Tuesday, 25 December 2018

Christmas to us

We could not afford it. It was a want and all we needed was food, clothing and shelter. I was fine by me but what about my two siblings? Did they understand we could not afford it? Did they know that all that matters is good health and happiness and one did not need new clothes and cook a lot of food when not being hungry is enough? Being the first born is really not easy.

Mother, a love that one cannot understand and all we can do is pray for a longer stay on earth, a long life to enjoy the fruits of our labour... My mom bought Christmas clothes in instalments and at time she would end up spending six or more months to make sure that when the kids in the neighbourhood wore new clothes, we also had smiles on our faces with our own. She had pyjamas on for the day as we played and cooked what she had saved for on that day. Nobody came knocking with gift for Christmas. I am not complaining, I giving thanks.

With time things got tough, the economy! Then a silver lining presented itself. We have been brought up in the ways of God and that explains why church to us was a must. It came a time that we use to register names a week to Christmas and on Christmas day early in the morning, one would present themselves to church and would be handed the green paper bag (the ones branded with a man on a horse and a calendar on the other side) that contained something for Christmas. I thank God for such times. We would eat chapattis and tell neighbours ‘mommy is making us awesome food for Christmas’.

I am sitting here and thinking to myself after sitting down, my mother, my brothers and I having cooked a lot of food and eating to our fill, that it was because of someone setting aside something for those who cannot afford a Christmas meal, is the reason we smiled and ate chapatti on Christmas. It is because of their kind gestures, we found meaning for Christmas. May god bless them for then and continue to, for those who selflessly offer to provide for others.

Dear reader, 
Make sure to share a smile and a day during this season with someone who does not have that privilege. Do not be selfish; make someone look back at this festive season and thank God for it. It was my mother’s effort to save up for Christmas despite the little we had until we grew to understand that Christmas is not all clothes and the food but remembering to be joyful that God showed love and let us have His only son to come and suffer for our sins atonement. He had to lose for us to gain. I sit to think to myself, He must have cried and had a lot of pain knowing His son was leaving to suffer the brutal world for salvation to mankind and also the initiative from those who gave for us to have.

Merry Christmas from my family to you.


Image courtesy - Google Images 

Thursday, 29 November 2018

How to get over that break up


By the time you are 18 you have a bearing of exactly what you want and if mature enough, understand what you need. If you believed it was time to put yourself out there and say it, well, it only means someone found out what you wanted and either misunderstood you or simply took advantage. For others it starts as a casual thing that leads to it becoming more than anticipated and in the process it becomes more complex and before you know it, you love each other and become vulnerable until when it becomes rocky and you have to let go and it is the worst experience.

My mom says it is worse than losing someone to death. I think it is because when someone dies, it is with time you understand you will never see them again but with love, the person lives and you have to come to terms with the fact you two cannot be together anymore.

Below is my advice on getting over the break up and moving forward. Note, it does not work with everyone but it works for some and I am not a psychiatrist.

Feel the pain and let it talk to you. Break down, please, break down as low as you can. Cry, use all the towels and napkins but once you are done, you are done. Men, please, no one has to see you cry but lock up and cry. Feel the pain and when you feel it, you will get over it. As you get okay with the pain, find a coping mechanism and you will be amazed how fast you move on. It is in pain that you realize the signs and red flags, the late night meetings and mteja phases and why the other party changed all of a sudden and stop being the person you fell in love with.

Talk to someone. Have someone you can openly tell what you feel and make sure you do not defend yourself but say exactly what you feel and why it hurts so bad. It may be a professional or someone who has had firsthand experience and knows all they have to do is listen and be there (also it should be someone who keeps it one hundred percent real with you)

Also have some time alone. It is good to have some time alone so that you can plan your next move and rethink of the few things you had put pending that you can work on. That business you had thought about, the idea of enrolling for a certificate/ Diploma/ Degree/ Bachelor to certain skill set or how to remodel your house. Alone time makes you creative and allows you to get some things done and plan out as you fall off the idea of having to be around someone and being okay being alone.

