Believe in something | Fall for nothing

Inspired by "We all try"

I believe in God. I believe in progressive people. I believe in passion, happiness, humility, contentment, calmness and love. I believe in constant improvement. I believe in imperfection. Life is not perfect. I do believe there are some people who don’t want others to progress. I believe that there are good people. I believe in genuine friendships and true love. I believe in my family. I believe that life is not always simple. I believe that true happiness in life comes from intangible things. I believe that material things don't generate long lasting happiness. I believe that everyone deserves to be lost to find themselves. I believe that in life I have to make  a conscious effort to live. I believe that that there is a 'Heaven'. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe that we all have to live passionately. I believe that everyone is confused. I believe that we all have our frustrations and imperfections. I believe that we live our lives ultimately to find meaning and find answers. I believe that believing in something gives us comfort. I believe that we are all afraid . I believe that we are all afraid of uncertainty. I believe that at times I don’t believe in anything. I believe that I doubt myself at times. I believe that I live life fully. I believe I try to make things better. I believe that I have a good heart. I believe that we are all emotional beings. I believe that I am living an imprint. I believe that people are different. I believe that we don’t always have the answers. I believe that I don’t always know what I want. I believe that I appreciate both sides of the coin. I believe that I am aware of most things. I believe in myself. I believe in my friends. We all try to believe in something.

Of dreams and hallmarks.

Nothing comes easy. Freedom, chocolates, girls and super cars are all equally fought for. In this world you reap what you saw. That's the truth.

Another hallmark under the belt. It gets me thinking every time what success is and how do we know we are on the right track? Progress is gradual, and the most important progress is the one where those around you can feel it together with you. I create a world in my head, and a set of ideals and I define my own successes-I share it with others, and they chip in in little or major ways towards the collective goal and actually enjoy doing it. They discover more about themselves, and that fuels big dreams in their heads and they know that the world is theirs for the taking. Nothing can stop them. . . They in turn create their own perfect worlds, and get other people to chip in. The momentum creates a force and the strides get bigger and possibilities infinity. . . If that is not progress I don't know what is.

Back to my soliloquy. Where do I go from here? Honestly speaking, I set big goals and at that moment in time, I assume that that is the end. Funny thing is that there is no ceiling. We set our own limitations. At this point in time, I ponder on the long road that this has been. Its been TREMEANDOUS. That is even an understatement. Yesterday I also dreamt the next hallmarks for AIESEC JKUAT:

• Media coverage.
• Different and unique projects.
• Meeting a major leadership figure.

I say that with confidence because that is the next step. We have the abilities and strength. Everyone now realizes that we can achieve anything. The essence in life is always improving from where you are. As long as you are doing your best to get there, then have the confidence to know that you are on the right track. Most importantly, no matter what you are doing BE CONTENT. No matter your position or your achievements or successes, be content with your current situation. Strike a good balance. What will happen will amaze you. . . You acquire peace of mind, genuine friendships and a circle of good, positive energy. Contentment is not defined by what you do, but who you are. Be content with yourself right now.

And even as I gaze into the unknown future, I can feel it now. I am almost there. Almost near my big break. I dream big, and I dream all the time. We live our dreams, and if you are not dreaming then you are not living. Simply put, our dreams create that will power within us to go in a certain direction. I dreamt yesterday, and I smiled. I can sense it within me. I just need to open my eyes a bit more, and carpe dium.

International day of the African Child

Today I will proudly walk the streets as an African. I respect this continent as our Motherland. 

I am proudly African because her lands are blessed with resources,

From her oil deposits,

old as gold,

her beautiful diamond pearls,

and her elusive African curves,

her soils are fertile with foods.

I am proudly African because it is the symbol of black,

I am proudly African because of her deep heritage and traditions,

I am proudly African because her diaspora is proudly African,

I am proudly African because she is THE Motherland.

I will forever embrace my pride as an African because despite the odds against us, each and every day many of us defy the odds. Each and every day people get out of a warped mentality that faces us as Africans. I am proud that even as that happens, other people love spending their time empowering our fellow Africans and live to eradicate the poisonous cycles of poverty, lack of education, corrupt leadership and disease.

I am proudly African that despite our infested leadership, there are young people out there making a difference and exemplifying true leadership or should I say servant hood? 

