With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Azquotes.com. All rights reserved worldwide.
I grew up believing that every person was as kind and good-natured as I am. So when I took up writing as a hobby in 2010, I would share my stories with people I had known over the years. It was like I wanted everyone I knew to read my stories given the way I shared them widely.
Unfortunately, a number of people sent me negative feedback, with some commanding me to stop bothering them. And I received the negative feedback in spite of having done my best to be humorous and entertaining in the stories I penned.
Interestingly, I have received numerous compliments about how great I am at writing, but I tend to remember only the negative comments, something that has left me feeling hurt and resentful.
Having learnt how negativity hurts, I have long since left all social media groups where I have faced hostility. I have also reduced my inner circle of friends to only those who are amiable and understanding.
Amiable and understanding though I consider my inner circle of friends to be, I sometimes fear one of them might suddenly turn against me and write something nasty to me. Negativity hurts.
Should I face negative comments in the future, I will draw inspiration from Barack Obama. In his book The Audacity of Hope, Obama narrated how he remained kind to those who were hostile to him when he was first running for a political seat in 1996. His positive attitude won him many hearts who elected him to the Illinois state legislature. The rest, as they say, is history.
My beloved reader, you are also bound to encounter negative people as you make progress in your career. As someone quipped, expecting the whole world to be kind to you because you are good is like expecting a mad bull not to charge at you because you are a vegetarian. So be shaking off the negativity and soar bravely towards your dreams.
******************* NEW! NEW! NEW! If you missed my social media update three 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.
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Azquotes.com. All rights reserved worldwide. Last Friday, I was scheduled to record a hymn at a studio in Nairobi owned by my friend Sylvester Otieno. Before leaving home on the morning of that Friday, I asked God in prayer that I enjoy my journey to Sylvester's studio. I also prayed that the machines at the studio would work efficiently and that the recording of my hymn would go on swimmingly.
But alas! Instead of enjoying my journey to Nairobi, I found myself hating a certain guy who had meddled with my life. I hated him for dictating to me on what I should be doing with myself as if I didn't have a brain of my own. You see, I have this weakness of picking on someone who has wronged me and hating him over and over in my thinking.
Despite those disagreeable thoughts that were racing in my mind, I arrived safely at Sylvester's studio at around 9.30am. I found a genial office-boy named Nick doing some work in the studio. Sylvester, who expertly records my hymns, joined us about 45 minutes later.
After Sylvester greeted me, he apprised me that an electronic gadget known as sound-card had malfunctioned. He immediately got down to the work of fixing it. I watched helplessly as he and Nick tried to rectify the problem with the sound-card. But try as they could, it didn't work.
With the sound-card not working, the other alternative was to use another computer which could record my hymn without the sound-card. But here's the rub: the computer's power-unit had also malfunctioned. Sylvester sent Nick to downtown Nairobi to purchase a new power-unit for the computer.
Upon reaching the electronic shop where he was to buy the power-unit, Nick phoned Sylvester and told him it was retailing at Ksh. 3,000. To my understanding, Sylvester didn't have enough money for buying the power-unit, so he asked me to contribute Ksh. 2,000, which I did. He then sent the money to Nick who swiftly bought the power-unit.
As I waited for Nick to come, an interesting train of thoughts ran through my mind. I thought that just as man-made machines like computers malfunction, so do our God-created bodies malfunction. It could be a toothache, a stomach ulcer, a kidney failure, a lung cancer, a heart disease, a brain tumour, a sore throat or a running nose, just to name but a few.
And when it dawned on me that all my body parts were functioning well, I castigated myself for wasting my mental energy earlier in the day hating the guy who had meddled with my life. I instructed myself that I should have used my thinking capacity on counting my many blessings.
Nick came strutting with a new power-unit at around 2.30pm. The tech-savvy Sylvester inserted it into the computer that could record my hymn without a sound-card. And yikes! The damn thing didn't work. As him and Nick tried to locate the source of the glitch, I silently prayed that the computer would miraculously spring into action. It didn't.
After they failed to get the computer running, Sylvester informed me that we had to postpone the recording of my hymn to another day. I left the studio feeling disappointed with God for not answering my prayer that the machines at the studio would work efficiently and that the recording of my hymn would go on swimmingly.
While travelling back home, I remembered a favourite quote of mine that says, "O God, when I lose hope because my plans have come to nothing, then help me to remember that Your love for me is always greater than my disappointments, and that Your plans for my life are always better than my dreams." That quote brought cheer to my disappointed soul.
I also thought that my delayed stay at Sylvester's studio due to the technical hitches may have saved me from getting involved in a road accident. Maybe such thinking sounds weird to you but for me, it was so comforting that I walked home feeling a bit energized.
When I reached home at dusk, I found my parents in the living room of our mansion. They were watching a health program on the telly. I interrupted them and informed them that my day had been a waste since I hadn't accomplished my mission of recording my hymn. Then I went into my room to relax.
As I retired to bed at 9.13pm on that same disappointing Friday, I concluded that what matters at the end of the day is whether I am in good health and that my family members are okay. And because to the best of my knowledge both my loved-ones and I were in fine fettle, I drifted off to sleep feeling both happy and contented. Adieu!
************************ RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story on the disappointing day I had on Friday, you might also enjoy another one on "Some Bad Days I Once Had" that I wrote more than four years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
"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
Pride
Envy
Gluttony
Lust
Anger
Greed
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
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.
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.
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
The Simplon Tunnel
The Sky-scrapers of New York
The Boulder Dam of Colorado
The Panama Canal
The Golden Gate Bridge
The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
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
Space travel
Heart surgery
Fibre-optics communication
Concorde
Radios
Computers
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
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Franklin Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
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
MIT
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Brown
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
Albert Einstein
Isaac Newton
Galileo Galilei
Nikola Tesla
Aristotle
Archimedes
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
United States
Japan
Germany
France
United Kingdom
Italy
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
Politics without principle
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice
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
London in England
New York in the United States
Tokyo in Japan
Berlin in Germany
Chicago in the United States
Shanghai in China
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
Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
Lake Superior in North America
Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
Aral Sea in C.I.S.
Lake Huron in North America
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."