Be okay you did everything you could to make it work. This is for everyone who is left and has tried to do everything to make things work. Just accept that some people will never forgive or never wanted to be with you in the first place and hence opted to let you go. If by any chance it was a cheating scenario, if you are the one who cheated, be okay and be honest that you did cheat and it was not the other parties fault but yours. Why would I accept I cheated when he |she cheated and I was showing them I can do so too? Well honey, let us be honest, if you would have confronted them, it could have been settled in a better way, if you got into a conversation to understand what was wrong and caused that, it would have been settled and if you did make it clear that if they cheat you will leave, well, one can take only enough. For the person who was cheated on, be okay it happened. It was never your fault. If someone cheats, it is by their own will. They might say you were not talking to each other but, they should have fixed the issue but not go ahead and cheat. If they say they were: lonely, drunk, you were not there etc., then they would have echoed it out to work something out with you, not cheat. You trap the mouse that is the issue/poison to kill it but not burn down the whole house.

Get back to your hobbies and likes. Before you met this person you are getting over, you had things that occupied your time and made you feel happy. Please, go back to them. It is in those hobbies you replace them with the idle Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday evenings you spent together. That is why I advise my friends and myself that if you dare get into a relationship, do not be the type that throws their friends off the window and now that things are sour you start looking for them if there is anyone left.

Also, if you are good at not memorizing contacts like me, delete the contacts, the messages, do the blocking on all the social sites because let be real… OUT OF SITE, OUT OF MIND. You matter first before every single thing, then everything follows, take care of you because only you are stuck with you for the rest of your life.

And after the healing, be open to the idea that there is someone else out there and they do not have to be like your ex, actually, they are not your ex. Now this part comes later when you are okay being alone, you have that thing you are running on the side, you have a career taking off or something is happening in your life. Do not let one bad scene or two or three determine that you are done, be okay that cupid will come around but whoever he brings must be ready to complement you and fit in your life and not disrupt it, someone to help you grow.

When you heal, you do not bleed to the next person and that saves you a whole lot of drama. So heal at your time but do not dwell in the pain. Some of you love the pain and make our lives all about your pain and to be honest, we do not care and cannot deal, so we leave you there in that hell as we move on to a better person who has their s#$t together.

But before I let you go, make sure that before you walk out or throw in the towel in any relationship, that you have done everything to make things work, I mean! Everything! why? Because when you walk out, you do not want to start thinking about, what if I did this, this would have happened and maybe… blah blah blah. Be at peace with yourself and the effort to try repairing anything that went wrong and move on.


Image courtesy - Google Images

Thursday, 2 August 2018

Stop with the facade


I am seated here checking out some of your social media profiles and I must commend you. Why? Some y’all are ‘filthy rich’ and ‘living large on the first lane’

Quick question though, who are you fooling? Is it worth it? Is the stress of any good? Most of your followers do not know you, care about you and do not bother. So when you have to short sight two to three suitors in your contact list to sponsor your next party or trip, someone is selling second hand clothes elsewhere and due to the knowledge that they hustled for the money the legit way, they invest instead of spending on wants. So between you two, who is the stupid one?

I know some of you are thinking, but, others short sight them and invest instead of squander, well, how about you go out there and see how many are. It will shock you that with time the money is a lot to where the brain tells them, “let us spend today, we’ll save tomorrow” and the cycle continues, right? Now you are nodding your head because it is true. Ha-Ha.

Do not get me wrong, I enjoy the finer things in life and when I get to take that boat ride, escapade or buy that expensive shirt I want and do not need, I get to enjoy it to the brim because I go for value of my money *and by the way, noticed I called it my money? Yes, you get to boast knowing very well, no one can bring receipts that you are on their budget and hence you are free from them taking advantage of you.