I am proudly African because we continue to produce the best out there in different fields.

From Nobel Peace Prize Prof. Wangari Maathai, to writer Chinua Achebe. I will be forever proudly African because of our fallen heroes, those who have paved the way for us. This is because we are here in the present because someone else suffered/succeeded to lay a foundation for us. Be it our resilient Mau Mau fighters, budding leaders such as Tom Mboya, The great Nelson Mandela after his imprisonment and then to fight Apartheid. 

I will also appreciate the mama mboga and her vegetable stall. Our roudy touts, because they make life seem African. All the African women, blessed with that smooth black skin - You are beautiful in all ways.

And even as we continue to forge ahead, Let us all remember that we are African and we owe it to our continent to make a difference and to empower each other. Despite the fact that our roots have been uprooted, let us deeply remain bound to the true cause of our Motherland. Let us make our own definitions for being African.

Today we are celebrating our lives.

Yes we can

I have just had a very good night, I cannot remember the last time I had a clarity in my dreams. The weekend was very awesome and we had a very good conversation with one Mr. Selelo. What struck me most yet again, is that each one of us has that one dream or passion they would do for anything. Most young people actually do. Yet again, it is my view point that YES WE CAN. We especially have this tendency to have a crowd mentality, let that one be ours.

Indeed, we are currently doing stuff today, whether we like them or not. Whether we are passionate about them or not, each and every day we do stuff. Fortunately or unfortunately, we find ourselves in systems where we cannot change the way things really work but the Hope is usually following your heart and your gut, and through your passion, other people get to see that it is possible and in turn are empowered enough to ignore the norm. Moral of the story is that you owe it most importantly to yourself to follow your heart, to follow your instinct and secondly you it to every one around you.

It is a new day of the week yet again, but let us pledge to do it differently this week. Let us edge closer to our dreams. Today we will do what has to be done, and I say that with a lot of skepticism but the NEXT thing we will do will be to follow our dreams.

If you will need someone to tell you why, rather to REMIND you why-Talk to me.
Yes we can! 

We know where it all starts from

STOP!!!!

This is where we will draw the line - by force :-) Today, we are going to start afresh. We all know where it starts from - we all know the answers.

Lately I have been feeling a little bit bogged down with a lot of CLUTTER. I am doing quite a couple of things, and I will admit I am not as good a 'multi-tasker' as our female friends :-) Last week we had this session on time management that brought things to perspective - We know all that hullabaloo about time management, but we don't actually do it. So for starters, I have created my own priority list for this year - 4 things. I will tell you about that another time.

While I was on that DE-CLUTTERING agenda during the weekend, I stumbled upon a nook called 'The power of less' written by Leo Babauta {who also has a blog called Zen habits - check it out zenhabits.net/}.

I stumbled on another book however, called The power of your other hand. Now, it picks up on a theme I had started familiarizing myself with over the past four months. It expounds a bit on our right and left sides of the brain and the various cognitive, intellectual and artistic abilities we all posses.

I was starting to write some 'did you know' facts but it already started to look boring. One thing you should know though, we have a dominant hand and for the majority of humans it is right handed. Scholars continue to bit around the bush but one thing is clear - Using both sides of your brain makes you more wholesome.

Enough of that.

The intro starts with a brief background on how the author had a depression phase because of a lot of stuff happening in her life then she stumbled upon the power of the other hand. It briefly outlines how she had a dialogue between her right and left hand and for her (she is right-handed), her right hand represented her domineering personality, her confident self while her left, her hidden worries, long time struggles and emotional stresses. She would write the dialogues down on a piece of paper. I was brave enough to have a go using my left hand and 2 quick things gained some clarity.

1.  I had a pout while I was drawing/writing using my left hand :-) Took me back to the kindergarten days, remember? when we first disregarded our weaker hands because the drawing books looked terrible/or for some because we were told it is WRONG to write with our left hands. While I was doing that I felt a sense of renewal, like the world was before me and I had the ability to re-invent myself. Parallel to that, it brought back a few of my childhood memories, some struggles, a few disappointments and my childhood torments.

2. As much as my left hand writing cannot catch up with my mental processing (for now), I already feel like it is opening me up, and removing any mental barriers, reservations that I have - My first time and I am already feeling re-energized.

