Just as I was praying for guidance on how to begin this story of mine, a new perspective popped into my mind which forced me to interrupt my prayers and note that perspective down on my exercise book. The perspective was a revelation that I have repeatedly prayed for financial breakthroughs so that I can afford a decent car yet I haven't thought of what I will give in return for getting that blessing. That was an insightful new way of thinking. So let me think about it some more.

Let me first say I am not interested in those get-rich-quick schemes that I have come across in my Facebook and LinkedIn social media accounts. Neither am I excited about participating in those popular local promotions like "Shinda MaMilli na Safaricom". For as the book of Proverbs counsels, whoever is eager to get rich quickly will not go unpunished. So I want to get rich from the labour of my mind, heart and hands because, like Abe Lincoln, I now believe a dollar earned is better than a dollar found.

Because I want to prosper from the work of my hands, I have resolved to work harder in posting interesting stories and videos on this lovely blog of mine. I will strive to be writing a story on a regular basis, unlike before when I would pen great stories in a series of several few days after which I would lapse into like nine-days indolence-mode during which I would write nothing. Yes, nothing at all. My prayer is that once I start writing regularly, as I have promised to be doing, my labour will win the respect of the executives of such global firms as Microsoft and Colgate-Palmolive who will request to advertise their companies' products on this blog.

Now that I have promised to be writing regularly, God-willing, I have decided to up my game by playing with four rules I have set. Let me mention them to you.

First, I will refrain from talking ill of anyone. Believe you me, there have been times I have been tempted to vent my spleen in the stories I post here by criticizing some people who have mocked or mistreated me in the past. Not any more. To borrow the words of Benjamin Franklin, I will from now speak ill of no one and talk all the good I know of everybody. So if you've been at loggerheads with me in the past, don't worry - I won't say it here.

Secondly, I will strive to make my stories reasonably long. My younger brother Symo, a fan of this blog, once complained to me that my stories are too short - something a reviewer of this blog mentioned when I applied for Google ads some time in 2016. That's why I have resolved to write longer stories while keeping them fresh and engaging.

Thirdly, I will now be more original. Back in 2016 when I became interested in copyright laws, I happened to read the fourth page of my NIV Bible where the publisher's name and other nitty-gritty details are listed. From that page, I learnt that anyone is free to quote any verse from the NIV Bible without permission from the publisher provided the quoted verses don't constitute more than 25% of the written work.

And from that notice in my Bible, I have decided that at least 75% of the contents in the stories I will write must be my own words. That means if I will have to quote any book (in which case I will always link my audience to the Amazon page from where they can purchase the book), I will not let the quoted text account for more than 25% of my story.

Lastly, as pertains to my new set of writing rules, I will strive to add humour to my stories. I have always been interested in developing a sense of humour ever since I first applied to top American colleges in 2006. The colleges, I noted, were not only interested in academic excellence and extra-curricular involvement but also in such qualities as maturity, integrity, creativity, self-confidence, sense of humour, warmth of personality, concern for others and reaction to setbacks. I will therefore be employing humor in my stories.

In a nutshell, I will thrive as a blogger by regularly posting on this blog original stories full of humor. And hopefully by doing so, I hope to earn money from the adverts on this blog and thus afford a car as I have been repeatedly praying about. So help me God.

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Yippee! It's now more than a month since I last posted a story on this lovely blog of mine. I have just checked my blog statistics and learnt that people have still been visiting this blog in the last one month. And I am sure some of them have been curious to know what on Earth has happened to me that has made cease to write.

Has Thuita taken a break to write a book? Or did he lose his mother who he once told us was diagnosed with a stroke a few years ago? Or could he have become depressed with that mental illness of his that he once informed us caused him to contemplate suicide several times?

Such must be the questions that have been popping up in the minds of my readers who know me best. But nothing satanic has happened to me in the past one month. Actually, I have become more composed, confident, peaceful and observant.

