There are times I ask myself why the linguist decided that the word inasmuch should be one word and sometimes I support him for saving me in the 140 character limit. There are times I blame the inventor of mobile handsets since am addicted to social media but then I would not have landed on my first love when I flaunted with my Motorola C118.
There are times I wish my grandma was on WhatsApp but then she would join our family group that we share all types of jokes and she will keep asking, “who is that, what is that, what is she doing?” And you would be there, “Just laugh at the joke grandma, don’t ask who they are.” There are times I cry about me being single but I feel sweet when I sleep knowing that nobody is cheating on me.
Inasmuch as I think contrary on a subject, there’s always a positive factor about it. I thought that when I landed on my current job, I had lost it all, I had all lost the plans that I had made on starting my own business. I was in the last phase of actualizing my business when I landed on my current job. I remember I was in the board room awaiting the interview when I was telling God, “Dear sweet Jesus, please don’t let me get this job, I have greater plans elsewhere. But God, let your will be done, but your will has to be something that conforms to my desires right? Because you said you will search the desires of our hearts and you will give us whatever we ask in your name right?”
I was not the best in terms of brilliance, experience and education. My HR confessed that I was the least experienced but they chose me. They say stars cannot shine when there is no darkness and I add that a single bright moon attracts more attention than a billion stars. And that is something called favor. In the first days of new job you get the looks of ‘you look like a scarecrow’ ‘you are too mouthy, can’t you just shutup?’ ‘you ask everything, don’t you know anything’ ‘do you think you can really make it here? you look more inexperienced than the person who left’ Those looks are smeared with a paste of sweet smiles and ‘the welcome to this firm’ face.
I had to accept God’s plan but I was still conflicting saying that I would be much better if I were on my own. I stabilized, I learnt to accept God’s plan and ask for favor. I learnt to commit my work to him so that He may establish my plans (Proverbs 16:3) I am now the happiest person in the firm. (a story for another day – A Kenyan Proverb)
I have been favored in all my endeavors. In all tasks that I put to hand, I succeed. I acquire knowledge so fast that I just leave to thank God for that. With no handover in my new job, I was able to handle everything in the first week. I was able to do professional photography in only an hour of training and three weeks of practice thanks to this guy iSteeve for showing me the exposure Triangle and Nesh Maina and Slum Photography for challenging me through their works.
I was able to create my photography blog in just a day as I was bidding for some photography shot. I was and still is able to manage 3 demanding blogs daily, research, redesign and improve them daily. I am and still able to do demanding tasks both at work and on many other groups and also read books to improve on my personal skills and development. Some may see that am overworking myself. How do I manage all these? I am not 60 or 90 so I do not know much but I will share with you the little things that have kept me afloat with the many things I do.
1. Passion
Love what you do, do what you love. Eliminate everything that you cannot do with passion. Drive out any doubts that you may have when doing something that you love, give it your all, eliminate any thoughts of despair, burn all bridges that will make you think of giving up. The bridge that will revert you to the state of comfortability, a thing we love to say, ‘Mi niko tu sawa’ I would advice, if you acnnot do something with passion, do not do it at all.
Harriet Tubman says; “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
2. Other People’s Criticism
Criticism is not bad, but most people around you will focus on destructive criticism. I started deejaying while still in campus and the criticism I got was negative. I never minded the ill talk until the same criticizers would text me telling me they heard my mix playing in a matatu and am doing a good job etc. Most projects are stagnant because people fear what others will say or think of them.
Accept positive criticism. I remember that I was always right. It was my way and no one should ever tell me what to do because he was not there when I started and he doesn’t know of the challenges that I have undergone. Furthermore, this person has done nothing with his own life let alone come advise me. Guys, you never know who God uses. It is sad that you came and realize later that ‘I wish I listened to that guy, what he just told me a while back has come to pass.’
Winston Churchill says; “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”
3. Don’t Do It Later
I have learnt to resolve my issues there and then. I have learnt to face my ills, mistakes and downfalls, accept and move on. I do not have to wait for February 1st to turn into a new leaf because today is 27th of January, neither do I have to quit drinking in January because it is December. I do not have to wait for a new year to make a resolution.
Procrastination is a disease, it is an addiction, it then becomes a baggage you have to carry that overwhelms and wears you out by the day, why then should you not go drink your problems out and rant about how sad and hopeless your life is? Simply because you never did the right thing at the right time?
Benjamin Franklin says, “Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today.”
4. You Can Do All Things
Isn’t it straightforward? Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I remember someone telling me that I cannot blog, design, play the piano, play the guitar, be a photographer and be an IT techy at the same time, that I must choose one. I answered, “If the Bible said, ‘I can do one thing through Christ who strengthens me’ then I would do that’ but it says I can do ALL things.”
I do whatever I like, whatever that I will give my ALL in.
G. M. Trevelyan says; “Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.”
Nelson Mandela adds; “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
5. Your Peace Comes First
Remember the work of the evil one; John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Whenever there is good, the devil will come to destroy it. Whenever there is love, the devil will come to steal it. Whenever there is any gift of the holy spirit, the devil will be up in arms. Know that you will get challenges along the way, you may fall out with good friends, you may have tricky decisions to make and all might end up in havoc. Do not compromise anything with your peace. Do not compromise money and wealth with it, it is better to have no wealth but peace than to have it all but you are troubled at heart.
Albert Einstein says; “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
Ronald Reagan adds; “Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.”
6. Do Not Ask For Lighter Rain
I tell my friends that they should not accommodate comfortable people, they have nothing to lose. Comfortable people cannot lose their sweet sleep, their relaxing weekends nor their minds boggling about new projects and new challenges. Comfortable people pray that things don’t go sour for them. Comfortable people fear tragedy.
I ask for challenges. I ask for new risks because it is in them that I have grown. I ask for heavy downpour, I ask for competition because these will make me persistent. I ask for all these because I believe in one who strengthens me. As comfortable people are busy praying for a smooth sail, am busy praying for strength to overcome challenges that I expect. All the stories in the Bible will show you no great person had a smooth sail.
Ralph Marston says; “Welcome those big, sticky, complicated problems. In them are your most powerful opportunities.”
Winston Churchill adds; “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
7. Prayer
This is not the last thing you do. It is the first thing you do. I have put is as no 7 because it is the cornerstone. It is the foundation of your endeavors and success. A prayer is a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God. Prayer and the word are accompanied, read the Bible and pray everyday. Your Bible is your inspiration. It is your guide, and your rule book as said in 2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
I love this quote by John Bunyan
“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. ”
And in Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
And in Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Those are the few things that life has taught me so far, I’m yet to learn more. I am not a reader but am developing a reading culture. I promised myself to read 12 books this year, a book every month. Am done with Napoleon Hill’s Think And Grow Rich which I will write a review here soon. Am up for 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steve Covey, The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle and The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris. I have not read these yet but I have watched a couple of reviews on them and found them useful. Grab one of these books, they will surely add up something to your brain.
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“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
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