With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from the Mind's Journal. All rights reserved worldwide.
When Bill Clinton was at Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship, he spent a lot of time alone. He enjoyed the solitude of reading and was especially moved by this passage in Carl Sandburg's The People, Yes:
Tell him to be alone often and get at himself
and above all tell himself no lie about himself.
...
Tell him solitude is creative if he is strong
and the final decisions are made in silent rooms.
...
He will be lonely enough
to have time for the work
he knows as his own.
That passage made him think something good could come out of his wondering and worrying. And how do I know all that, you ask?
Well, I read his memoir when I was an engineering student at JKUAT, and it's what inspired me to spend time alone at the university, reading and reflecting. But I became a bit crazy and landed in hospital.
Though the guilt and hate I felt afterwards made me dislike solitude, I've never lost sight of what Carl Sandburg said. So I will set aside time for solitude from time to time.
This time, I will work on becoming so comfortable in my own skin that each moment of solitude becomes a pleasure, whether alone here in my room or out there in the streets walking.
********************** RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "A Shoulder to Lean On".
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from Reflect Worship. All rights reserved worldwide. Around August 2008 when I was in second year at JKUAT, I stopped attending classes but hung around since I didn't want to go home. When the university was closed following a students' strike, I slept in the open air like a wild animal.
The following day, I went to Nairobi City and stayed in two or three different places without bathing and changing clothes. And man, the day I boarded a matatu when reporting back to JKUAT, I feared I could be smelling bad. Fortunately, no passenger said anything to me.
Soon after we reported back, we began sitting for final semester exams. Since I hadn't been attending classes, I was clueless about how to answer questions. I therefore left most of my answers blank without a care in the world.
When we broke for a short holiday, I spent much of my time at Kenya National Library in Upperhill, Nairobi. The library became my refuge. And I liked reading its books and magazines.
Because I didn't go home during that short holiday, I didn't have money to pay fees when we reopened for second semester. That meant I couldn't book a room in the university hostels. So I again slept in the open air like a wild animal.
Eventually, university authorities found me out, took me to a police cell and then admitted me to hospital. Those experiences demoralized me. By the time I was getting discharged from hospital, I had lost my zest for living.
Not surprisingly, I spent my days lazing around, not even summoning the energy to shower, clean my room and wash my clothes. Once when my brother Paddy caught a whiff of bad smell in a sweater I was wearing, he asked me to remove it. I did.
I however seem not to have changed because two years later, Paddy caught sight of deep cracks in my heels. This time, he didn't ask me to do anything. But what a wretch I was! - if I may borrow the word from "Amazing Grace".
******************* RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "What It Means to Be Free".
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"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
Pride
Envy
Gluttony
Lust
Anger
Greed
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
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.
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.
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."
"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
Space travel
Heart surgery
Fibre-optics communication
Concorde
Radios
Computers
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
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Franklin Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
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
MIT
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Brown
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
Albert Einstein
Isaac Newton
Galileo Galilei
Nikola Tesla
Aristotle
Archimedes
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
United States
Japan
Germany
France
United Kingdom
Italy
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
Politics without principle
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice
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
London in England
New York in the United States
Tokyo in Japan
Berlin in Germany
Chicago in the United States
Shanghai in China
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
Caspian Sea in the Commonwealth of Independent States, C.I.S. (formerly U.S.S.R)
Lake Superior in North America
Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa
Aral Sea in C.I.S.
Lake Huron in North America
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."
