us neglecting the entire plan.
4. Unrealistic plans; When our plans are unrealistic, we will find it difficult if not impossible to keep them.
All these being said, it is very important that we commit all that we do and plan to do into God's hands. In this new year let us strive to make realistic plans, prioritize, and avoid procrastination. And God who Himself has promised to teach our hands to make wealth will grant us His grace and favour and bless the works of our hands. Have a blessed year ahead.
                                                   Much love,
                                                       Chizny.

   For all the encouragement, support and criticism throughout the just concluded year I say thank you. For believing in me, thank you. For your patience and understanding, thanks a lot. Chizny's blog was good last year but I promise it will be better this year. Keep believing in us and keep being supportive, we will get there. With all the love and gratitude in my heart, once again, I say thank you very much .
                                            Much love from,
                                                   Chizny.

    Yes! We did it! We all made it into 2017 alive. I am officially welcoming you to one of the best years of your life. This year mistakes shall be corrected, successes and victories shall be recorded. Wedding bells shall ring ( I am always available for ashoebi, just in case), new houses shall be built, old ones finished. No matter the economy, we shall not lack for our God shall supply all our needs according to His riches in glory. Welcome to your year of grace, peace, joy, happiness, achievement and promotion. Don't forget to share love with everyone around. 2016 was good but 2017 will be better, even if last year was not to good for you, this year will be awesome. So if your teeth is not white enough, go and work on it because laughter is your portion this year. Have a blessed and fulfilling year ahead. Happy New Year.

                                 
   Hey there! What's up? I hope your day has been amazing. So this post is basically to introduce you to the Chizny of Chizny's blog. And just so you don't have a hard time pronouncing it, its pronounced cheese-ni,  something like that.

So I am going to be telling you 6 things about me, that you might want to know. Let's shoot. 

1. My real name is Mba Ezinne Kalu and for short my friends call me Ezinne Mba. Mhhh yes, it's very annoying walking on the streets and a friend of yours sights you and starts screaming "Ezinne Mba' because  everyone now knows your name and your surname! But am used to it now though. But if you are to meet me anywhere, I'll prefer you leave it at Ezinne.

2. The name Chizny came from two of my names, Ezinne and Chizaram (my mum only calls me that when she's trying to be sweet or about to send me on an errand she knows I won't like). So when I entered secondary school, there were lots of Ezinnes and then, nicknames were the craze, but you couldn't bear the same nickname as a senior unless you were related to such by blood or a school daughter or son to the person. So I took the popular nickname for Ezinne - Zinny, chopped off the -ny,  and added it to Chiz- from Chizaram and boom, Chizny was born.

3. I am the only girl in a family of four kids, I have 3 younger brothers (you might find that last part hard to believe if you met my family, the all are taller and bigger than me, even the last one )

4. I love to write, to watch movies and to be by myself.

5. I am a Christian - not a church goer mind you, just a young lady who is trying her best to do and live by the will of her maker. It's not easy at all, but then His Grace is ever sufficient.

6. I am a medical student, hence the URL, and my favorite course is embryology. Medical school has been fun but easy? Hell to the no!

  So that's it, 6 things you might want to know about me. I guess that if you have been reading my posts you should know what I look like, but for the first timers, that girl up there is me.

  I will appreciate it if you stopped by regularly to know how a sister is doing, and I'll try my best to give you something new each time. Shallom

PS; I might look taller because of the picture, but I am of the "lo I am with you' category (if you know what I mean )
  

                                    
   The year is quickly coming to an end, but just before the curtains are finally drawn, I want to express my gratitude to God for all He has done. So this is for you Lord, 

   For being faithful even when I
   wasn't,
   For loving me more than I or
   anyone else could have,
   For Grace I clearly did not deserve,
   For provision even in this austere
   period,
   For protection even from enemies
   and situations I had no idea of,
   For healing and good health
   For friends and family,
   For life and all that pertains to it,
   For the gift of your son,
   For my salvation,
   For peace,
   For forgiveness,
 For all these and more, with a heart full of love I say thank you Lord.
                                     Sincerely,
                           Your grateful daughter.

       
   Dry leaves caked with dust, drier roads, chapped lips and dry skin, busy roads and busier markets and malls, and most importantly, the unmistakable scent of Christmas.

These and more are characteristics of one of my favorite months of the year. Happy New month lovelies, welcome to your month of joy unspeakable, peace indescribable and grace unexplainable. 

 
Sorry I did not post anything through out last month but I hope to remedy that this month. Thanks for your understanding and once again, welcome to your month of Grace.

PS; I love you but Jesus loves you more.

  
   During the last induction of medical doctors my school held, one of the guest speakers kept emphasizing, 'medical doctors are not rich'. I couldn't agree more.

A lot of people are studying medicine because they want to be rich. Parents keep talking about how their children will finish their study and buy them cars or take them abroad.

MEDICAL STUDENTS/DOCTORS ARE NOT RICH.

Comfortable, maybe, if the newly inducted doctors can manage money well, but not rich. In fact, unless you were doing something to generate money for yourself while in school, becoming a medical doctor leaves you with less than you had before you started studying and that includes your parents. 

  

Your course of study does not determine how rich you will be. Look around and you will see that most of the wealthy people around are not depending on their certificate to make money. They are making use of their skills and talents.

So if you want to study medicine in order to get rich, now is a good time to either change your mindset or withdraw. Medicine requires passion because it's a calling, a ministry of some sort.

