A Positive Quote for Now

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


When Sleep Became a Problem

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from Jackman's Journey. All rights reserved worldwide.

Before 2008, I don't remember having trouble with sleep: always going to bed on time and waking up the following day without a struggle. Of course most of the time I woke up to attend school.

But then came August 2008, or thereabouts. During that month, I started overstaying in bed, sometimes till noon. After that, sleep became more of a problem for me.

In 2010 for instance, I'd set my phone alarm for around 1 a.m. so that when it rang, I'd feel happy that I still had some more hours to sleep. I was staying here at home then after dropping out of an engineering degree program.

As time wore on, I started having nights when I'd feel so excited that I'd stay up all night thinking and listening to my favorite songs and speeches. But that made me feel groggy the following day.

I also started having nights when I'd stir from sleep and get out of bed, feeling I had had enough sleep, only to check the time and see it was, say 1.20 a.m. It's like I was now undersleeping.

Those changes in my sleeping patterns bothered me, what with all the warnings I had heard about oversleeping, like the famous one in the book of Proverbs which begins, "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..."

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "A Little Sleep, a Little Slumber...".
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My Storytelling Journey

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Mar 20, 2019
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from the website of Jeff Bullas. All rights reserved worldwide.

I first told a story way back in 1998 to, well, my classroom when it was empty at luch hour. Though no one was applauding me, I enjoyed the experience. But the story wasn't of my own making; I had heard it on TV.

It's not until I joined Starehe Boys' Centre in 2002 that I had opportunities to share stories with real audiences. In first form, I asked our geography teacher - a likeable lady called Miss Mwangi - to let me share a story with my classmates during her lesson. She allowed me.

I also shared stories with the whole school during evening assemblies right from my first-form year. When I gave Rev. Macharia a copy of the first speech I delivered, he asked me whether I could face the whole school. I did.

Well, I felt nervous as I sat on the assembly hall podium, waiting to give the speech. But when I stood up and started speaking, my nervousness disappeared like darkness at dawn. And that's what happened to me several other times I gave speeches in the school.

But some of my speeches were embarrassing, especially one in which I tried to speak without referring to notes. But I became better as my Starehe years wore on. When I was in fourth form for instance, a schoolmate called Ndambuki complimented me for a speech I gave on Einstein.

But the speeches I gave in January 2007 when I was in the institute division of the school were the best. I urged the students to think like geniuses and ended with a shaggy-dog story that set the whole assembly convulsing with laughter.

Wonderful though some of my speeches were, I've to confess they were products of plagiarism. Several schoolmates were smart enough to realize that. But that didn't embarrass me.

Since leaving Starehe in April 2007, I've not had many opportunities to speak in public. But thanks to the internet, I've carried on with my storytelling hobby. How? Oh, setting up this lovely blog!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "A Shaggy-Dog Story I Told".
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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
Marital status: Single
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 called 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; I have therefore given up the things that weighed me down and I am now living my life to the fullest because the tomorrow I had always hoped to live my dreams 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 Tips

"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 give you that greatest blessing of all - good health."

~From Your Body (A Ladybird Book)

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

The Kind of Leaders We Need

"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

To borrow the words of Elbert Hubbard, my supreme desire is 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)