SPARE ME YOUR GLORY BUT TELL ME YOUR STORY

It has been a while since I last set foot in a mathematics class. Nonetheless, I can still remember my mathematics teacher insisting to see the process through which each student used in arriving at his or her answer. In other words, we had to demonstrate the process through which the answer was realized otherwise, you were considered to have cheated.
The fact that I was highly allergic to mathematics and I still am made me to never master calculus, algebra and most if not all mathematic topics. All the same, the greatest analogical lesson I learned from mathematics is that; in life, a process is more if not equally important than the destination. In other words, it's humanly impossible to arrive at a destination having not gone through a process.
Unfortunately, the present day young generation have developed an extremely unrealistic mindset which tells them that you can wish yourself to an opulent destiny without a smidgen work input. To them I say, "If wishes were horses, beggars would surely ride."  
In my dire quest to figure out why myriad youngsters of the 21st century are so eager to lead unwarranted lavish lifestyles, I didn't have to look further than their present day number one tool of motivation or so you'd think. This tool is nothing else but the internet. In this day and age, the internet has become the forth item in the cluster of basic needs.
Even though it's inarguably true that internet technology has made the world a global village by enhancing entrepreneurship methodologies and easing communication means by replacing traditional means of communication with instant ones, I am not lost of the fact that internet technology has likewise fostered utopianism among the young generation inhibiting their ability to think that; success in life entails a progressive process rather than a mere wishful thinking. In other words; thinking is free but implementing your thoughts is demanding. 

If you are still not certain how internet technology has continued to mislead the young generation to ideal thinking that render them to utopia, here is a perfect example. In their improbable claims that their lavish lifestyles is a great way of inspiring their fellow youngsters, most  affluent youths are continuously posting their daily lifestyle on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and the like. In other words, they are living their entire lives on different social media platforms.
Even if we give them a benefit of doubt and buy to their claim that posting photos of their opulent living and uploading videos of the same is purely a way of inspiring their fellow youngsters, what they are either ignorant about or don't know at all is; in matters success, the story (process) is much more inspirational than the glory. (achievements) In other words, sharing the process of your progressive stuggles that landed you to a successful lifestyle inspires me and makes me resilient in comparison to showing me how successful you are. If you are candid about being inspirational, it's worth noting that; the journey towards your success is more important than your success. While your process towards your success inspires me, your success in absentia of the process intimidates me and makes me suspicious.
On the other hand, youngsters who fail to relate well or distinguish between real and ideal posts and videos portraying opulent lifestyles from their peers tend to develop social media depression. Before you stress your mind about social media posts or videos portraying lavish lifestyles, it's very imperative to know that most of these people are either leading ideal lives of show-off while others upload videos on YouTube for lucrative purposes.
While using social media platforms for  purposes of staying connected or airing your veiws on matters of interest is perfectly okay, engaging in what I call social media surveillance, which is; browsing social media platforms to compare yourself with your peers renders you to feelings of stress, anxiety and the like. At first it seems like a harmless silent social media stalking but in the lapse of time it leads to dissatisfaction and eventually to symptoms of depression.
In this day and age, almost every one seems to have this social media persona. Once a social media user creates a perfect image of himself or herself, it becomes difficult to break away from the hype and share about the struggles he or she might be going through in life thus the need to understand that; all that glitters isn't gold.

With this knowledge well encrypted on your fingertips, kindly stop beating up yourself out of lavish ideal lifestyles of your social media friends or role models. Using social media platforms to size up your accomplishments against others will eventually render you to social media depression just like the saying; 'Comparison is the thief of joy.'

REDEFINING SUCCESS

I grew up during the days when success was associated with going to school to pursue one among the four careers namely; a teacher, a physician, a pilot or an engineer. These four professionals were deemed to be the abolition of generational destitution in any family collectively.
To substantiate my parent's claims that education was indeed the key to a blight successful future was Henry Maboki's swahili song (someni vijana) that had hijacked the crowning of the village rooster as the wakeup alarm every school day morning. At one point, the familiarity of this song had become a nuisance to me goading me to truancy.
If you have been wondering where the rain started beating us when it comes to the decades old misconception of what success is all about, look no further than the careers our parents perceived as lucrative and coerced us into pursuing them regardless of your inability. It didn't matter how talented you were in sports, how innovative you were, whether you were adept self made tech guru in the entire village or the best concerto soloist in the church choir, if your future ambitions weren't within the confines of a teacher, a physician, a pilot or an engineer, your expertise was  promptly rendered futile.
Today more than ever before, the delusion of decades ago on the definition of success as accumulation of money and material possessions has propagated to both millennials and generation Z and it seems as if it's here to stay if no immediate measures are taken to demystify this spurious belief. 

