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


Benefits of Physical Exercises

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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from a website called Natural News. All rights reserved worldwide.

When I went astray at the university in JKUAT exactly ten years ago, I was forcefully admitted at Thika Nursing Home and then at JKUAT hospital for a period amounting to about four weeks. I didn't do any form of physical exercise or engage in any intellectual activity like reading during those four weeks I was hospitalised. All I did was eating and taking medication. Because of that, I grew fat by the time I was getting discharged from JKUAT hospital.

Several of my friends who saw me after I was released from JKUAT hospital commented on how plump I had become. My brother Bob Njinju was among the first to point out my weight gain. He once asked me in the December of that year 2008, "Thuita, are you really feeling comfortable in that weight?"

Several months later, my high school deskmate Martin Wamoni was taken aback when we met on a path at JKUAT. He asked me, "Did someone pump something into you?"

Such kind of reactions didn't impress me because I had never wished to grow big all my life. In the months that followed, I battled to lose that excess weight which I eventually succeeded in 2011 thanks to doing a lot of walking.

I still do try to keep my weight under control by exercising regularly. These days, I have formed the habit of jogging and walking to Kiserian Town, which is about four kilometres from where I live. Good heavens, it's turning out to be fun!

And exercising physically is good for health and peace of mind. In his best-selling autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela wrote, "I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind."

Then Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, historian and philosopher, wrote to a friend, "The body of an athlete and the soul of a sage: these are what we require to be happy."

A wonderful book I own titled Glencoe Health: A Guide to Wellness, aptly sums up the benefits of physical exercises when it says that physical exercise:
  • strengthens your cardiovascular system,
  • helps you control weight,
  • burns off unnecessary fat,
  • improves your appearance,
  • improves your sleep,
  • improves your breathing,
  • reduces stress,
  • improves your mood and outlook,
  • decreases your appetite,
  • gives you more energy and decreases fatigue,
  • uses time productively,
  • reduces boredom,
  • provides social opportunities,
  • boosts your self-esteem![1]
Those facts about the benefits of physical exercises have inspired me to keep on exercising, come rain come sunshine. My dear reader, I beseech you to also join me in embracing a lifestyle that includes physical exercises so that our bodies may glow with good health. That's all I am saying.

***************
[1] I have extracted these benefits of physical exercises from page 17 of Glencoe Health: A Guide to Wellness (Texas Edition) by Mary Bronson and Don Merki, published in 1987 by McGraw Hill.

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How I Met a VIP

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This is Hon. Peter Kenneth who I met in 2011 in his office when he was serving as an MP as well as the Assistant Minister of Planning, National Development and Vision 2030.

Around that time in 2011 when I was preparing to run for a political seat in the then forthcoming Kenya's general elections, I tried to solicit for support from Hon. Peter Kenneth who was gunning for presidency. A friend of mine named Ken Ogutu happened to view a Facebook comment I had written to Hon. Kenneth.

Ogutu rebuked me for openly asking for support from Hon. Kenneth. He thought that very ungentlemanly. And then he went ahead to share with me the email address of Hon. Kenneth so that I could contact him privately for whatever help I needed. He instructed me not to share the address with anyone, "even under torture".

Soon afterwords, I contacted Hon. Kenneth through that address in an email in which I mentioned to him that I was preparing to run for a political seat. Much to my delight, he replied to the email and invited me to meet him in his office on a day whose date I never recorded.

All I remember is that on the eve of the day I was to meet him, I was giddy with excitement. I phoned my friend Michael Njeru to inform him of my expected encounter with Hon. Kenneth who was emerging as one of the leading politicians in the country. Michael however didn't seem to share in my excitement since my calls and messages to him that night went unanswered.

When the day I was to meet Hon. Kenneth dawned, I found myself feeling anxious. And that morning before I departed to his office, perhaps to allay my anxiety, I entered into a cyber cafe, got into YouTube and listened to the wonderful old hymn "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour" whose refrain goes as follows:
Saviour, Saviour, hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by.
I arrived at the building that housed Hon. Kenneth's office before noon, feeling as nervous and timid as a mouse. After I was cleared by security agents, I was asked to wait for Hon. Kenneth in a waiting room where I found myself with another elderly and poor-looking man who was also scheduled to see him.

Being forced to wait for Hon. Kenneth only served to heighten my anxiety. It must have also bored me because I constantly felt like dozing on the sofa I was seated on. I attempted to ward off my sleep, for I feared dozing on the sofa would put me at loggerheads with security agents.

Hon. Kenneth did finally come to his office from wherever he had been. And after a while, my turn to see him reached. Well, my meeting with him didn't turn out to be as magical and monumental as I had anticipated. On the contrary, it happened to be an ordinary chat, the kind that people have in a pub.

As we chatted, he asked me why I was choosing to get into politics. He also asked me whether I knew Peter Munene. I answered "yes" because I have known Peter Munene since I was a boy. (At that time I was meeting Hon. Kenneth, Peter Munene was the councillor of my home area.)

Before we ended our ordinary chat which turned out to be short, Hon. Kenneth advised me to visit churches while campaigning for the political seat I would vie for. And that, my beloved reader, is my story of how I met a VIP. Adieu!

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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
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 trying to enjoy each day 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. Computers & Radios
  6. Anesthetics
  7. The atom bomb

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)