In conclusion, I am on this path of a renewed outlook to life and I encourage you to STOP!! and consider the unthinkable for once. Look at it differently. We all say think without the box, and I will re-iterate that - There have never been boxes, all the shapes are in our heads. I will keep you posted on any new discoveries I find along the way. You know what to do in the mean time, don't you?

Flashing lights.

Life as we call it, has its own unique sense of extremes. Life is vain, well most of the time. Funny thing is you have it inside of you, and somehow everyday you wake up, you get a chance to tread above the ground. We all go through different experiences, and at times we cannot make head or tail of whatever is going on. But the days progress, and life continues to move on as if to mock us.

There are times when you feel you are in control of every small fabric of detail in your life. The times we feel the energy within us multiply and explode like a grenade. Then you get that warm, fuzzy and certain feeling that you can accomplish all things. You can fight all wars. You can save the world :-)

Other times, the grim reality of life gives you an unexpected slap across your face. Times like these, we get to see the other side of the coin. Death could creep up on those we hold close to our hearts. Maybe that trust we have on something or someone comes crushing down, and you feel the dense weight of the world on your shoulders. At times it could be a failure in something you had gazed your hopes and dreams upon - When all guns are blazing, the engines are revving and our hearts palpitating with flashing bright ligths.

Doof!

You fall with a thud. Words that you are so comfortable with elude your lips. Ominous clouds of darkness suddenly creep up above your head. It could be family strife. You know family is the only real thing we have, and sad thing is only some of us are aware of that. Those deep things that you just don't want anyone to know. Not because you are embarrassed by them, but by the mere fact that people would remind you of your aching situation. I am going through one of those right now. It gives me great heart ache. At times you are forced to keep a straight face so that everything seems as if it is okay. You partially lie to yourself that its all good - But who knows? You cross your fingers, at times you pray. At times you want to shed tears even or go to the top of the Alps and JUMP.

We do not know about our future. We only have right now. The present is the only gift we have right now that we could open tomorrow. I honestly will not lie that I have all the answers about life or where the hell we are meant to get our directions from. But it is in such difficult moments that we have to be patient. We have to get out of our situations and look around. We have to go to that place where we can get some closure, where we get to ignore external stimuli and peruse deep within our skins.

 I will tell you what I have found out. It is the simple things in life. It is the soft breeze sweeping across our cheeks. It is the sky, azure with its invigorating colours, the sun and the night sky. For me, it will continue to be nature. It will continue to be the good times we have had and the smiles that are drawn by you. It will continue to be those treasured fulfilling conversations. It will be the music - The pounding electronic beats, Coldplay re-inventing the rock, Nodding hip-hop beats and stringing out those lyrics with venom. And I will continue to write about it because times like these are my closure. I will continue to be a realist. I will keep my head where it is meant to be.

One thing is for sure. I will continue to appreciate all that is around me, and I will not give up. Whatever it takes, I will keep my head up. I am not sure how it will all play out one day, when I have some white beard, rocking on my arm chair, enjoying the wonderful smell and sensuality of my environment but I will do my very best now - I will - I will celebrate life in all its moments.

I will go hard.

I got you :-)

Another 1

Rain with a soft patter,
The earth red and expectant,
Life is a slow snail,
Progress is gradual,
One hand vanity,
The other proceed. progress.

The money, the honeys,
protruding rooftops, big building blocks,
massive mansions, petty pensions,
friendly fiends, new fashion trends,
real niggas, fast cars,
cool demeanor, clubs on the minor,
friends and foes, ranches with hoes,
the glory and the pain,
fresh and clean, nasty incessant stain,
The secret, and the pretense,
fealthy rich, children to teach,
hearty hardworking, vanity consuming,
lucky escapes, grizzly deaths,
chilling escapades, glasses on the spades,
fat getting fatter, thin never better,
forced into a box, our eyes with padlocks,
keys open doors, ignoring status quos,
public enemy, rebel with a cause,
waking up, sliding down,
green grasslands, deserted deserts,
frying pans, juakali stands,
expensive malls, kiosks and shops,
religion fighting,
love with wrong timing,
sizzling syringes, sweet indulgences,
bright tall walls, shanties and stalls,
eluding hopes, steps on ropes,
classic thought,
just another note :-)