I don't know about you but for me, I am lucky to have been born handsome. My first realization that I am handsome happened one day in the mid-90s after I had my first haircut at a barbershop. (Previously, my mother used to shave my hair by running a pair of scissors across my head like a tractor ploughing a farmland.) On the evening of the day I had my first haircut in a barbershop, an aunt of mine called Mukui kept on commenting about how handsome I looked.
Somehow as the years wore on, I faced a lot of criticism which lowered my self-esteem to a point that I lost that conscious belief that I am handsome. I was criticized for cooking meals poorly, for not dressing smartly, for doing my domestic chores shoddily and for not excelling in school the way my brothers did. Those pieces of criticism diminished my self-esteem for shizzle.
My self-esteem was further weakened during one school holiday in 2002 when I was a Form 1 student at Starehe Boys' Centre. This is what happened: my mother noticed a gap on the front part of my teeth. She asked me in a concerned manner whether I had lost a tooth at school. I hadn't lost a tooth but Mum's concern made me worry about my looks. As the days went by, I would silently wish the gap on the front part of my teeth would close itself. It never did.
Martin Wamoni, a deskmate of mine in high school, was among the first people to reawaken my belief that I am handsome when he asked me at one time in 2003 to never have my sideburns shaved completely. The day I reported back to school with my sideburns visible after a haircut, Martin and some other classmates remarked on how good I looked. I couldn't have been more proud of myself.
Then when I was in Form 4 in 2005, our biology teacher - a PhD holder named Dr. Makobe - further bolstered my self-esteem after she told us during one lesson that some women get attracted to men who have a gap on the front part of their teeth. Dr. Makobe's remark made me instantly proud of the gap on the front part of my teeth, the same gap that had worried me a few years before when my mother brought it to my attention.
By the time I was finishing high school in November 2005, I had regained that vital belief that I am handsome. And I could tell I was indeed handsome by the interest some girls were showing in me. On one Sunday afternoon in December 2005 for instance, I overheard a certain lass tell a guy called Dan that I was very handsome. That was during a meeting of my hometown Catholic church youth group.
So much did I become proud of my looks that I would sometimes admire my reflection in a mirror. At one time in 2006 when I was in Starehe Institute pursuing a diploma in information technology, I took a selfie with my brother's digital camera and then put the photo on the screen of one of the institute's computers. You can call it vanity if you like, but I am telling you the truth.
But then came September 2008. On that month, I was forcefully admitted in a hospital after I went astray at the university. Oh my! I gained a lot of weight during my time in the hospital due to too much eating and little exercising. That weight gain lowered my self-esteem so much that I lost the belief that I am handsome. I would sometimes feel embarrassed of my looks as it happened one Sunday in 2010 when I saw my face on video screens at All Saints' Cathedral in Nairobi during a church concert.
Over the last two years, I have worked hard to regain my good looks by eating moderately and going for one-hour walks in the evening. My efforts have bore fruits since I am now as lean as I would love to be. These days, I am again proud of the way I look, including the sideburns on my head and the gap on the front part of my teeth. Sometimes when I see my reflection in a mirror, I whisper to the reflection, "You handsome thing!"
Now that I have regained my good looks, I have resolved to maintain them for the rest of my life in this grand and beautiful planet. How? By:
- eating moderately
- exercising every day
- having noble thoughts
- drinking water regularly
- engaging in a labor of love
- associating with positive people
- bathing and brushing my teeth daily
- refraining from drug, alcohol and substance abuse
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NEW! NEW! NEW! If you missed my social media update two days ago, let me take this opportunity to inform you that I have produced a new hymn which is available in the videos' section of this blog. Just click on the "videos" link on the menu at the top of this blog to access the hymn.
