A Positive Quote for Now

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."— Maya Angelou


Books I Read in 2019

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
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With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from Quotes Gram. All rights reserved worldwide.

First is Ben Carson's Gifted Hands which made me grateful for the good health I've as I read the author's account of the brain surgeries he did.

Second is Stephen R. Covey's Daily Reflections For Highly Effective People which made me know the more authentic we express ourselves, the more others relate to our experiences.

Third is Alan Loy McGinns's Confidence: How to Succeed at Being Yourself which taught me to replace self-criticism with regular, positive self-talk. Reminding me I'm one of a kind, the book also encouraged me to be a little eccentric.

Fourth is Billy Graham's The Secret of Happiness which inspired me to find comfort in the teachings of Jesus Christ, especially His Sermon on the Mount.

Fifth is Colin Powell's My American Journey which taught me to always take my work seriously, but not myself.

Sixth is Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking which encouraged me to apply Bible teachings in my day-to-day living.

Seventh is Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success which taught me, among other things, that practice is the key to success. So I will keep writing and playing the piano as I strive to excel as a blogger.

Lastly is the Holy Bible (NIV) which I read to deepen my faith in God. I enjoyed some stories in the Old Testament, and noted how frequently the words "do not fear" appeared.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Books I'd Love to Read Again".
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Neighbor, Gone Too Soon

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Dec 26, 2019
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from Quotes Nest. All rights reserved worldwide.

Back in the '90s when people left trade fairs in amazement after seeing touchscreen monitors, we had a neighbor called Harun who ran a shop unlike any other in our home area.

For one, it sold cold soft drinks because it had a fridge. Then, it had a shade where customers could relax to enjoy drinks, swap stories, or even play board games.

Once when I was feeling excited, I went to the shop to enjoy a soft drink. As Harun was serving me, I told him his shop was the Nakumatt of our home area. (Nakumatt was a leading supermarket here in Kenya whose tagline was "You Need It, We've Got It".)

But Harun wasn't impressed with the way I was flattering him. He protested in Sheng, "My friend, you are enjoying me and I'm not enjoying it."

When I finally sat down to enjoy my drink, I noticed Harun had given me less change than I was supposed to get. So when I was done, I pointed out the error to him, only for him to blurt out in Sheng, "Umekuja hapa na pang'ang'a mingi mpaka nikachanganyikiwa! (You've come here with a lot of nonsense till I got mixed up!)"

That was the first time I was hearing the word "pang'ang'a"; and it sounded so funny to my ears that it had me in stitches. I even pronounced it several times just to try it on my lips.

Then another time when I wasn't feeling excited, I went to the shop and Harun served me while going on about a dog. When he realized I wasn't saying anything, he asked me whether I was paying attention to what he was saying. I apologized for being silent before telling him I didn't know he was talking to me.

Then I quickly pieced what was going on and learnt it was our dog he was complaining about. Not wanting to annoy him any more, I promised to keep the dog from following me the next time I visited his shop.

You know what? Last Sunday when Dad came home from church, he told us a neighbour of ours called Karemeri had lost one of her sons. Piqued, I asked him in Kikuyu, "Is it the son who runs a shop?"

"I don't know," he replied, "but I don't think he is the one."

Dad called a family friend to ask about the death - and alas! - it was Harun who had passed away. Yes, the one who ran a shop unlike any other in our home area. May his soul rest in peace.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "A Neighbour Who Loved Cleanliness".
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Bible Quote

"Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do... Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

~Phillipians 4:4-7 (TLB)

About the Author

Name: Thuita J. Maina
Marital status: Single
Lives in: Kiserian, Rift Valley, Kenya
Mission: To inspire the world to godly living, one person at a time.

Just for Laughs

There was this drunkard called Azoge who loved drinking at Josiah's Bar. On being told a certain Hon. Nanga was flying to America to be conferred a law degree so that he could be admitted to the bar, Azoge replied, "Why fly all the way to America to be admitted to the bar while you can get into Josiah's Bar any time?"



The 7 Deadly Sins

  1. Pride
  2. Envy
  3. Gluttony
  4. Lust
  5. Anger
  6. Greed
  7. Sloth

Author's Note

I am learning to treat life as a journey, not a destination; I have therefore given up the things that weighed me down and I am now living my life to the fullest because the tomorrow I had always hoped to live my dreams may never be mine.

Fun Facts

  1. The fear of having no cell-phone service, running out of battery, or losing sight of your phone is called Nomophobia, reportedly affecting 66% of people.
  2. A single Google search needs more computing power than it took to send Apollo 11 to the moon. The Apollo computer was less equipped than a modern toaster.
  3. Besides being some of the biggest names in the tech industry, HP, Apple, Google and Microsoft share another commonality. They all started in garages.
~Extracted from Codingforums.com

Health Tips

"So many of us take for granted the wonderful construction of the human body and the workings of its various parts. Some of us even expect it to function efficiently with less than the minimum care and attention. Learn the much you can about your body and how the care of it can help give you that greatest blessing of all - good health."

