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


Righteousness in Action

A True Story
by
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
With permission, I've extracted this picture-quote from The Word for the Day. All rights reserved worldwide.

Sylvester Otieno, my music producer, relocated his studio to a place on the outskirts of Nairobi I had never been to. So he had to give me directions before I went there on Monday.

I boarded a bus in downtown Nairobi and sat at the back. When it was time to pay the fare, I reached for my wallet while asking the conductor to tell me when we reached the place Sylvester had instructed me to alight at.

As it often happens when I'm travelling to an unfamiliar place, I feared the conductor would forget what I had asked him to do. So when some passengers alighted from the bus leaving empty seats at the front, I dashed to one near him.

Shortly after I sat down, a lady came and handed me my wallet that I had dropped. I thanked her and then again as she was about to take a seat at the back. When I confirmed my money was in the wallet, I felt like thanking her yet again but didn't.

The lady did me the world of good as she saved me the agony of losing my wallet which not only had money but also my national ID and ATM card. That was righteousness in action, wasn't it?

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "A Lesson in Kindness".
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Staying Lean

A True Story
by Thuita J. Maina
on Jan 7, 2023
Copyright ©
Picture related to the title of the story
On the left was me in 2016 and on the right is me in 2023 (this year). In which photo do I look more handsome?

I sometimes listen to a recording of the comforting old hymn "Chief of Sinners" which has scenes from "The Passion of the Christ" as background video. The scenes show how a hyped-up mob flogged Christ before crucifying Him. And I've noted all the actors involved are lean, not fat.

Mel Gibson, the director of "The Passion of the Christ", must have chosen lean actors because he knew people in Christ's time didn't suffer from obesity. They walked everywhere they went as they had no cars, trains and motorbikes. They also had no processed foods. That lifestyle kept them lean, something I've also wanted to be.

But alas! When I was admitted to hospital in October 2008, I grew unbelievably fat, for all I did in the hospital was eat and sleep. Since then, I've battled my weight - sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully - and noted along the way that I've looked more handsome when lean than when fat.

One night in 2011 when I was at the University of Nairobi for instance, I showed some female classmates an old photo of me taken in my JKUAT days and asked them to compare it with how I looked that night. I can't remember what they said but to my eye, I was more good-looking in the photo.

Displeased with how unsightly I looked when big, I put an old photo of me on my campaign posters when I was running for a political seat in the 2013 Kenya's general elections. Most people who saw my posters probably didn't recognize me on the streets.

I also put old photos of me as my social media profile pics. A damsel I met in 2014 complained to me that she had expected to meet a young man who looked like the one in the Facebook profile pic I had then.

That I've looked more handsome when lean was what motivated me to eat moderately and exercise daily so as to lose weight. I also kept away from foods rich in fat and sugar. As a result, I've become the lean young man I've always wanted to be.

But I won't rest of my laurels because I know from past experience that I will easily gain weight if I overeat and do little exercise. I will therefore continue eating moderately and exercising daily so as to stay lean.

**********************
RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Shedding the Weight".
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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)