POETRY: Don't drain the bank

When you are rich……

Every morning I go to the bank

Coz I fear Elnino sweeping river bank

So I get on top of the rank

All girls say me be the hunk

Excess water lily order for the tank

You don’t need to sunk – never be funk

Thank God you are rich never be drunk

Leme be frank with you avoid all the junk

Ooh don’t yank, keep it sank

Oops! Breath in.. Did I just spank?

I’ll bank in Spain again and again

Even though Lily got no pain

Abong’o met Jesus so he’s born again

Am not poor that is for certain

There’s no fear boy, wait for the gain after pain

Try to land on that ground so plain

Yark.. ‘tis you …..you lost weight like Allain

Don’t worry boy you will regain

This is the end,  pull down the curtain

Brains with cocaine will never drain

You run uphill on the mountain

For what reason? Yes baby to pray for the rain

At the end monies in the bank will remain

LETTER FROM FATHER TO SON

Dear son, Theo
I was pleased when you came. I was honored by your mama to be a father. When I look at you, I see an improved version of me. Indeed you are the better me.
You are growing next to my queen, the love of my life, the prodigy of nature, the acme of beauty, the symbol of fashion.
Take advantage of this moment. She will draw a vivid picture of your future wife. Please love your mother more than me. Protect her from all including me. One day you are going to have a daughter who will look as exactly as her.
Son, I am the king and now am preparing your kingdom. You will assume the throne when am gone.
Please love God, not only for wealth but to keep
you away from the devil of death that loves the smell of of future kings.
Do not be cowed by anybody or anything. Listen much, see more and speak less.
I can see your swag. You will soon be turning into a man.Trust none. Always take your time and avoid haste. You will have enough time to decide the things of life.
Watch me live son. Tell it to your children later in life. Make them feel my presence and honor in the mode of words.

This way son you'll fulfill my mission.
Love you son.

GREED: Life touching story

One day in a vocational center, the young men were having a farewell party to the graduating colleagues. There was going to be a big celebration of joy mixed with remorse for the exit of the part of fraternity. Upon realizing this the director organized for a last life advise to his students. But before he could do this he surprised the young men.
"You all here have reached the age of marriage and it would be best if you find the most beautiful, hard working and God fearing women. However if you were to be introduced to women for the first time, majority would choose beauty over anything else. It is normal gentlemen since you cannot know the character and the inner side of human on first sight. I therefore want to challenge you and so amongst you, you will choose the most handsome, bold and man of super taste. This particular young man will choose from the beautiful ladies I had organized to come here. They are twenty most beautiful girls in the district."The director said and walked out allowing them to decide on that one person.
It was hard since everyone wanted to be the one to have first chance of selection. Eventually the vote went to Dominic,  the well built basketball captain in the camp. As this was going on in room 19 situated at the third floor of the  AMUATARI building next to the main gate of the center, ladies could be seen enter one by one in through the gate carrying with them unexplained beauty. One after the other was a blessing from the almighty, touched by angels and holding the uniqueness from heavens above. All boys were drooling and wondering what would come out at the end of the search.

The ladies finally assembled and Dominic was called in to do the search but with condition. He was to select one lady only and that would be his wife. He was to walk and open the veil that covered their heads one by one and was not allowed to turn back. He was to go forward in his search.
One lifetime opportunity had come to Dominic and he walked to the first lady whom was extremely beautiful with a small gap between her teeth. This struck Dominic who had been watching them enter one by one without the veil. He thought to himself there could be a better one than her. He proceeded to the second lady but wasn't as beautiful as the first, then the next. However, reaching the 15th lady he realized each had a unique extraordinary beauty. This lady was one of her kind and could be the best suited for him so he thought.
However, he continued the search with the hope of getting one most beautiful than the rest. This continued till he unveiled the 20th lass who was the least in beauty among the twenty. He got disappointed and returned to room 19 where the director and the other boys waited. With regret he explained to the director what had happened.
Then the Director asked, " You liked the first one so much that if their were no other chances you could have taken her?" "Yes." He replied.
"Now that is what is called greed. You wished to have all of them for yourself. You left the good ones looking for a better one ending up losing the chance." The director noted.

