Happy Holidays

As curtains close on 2010, we take time to thank you so much for your company all along.

Thank you for dropping by and joining us on this journey of Insight, Inspiration and Self Discovery.

Your reading, sharing and commenting on posts has kept us going each day, every day.

See you all in 2011.

Happy Holidays!

Being Ourselves Always

Only when we truly are ourselves, resist undue external influence and challenge convention can we get the most out of life.

“To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting.”

- E. E. Cummings

The End of Something. The Beginning of Everything

As our stay in High School came to a close and we prepared for our final examinations, a much different reality was inevitably coming upon us.

After the examinations, all of us parted ways to go and start the next phase of life, where we would meet new people, possibly go to different lands and ultimately become different persons.

Timeless Words

In view of this change, we wrote autographs - small books in which we bid one another farewell with indelible words. These would mainly include a recap of memorable moments together, well wishes in later life and a word of advice or two.

My 'autograph' has since been misplaced, but I do recall most of what some of my friends wrote a dozen years ago.

Our dormitory Captain, Felix Kimani, left me with very deep words from the Bible, from Ecclesiastes 9:11 and Proverbs 30:25-27 and 33.
This was when he was almost done with school in 1996 [he was in Form 4 while I was in Form 2], but I digress.

My good friend and our School Captain Herman Ekea wrote me the following enduring words:

Be Yourself Always.

Challenging Convention

These three words have singularly defined most of the seemingly unconventional and somewhat unpopular things I have done so far. They have really helped me in standing my ground, in sticking to what I believe is right, in my best interest and adds value.

Thinking about these words last weekend, I realized that many of us live lives which are far from ideal, largely because we are striving to make ourselves acceptable to the society, trying to fit into others' expectations, or simply trying to belong owing to pressure from our peers.

Reading an International Herald Tribune's 2010 Highlights article about our search for equilibrium, I cannot help but agree with the writer that the world is [indeed] long on worry and short on happiness.

Happiness, it emerges,

"comes not from the raw pursuit of income but from a judicious equilibrium between gains in material comfort and growth of the mind and spirit in a just and sustainable environment."

Minding only what matters

It is my considered opinion that only what matters most to us is worth our time.

By being oursleves always, we leave no room for pretense, play acting, submitting to others' demands, and even worse, living other people's dreams.

That said, now is the time to actually focus on living our authentic lives the best way we should, making the most of every opportunity and becoming our better selves each day, every day.

The Need to Play Your Part

Only when we simultaneously play our respective roles do we collectively become a whole that's more than the sum of its parts.

As I was reading Andrew Brown's piece titled 'Why life without faith is impossible' on the Guardian's Comment is Free yesterday, I was reminded of just how much we depend on one another for our lives to be complete.

We are highly interdependent, we simply cannot get everything done all by ourselves. Functional societies and communities exist when each member proceeds to his own duty with a trust that the other members will simultaneously do theirs.

Giiving it further thought, I asked myself how then, in spite of the roles others play to enhance our lives, we still fail to achieve common purpose.

How the Minority Defeats the Majority

Ironically, the few usually control the many. All over the world, a small minority controls the bulk of the wealth, a small band of thugs can terrorize an entire neighborhood, and most importantly, a very small number of politicians can run down an entire country.

Even when faced with a common danger, one person is still able to manipulate many others as happened in House of 9.

Imagine a hostage situation. A bus carrying over sixty passengers is hijacked by five thugs, armed with crude weapons.
How are these thugs able to control these passengers who outnumber them by a ratio that's greater than 1:12?
According to Andrew Brown, the passengers are easily defeated thanks to the following:

because the highwaymen [thugs] can count on one another, while each passenger fears that if he makes a movement of resistance, he will be shot before any one else backs him up.

The Magic of Teamwork

Teamwork, we all know, works by dividing the effort and multiplying the effect. In other words, when we each do a little more, we all do a lot more.

That said however, there are reasons why we do not fully exploit the spirit of teamwork:

1. We are mostly self-seeking. With every person for himself, nobody does that which will benefit others. We are not altruistic.


2. We refuse to stand in harm's way or take the fall, for the sake of others. Very few are unwilling to take one for the team. Nobody is willing to sacrifice anything for others.


3. Unlike the thugs in the aforementioned example, we lack the assurance that others will watch our backs. There is no motivation to look out for others as well.

Playing Our Roles

The need to play our roles in life cannot be gainsaid. Whereas it may not be very clear to us, what we do invariably has an effect on others. Sometimes, this effect is both far reaching and long lasting.

The onus is therefore upon us to make sure that we do the needful in life, because only then can altruism and sacrifice have true meaning. Go ahead and play your role, no matter how irrelevant and insignificant it may seem. It all starts with you.