In this day and age, this biased misconception has become a total detriment across all age groups without any solution at sight whatsoever. 
To make matters worse, the already
deluded generation on the definition of success as the accumulation of material possessions has been fooled twice that;  becoming an affluent person isn't a matter of riches accumulation only, it also entails accumulating riches at a young age. This deceit has not only fostered opulence gluttony, it has likewise obliterated morality by promoting corruption in different entities in a dire need to feed the greed of instant gratification.
In a 2016 study that was conducted in East African Institute of Aga Khan University comprising 1,854 youths aged between 18-35 years, 50% said that it doesn't matter how they attain riches, corruption included as long as they won't end up in jail. In addition to that, 35% said they would give or take bribes. This study clearly shows the vast integrity anomalies prevalent among the present day young generation with a smidgen hope of a successful future if any.
Contrary to the old English saying that; life starts at forty, words like late bloomers doesn't exist among the vocabularies of the present day young generation. This is a generation that wants to graduate from school on Monday get a job on Tuesday, own an edifice in an affluent neighborhood on Wednesday, buy a limousine on Thursday, throw a lavish nuptial party on Friday and jet-off to an island for a blissful and utopic honeymoon over the weekend. No wonder the adaptation of their popular acronym; YOLO (You Only Live Once) and a phrase like; I would rather cry in a Mercedes Benz than be blissful on a bicycle.
Having been around for over four decades now, I am well versed that; success is neither dependent upon the major you pursue in school nor the riches you accumulate thus the saying; the poorest man is he whose only riches is money.
Just like the biblical words inked in the gospel of John 8:32, 'And you will know the truth and it will set you free,' my intent is to demystify the decades old misconception that ties success with monetary possessions. SUCCESS IS THE OUTCOME OF A STUDIOUS PLAN, AN ADROIT PROCESS, A RESOLUTE PRINCIPLE AND ACHIEVED SELF-ACTUALIZATION PURPOSE. Needless to say, the fact that 64% of the world population never find their purpose in life makes it easier to believe that success is purely monetary based. In a simplistic elucidation, success is nothing but;  PURPOSE FULFILLED.



 

FINDING HAPPINESS AMIDST HARDSHIPS. COVID-19 TO JERUSALEMA-19

My introductory part of this compendium is from the 1st letter of Paul to the church in Corinth. 'No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.' 1st Corinthians 10:13.
Despite the authenticity of every scripture in the holy bible from Genesis to Revelation, I am still in a total dilemma on which year to blame on matters covid-19. Should 2019 bear the blame for allowing a deadly virus to stem within its span of twelve months or should we blame 2020 for harbouring a deadly virus which the year 2020 just like myself knew nothing about. How I wish that 2020 could have totally refrained from being urshered in until 2019 had completely sorted out its covid issues. On a second thought, maybe 2020 wasn't informed that covid was airborne and highly contagious and thus a dire need to social distance itself from the year 2019, use sanitizer on regular basis, put on a face mask and to some extent a face shield.
Well, now that 2020 failed to request God to halt the sun until the battle of covid-19 was won just like Joshua did when he led the Israelite army in a battle with the Amorites, we are left with no other choice but to overcome covid-19 battle with the word of God, prayer and fasting and a total adherence to all the measures put forth by the government through the health experts and all other relevant authorities.
Since the bible says that not a single word of God shall return to Him void, (Isaiah 55:11) the scriptures in 1st Corinthians 10:13 aren't an exception. God is truly making a way out of this deadly covid-19 virus. That's why the world has found an escape route from hardships to happiness through the Zulu composed song JERUSALEMA which has seen the entire world dancing to its sublime rhythm even without a smidgen understanding of a single word in Zulu language.
Written by Kgaogelo Moagi and her vocalist  counterpart Nomcebo Zikode who also took a center stage in dancing to its tune and rhythm, the song was produced by Kgaogelo Moagi a.k.a. Master KG and was realeased on 29th November 2019 thus my title JERUSALEMA-19. Bearly one year later, the song has garnered 155 million views on YouTube and still counting.
On July 20th this year, the song was released on streaming services after going viral due to a JERUSALEMA CHALLENGE remix released on 19th June this year. Today, the song has been translated to a number of languages internationally which includes; Spanish, Swedish and Dutch among others. It has also reached number one in Belgium and Switzerland while peaking in the top ten of multiple other European countries.
While multiple YouTube videos featuring the song has garnered over 500 million views, the song has gotten every age group dancing to its tune and rhythm. From little kids to teens, young to the old, no one wants to be left behind. People from all walks of life, all professionals from men and women in blue, doctors and nurses, teachers and students, cashiers and shoppers, sick and healthy, drunk and sober, rich and poor.........and the list is endless. This is a song that have incorporated human beings of all walks of life despite their socioeconomic status, rejuvenated the long lost sense of empathy due to covid-19 and in the process, two great things are happening; the world is finding happiness amidst the hardships of covid-19 and God the almighty is being praised by all people despite the faith they profess since Jerusalema is a gospel song. The JERUSALEMA CHALLENGE is a true fulfillment of King Solomon words inked in Psalms 150:6 'Let everything that has breathe praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!'
Thank you madam Lily Kabi for your lesson on how to dance JERUSALEMA.