So how about you start being real with yourself? How about you start working for the money than asking and getting lazy at it? I know, that body is everyone’s desire, but do you also know that time changes everything? Will they embrace that change? Will they still want you when those babies come and the effects start kicking in? Will they also want to see you when you cannot pound the yam same way you used to Mr.?

All I am saying, grow a pair, the world owes you nothing. You do not owe the world a fancy watch photo that you did not afford neither pay for, a trip that you paid with your private parts and neither do you owe anyone a fake lifestyle that costs you your piece of mind and from living life the right way. I am not saying right has to be the ten commandment right, but, when deep down it feels right… if it feels right, it is right.

Trust me on this, when you can afford a trip for leisure purposes, a Bvlgari watch and some good designer outfit and a shoe to match it, it is the most awesome feeling whatever your age than knowing someone else financed it and you owe them your time, social circle and freedom. My mantra is, work hard in your twenties, invest in your thirties and live off the profits in your forties. Time might slow this process or fasten it. Do not worry, my clock is not your clock, let it run on its own pace but when you get there, help someone else out (it is called humanity, paying it forward… you might not see the benefits, but they are there). I know I am not your favorite blogger right now but, you know I am right. Embrace the process, stop running away from it.


Image courtesy - Google search


Sunday, 20 May 2018

Love in my finest definition


Yes, I have been loved, I have loved before... the wrong person though. I loved the way I knew best. I loved with my truth. So what is love, what is right in love and what should you know when on this journey?

I have learnt the hard way that love is just not saying, I love you, it is you knowing that you love yourself so much that you want the best for yourself that it sends a message to the person you fall for, to look at how you love yourself that they want to be part and parcel of that love. That is love.
I have also learnt that love is not a part time job, it is a full time job. You have to love when they are all well and ok to the time they are sneezing and look like they just had an electrocution chair treatment. One will get moody along the way but all it means is they need space.

The body will change and whomever you met five to ten years ago will not in any way look like what you are seeing at the moment, but hey, the only thing constant in life is change. Embrace the change and adapt. Just as a poor man can win a lottery and adapt into riches, adapt accordingly.

Respect is one thing we lose for each other along the way. You might say you have never spoken rudely to your partner but do you know even discussing your partner to others instead of confronting and talking to them about your discomfort is disrespecting them? Not listening when they are quiet and also when they speak is also disrespect, not adapting to allowing each other to experience who the other is (like knowing they hate when dishes are left not arranged on the sink even if dirty or they love listening to music without distraction as they clear their chores) is also a form of disrespect.

Communication is a vital thing that needs to be open at all cost, be transparent without fear and I can assure you cases of withheld assets and accounts will never come to bite you in the rear. Let them know there is a secret account even if they will not know how much is in there. It creates trust and hence they will be rest assured that if you tell them you are out with the boys or the girls, it is exactly what you have said that is going on.

Close your ears to the public. Not everyone will be happy you are happy in your marriage or relationship and will do their best to ruin a good thing. Let the public talk but listen to what your partner says. Do not go taking every advice you get and act to it when you can decide to trash, take some and use what is important to build up. The philosophy of an independent woman has been preached and exhausted in the right to a wrong perception but we all know, most successful unions have worked because every partner knows what they are expected to bring to the table and responsibilities to fulfill… if a woman is to subject, subject and in the right way and if a man is to lead, lead but not control at the expense of the others peace and happiness.

A union between two should be with both persons from different walks of life but with a target that brings them together that involves them to each other’s life to get to that goal faster and easier as a team. You cannot play football alone, you need a team to win. Union is not a test, stop copying the other couple on what they are doing and applying the same to yours, their paper is different from yours. It is not a test and hence stop coming into the exam room frightened and with answers from nowhere on how to answer, it is an experience that enables you to find what works for you two, how and when. Stop panicking, just like life, we live it forward and connect the dots backwards.