Lesson
Life gives us chances and opportunities. Be it job, partner, business, education etc. But because of greed we dont appreciate what we have. We always want better. Better is hypothetical. This makes us loose the most precious things we have in search of better which might never be there.
STOP GREED. Appreciate what you have and get the optimum satisfaction out of it.

WHO ARE YOU?

1996 in class seven at Bar-Kawaga primary school. The big day had come and I was determined to seize the moment. I was a skinny short boy. Much shorter than I am today. My school football team was going against the soccer giant in the division - Bar-Opuk. We had been training all week for this challenge.
Then the game started. It became so heated. The boys in the pitch were all masculine, strong and 'giants'. I was preserved as a reliever in the second 45 minutes of the game.You can imagine how I felt as I saw the roughness, the speed and the strength in the field. At this moment I wished the first half never came to an end. My heart was beating, I looked down at myself, I was frozen, My face became pale and when the time came and Mr. Migose  went: " Okech! Okech! Play like it was your last day... This is your time bravo!
I was the smallest figure in the field. The spectators of the opposite team jeered and pointed at number 7, " easy! easy! easy!. in reply our side of the team could go: 'Short n sure! Short n Sure! Short n Sure.
I was indecisive,  I didn't know what to believe. My opponent was that tall boy I could easily walk under between his legs. I got hold of the ball and heard an unusual applause, the noise and the drum beat. the small man had the ball. I was to showcase my prowess. One, two, three, then passed it, the tall one was humiliated. People laughed and cheered me,. This gave me momentum. I started to look at it differently. This game was nil-nil and I felt like it all depended on me. My life too depended on it.
Second touch was amusing, the opponent couldn't let me do it again, so I gave a pass, ran fast and low like the ball under him, when I got in a good position I got a pass and stroke the ball. The net behind the goal shook and the referee acknowledged the score. We ended one-nil against our opponent.

This is one of the moments that shaped my life. I might not be a great guy or never did any great thing but decided to do the small things in great way. Everyone has to decide who and what they become. Other people's opinion of you doesn't have to become your reality. Thus I pose the question, who are you?
Are you ugly, unable, weak, never winning, spectator, old and frail, disadvantaged? if these are the things you keep thinking and speaking of yourself , then you are building a tarmac for your failure. These will keep looking for you, they will follow and eventually live within you.
Stay positive. Even when things seem difficult and impossible to accomplish, wear the "I can do it" attitude for such opportunities and challenges never come to you if and when you cannot handle them.

SELF LOVE: Don't let your happiness depend on what they say

The reason why people don't become what they are is because they are so attached to what they've always been. The people who go about saying that this is the way I have always been. I can't pass exams because since I started school I had never been at the top of any class. Nobody can love me because nobody has ever loved me. Why do you get angry every time? This is the way I have always been. This is refusal to move. Being attached to the what you've always been deprives your personal development and self love.
Many people are waiting for others to tell them that they are beautiful to feel beautiful, Some are desperate for likes and shares in the social media to feel love.You don't see no value in me so I don't see no value in me. That no one loves me so I don't love myself. STOP!!! You should love yourself independent of what people say about you.
Why do you want people's assurance  to be whom you are? Remember to note: Self love is the cure to self hate. You are a child of the most high God, created in the likeness of God Himself. You are special and shares no space with nobody else. The very moment you stop loving yourself, that is a disrespect to God.
To ladies, don't get into a relationship without something on the table of love. Feel yourself worth and place it on the table. Don't walk desperate, empty, depleted and dilapidated. Don't ever wait for him to tell you you are beautiful to feel beautiful, that you look good to feel you are good. Close your eyes to the world's nastiest comments about you, let not be taken down the drain of self despair and destruction because you depend on the world to love u. Love you even if there remains nobody in the room. Love you even if there seems nothing left to be loved in you. Love you without condition. That way you will harbor great love... and its by that that you can give love. Nobody gives what they don't have. You have love you give love. You don't have it, you dont give it.
There's something hidden from you when you  look at yourself in the mirror, that is the inner beauty of whom you are... not the lips, the face, the slim waist, the makeup, the beard, the six packs in your belly. That which you dont see and nobody else sees it. That is what you seek. Am I valuable enough to give value? Am I loving enough to give love. Am I disciplined enough?
The good news is, the person looking back in the mirror will determine what you become from now. He is either the enemy or the friend, positive or negative energy. He determines your failure or success.
Start loving yourself to generate and spread love. Remember, Nemo dat quod non habet.