UBUNTU: THE LONG LOST SPIRIT OF AFRICANISM

There is a centuries old African adage that says; "Mwacha mila ni mutumwa." This translates; Anyone who abandons his or her culture becomes a slave. You can argue otherwise till cows come home but this proverb is inarguably true to this very day and age.
The word UBUNTU comes from the largest enthic group in Africa namely; THE BANTUS. This enthic group spreads from the great forests of Congo through the plateaus and savanna grasslands of East Africa, down to the Limpopo and Victoria falls and further south to the land of tata Nelson Rolihlahla Madiba Mendela.
In its simplest form,UBUNTU means; I am because we are. However, for those like myself who have never decided to negate our rich African culture, we well understand that the profound phrase of Ubuntu is; 'Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' which literally means that; a person is a person through other people.
Unfortunately, most of the 21st century people especially the young generation have totally negated their super rich ancestry culture no wonder the present day immortality. In a dire need of seeking to fit in the modern digital world of technology, we have become slaves of technology and our ancestry culture that's loaded with morality is rapidly disappearing by each passing day.
If you are waiting for prophets to deliver the message of disintegration of humanity, you must have missed the memo from philosophers like Albert Einstein who once said; "I fear the day technology will surpass human interaction because the world will have a generation of idiots." This prophecy though not from a prophet but from a philosopher is now at hand.
As we continue down the tragic trajectory of humanity disintegration due to vast technology that continues to turn reality into virtual and feelings into fantasy, please let's not get lost of that the spirit of UBUNTU is the only spirit of genuine friendships and longevity relationships that can rekindle the long lost rich culture of togetherness.
Kindly let's slow down on technology which enables us to connect with a thousand virtual friends but not a real genuine physical friend. I am not against technology whatsoever, my urgent concern is the need to strike a balance between virtual and reality.
I am well informed that we won't rekindle the old is gold lifestyle at a glance, nonetheless it's very imperative to understand that time is of essence because we are at the vague of getting obliterated by technology. Citing the words of Margaret Beckett; "Humankind has the science and technology to destroy itself or provide prosperity for all, but while science offers us these opportunities, science won't make that choice for us. Only moral power of the world acting like a community will.",  I don't think it can get more clear than that. ........ the choice is ours.
With those words well encrypted in our finger tips forstering us to reinvigorate the long lost spirit of ubuntu, let's not succumb to the deterrent of the saying; 'Every man for himself and God for us all,' but instead embrace the spirit of brotherhood and live by the wise words of King Solomon inked in Proverbs 17:17 'A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.' By so doing, we shall portray the authentic depiction of African congeniality that is deeply inscribed in the spirit of UBUNTU: 'I AM BECAUSE WE ARE.'

SCHOOL OF LIFE

It's through attending numerous academic institutions that I can afford to construct a grammatically correct sentence or so I think. Nonetheless, all I became after years of attending various academic institutions was a literate person who became adept intellectually but totally inept integrity wise.

Even though education is an essential aspect towards acquiring intelligence, it only offers intellectual knowledge while empowerment gives you integrity subjecting you to morality and dexterity which renders you to wisdom and mental freedom. 

I don't have a  smidgen ill motive of   discrediting our academic institutions whatsoever, all that I want to bring to your attention is; since knowledge isn't a virtue, you can't count on it to become a better person or lead a purpose driven life. In other words; KNOWLEDGE IS NOT INDEPENDENT BUT INTERDEPENDENT. You can acquire all the knowledge you want but without wisdom you're life will stagnate. Wisdom begets knowledge but knowledge can never ever beget wisdom. That's why we have learned-fools but not wise-fools. Kindly seek wisdom because; The wise inherit honor, but fools are put to shame! Proverbs 3:35

It goes without saying that; experience is the best teacher. Although some life experiences are not worth the lesson, thus a dire need to heed to a word of caution, to a larger extent, this adage is inarguably true.

