Follow Your Gut; it already knows where you should be

"Mark, do you know that you are going to have a midlife crisis". She said! I almost spurt the drink in my mouth in astonishment, "what? Midlife crisis? Not me." That came out yesterday evening, while catching up with a long time friend. She gave me an example of someone she knows who bought a Subaru in his forties, only because he wanted to look cool. No offense to Subaru owners, but the way she put it, sounded like what nobody in his/her forties should ever do. "Life is like an insects cycle," she continued, "you jump the larva stage, expect yourself to go back there", to which I laughed out, because it sounded so true (at moments of truth, I laugh). I mean how can you grow to another stage before you fully outgrow the on you're in.

I have always wanted to buy a bike. You know those super bikes that you see whirling down the curves of Tigoni Tea Farms? A 1000cc that puts your rage on the road. But every time I think of it, it has always been a war between starting up a business, or buying the bike. Of course the former one has always won, something that I'm not too proud of, as I write this. I have longed for that bike for too long, for many years, daydreaming of taking long trips with it, all over the world; biking from here to Cape Town, while taking afternoon naps at the Victoria Falls, as I replenish my energy for the journey ahead. What of those random afternoons that I would just tell her, "let's go to Nanyuki!" And like the loyal girlfriend she will be, she will just give me that vroom vroom fire as we roll down Thika Road, at 250Km per hour, and off to the bush. And this can't wait till 40, only to be termed as a midlife crisis haha! It has to be now now! I mean, why should I wait till forty to ask such a beauty out? It's suicidal.

Following your gut may sound foolish, risky, but believe me you, it is among the best things that you will ever do, for yourself. People rarely regret what they have done, it is the wasted and unheeded call sounds, that come back haunting. Whether it's walking away from that job that makes you feel stagnant, or just getting down on chasing your dream, just follow your gut. Your gut knows what you don't know, it sees where your eyes, faith and hope cannot see, trust or even believe in. It's risky, but it can be rewarding as well.

This reminds me of how before graduation I signed my fate into working for a certain government organization, in the belief that I needed to work for a while, in order to raise capital to venture out into business. Capital is the biggest excuse that people give as a hindrance to getting into business, and here I was, falling into that trap. I can assure you that the following months were the most stagnant months of my life. And it is then that I probably made my worst financial investment mistakes, something that I consider as getting my MBA in the School of Life. The point is, I eventually started a business, in which no single coin, came from my then employment. I sourced the funds else where, which just proved that I did not require to work to raise capital. In this case I had ignored my gut, but thanks to myself, I woke up from my ignorance.

So let me call your inability to follow your gut ignorant too. That will bite you, and challenge you, because I don't believe you appreciate being ignorant. Wake up from your dilemma, and chase that dream down the road. Jump even if you can't see the end of the cliff, you will develop wings before you hit the ground. Some times responsibilities may seem to be shouting "but you can't have it your way!" But the thing is, that's just another excuse. Your gut is your true way! It is the untrodden path that Robert Frost talked about years ago.

So what is going to happen to me and my bike. I'm so getting it! Not tomorrow, for that would mean I close down the hardware store (here they compete again), but I will write it down in my every day, to-do-list, "Get a bike", and eventually, I expect to buy it by the end of the year, which means December 2015. 

In the book "Why A students work for C students", Kiyosaki talks about expanding one's means. That living within your means is boring. That it is what poor people do. I mean poor people live within budgets, and are proud when they are debt-free. (You understand that when it comes to Kiyosaki, poor also means middle class). He explains that to be totally happy and live to one's fulfilment, one should learn how to expand his/her means, so that your expanded means can cover your growing life engagements. And that is how I intend to get my bike. I will be expanding my means for the next couple of months, which basically means growing my investments, from which I will then buy my bike. This may be as simple as buying a small property which I will then use as collateral to get the bike loan. The bike loan, can then be paid off by the income from the small property. At the end of maybe two or three years, I will have my bike, and my kasmall property. Or it maybe as complicated as the thought of hell, but that won't matter; I will still get my bike. #ExpandingMeansAndFollowingGuts 

And before I forget, you probably wonder how I got off the employment hook.. Well, one day I went to work, and there was this voice in my head that kept saying, "if you do not resign today, you will never resign, and you will be stuck here forever". Of course, I had done a pro and cons analysis way before, and I had written a resignation letter several months back, but not handed it over. On this day, the voice was too violent and shaking. I felt restless and off balance. I assumed it was my gut talking to me. I retrieved the letter from my tab, updated the date, and off I was, chasing my dream. Follow your gut. It has been there before you, in the shoes and souls of other men and women, and it is far and widely experienced more than you are. It won't be easy, but why the heck do you want an easy life? Good luck friend.