I have come to understand, commitment to make things work, encouraging each other, respect, communication, team playing, being there for the other and open communication amongst others is what it means to say you are in love. That is when you say I AM IN LOVE.

          ©Francis Wairimu

Image courtesy - Google


Friday, 6 October 2017

Sensitivity

Hey! You missed me? Well I am back after the best birthday month ever, thanks to family and friends.

What defines us human is the ability to feel and do most things that animals are limited to do. We have feelings and we need them in order to live with each other. That is why it will be hard for me to maintain a certain volume of noise at certain times because something inside me will remind me to mind my neighbors hence reduce the volume so that they can have rest after a long day.

What I want us to consider mostly is what we say and when to say it. I remember somewhere I read that ‘Knowledge is knowing what to say but wisdom is knowing when and how to say it.’ It simply means, you do not walk in to a ward full of cancer patients and shout like a mad person “my friend had cancer and they died, so if you have cancer you must die,” or “They were a thief and so they deserved to die” in the middle of a burial where family and friends are mourning. Like really, what is wrong with you?

People are sensitive and as said earlier, men are super but rarely show it, so do not let the smile and stiff facial expression fool you. The make-up and eye lashes are just a mirage but in the person, if they decided to open up, people are going through worst case scenarios, scenarios that will make you break down and hate yourself from being a pain in the rear … people are hurting.

So when someone comes to you to tell you, “I just lost my job” try and ask them how they are holding up and take them places they do not need to think too much about the situation instead of asking them “What did you do?, Did you save while working or you were busy paying for our drinks with what you should have been saving?” reality will hit soon and with time some questions become easy and right to ask-is what I am trying to put across.

If by any given chance, you know you are bad at asking what and when… zip up that mouth, you do not have to say more after the word sorry. We are humans, so let us act like humans and consider situations before reacting or saying something because “once a word is uttered, it can never be reclaimed” people will keep silent about it but they will remember. Be sensitive enough to ask yourself, what would I want to hear from people when I am going through a certain ordeal? And pap, common sense will hit with an answer.

Thank you, kisses my dear reader.


                                                                                                                                                                ©FrancisWairimu


Saturday, 5 August 2017

You’re the BOSS NOTHING LESS

So it is that time of the season we get to sit in the same room, me (the voter) and you (the politician) after several months and years of you being in unending meetings according to the secretary I pay for to plan and run errands for you and your family… wait, my people (the voter), this is our time to sit down on the boss seat, hire and fire like a boss.

So what are the responsibilities of a boss?
Identify key positions. Look around and be in the know of who is who? What they do? And how they should perform. Here you will understand who is well qualified to handle what and if the heat is okay for them and how flexible they are to make things happen.

Learn the rules governing them (employee) in their positions. Like a boss, you need to know if an employee does not meet the set guidelines, what they should face, where, when and how… some may call it accountability measures but after all if a kid does not follow the rules they have to be punished to set pace for siblings and so is a full grown man hence the constitution.

For contract renewal, you look at the track record… a track record is not what the other employees tell you about that one employee but, what the employee has delivered to you as the boss as per prior agreement (terms of contract)… with this at hand you clearly make a decision to hire that employee or fire.

And last but not least, who works for you… this can be easily termed as gut. There is an employee after reviewing their Curriculum Vitae and have seen and had a talk with them, you still feel not okay with them because your gut simply is telling you, “this is the right person…” or simply “don’t you dare hire this one.” Most successful relationship and business deals especially with women are successful and one answer they will tell you when you question why they went ahead to make that choice, “my gut told me not to let go/go”

After you do your job as a boss, 8th of August, 2017 walk into that office with your identity card and voters details and exercise your rights as the boss… Remember, a boss does and will never fight for and employee to get a certain position… a boss job is to mark who is right for the job and get working towards his/her dreams to be able to live a better a relaxed life. (So do not kill a fellow boss because of an employee. Meet up and discuss further business engagements and plans)

                               ©Francis Wairimu