The dreadful life experiences are the so called SCHOOL OF LIFE and all the lessons offered there that will guarentee a successful future if, and only if well understood are appalling.

Nevertheless, the greatest problem that most people face is a short memory span which at times tends to be a selective amnesia. This aspect of forgetting the lesson that a dreadful life experience taught you have not only subjected many people to a state of recurring problems but have also rendered them to a life of mediocrity and affirmed the decades old defination of insanity as, doing the same thing the same way over and over again and expecting different results. 

If there is an area that we as Africans and especially my beloved Kenyans that we have and I am not sure if we shall ever learn from the repeated dreadful life experiences is the issue of voting the same corrupt and unscrupulous politicians in the name of leaders over and over again but expecting different results in their 'leadership.' The fact that they are learned with more degrees than a thermometer dosen't mean that they have a smidgen aspect of wisdom. Leadership starts with wisdom not knowledge. 

Voting these morally decayed politicians times without number proofs that the myriad unbearable inhumanity problems that have continued to permeate our beloved country is a problem of our making. With a bait of handouts amounting to a few shillings, we have continued to sell our votes just like the biblical Esau who traded his birth right with a bowl of lentil soup. 

If anything, our decades reapted mistakes is a genuine prove that; we as a nation that claims to be free aren't close to learning from the ungracious school of life even after increased destitution after every general election.

Although time of learning from the years of dreadful destitution experiences as a result of evil governance which we the citizens are guilty of voting in every five years is long overdue, the fact that we have lost numerous second chances is a clear proof that; "A second chance is only beneficial if your failure was a lesson."

21st CENTURY PARENTING: ARE YOU PLAYING YOUR PART?

‘Direct your children onto the right path and when they are old, they will not depart from it.’ Proverbs 22:6

Even though I don’t have a smidgen intention to alter this scripture or any single biblical word since I am well informed of the consequences as per Revelation 22:18b, the truth that will set you free is the practical knowledge that in the present day and age children 

are departing from the right path regardless of a great upbringing. However, the fact that the 21st century children are veering off from the right trajectory of life shouldn’t foster parents and guardians to abrogate their first priority towards their children; that is, effective parenting. 

Establishing a good, valuable and robust childhood foundation during the formative years of your children is extremely imperative. If you feed your children’s subconscious minds with a fundamental of great propitious memories, you accord them a Point of 

Reference in their future years which will times without number enable them to come back to their senses whenever they veer off from the morality of life. The only reason to why the biblical prodigal son came back to his senses was because his father had given him a great Point of Reference during his upbringing. Your failure as a parent or guardian to inculcate morals and ethics in your children during their formative years is a way of denying them their fundamental parental right and exposing them to the cruel world without any integrity armor whatsoever. It’s also denying them a worthwhile Point of Reference to extricate them from a detrimental lifestyle (s) whenever a need is at hand.    I totally understand that you are an assiduous person and a conscientious hard working parent, that you spend the whole day in meetings, chasing the dollar or driving around seeing obstinate clients and putting out fires. When the day comes to a close, you are too exhausted to even think about the children who made you qualify to become a parent. In this day and age when most parents if not all have been infected with TB (Too 

Busy) becoming IDPs, (Internally Displaced Parents) children will continue to make poor choices for lack of guidance and mentorship in all areas of life. This is an extremely negative effect which might pass to the future generations if parents don’t reconnect with their children and uphold their responsibility of spending quality time with them, which is the best way to feed children’s emotional needs. Every parent should well understand that children are entitled to moments of quality time with a parent. (s) In other words, spending quality time with your children is their right not a privilege.

For those parents who still believe that parenting is all about provision of the three God mandated basic needs; food, clothing and shelter plus the two government enforced ones namely; healthcare and education, you must have missed the recent parenting memo which demands every parent to spend quality time and establish a good rapport with his or her children. Spending quality time with your children is the greatest way of exercising the most important human senses which are; see, hear and touch. That’s why quality time should entail visiting new sceneries, verbal phrases to affirm and reaffirm your love and physical hugs to confirm and reconfirm your fondness. If your children will not relate with you, there are higher chances of relating with the wrong people or worse still, relating to alcohol, drugs and other indecorous lifestyles.

Parenting is both a difficult and a laborious job which lays bare all your strengths and weaknesses, all your vulnerabilities and your pre-conceived notions of what you always thought it would be. Nevertheless, since you run around with a very expensive title, there is a dire need to preserve it with all means possible and through thick and thin. It’s also very imperative to understand that parenting is a holistic responsibility that should be undertaken with total acumen without missing a bit or implying erroneous assumptions.

