Positive Quote for Today

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."— Maya Angelou


Exercising Patience Each Moment

A True Story
by
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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Eggcellent Work. All rights reserved worldwide.

When riding in matatus, I have often found myself feeling impatient. I have hated the many stops matatus make along the way and the traffic jams we have been caught in.

One afternoon last year, my impatience spoiled the happy mood I was in after a fellow passenger rebuked me for doing something to him as I hurried to get out of the matatu we had ridden in.

Recently, I asked myself: Why am I often in a hurry while riding in matatus? And where am I often headed to that makes me so impatient? Does it hurt being patient?

Asking myself such questions has made me think I have been one of those people that a favorite song of mine accuses of being filled with care, "headed who knows where?" without realizing people need the Lord.

And it's like I have been impatient for years because I have remembered times in the past when an idea excited me so much that I couldn't wait to make it happen. In my haste, I churned out creative works of poor quality.

This year, I have caught myself feeling impatient when elated. I have wanted to experience the next moment, even after I wrote the following note a couple of years ago and posted it on the sidebar of this blog:
I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination. So I am striving to enjoy each moment even as I anticipate to fulfill my dreams, especially meeting my soulmate and traveling abroad. Tomorrow may never be mine.
Having realized I have an impatience problem, I will strive to stay calm, cool and collected when excited. Some of the tasks I plan to do will be reading, writing, meditating or playing my piano keyboard. By taming my energy that way, I will develop the stamina I will need to conquer trials and tribulations when they arise. And arise they will.

My beloved reader, I urge you to also exercise patience each moment. Or as Jesus advises us in the Bible, live one day at a time. It is indeed true that tomorrow may never be ours.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on exercising patience each moment, you might also enjoy another one on "Being Patient With People" which I wrote two years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Why Plagiarism is Wrong

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Apr 11, 2025
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Quote Fancy. All rights reserved worldwide.

As I have reported before on this blog, Penn State University asserts that plagiarism is wrong because we deprive another author due credit for his work and we invite future employers and faculty to question our integrity and performance in general.

I now understand why Penn State dismisses plagiarism as wrongdoing. It's because a beautiful piece of writing is a product of many years of learning and experience. The writer of the piece therefore has an understanding that makes them think and behave well.

Someone who plagiarizes a beautiful piece of writing may be praised by his peers but he lacks the understanding that led to the penning of the writing. He will therefore do foolish things, hence why plagiarism is wrong.

I used to engage in plagiarism, a bad habit I began during my high school years at Starehe Boys' Centre. But I didn't do it in exams. Just in one essay-writing competition and in some harmless speeches I gave during evening assemblies, even when I was in fourth form in 2005.

Little wonder that when I was applying to four top American colleges in 2006, I mailed copies of an inspiring recommendation letter I had taken straight out of a book titled How to Get into Top Colleges. Of course I edited the letter a bit before having my high school physics teacher sign the copies I mailed.

What I found inspiring about my plagiarized recommendation letter was the way it said that I excelled in academics, music, sports and personal relationships, that I invested my soul in my studies and work, that I had a wonderful sense of humor, and that I was an exceptionally intelligent, caring, mature and balanced young man.

You know what? That recommendation letter was just a tissue of lies. To give but one example, I didn't excel in personal relationships, something that was apparent in 2007 when I joined a choir at All Saints' Cathedral in Nairobi where some choristers became suspicious of me due to my shyness.

As the years wore on, I engaged in more plagiarism. One evening in 2012 for instance, I gave a speech to the All Saints' Cathedral choir I joined in 2007. Some choristers thought my speech brilliant but I had plagiarized it from a stirring speech that Rev. Jesse Jackson delivered in 1984.

Had I been the author of that speech, I would have had the understanding to not do the sins I committed in the years that followed. Sins like putting some of my friends down, sharing smutty jokes with born-again Christians, and telling barefaced lies in the stories I posted on Facebook.

But the worst plagiarism I did was in the stories I posted on a blog I set up in 2013. It was the worst plagiarism because the stories could be read by anyone all over the world. In the words of one blogger I came across on the internet, that blog I set up in 2013 was "held together by plagiarism".

Among the stories I posted on that blog were those written by Ken Ngishili and Joe Mazzella, two amazing writers I bumped into on the internet. They extolled the virtues of love, kindness and compassion in their stories but I continued wallowing in hate, guilt and jealousy after pasting their stories on my blog. Indeed, plagiarism isn't right.

Having realized that plagiarism is wrong, I now understand why my Roget's Thesaurus classifies it under stealing together with burglary, poaching, pirating and cattle-rustling. How glad I am that I stopped plagiarising after rebranding this blog in 2016 to what it looks like now!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on why plagiarism is wrong, you might also enjoy another one on "The 8th Commandment" which I wrote a couple of years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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Latest Stories

Exercising Patience Each Moment
on April 16, 2025

Why Plagiarism is Wrong
on April 11, 2025

Part 2: Bearing Good Fruit
on April 06, 2025

Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Nationality: Kenyan
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just for Laughs

There was this drunkard named Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination. So I am striving to enjoy each moment even as I anticipate to fulfill my dreams, especially meeting my soulmate and traveling abroad. Tomorrow may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tip

So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help to give you that greatest blessing of all - good health.


Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

Great Example for Politicians

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

Although I'd like to be rich and famous, my supreme desire is to be radiant: to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry and jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so; to treat all men with kindness; and to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)