THE MANGO TREE: Your delay is for the good of Tommorow

As I grew up, there was an old mango tree in the garden at the back of our house. My grand father had planted it way before my mama was born. I guess it gives you the feeling of what exactly am talking about. It was among the other many mango trees. However this particular one was very unique to me. Year after year it produced big and healthy mangoes better than the rest. It was also very close to our main house.
My grandfather, a farmer, had chosen mango plantation over maize and sorghum whose yield would be realized faster. He did not actually do for him but for the generation whom he envisaged would lack fruits for better living in the future. His future was us;That is me and you.
One Saturday  morning I went to the plantation and looking at the the old mango tree, I was filled with excitement of ripe yellow fruits hanging as if begging to go home. They flatteringly begged me to free them, detach them from the mother and go home to exercise their purpose- that of enriching life.

The unfortunate thing is that some of the hanging fruits were not ripe. I touched one and asked myself as if in conversation with the silent fruits. "why would it be that you are from the same plant, same branch and the bundle with the same provisions and you still not ripe?
Then I smiled... would it because they want to be picked tomorrow? or a later date? Good idea. What if they were all ripe the same day? There would be  a surplus, and some would  be rotten
 and eventually wasted at the detriment of future need.

The Lesson
The Mango farmer who happens to be my grandpa selflessly mind about the future of his children, He is LIFE. He then imparts life into every human. 
The fruits are us. We have different timing of achieving full potential. If you don't get it today. Be sure it is for the good of tomorrow. Be happy for those who get it today for if you all got it the same time, you might just be the unlucky one...not chosen and you would fade away.
Thank God for the hope of tomorrow.
Ecclesiastes 9:11

SHAPE YOUR ATTITUDE

Attitude may be described as the the way one feels about something or someone or a particular feeling or opinion. It is therefore important to shape our attitude immediately we wake up. If there are things that make you angry, paranoid and negative the very moment you wake up, they are the very things that will shape up  your attitude throughout the day. You must shun such things and circumstances that make you negative because they suck positive energy out of you.
Make a routine of positive attitude the very moment you wake up. Remind yourself these things when you wake up:

• I am alive today for a purpose
• I am different from all
• I have a legacy to leave 
• I must do what I must do no matter what 

Positive attitude requires positive thinking. It depends on the sounds you choose to listen to,the videos you choose to watch, the people you choose to relate with, the books you choose to read. Let nobody chain you into the thinking of how he or she does.
Positive attitude attracts the sense of good life, sense of success and sense of winning. I believe success is like a good air looking for some good place to settle. Therefore make your attitude positive by adding value in you. This way you will attract success.
The very moment you wake up and say, it will be a good day, you start doing what makes the day good, you start acting in a way that makes the day successful. Remember your life is what you think it should be. So if you think you are not good enough, you have not done what you need to do and you are not living the life that is not yours, then you MUST change the attitude about you. Change how you think about yourself. That which you keep thinking of yourself now and forth will be whom you are and what you become.
Deny yourself time to waste time.
Shape your attitude today.