To answer those questions that might have been bothering my readers, let me first say I didn't take a break to author a book and never will. Why? Because writing an international best-seller requires time, attention to details, connections to a leading publisher as well as support by a talented team of editors - all of which I currently lack. So I have resolved to focus on writing stories and producing videos for this blog of mine which will be my gift to future generations, God-willing.

Secondly, my mother hasn't passed away either. She is still afflicted with stroke. And her illness has led me to treasure her these days by being there for her, either to assist or share stories with her. And from some of the stories I have had with her, I have come to learn more about my family lineage.

Unfortunately, she stumbled and sprained her left ankle a few weeks ago as I was helping her to get back to the house after a tour around our farm. That ankle sprain has immobilized her. We are now moving her everywhere in a wheelchair that my brother Paddy bought for her. Probably because of that immobility, she has gained weight in the past few weeks which I fear could cause her heart problems given that she underwent a heart-surgery at the turn of this century, a surgery during which surgeons inserted a pace-maker in her heart.

So worried have I become of the possibility of her suffering a heart-attack or something that I have feared she will never live to see me get married as it has always been my wish. But I am now finding it unwise to worry something over which I have no control. I am just praying to God for strength to deal with anything that might happen to her. And not just her, but anything else sinister that might happen to me or my family. Nonetheless, I am still hoping my mother will live to see me exchange wedding vows with my princess charming. For as someone in high school once advised us, I am preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

And lastly, what of the concern by my friends that I could have become depressed? Well, I once confided to my circle of friends that I suffered from a mental illness and that I contemplated suicide several times. You know what? Those were all lies and exaggerations. I am a healthy, educated and cultured young man of sound mind and good judgement. I have never been mentally ill. Neither have I ever contemplated suicide.

Actually what happened was that when I went astray during my second year at the university in JKUAT, the professor who first handled me after I was apprehended thought I was mentally ill. He therefore referred me to a psychiatrist who, perhaps for lack of independence of thought, diagnosed me for something like schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder.

At first, I resisted the diagnosis but nurses, aided by guards, forcefully put me to sleep with an injecttion. After that, I was handled as a patient of mental illness which led my family to believe I was sick. I, myself, also came to believe I was sick because I voluntarily turned up for regular medical check-ups during which nurses gave me tablets for daily intake.

Coming to think of it, I was never mentally sick. I figured out several years ago that I went astray at the university in an effort to acquire the courage and the mental clarity that I had lacked earlier on in life. Believe you me, I grew up as a confused and timid teenager - traits I didn't want to carry on into my adult life.

And I came to discover that the solution to those two weaknesses lay in studying, reflecting, exercising physically, indulging in my talents and most of all, by praying to God for strength, guidance, healing and insight on how to live. I have done all that as a result of which I can gratefully report that I am now a composed, confident, peaceful and observant young man.

So don't you ever think that I am mentally ill. Neither should you ever believe a rumour peddled by my detractors that Thuita was caught contemplating suicide. Again I say, I am a healthy, educated and cultured young man of sound mind and good judgement.

That aside, have I told you that I will now focus on writing stories and producing videos for this blog? I must have told you that. So I will try to follow up with that resolution with "discipline and consistency". I have put those two virtues in quotes because that's the way Commando Tito Okello mentioned them on a Facebook post of his several weeks ago. (Tito Okello was a school-mate of mine in high school where he served as a leader of Survival Club in 2002. We used to refer to Survival Club leaders as commandos. That's why I have addressed him as Commando Tito Okello.)

Therefore, if you are a fan of this lovely blog of mine, you better be visiting it daily for new stories or videos. Trust me, I will try to make my stories interesting, enlightening and inspiring; for videos, of the finest quality. And unlike before when I used to post in the morning before 8.30am, I will from now on be updating this blog any time of the day depending on when I write the story. Like I have posted this story at 7.44pm, about an hour after the Sun has set in the Ngong Hills that form the Western horizon of my home area. Stay tuned!

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