TWO RIVERS; Scaling the Experiential Lifestlye

Set on 100 acres of land and with a build up area of 60,000 sq.m, Two River Project is without a doubt the biggest diversified mall within East and central Africa, overtaking Garden City with a cool 8,000 sq.m.

An architectural overview of the Two River Project

The project is situated right at the heart of affluence, next to Runda Estate, therefore giving an easy access to those within Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Kitsuru, Nyali, Westlands and Kiambu County. With the northern By-Pass and Limuru Rd, right at its door step, convenience and accessibility are right at the middle of its code.

Part of the Two River project,currently under construction that includes a dual carriage way road, connecting to Limuru Rd, and the Northern By-Pass 

The project is an art piece of Centum Investment, which is largely owned by Kenyan Billionaire Chris Kirubi.

With the first phase expected to be completed by September, the project will house International Retailers such as France-Based-Franchise, -Carrefour and Virgin Active, a health and gym integrated facility owned by Billionaire Richard Branson. It will also consist of residential apartments, office blocks, a five star and three star hotels, plus so many other entertainment, eatery and shopping joints.

A pictorial impression of the two river project

So how much mulla is going into all this? Ksh. 17 Billion, with some coin change -probably! This is a very positive fit that shows local investors are at the core-center of propelling our economy, and you can almost be guaranteed that they will keep on reinvesting most of their profits into the same pond. heightened

 Ongoing construction of the First Phase that will house retail stores

International investors have also not been left out, with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) putting in Ksh.6.4 Billion, part of which is debt, and the rest is an undisclosed equity into the project. These makes Two Rivers, the highest regional-private-project to benefit from such a foreign-direct investment.

A MOMENT IN MY LIFE

“Why do you do these?” “What?” “What you are doing right now!” “You know you can be like them.” “You know you can choose the easy way out, simplify things, and life would still be good.” That was a conversation that ran in my mind about two weeks ago, while stuck in traffic at around 10:00pm along Thika road. I was coming from a place called Njoro, where I had gone to get stock for my business. So here I was, in a lorry, observing the cars driving by, and just thinking that most of those people were actually going home to rest, but there I was in a truck full of ply woods and block boards that had to be offloaded the same night. 

To cut the long story short, we finished offloading at around midnight and I made it to the house slightly before 1:00am. I was not even feeling sleepy; all I wanted was to think; think through my life; everything that I was going through, and most important, the choices that I was making, which at the end of the day, were constantly defining me. This was quite unlike of a person who had woken up at 4:00 am on the prior day and had spent the whole day running up and down at a factory, trying to ensure that he had got the right quantity of the products that he needed. But I knew that could not go on; I had to force myself to find some sleep for I had an early customer coming in the following day, which meant I had only a few hours of sleep at my disposal…

Over the past few months, I have had some very interesting times- probably the most interesting times of my life. I have spent more time than I had ever spent there before, interacting with men and women that I greatly worship, and in the process learned a lot from them and their lifestyles, making me feel more equipped for life, than I have ever felt. I have had a chance to walk with them as they run through their days, and it’s amazing to see how they stick to purpose and reason as they work on getting the best value out of themselves. We have laughed over many cups of tea, as I asked them questions about their lifestyle, all in the need to see through their lenses and understand the purpose behind their cause. 