Most parents don’t take enough time if any to better understand their children. It’s very important for parents to understand that; no parent-children connection that can take place without effective communication. Effective communication should thus be the 

paramount thing between these two parties with a total knowledge that; effective communication is only complete when understanding is derived. Every time the understanding between these two parties fail; things starts to run haywire and that’s when the blame game sets in. Blame game was, is, but with the application of effective 

communication yielding to complete understanding, I am totally hopeful that blame game will not persist to be the major word of conflict between or among any type of human relationship not to rule out parent-children relationship. The word; ‘blame’ in many cases is a product of negligence or ignorance which promotes acts of irresponsibility. When 

that registers in your mind, I am sure you won’t hesitate to agree with me that; 

irresponsibility is the abandonment of conscious and ignorance of accountability.

Although many people like justifying their negligence and ignorance, both of these two vices are indefensible. The only way to break the blame game tradition is by teaming up and ensuring that every team member fully understands and performs his or her duties and responsibilities to the fullness of his or her ability. When all is said and done, I truly believe that we will come up with a generation of totally responsible children and young adults who will later become dependable for a better tomorrow. ‘Unity is strength ‘and ‘united we stand and divided we fall.’ Besides these two English adages that we apply in our every day’s life, the bible puts an accentuation through these words; ‘Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.’ Matthew 18:19 In other words; mutual agreement does not only help to facilitate a mutual relationship of give take and take give, it also validates its authenticity through articulate reciprocity (I need you as much as you need me) or through ubuntu. (I am because we are)

Parents; we have to develop a mutual relationship with our children if we are totally desperate of overcoming this present generation of troubled children. The bible puts it this way; ’How then can two walk without an agreement? ‘Amos 3:3 Noting that there is an obligation to connect with our children in order to surmount life challenges, there is also 

a dire need to establish a social capital with them, always bearing in mind that; Parents’ inspirations enhances teens’ aspirations.

GIRL-CHILD: THE EXPLOITED SPECIES

On 11th October 2011, the United Nations declared the International Day of a Girl-child which was later inaugurated on the 11th October the following year. The agenda of the International Day of a Girl Child is to promote girls’ rights, highlight gender inequalities that remain between girls and boys and address various forms of discrimination and 

abuse suffered by girls around the world. Gender inequalities include; right and access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care and protection from discrimination, violence against women, child marriage and honor killing.

Nevertheless, in many countries, girl-child discrimination continues to prevail from childhood through teenage all the way to adulthood. In such countries, there isn’t any doubt that the achievement of gender parity has been delayed if not denied. These are 

the same countries that continue to embrace antiquated cultural practices. These practices include; female genital mutilation, son preference, child marriage and gender inequality, violence against women, honor killing, sexual exploitation sexual abuse among others.

Although these norms are often embedded in traditional or religious discourses thus creating an environment where unequal treatment between boys and girls seems to be acceptable, they strip away women’s autonomy denying their fundamental right to self-

determination. Every time girls are treated as inferior and are socialized to put themselves last, their self-esteem is diminished. Lack of self-esteem initiates a lifelong downward spiral of deprivation and exclusion from the social mainstream. At this present age, there is a dire need to take initiatives in order to prepare girls to participate actively, 

effectively and equally with boys at all levels of social, economic, political and cultural leadership not only in the developed countries but across the globe.

Today, the percentage of girls enrolled in secondary (high) schools still remains 

significantly low in many countries. More so, girls are often not encouraged or given the opportunity to pursue scientific and technological training and education. This act does not only limit the knowledge they require for their daily lives; it also minimizes their opportunities of getting employment in the high tech companies. On the other hand, when girls are less encouraged than boys to participate in and learn about the social, economic and political functioning of the society, it deters their ability to take part in decision-making processes.

In most cases, boys are encumbered by massive disguised misogyny that alters their perception towards girls’ not as precious humans but as avenues for pleasure and sex fulfillment. This is a confection of degradation and peculiar reasoning that makes it more imperative for girls to get more support towards integral sex education. More emphasis 

should be stressed on girls since they bear more agony in matters of teen pregnancy where more than 15 million girls aged 15-19 years give birth each year around the globe. 

Teen pregnancy continues to be an impediment to improvements not only in the education sector but also in economic and social status of girls around the globe. Overall, child marriage and early motherhood can severely curtail educational and employment opportunities and are likely to have a long term adverse impact on these 

young girls and their children’s quality of present and future life.