You want to be rich? develop your skills and talents or go into the nearest studio and sing your own version of 'skiboroboskibo skiboroboskibo yekpa' after all it's generating cool cash for some people these days .

   

   Recently I watched a video of our president, Buhari, say that his wife belongs to the kitchen, the living room and the other room ( I might need a little elaboration on that last one).

   That statement has elicited a lot of response from people,some agreeing with him and others (mostly women) vehemently refusing. The thing is that no matter what you or anyone else says, he has said what he wanted to say.  

  
   Dear woman, whomever you may be, whatever you maybe doing and wherever you may be from,  I want you to know that you are not defined by what anybody (including your husband)  says, you are only defined by what you say and what you believe. Light your spot.

   Your husband says you belong to the kitchen, good and fine, go and learn how to cook well, enter that kitchen and cook so well that he will be willing to give you the head of John the Baptist, then go out there and start a catering business.

   Did he say you belong to the living room? No problem, be so good a host that his friends would always want to come around, then go out there and start an ushering company. Then did he say that you belong to the other room (truth be say I never really understand that one) do whatever is done there very well.
  
   You do not belong to some rooms in the house, you belong to the whole damn house because you are the one that makes it a home. I am not a feminist, because feminists believe in gender equality, I on the other hand believe in gender superiority, the female being the greater.

   Leave all this mouth that the men are running, the fact is that they cannot survive without us, even God saw how hopeless and helpless they were alone and created us to help them. They need us more than we need them.
  
   Stop letting what the men say decide for you, you have a mind of your own, use it. You belong to the house (the entirety of it), you belong to the conference rooms, you belong to the stage, you belong to damn well anywhere you so wish but it all depends on you, stop complaining, stop playing to the background, stop letting what they say determine what you do.

   You are greater (quote me anywhere) and whoever says otherwise should enter the labour room and give birth, or menstruate for a week with the accompanying pain or even think of what to serve as meal for a week. Let us stop debating on where we belong or do not belong, the world is your stage, light your spot.

#say no to child marriage
#say no to female circumcision #support education for the girl child #stop backbiting fellow women that are legally doing well for themselves #you are a queen, believe it
  
   PS, dear future husband, the day you jokingly or seriously open your mouth and say I belong to the kitchen, living room and other room or even say that my work is to take care of you, you will explain to me whether I spent 21years and more of my life studying to become your nanny and you will be doing that outside the house because it won't contain the both of us. Just saying.

                      
   This is a huge misconception that most people have. It is widely believed that medical students are so concentrated on their studies that they do not have time to do any other thing. A lot of people are surprised when they hear that a medical student is doing something extracurricular especially if he/she is good at it, they think it's a distraction and most of these people expect such students to fail in their academics. 

  
   Let me introduce you to my course mates Nneoma Nwosu and Bella Njionye, the girls in the photo. Nneoma (the lady on black) is a dancer and an amazing one at that, she is also into fashion designing.

   Bella on the other hand is a make up artist and a business lady. A lot of my colleagues and senior colleagues are into a lot of things, we have photographers, make up artists, journalists, ICT gurus,writers, just to mention a few. Studying medicine does not mean you can not do any other thing, you just have to learn how to manage your time well.

                         

   It is true that medical students have lots of materials to cover in a relatively short time but we are not always reading not even when we have tests. You may see us carrying books around a lot (emphasis on the word 'may') but that does not mean that we are always studying. In fact, it is not every time that you see us with books opened before us that we are understanding what we are reading.
 
   A lot of people have this mentality, I did too, but then I found out that reading all the time does not guarantee that you'll pass, God's grace does. Every student no matter your department has to study well in other to pass and medicine is not an exception.

   
   Most times when we watch a movie and a particular actor or actress is playing the role of a doctor, the first thing we notice about that person is the fact that he/she wears glasses.

   When I got admission into the university, I bought glasses because "you dress the way you want to be addressed" and doctors in the movies always wear glasses. On finally getting into school , I found out that only about 30% of my colleagues wear glasses and majority of them wear it as a fashion statement not necessarily because they have eye problems. 

  
  Maybe the doctors we see around wear glasses because they read a lot with poor lighting but then people of other disciplines do too.There are doctors with good eye sight and there are also people of other disciplines who wear glasses (my parents for example).

   Wearing glasses is not a trademark of studying medicine, it either means that the individual has problems with his/her eyes (and anyone can have eye problems) or that he/she just felt like wearing glasses as a fashion statement.

                                    
    For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a medical doctor. Growing up, I had some notions of what a medical student should look like, these notions were fueled by movies and what people around, especially my parents, said.
 
   When I finally got admission after trying twice, I was excited, I was finally going to be a doctor. My parents gave me some money to buy clothes for school and with my notions as my guide, I entered the market and bought everything corporate, shirts, pencil skirts, blazers, cover shoes, handbags and even glasses ( I do not have problems with my eyes but then all the doctors l have ever seen and even those in the movies wore glasses).

   I was prepared for life as a medical student or so I thought . My hairstyle was simple and smart just like in the movies. When I looked at the mirror in the morning I was to begin school, I could already see myself as a doctor.
  
   After my first week in school, I made the following conclusions;
1. Movies only portray the easy life not the hard part but in real life, school is 90% hard.
2. My parents know NOTHING about studying medicine(no offense).
   For the next few days I am going to be debunking some of the notions (stereotypes) about studying medicine and telling you the 'truth' as I have experienced .

Please feel free to leave your comments and even share your experience also no matter your discipline. I look forward to that.

PS. I love you but Jesus loves you more.