I have also had a chance to read and reread the best materials that I feel define a man the best way possible--- that is--- Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Prior to the two books-experiences, I used to have a lot of questions ranging from religion to man’s place in his own life, and most of all, I had the answers to all these questions, but lacked enough confidence to speak out or even walk these answers. But not anymore! The experience I have had while reading these two books, is like looking yourself in the mirror, and seeing a person you’re sure is not you, but speaks like you. I have heard my own voice voiced out in Ayn’s characters (the writer of the two books), and for once, I felt that someone had explained it all to me, on whom I am. Make no mistake, I have known whom I am for a long time, I just didn’t understand it, and at many times tried to fit in with the people considered normal. Before you start thinking that I am talking of being psycho, let me explain a little bit about the two books. First, they are like bibles to the atheist; but not just any atheist, but the objectivist man--- this is because Ayn’s work is written for the glory of man, to himself, for himself, and for his life within earth. Second, we have all heard the terms egoism, pride and selfishness, but we have only heard these words, or used them, to imply negativity. What most of us do not know is that these words--- when properly understood, and used--- are the ones that lead to “the glory of man, to himself, for himself, and for his life within earth.

In the process of all these, and the main thing being to live life, I have made quite a number of mistakes; actually big mistakes. I have made some poor investment choices that have really tossed me down. I have put my money in the wrong baskets, and just watched it blow away, with tough lessons as the only remainder. I have been floored down by misplaced love ---misplaced because I knew it could not work out, but still pushed it. At the end of the day, focus is the key of the game, and moreover, it has to be the right-rational chosen and approved game, by none other, but oneself. 

One more thing has been cooking up; I came to the door step of the most glorious place that a man can find himself; serenity! Probably influenced by the many good and bad events that have been taking place in my life, I have found myself more than ever in a zone where leading a quiet life and being reflective is the in-thing. Some of my readers even noticed and asked me, why my blog is no longer updated at the rate it used to be there before. To the contrary, I have had further more and better experiences, adventures and moments to write on, than there before, but just didn’t feel like putting them out here. I felt it was a time for me – me time, they call it- to focus in rhyming with the groove of my moments, to just enjoy those precious times of the zone, to listen more to myself and my surroundings -to suck out energy out of it-. Well, I blame it on spending too much time with old men who have made it all, but understand and have modesty as their best attire. So I am following up in their footsteps, it is not easy, but I like it. Moreover, it is fantastic to walk in another man’s shoes -that I can assure you.

‘THE FEAR TO BE’

 This is the first article that i ever wrote, way back in 2012. I came across it while going through my archive and thought it wise to publish it. I dedicate it to all those who desire and live to fill a childhood inadequacy.

Few years ago, when I was still a small boy, nothing meant more than being able to stand out

amongst the other boys, or as some may refer to them, the age group. It meant a lot if you were the best when it came to drawing the newest bus in the estate, dribbling and scoring goals, not forgetting that we were playing with a ball made of papers and sisal strings. You also got a lot of accolades from the same boys if you succeeded in amassing the highest number of girlfriends. These were not the only things that made one stand out, but just a few that seemed more important to us, than the rest.

There were some of us who grew up with loads and tonnes of courage, always standing out and thrusting unto the world what was in them. For such, it was always about seizing the opportunity as first as it arose, and going all the way to make a statement. They didn’t have to worry much as things seemed to always flow as planned. Good luck or the Lord’s favor seemed to always be upon them, thus ensuring that their efforts were always well rewarded.

On the other hand, a good number of us had to be persuaded to leave our security/comfort zone and bring out what was in us. The fear to be was written all over our faces, and little could we tell where we were headed to. Though we had our own small ambitions, we lacked the small packages of faith that would ignite the fire of willing and going on to be what we aspired. Ours, was a world of darkness as we tried to convince ourselves that we were actually worthy. 

Unlike most of our friends, we lacked the courage to dribble, fight or even compete for the few girls around, and as a result we had to always settle for those who were considered by the status quo as not being so good-looking. To the rest of our friends, we appeared weak, not strong enough to fight for what we desired.

Unfortunately, most of us have grown on with the same fear. Worst of all, a good number of those who were considered to be brave enough, have for some negative reasons joined this extended club of  the ‘fear- to -be’. This have only resulted to so many un-achieved dreams, with many of us burying them, into some 9-feet deep grave yards, where they can never be resurrected. A better look at our surroundings will tell you that there is a lot that have resulted to such situations, and it is not really by wish that some of us grew within a cloud of fear while others got exposed to the same disease later on in their lives.

