by Banji Simasiku
The morning of Monday the 18th was cool as winter is fast approaching. The dining hall was arranged in preparation for chapel to accommodate all day scholars as well as members of staff. The topic was Positive Thinking, which was ideal as a new term usually begins with new plans and strategies of how to study better. Also, student transcripts of the previous term were due and if a student feels unhappy about their performance, that could easily bring a student to feeling worthless as they drain themselves in negative thoughts.
Dr. Moffat Zimba shared and started the event by cheerfully welcoming the audience and giving a prayer. And as he usually does from time to time, he engaged his audience into a discussion of what positive thinking entailed. He talked about the power of positive thinking in relation to our environment, our relationships and our health. He gave examples such as how our first president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, implemented policies and laws that helped build Zambia’s infrastructure. Such ideas, he said, positive and unfortunately even negative ones, could out-live the thinker if carefully nurtured. He also pointed out that generally, nobody wanted to be around someone who was a perpetual negative thinker. And in relation to our health, he said negative thoughts do not only affect our frame of mind but also our physical health. Positive thoughts, however, retain the opposite effect.
Chapel ended on a good note with a recap of the session by the students. An ending prayer and announcements for the day were given. The experience of chapel at Northrise on every Monday is always enriching because God always has something special, something for each one of us to relate with as we begin the week and indeed in this case as we begin the second term. I see the faces of most of the students full of the knowledge that has been shared on this Monday morning and God’s hand is upon Northrise as we begin this second term.