~From Your Body (A Ladybird Book)

Wonders of the Modern World

  1. The Simplon Tunnel
  2. The Sky-scrapers of New York
  3. The Boulder Dam of Colorado
  4. The Panama Canal
  5. The Golden Gate Bridge
  6. The Taj Mahal at Agra in India
  7. The North Sea Oil Drilling Rigs

The Kind of Leaders We Need

"My life in politics was a joy. I loved campaigns and I loved governing. I always tried to keep things moving in the right direction, to give more people a chance to live their dreams, to lift people's spirits, and to bring them together. That's the way I kept score."

~Bill Clinton

Scientific Marvels

  1. Space travel
  2. Heart surgery
  3. Fibre-optics communication
  4. Concorde
  5. Radios
  6. Computers
  7. Anesthetics

My Supreme Desire

To borrow the words of Elbert Hubbard, my supreme desire is to radiate health, cheerfulness, calm courage and goodwill. I wish to live without fear, hate, guilt, worry and jealousy; to be honest, natural, confident, clean in mind and body - ready to say "I do not know" if it be so; to treat all men with kindness; and to meet any loss, failure, criticism and rejection unabashed and unafraid.



Greatest American Presidents

  1. Abraham Lincoln
  2. George Washington
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Franklin Roosevelt
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Andrew Jackson

Making Peace With the Past

"Dwell not on your past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."

~Eileen Caddy

Toughest Colleges to Get Into

  1. MIT
  2. Princeton
  3. Harvard
  4. Yale
  5. Stanford
  6. Brown
  7. Columbia

Why You Should Trust God

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities and pour out peace."

~Ezra Taft Benson

The 7 Greatest Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein
  2. Isaac Newton
  3. Galileo Galilei
  4. Nikola Tesla
  5. Aristotle
  6. Archimedes
  7. Charles Darwin

You Matter

"Always be yourself. Never try to hide who you are. The only shame is to have shame. Always stand up for what you believe in. Always question what other people tell you. Never regret the past; it's a waste of time. There's a reason for everything. Every mistake, every moment of weakness, every terrible thing that has happened to you, grow from it. The only way you can ever get the respect of others is when you show them that you respect yourself and most importantly, do your thing and never apologize for being you."

~Unknown

The Most Industrialized Nations

  1. United States
  2. Japan
  3. Germany
  4. France
  5. United Kingdom
  6. Italy
  7. Canada

Keys to Success

"...in his effort to withstand temptation, to economize, to exercise thrift, to disregard the superficial for the real - the shadow for the substance; to be great yet small, in his effort to be patient in the laying of a firm foundation; to so grow in skill and knowledge that he shall place his services in demand by reason of his intrinsic and superior worth. This is the key that unlocks every door of opportunity, and all others fail."

~Booker T. Washington

The 7 Social Sins

  1. Politics without principle
  2. Wealth without work
  3. Pleasure without conscience
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Commerce without morality
  6. Worship without sacrifice
  7. Science without humanity

Cherish What You Love

"Cherish your visions, cherish your ideals, cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts - for out of them will grow all heavenly environment, of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built."~James Allen

The World's Largest Cities

  1. London in England
  2. New York in the United States
  3. Tokyo in Japan
  4. Berlin in Germany
  5. Chicago in the United States
  6. Shanghai in China
  7. Paris in France

Benefits of Optimism

"In terms of success, optimistic people out perform their pessimistic colleagues. Research shows that they are consistently promoted higher and make more money while working fewer hours than those who think pessimistically. Optimists also contribute more significantly to social progress. It is the optimists who start and run successful companies, who win elections and carry out reforms, and who make breakthroughs in the realms of science and technology."

~Pepe Minambo

The World's Greatest Lakes

  1. Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
  2. Lake Superior in North America
  3. Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
  4. Aral Sea in C.I.S.
  5. Lake Huron in North America
  6. Lake Michigan in North America

Demonstrating His Love

"Take your communication for instance - the way you address others. It ought to be with loving, gracious and edifying words. Never talk people down. Never use words that hurt and demean people. Communicate excellently with others without destroying their self-image or making them feel sorry for themselves. Talk to people in a way that they never forget the excellence of your words, the love and grace of Christ that you communicated. It's how God wants us to love."

~Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

World's Longest Rivers

  1. Missouri-Mississipi (U.S.)
  2. Amazon (Brazil)
  3. Nile (Egypt)
  4. Yangtse (China)
  5. Lena (Russia)
  6. Zaire (Central Africa)
  7. Niger (West Africa)