The Spark of Bravery

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Inspiration Boost. All rights reserved worldwide.

Recently, I mentioned on this blog a communication textbook I once came across in a library. The book had another inspiring speech but one about courage that Thomas Watson Jr., a former CEO of IBM, delivered in a graduation ceremony. Since I don't have a copy of the speech, let me retell what I can remember.

Watson spoke convincingly about the virtue of courage and how to acquire it. He first began by saying that we all do our best to protect our bodies. We wear heavy clothes in cold weather and knee pads when playing sports.

What most of us don't realize is that we have something more valuable than our bodies. And that is our mind, our ideas and our ability to think independently and stand up for something.

Ironically, we can't protect our ideas and way of thinking by wearing something on our heads. Exposing the ideas to ridicule and criticism is the only way to protect them.

It's a fact of life that the mass world we live in tends to erode the hard bumps of conviction we acquire. If we therefore start working on an idea, we should brace ourselves for opposition from those who equate newness with wrongness.

An important truth to keep in mind as we fight for our ideas is that someone flattened by an opponent can get up again but those flattened by conformity stay down for good. We should however avoid becoming so radical that nobody sides with us.

All the legends we hear about also faced opposition before making a mark on our world. And they triumphed because they stood for courage first, cost second; principle first, safety second; individuality first, adjustment second.

Take Socrates for instance. When he was charged for impiety and corrupting the youth, he asserted, "...Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength, I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy..."

Thomas Watson Jr. said more in his inspiring speech but that's the most I can remember. Retelling the speech has clearly reminded me to be bold when standing up for my ideas and way of thinking. Not an unwise thing for you to do as well, my beloved reader!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story, you might also enjoy Daring to Become.
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Was Young & Foolishly Mistaken

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Jun 5, 2025
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Greeting Ideas. All rights reserved worldwide.

I enjoy listening to Dolly Parton. She sings beautifully and inspirationally. One song of hers that I like is "Holding On to Nothin'" which she sang with the late Porter Wagoner.

In "Holding On to Nothin'", Dolly and Wagoner sang about how the years had shown no kindness for the hard times they had been through, how they were young and foolishly mistaken, and how only God knew how long and hard they tried.

Like Dolly and Wagoner, I, too, was young and foolishly mistaken. As telling all the foolish mistakes I have done would lengthen this story to a scary level, let me tell you only the ones I have done in my writing journey.

When I took up writing as a hobby in 2010, it was like I had found the love of my life because I felt excited after sharing my stories with friends. I would imagine them relishing the interesting words and phrases I had used.

Some friends did appreciate my stories but most were indifferent or hostile. I am now realizing that I failed to interest my readers because my stories just weren't good. But all was not lost because I gained valuable experience that helped me when I started writing truthfully in 2016.

I have enjoyed coming up with truthful stories that I have been sharing on this blog. And I thought I was doing a pretty good job until this year when it started dawning on me that I was writing mediocrely after noting how wordy and repetitive my stories were.

Realizing how mediocre my blog stories have been is what makes me think that the stories I wrote before 2016 weren't good because I didn't take writing seriously in those days. And here was me rejoicing at the stories I shared back then.

What has bothered me was the opinion my readers formed about me. Some of them certainly thought I was a fool, which I was. Okay, let me just say that like Dolly and Wagoner, I was young and foolishly mistaken.

But I am now at peace after understanding that all experts make such mistakes before gaining mastery of their craft. Pastor Rick Warren said it best: "You can't make a life without making mistakes. Relax and learn something."

I can honestly say that the foolish mistakes I have made in my writing journey have moulded me into a better writer, and a wiser person too! Those who appreciate my writings may think I am a born writer but like Dolly and Wagoner, only God knows how long and hard I've tried.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on how young and foolishly mistaken I was, you might also enjoy another one on "Mistakes That Made Me Grow" which I wrote six years ago.
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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 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; 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

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

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)