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


How I Lost My Way

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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Quotelia. All rights reserved worldwide.

When I was at Starehe Boys' Centre where I had my high school and college education, I discovered that I have a talent for public speaking from the way I felt elated after giving a speech. People would also compliment me for speaking eloquently.

In 2002 after I delivered my first speech during evening assembly, a prefect commended me for it the following day when I reported to his study for duty. I was in Form 1 that year.

A classmate also thought my speech was wonderful given the way he asked me whether my senior brother Paddy, who was also in the school, had penned it. What I didn't disclose to the classmate was that I had intelligently plagiarized the contents of the speech from a social education and ethics textbook.

Then in January 2007 during my final year in Starehe, I delivered three inspiring speeches that earned me some peer respect, thus encouraging me to continue honing my public speaking talent. I turned to the internet and searched for great speeches I could emulate.

While doing the search, I stumbled on a website called "American Rhetoric" which had a collection of the most influential speeches of the 20th century. I listened to some of the speeches but the one that touched me most was John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address.

So much did the inaugural address touch me that I would listen to it over and over again. I admired the way Kennedy spoke maturely and articulately. It must be one of the reasons that made me consider pursuing a political career.

I was further motivated to get into politics after reading Bill Clinton's memoir and Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. Both Clinton and Obama led me to believe that running for a political seat is easy with the way they described how they enjoyed campaigning.

Come 2013 when Kenya was to hold its first general elections since the promulgation of a new constitution, I registered to run for a county representative seat (now known as MCA seat). And alas! Campaigning for the seat didn't turn out to be easy for me.

There was a time, for instance, I approached an influential Maasai elder named Ole Murkuk. When I began telling him about my political ambition, he quickly dismissed what I was saying in a manner that indicated he didn't want to hear from me any more.

Probably discouraged by that experience, I didn't go around my home area canvassing for votes with the enthusiasm I had envisioned. That's unlike Obama who, as he narrated in The Audacity of Hope, kept on campaigning whether people were friendly, indifferent or hostile.

With time, I came to realize that I wasn't hardwired for a career in politics. My nature can't allow me to engage in the mockery and corruption that are often too much in evidence in the politics and governance of our nation.

It was my public speaking talent that lured me into thinking that I could succeed as a politician, making me waste the years I spent strategizing on how to get into politics. I even enrolled at the University of Nairobi to pursue a political science degree which I didn't finish due to financial constraints.

But I still possess a talent for public speaking. I plan to use it to inspire people to overcome their past, become better persons, believe in their dreams, connect with others and leave a legacy of love and kindness. So help me God.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on how I lost my way, you might also enjoy another one on "Imitation is Limitation" 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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Developing Self-confidence

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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from the website of Matt Fraser. All rights reserved worldwide.

In 2011, I reconnected with a high school classmate of mine named Samson Muthusi who I sometimes met near the hostel in Nairobi where I was staying. He would share his thoughts with me as I feasted on one of those meals he bought me.

Among the things Muthusi told me were his dreams and beliefs. Boy, didn't I envy his self-confidence! He appeared comfortable in his own skin. That's unlike me who didn't have total faith in myself.

Maybe it's that self-confidence that made Muthusi get recognised as a leader during our high school years at Starehe Boys' Centre. He was the first student in my year to be promoted to a senior prefect.

As for me, I have never been blessed with self-confidence. During my years at Starehe where I outperformed most of my classmates in academics, I wasn't confident enough to be appointed to a leadership position.

I continued being unconfident well into adulthood. It has been disheartening to read a lot and then have less studious people control me and dictate what I should do with my life.

And lacking self-confidence has caused me problems. I have often been held emotionally hostage by people's opinions. A distant neighbor I used to visit, for instance, affected how I felt when she gave me her advice.

One evening in 2011 when I visited the neighbor, she said something which I agreed with. That made me feel so inspired that I literally danced all the way home.

Perhaps encouraged by her inspiring talk, I visited her again. And lo! This time, she said something that triggered my guilt feelings. Needless to say, I walked home like a rained-on chicken. What a timid fellow I was!

Because I have always committed myself to constant improvement, I bought Dale Carnegie's How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking one day in 2022. I read the whole book but didn't gain endearing knowledge on how to develop self-confidence and influence people.

But, as they say, "aluta continua" (the struggle continues!). I am therefore striving to develop confidence in my ideas, in my dreams, in my abilities, and in my own unique way of thinking. Not an unwise goal for you to set as well, my beloved reader!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on developing self-confidence, you might also enjoy another one on "Thinking, Believing & Daring" 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

Thinking Noble Thoughts
on February 10, 2025

Finding the Way
on February 05, 2025

How I Lost My Way
on January 31, 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 hate, guilt, worry, jealousy, cynicism and envy. I wish to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so and to treat all men with kindness - 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)