The Smelly New Truck

Yesterday was one of those days I am caught up in the jam. It can be a nasty experience especially when you rushing to go somewhere. So anyway along the way I encountered an awful smell and thought someone must have spoilt the air in the bus I was travelling in. I reached out to open the window but instead of the smell reducing it became more pronounced. That is when I noticed the new truck ahead of us. It was carrying waste and the nasty smell was emanating from the waste the truck was carrying. It was hard to believe that such a clean truck could carry such smelly garbage and that formed my lesson for today.

See friends we all want to look good and will use our money to have that good outside look. We are often successful in our new look and are the envy of those that come across us. Unfortunately the deep reality is our outward appearance is deceitful  because we carrying so much waste inside us that releases bad smells. Most of us walk around looking all good on the outside but are rotting on the inside. We need to come to the realisation that the things we carry inside us will either water down the outward nature or make it better.

There are those that have nothing to show outwardly but they are able to leave so much positivity wherever they go . While there are those that have so much outwardly but carry too much waste hence affecting the overall image.

Today let's seek to know and understand that which we are carrying inside us. Improving outside appearance without emphasis on the inside is all vanity. Lets seek to answer; what is the real overall smell i am releasing?



 P.s The Truck Protrayed isn't the one talked about in this article.

The Mango Farmer

I recently discovered farming as a side hussle. The first trial didn't go so well but I was grateful for the lesson. It is a venture I had always wanted to explore and I am glad to have dared take that path. In my farming experience I wanted the fast maturing crops of three months maximum and ventured into melon farming. I got into a partnership where I was to provide capital while my partner provided labor. Capital meant all expenses involving money were on my shoulder. There would be tough times when he would call asking for money to spray pesticides and I would get so mad more so because I didn't understand why spraying was necessary every week. But my partner knew why it was necessary and persisted.

His work at the farm was to tender for the crops. Now that was three months and it felt like a life time. Today I remembered that experience and I wondered what a mango farmer goes through before they can start reaping from the mango trees. See unlike me who went through the struggle for a short period of time and made one harvest, his takes time to grow and tender but gives him a life long harvest. This whole picture gave me a lesson i want to share with you.

See most of us are melon farmers. We want to reap fast and go on our way. We want quick kills, we have lost the will to tender and care and have a life long harvest from that which we tender for. The reason most relationships are not working today is because we rush everything and forget that if we want to be together for a life time we shall need to be patient and watch over the seed till a time it can produce fruits. During the time the seed of our relationship is growing, we shall need to prune the leaves , add manure and once in a while weed out the weeds.

Don't expect to harvest big from the seeds of your relationship if you are not spending time tendering the seeds as they grow. Remember if no pruning is done the extra branches choke up all the nutrients and the tree eventually has no extra nutrients to produce enough fruits. Continued storage of wrong doings by your spouse only sucks out the good in your relationship. Lets take time to weed out bad things in the relationship to ensure we have enough to appreciate around us.

Cockroaches in the Cup

Every morning when I get to the office I ensure I boil water and put in a flask to drink as I work. Its a habit I have been doing for a lond period now. Today morning was no different, except for the fact that sink had visitors(roaches) and not the small kind. There were huge cockroaches in my cup. I almost puked and threw away the cup. Actually they were in my favorite cup. It was disgusting to think i would use the cup again. I remembered my boss once saying though the cups are washed he had to rinse with hot water before using them. Something I thought was extreme till I saw the visitors in my cup today.

Perhaps they have been walking inside the cup and I use the cup soon after. Eiuu!! So I made a decision to pour out the roaches wash the cup with soapy hot water and rinse it with hot water. Actually I will from now hence forth do that. I blame the fumugation that happened in the adjacent office that didn't happen in ours. So the roaches moved to a home that isn't a death bed. Next fumugation our office isn't missing out . Throwing the cup was the easy thing to do but how would that solve the issue at hand. And that brought the lesson for today.

See there will be times when unwanted visitors and uncomfortable situations will invade our territory. Misunderstandings will arise in our relationships. We have a choice to abardon the projects we are undertaking or work through the misunderstanding or remove the unwanted visitors and proceed to enjoy the fruits of our relationships or projects. Yes some things are disgusting to pour out and continue as if nothing happened but how does throwing it all away help? How many things will we throw in our life just because unwanted visitors invaded our territory?

Lets make an informed decision before we chose to take the easy way out or abandon a project we set ourselves to take.

It Hurts To start Again!!

With the sudden change in size I had three choices; get comfortable with new size , work out to my original size(I felt it was too small btw) or tone up to a size between my original and new size. Well i chose the latter. True to it i was determined to lose a few kgs as i tone up on  a few areas I felt needed adjusting. Well i was doing well when I started and was focused to meet my target. Lucky for me I even got company to soldier me on in the journey. Unfortunately my company relocated and I got slowed down in the process and getting back on track seemed a big nightmare.