Despite all the genuine causes that we might have, there is no excuse unto any man or woman, as to why they should find something to blame or point a finger at. It is up to us to grow beyond our fears and overcome them. After all there is more joy and happiness in emerging triumphant over our challenges

and short-comings. The fact that our environment may have denied us something of importance, such as motivation, in the process of growth, is not a reason enough for us to cower for the rest of our lives. Instead, we are expected to fight and fill our inadequacy. For me, this is what I call the transformational process which results to the salvation of the human soul.

We should always try as much as we can to get out of our comfortable cocoons and expose ourselves to the many experiences and opportunity that are out there. Humans have been able to discover that exposure to too much sunlight results to sun-burns; to prevent the sun-burns, they use sunscreen lotions. In the same way, why not get exposed to those experiences that make you feel challenged and instead of cowering back and avoiding the beautiful feel of the sunshine/life, device your own sunscreen/survival tactics that will help you emerge as a conqueror.

It is my hope that we have an agreement… leave your cocoon today, revive those buried dreams and let them shine.

MAU MAU; the uncelebrated 'culture'

When most people hear about the Mau Mau, what comes in mind is big masculine men in dreadlocks who 'lived' in the forest and only came out to the open when they were carrying out attacks on their colonizers. Many of us up to now, fail to realize that Mau Mau, which was actually not their name, but used by the 'mzungu' to degrade them, was more of a community effort that demanded the participation of all including kids and women. Like Keith a friend of mine put it, Mau Mau can actually be defined as more of a culture than just a simple organization. It had every aspect of a way of living, from appearance, language, and had even developed songs and legend stories that were meant to educate and bide its members together.

Growing up as a kid i never had much to watch about this culture that pertained in the 50s but i had a lot of books to read about them. My mum being a teacher, always ensured that our library was full of literature material that would keep us busy. She also didn't encourage watching TV so the only option for me to keep myself busy was through reading. Most of the books on the Kenya Land Defense Force that i came across back then, were quite boring, probably due the fact that i was young and couldn't comprehend too much. But this changed when i landed my hands on the Njamba Nene series that were meant for kids, that is Njamba Nene and the Flying Bus, and Njamba Nene and the Pistol, both written by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. 

What Ngugi wa Thiong'o had done by writing those two books was create a child character, a young boy by the name Njamba Nene who would proceed to show how kids and women too had actively participated in the Mau Mau war. In the first book, we see Njamba Nene's mother, Wacu, teaching his young son the songs that the Kenya Land Defense Force had come up with to help pass their message on. The young boy proceeded to teach the songs he had learned from his mother to his fellow school mate, an act that got him expelled from the school on claims that he was trying to recruit his school mates in to the Kenya Land Defense Force.

In the second book, things get more heated up and complicated, as Njamba Nene, now out of school, is given a loaf of bread by a stranger and instructed to take it to the Ngai Ndeithia forest, where he would meet up again with the stranger. Njamba Nene was to later find out that the loaf of bread contained a gun and that the stranger was none other than the Famous General Ruheni, whom the prevaious night had shot dead a colonial chief by the name Kirogoru, and was therefore being looked for by the colonial administrator. The activities proceeded to explode to better scenes, as Njamba Nene was forced by circumstances to use the gun he had found in the bread, so as to save General Ruheni and his entrounge, after they had been arrested by the mischievous colonial masters.

As a young boy, the two books took me through a very interesting process, one that actually made me feel like a hero. Ngugi, had successfully captured my imagination and taken me through the shoes of his character Njamba Nene, a small boy just like me (back then), who in many ways was able to save the day and enable the Kenya Land Defense Force advance their cause. His two books and even other short stories have done a great feat in educating some members of the past generation, mine and even future ones, the big roles that were played by all genders and ages of a community towards gaining their freedom back.

It is this major lesson that i hope that the Michezo Africa, one of the best drama clubs in the country and part of the USIU Africa, under the leadership of Script writer and director Keith Oleng, will successfully bring out, with their on-going shooting of a movie on the Kenya Land Defense Force, or as famously known the Mau Mau. From their work, i hope that present and future generations will get an opportunity and better option to watch and learn about one of the most uncelebrated cultures in our country's history.