A MUST READ STORY: I stand on a pedestal

I spent my high school life living with my maternal grandma. this was necessitated by the demise of my parents. It was beautiful living in the family that cherished me. sometimes it wasn't as easy. My Grandparents depended on peasant farming and I added to the labor force of the family farm. 
During school holidays I would spend time in the field grazing the cattle whose number were diminishing with years. Sometimes i would be in the family garden weeding the maize and millet plantation. I could wonder what life would turn into years in future. 
My grandpa enrolled me in the local high school whose population was barely 50 students from form one to the fourth form. 
My eagerness was to pass exams and get the required university grade. I believed deeply that by passing and being a complete orphan, I was capable to get a sponsor to the university. So I hit the road, read books and studied hard. All I wanted was to get away from home, from hunger, from poverty and live in a place I would enjoy the opposite.
By end of exams, My heart leaped, there was cold in my stomach, my  throat swelled and I cried to the news that I couldn't attain direct university grade. At once I thought the curtains of my life fell right on my face. I had fallen with no one to lift me. The funny thing is that I was at the top of the Class2001.
Sometimes it is not being at the top of class that brings happiness but rather the achievement of the desired goals. From thence I learnt not to aim to be, or do better than someone but to do my best in my own way. We don't become happy by achieving what others haven't, but what we have in its insignificant form as it might seem to the world.
I had a choice to rewind the class but who would pay the school fees. Something in me could always tell me that I was better than that, that I was destined for huge things, that I was a master piece. But how could I get there?
The rest is history. I am giving back to the society by talking into their hearts wisdom that it taught me. Every human needs a motivator, an inspirational figure in their life. I stand on a pedestal and  pour ideas out to the world. I am doing this before I die so that I will say to the master whose piece I am that it is fine with my soul. I motivated the world.

In your position, you can do much more than you think. Don't limit yourself to the equivalence of your environment, your enemies and the naysayers. Break the rules. Pursue your passion relentlessly and unapologetically. Zig Ziglar said, " you were born to win, and to win you must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win".

MEANINGLESS GOALS

Goal is defined as the object of a person's ambition or effort. Goals therefore must be objective in their on nature. It must be self satiating and heartwarming when realized.What if we set goals that ultimately don't bear no fruit? Would it be the same to not setting goals at all? Like a writer writing books that he hides and never publishes for the masses to read. Is that in futility?
Does it benefit  a dog owner to see it run after every passing vehicle with the knowledge that it will never bite the automotive?
Zig Zigler said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Our aim and goals must be very well thought and set out. They must be touching in our lives and the lives of others.
What does it benefit a random lottery winner who has never prepared himself for such money in his account. That who never had goals .
Les Brown, in his speeches say ' you better be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than have one and never be prepared for it'. It is important that we all set goals in order to succeed at something.
Setting goals is not an impromptu decision, an instinct or desire without basis. You therefoe can follow the following steps in setting your goals:

• Ask yourself that which you want to achieve, when and why and start making commitment to it. You will have to do or adopt such things and behavior that are in-tandem to your goal.
• Set SMART( Specific, Measurable,Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals  
• Write them down and remind yourself everyday of such goals. Writing down goals is very powerful tool to the realization of such goals.
• Stay focused. Don't confuse things up.
• Make a plan of action. 
• Carryout your goal related activities in bits and in present and always appreciate the little achievements.
•  

Goals are meaningless and setting them a waste of time if you don't commit yourself to them.
Each one's goals are specific and different and it will be meaningless to chase other people's goals if you cannot harness them in your own life.

HOW TO PREPARE AND PASS EXAMS:

They said exams come with fever, headache, stress and anxiety. Maybe they were right. I am one of those who failed to attain the required university grade. It was traumatizing but I got over it. Those feelings I had 17 years ago are going to reoccur on someone at the of exam period when their results come out.
This will not happen if you'd follow the following  EIGHT hints

Visualize yourself after the exams and as a winner. 

Try to foresee yourself happy with the ultimate marks. Let hope and determination to pass exams illuminate your heart. This kills stress and makes you welcome exams with tranquility.

Do not underestimate anything and anybody. 