To add salt to injury I got comfortable and barely exercised, surprisingly I lost weight without exercising. All was going well until I weighed myself last week and noticed I had added a kilo. Not a pleasant sight btw. And that revelation made me notice how easily i was tiring over a short distance walk. And so I started the journey to tonning again on Mon. Yesterday all of me was aching. I dreaded taking the stairs, today is no different. The pain is real but i can't stop because I know why i have embarked on this journey again. And there comes the lesson for the day.

See every time we have to stop and start again it will hurt. Each time a relationship goes sour and one has to start dating a fresh its going to hurt. Each time one loses their savings in a business gone sour and they have to start saving again its going to hurt. The good thing about each new start is, its different from the last start. Each closure means a start with experience. There is nothing wrong with making a brand new start to have a different ending. The wrong is continuing to stay in unpleasant situations just because one is afraid it will hurt starting all over again.

Always rem the bulb inventor didn't fail 1000times He made 1000 steps towards discovering the bulb.

Pulls from All Angles; Eventually breaks

The way things have been going in terms of high cost of living all over its become a need to have an extra source of income. The only way to make that extra source of income a reality is to put money aside from the available source of income. Thereafter the savings are used to make extra money for oneslf. Well at least that is what I decided to do and ventured into farming. The reason I ventured into it was because its an activity i have always wanted to undertake. Secondly, is growing need in the country to increase food production as a way to bring cost of living down. My farm produce  is geared towards improving the taste of foods available in the market and providing a balanced meal for all.

Before i went into farming, my picture was that its a smooth road to undertake. It was only when I got into action that I realised there are numerous things I need and should never have overlooked in the first place. Most importantly being the manpower to use to farm. I entered into a convinient arragement but it wasn't until recently that I realised that this arrangement involved more people. Most importantly that those involved had a bigger influence on my man power than myself. To cut the story short my employee was taking orders from other persons and not respecting my instructions. The first time it happened I decided to ignore it and gave him another chance to regain himself. I went into losses but like any new business the beginning is never smooth sailing, I told myself. When the second planting began and the same mistake happened all over again,  I knew there and then I was dealing with the wrong manpower. Its difficult to work with a person getting instrustions from two sides. There was no way i was going to allow myself to keep making losses that could be avoided. And with that came my lesson.

In life we are bound to get involved with persons at various levels. When we get involved normally, there are things we hope to achieve with them or from them. But see the reality of the matter is when third parties are allowed without the consent of one  to make alterations, mistrust ensues. It becomes a case of breach of trust. Forthwith business is difficult to proceed and well aborting that ship always is the right thing to do . No ship can reach its destination with two captains steering it in different angles. One captain needs to be overall.They say to make a gain one must be ready to lose but well when the losses can be stopped, stop them.

 

Waleopard exposes her claws.

Lately I have been boarding the bus to work and schemingly the touts have been over charging us. So today I board the matatu and the tout says a fare higher than the normal fare. And pap! my carnivores side pops out. Kwanini tunalipa mia, tushuke sisi wote! Why are we being overcharged? Let's all alight! I rally all passengers out and the other conductors that man the stage ask why we alighted. I ask why we are being charged 100 and it's 80 normal fare. He says ,"ingieni gari ni 80" ( enter the bus the fare is 80) That 20bob is equal to my apple dah! We board the bus and are charged normal fare.


This got me thinking to the lesson of the day. Most of the times we are oppressed by others (REALLY OTHERS?) Is it because they have a great advantage over us? The answer is no! It's because we stamp that oppression by not voicing out what is right. If we are going to bring the change we want we must be ready to voice it out. Let's not accept ill treatment while silently complaining, voice it out. It doesn't matter the few numbers if we stand up we shall have our way.

These politicians take us for a ride. Standing up pushes them to do the right thing. Case example Langata rd primary school. In relationships don't stomach ill treatment and suffer inside, voice it out.

Have a Waleopard claws Wednesday. lol

Detour from the Jam

I live a long Thika road in Nairobi City. Like many I thought the construction of the super highway would translate to no jam along that route. Shock on me, guess it has everything to do with car loan so the cars have greatly increased on the road. Hmm or it could be that the current generation focuses on liabilities more than assets. That is a story for another day. Or perhaps E-commerce has everything to do with the increase of cars as more people can go online and import cars on their own.... Hmm someone needs to come up with an economic problem in this and come up with possible explanations.... wink emoticon  

Back to the story line. I am still using public means and its during peak hours that I love being in a public vehicle. The reason is because the bus drivers use different routes trying to beat the jam. Most of the times the calculations they make are perfect and we save on time. Today however the detour seemed to have been discovered by more people and there was jam on the route. This meant the driver had to go back or find another route, he chose the latter and left others in the jam. He was actually the only public driver on the road. I enjoyed the tour and well, we did manage to save some bit of time. And with that comes the lesson of the day.

See life is a journey that we all are traveling. However unlike the real everyday journies that we decide to take with a definite route and a well defined path, life has no defined path. This therefore means that if we decide to follow others we will all clog up waiting for the way to clear. However if we decide to venture into unknown zones, we will get to our destination perhaps earlier than others. That isn't to say that the path we chose to follow alone will be the easy one, it is our focus, confidence and determination that will ensure we get to where we want to go and be.

