With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Pinterest.com. All rights reserved worldwide.Years before Christ was born, the great Greek philosopher Aristotle said that "it is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth and wisdom." Many, many years later, the famous American statesman Benjamin Franklin quipped, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Those insightful remarks from Aristotle and Benjamin Franklin are what inspire me to strive to be an early riser.
So much have I striven to be an early riser that in the year 2015, I composed a hymn in which I asked God in the first verse to help me get out of bed early everyday. Here's how the verse went: Help me God to get out of bed,
Early everyday of my life,
Even when events of yesterday,
Might have stressed, pained or depressed me.
Well, I have always desired to be an early riser since my university days at JKUAT in 2008. I still remember how I tried to get out of bed as early as 4.30am back in 2008 when I was in my second year at JKUAT. Upon waking up, I would do some physical exercises and then study the Bible which I was reading from cover-to-cover like a novel. But guess what! After about a week of rising early, I fizzled out and began oversleeping in the morning.
Since that week in 2008, I have over the years endeavored to consistently wake up in the morning before the crack of dawn. But as was the case in 2008, I have always lost my mojo along the way and resorted to oversleeping. Sometimes I have lost my mojo due to discouraging setbacks; at other times for no apparent reason at all.
My younger brother Symo noted how I struggled with getting out of bed on some days when we stayed together here at home in the years 2014 and 2015. One time when he found me in bed in the morning, he played on his laptop a Swahili song that asked people to get out of bed and go to work. He played that song over and over again till I lost my desire to sleep.
I still struggle with oversleeping. Today, for instance, after my phone alarm rang at 5.30am, I couldn't resist the temptation to stay in between the sheets. Allured to stay in bed by chilly and rainy weather, I just continued dozing and awakened from slumber after the sun had arisen on the eastern horizon.
It seems most people don't struggle to get out of bed like I do because on those mornings when I rise early and head to my hometown of Kiserian, I observe some folks driving on the road and others opening up their businesses. And they do so even when it is chilly and raining.
Despite my inability to wake up early in the morning consistently since 2008, I haven't given up on my goal to be an early riser. As I pen this story, I have resolved to always get out of bed before dawn, come rain or shine. This time, I will be focusing on rising early on just the next morning. Not for the next one week or the next 21 days but just the next morning. Hopefully when the mornings have accumulated to 21 days, I will have developed the habit of getting up before daybreak.
And why do I want to be an early riser? Because the Bible, which is my code of conduct, admonishes us not to love sleep. It warns those who love sleep that they will come to poverty and be clad in rags. What's worse, their houses will leak when the rafters sag.
I also desire to be an early riser since I'd want to marry the Proverbs-31 kind of a lady. You see, the book of Proverbs says in Chapter 31 that the wife of noble character rises while it is still dark. Since I'd like to possess the traits I want in my future wife, I will keep on endeavoring to get up while it is still dark.
My dear reader, if you aren't an early riser, I urge you to join me in this endeavour of rising early everyday. As I heard someone say on Facebook, we can't sleep like we are competing with the dead and expect to make it in the world of the living. We have to rise early every day if we are to attain the dreams in our hearts. That's all I am saying.
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story on rising early every day, you might also enjoy another one I wrote two years ago on "Developing Good Sleeping Habits". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the st
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With permission, I have extracted this picture-quote from Thequotes.in. All rights reserved worldwide. A few weeks ago while sitting on a sofa in the back verandah of our mansion, reading and meditating, I saw two birds flying high in the sky. They were gliding gracefully in the air without seeming to care about anything - the kind of living Jesus taught us to live. And as I watched the birds gliding in the air gracefully, I thought to myself, "Now, these birds are doing what they were born to do."
That got me thinking about us also doing what we were born to do. Every truly successful person I know achieved their success because they discovered what they were born to do and poured their hearts into it.
Colin Powell, for instance, was an average performer in high school. His genius was awakened when he discovered he loved soldiering after he joined the United States military in the late 1950s. His love for soldering led to his promotion through the ranks of the American military to become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the most senior position in the military. When Colin Powell was retiring from the American military in 1994, his greatest regret was that he couldn't start all over again.
Then there is Bill Clinton who discovered at an early age that he loved campaigning and governing. It is that love for politics that propelled him to run for the United States presidency in 1992. He won the elections, becoming the third youngest ever elected U.S. President. And during his presidency, he presided over an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity in America.
Another example of a man who discovered what he was born to do and did it passionately is Jack Canfield, a motivational speaker and co-author of the best-selling "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books. Jack Canfield said that he feels most successful when he is inspiring and empowering people to love and accept themselves more deeply, to open their hearts to others more fully, to trust and believe in themselves more completely, and to pursue their dreams more boldly and passionately.
As for me, I have been on a journey of discovering what I was born to do. And that journey hasn't been easy. Back in May 2007 when I was matriculating at the university in JKUAT to pursue a degree in electronic & computer engineering, I must have thought I could succeed as an engineer. But alas! I had a hard time understanding the intricacies of electronics engineering, such as how electrons are manipulated in a circuit to perform the magic we see in electronics gadgets. On discovering I wasn't wired for engineering, I dropped out of JKUAT in 2009.
After I dropped out of JKUAT, I came to profoundly admire Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy - all who served as American presidents. I would listen to their speeches again and again on a computer and visualize myself talking eloquently like them and radiating a similar charisma.
My admiration for those American presidents led me to believe that I could also succeed as a politician. But you know what? When I registered to run for a political seat in the 2013 Kenya's general elections, I found myself lacking the drive to get out of bed in the morning to go campaign and talk to people.
I especially remember the day in 2013 when the coordinator of elections in my county - a lovely lady called Mrs. Rosaline Kasale - convened a meeting of all political candidates in my county. On the morning of that day, I struggled to get out of bed and made it to the meeting after much emotional effort. It was like I just wasn't wired for a political career either.
With time, I have come to discover that writing and composing songs are what I was born to do. I always feel elated whenever I write a great story or produce a tuneful hymn and someone out there likes it. And the high I experience after penning a great story or producing a tuneful hymn makes waking up in the morning easy for me. I intend to continue honing those talents with the faith that they will open the doors of success for me.
My dear reader, I urge you to likewise find out what you were born to do if you haven't discovered that already. And after finding out what you were born to do, pour your heart into it. Remember, as the great author Leo Buscaglia quipped, your talent is God's gift to you and what you do with it is your gift back to God. Adieu!
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on doing what we were born to do, you might also enjoy another one on "
The Careers I Will Pursue" which I wrote a few years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
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