First of all don't look down upon yourself. Believe in your efforts and abilities. This will give you the feeling of being able to handle anything. Remember others have also the eagerness to pass just as you are and you wouldn't want to be at the bottom of the least. Try to add more effort to surpass their level. Exams don't come from one topic so don't be skewed in reading. Take no chances and read widely through the syllubus.

Ask as many questions as you can.

 your teachers are available free resources of information. Ask them what you dont understand. Make use of your classmates too for it is only in asking that we learn.
Belong to a study group and while there organize yourselves in reading and asking  each other questions from the topics read. This is one pf the best ways to memorize what you have learned.

Start you day early. 

Early risers have the benefit of enjoying the freshness of mind. Morning periods are the most quality moments of the day.
Learn by teaching; Everything you learnt at any point will highly stick in your mind if teach others. This really works often times. You will have the benefit of learning once more than the ones you are teaching

Get enough sleep. 

As your day starts early, you are likely to learn more and retire to bed early and satisfied with your day activities. this makes you have a great rest for the next day assignments

Expect exams with Ease. 

Relax, get into the exam room and write like a winner

EXCESS YEARS OF YOUR LIFE: What did you do?

Walking into high school hall of about two thousand students was heart throbbing.A look at their faces reveals eagerness for the aftermath of the said mighty talk. I wasn't sure what they wanted to hear. and so I made a point not to struggle reading their minds. I would speak about what I  thought was good for them. That which would kindle fire of self-knowledge to them. I didn't want to be bundled into the baskets of the wise sayings they've been told over and over again. 
These young souls' faces were expectant and the very moment I could run into the lows and highs of their lives we could then connect. They would start looking at themselves and not me. Not the beautiful self, not the handsome, unkempt, masculine and gymnastic self but rather the inner-self.. That unseen self that moves the outer self.
No-matter how ugly you are or how beautiful you look or rich or poor or orphaned or tall or short. they were going to unleash and exercise their greatest strength. That is the beginning of knowledge of self.
These good-looking sons and daughters would start dreaming and if possible start the race. The race of chasing dreams. Remember if you don't chase your dream, you are going to spend your damn life running away from your fears. You will be running and running and you will never achieve any success.
Silence then conquers the room. I get emotional as their eyes change, they are perplexed, maybe they are trying to delve into the hidden depths of self. This is the moment. You MUST make good the present. Make it great. Love and seize the opportunities that comes with it. Otherwise you don't need to dream of a great future. You must stop that which hinders you from achieving the little set goals.

If anyone of them is not going to work hard enough for him or herself, they better do it for someone else. They better do it for that old woman who sacrifices to get their school fees, to that good uncle who help provide food, to those siblings whose future depend on them, to that headteacher to allowed them in class with fee arrears.

"How old are you?" I would pose this rhetoric question. They are averagely 16 years of age. I wonder what such young people have done with such years. Have they been sleeping, studying, gossiping, traveling or just being there? Have they been involved in their own growth and development?
I would go ahead and break their 16 years in my own way

16 YEAR OLD TIME EXPENCE
1	SLEEPING	6 YEARS
2	PLAYING	4 YEARS
3	STUDYING	2 YEARS
4	WITH FAMILY	1 YEAR
5	GOSSIPING	1 YEAR
6	BALANCE	2 YEARS
7	SELF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT	???

  
 The balance of our years are marked in red. Imagine 2 years being broken into daily hours. That would be 365x2x24=17520hours.
 If these were to be converted into minutes then seconds it would be 17520x60x60=63,072,000
This would give us approximately 63million seconds. What if these seconds were made money and given to you. What if in your 16 year self you would wake up to Sh.10,800 daily? What would you do with it?

All in the room would not want to loose any part of that shillings. It would have build you an empire of wealth. 
That is the power of Time. All of you must reconsider the excess time and use it on personal growth and development. if it is inadequate, then you are on the right road. Add more by sacrificing sleep, eliminating gossip time and stopping those habits that waste your time. I assure you; you will never regret it.