When our bus driver decided to change his route and not wait in line he knew he wanted to beat the jam. It is his conviction and willingness to take a CALCULATED RISK that ensured I got to work early despite the jam. In the same way,when I began writing this article it was with a conviction there is a lesson and well it did come out in the end. Never be afraid to venture in unknown zones. Most people that make it never follow what everyone else is doing.

With two dead rats in his hands; he walked.

I love taking a walk in the morning eyes wide open as I observe what is around me. A morning walk also provides a great opportunity fo me to reflect on things that I want to accomplish during the day. Today wasn't a different day and though I had things up my sleeves I managed to observe my surrounding and learn something for the day.

As I walked this mad man, this is my assumption not medically confirmed, walked passed me. It was only when he was infront of me that I got to clearly see what he was carrying and was wearing. He had a trouser and a short on his knees, normally I would expect the short to fall off but it didn't guess it had been sown together with the trouser somehow. I thought i had seen enough until i saw in his hand he had two dead rats. He held them by the tail and their heads were half way chopped off. Not puking wasn't easy. I knew I had to walk on a different side from him but luckily he changed before i could and I walked briskly for fear that he could throw them at me. All that walked passed him expressed shock in their face; but he walked as if nothing was amiss. To him he was doing the right thing and nothing was abnormal. Only we who felt its out of the norm got disgusted. And there was my lesson for the day.

See friends, not everything we choose to do will be applauded by people. If anything they will think we are mad for taking the steps or the path we choose in life. But does it mean really that they are right and we are wrong? The answer is NO!! There will be a time in our life when we will need to walk like mad people and follow our own path. I am sure the "Mad" man i saw earlier carrying the rats had his own reason and it felt right. Lets learn to follow what we feel is right and not what people around us think is normal. Who knows they may be the mad people after all. And again just like we walked passed the mad man , so shall those that think we are mad for your actions.

Lets always remember the only constant person we have our whole life is our own self. Don't focus on pleasing others because you have no control of others just your own self.

Happy Thursday.

Trim the grass and clear it from the field

I love nature guess it has bits to do with having one of my role model as Wangari Maathai. She was an icon of the environment. While she did so much to protect it, I take time to appreciate the calmness that nature brings. My work place provides a very good atmosphere to be around nature. There is this one place I like to frequent over lunch time and will take time to say my prayers there too. Today was no different.

For the past days I have been there, the grass had grown and well it may not have interfered with my love for nature but it wasn't as beautiful as it was today. When i went to visit the peace path I found the grass had been neatly trimmed and cleared from the place. Looking at it, I felt so happy being in a well manicured garden. The gardener had even cleared the grass he had cut , so it was just awesome to look at and with that i had my lesson for the day.

See friends, we have each been blessed with beautiful things whose presence we enjoy. The beautiful things around us need care if they are going to continue being beautiful. We can take time to trim the grass but if we trim and leave it there, it won't be a pleasant scenery. This is true in all areas of our lives, socially, emotionally, professionally or spiritually or financially. If we keep leaving the waste after removing it in the areas of our life the beauty in them won't be enhanced or visible.

What i am saying to us all today is that when you don't like something in any area of your life remove it completely. Don't trim and dump it next to you as it will make those areas unpleasant. If for example there is a misunderstanding between you and your spouse talk it out and clear it off. And once its out don't keep record and remind your spouse each time (women have this weakness). If its you that has failed in one way or the other in accomplishing a task, learn from it and move on. Don't keep dwelling on your failure, forgive yourself and get on with life. By so doing the beauty around the areas in your life will be constant. Its keeping rubbish in our life that makes it ugly.

Hope it made sense to you that managed to read the whole piece.

God blessings to you all

Dust Off Before a New Start

Today morning I arrived at work ready for the first day at work in the year 2015. I was the first to get into the office and most cleaning had not been done. Well its actually done when we are in the office. So anyway when I opened the door the office was stuffy and it was only after opening the windows that it aired up.

I love hot water and will always boil and keep in the flask to drink as the day proceeds. We had safely stored the utensils in the cabinet as the the office was being fumigated. This therefore meant before using the utensils I had to thoroughly wash them. My desk was no different, not being used for about two weeks meant dust had accumulated with no one to wipe it. It was after all the surrounding was clean that I finally was able to sit on my desk. And this was my lesson for the day.

See we all want to make a brand new start. Many times we have set out to make new year resolutions at the beginning of the year. But see friends we need to clear out dirts we had accumulated before we can be ready for a great start. If we don't dust off we shall get dirty even before we start. My prayer for us this day is that we know what we need to clean out as we make a brand new start. That which we have planned to quit lets seek to understand what drives us to it so that we can dust it off. That which we plan to start I pray that we are able to dust ourselves off baggage that may hinder us from starting.
 
I pray I am able to continue writing this year and sharing with you all the daily lessons that I am able to decipher from my everyday activities and experiences..

God Bless us all.