29 Lessons I Have Learnt in the Last two Years.

Photo Credit; Here

Happy new year. It may be late for you but for me it actually feels so new now more than ever.

I began the year with a countdown to my birthday which was special because the last day of the job I have done the last two years.

After this post in which I had lost all hope, I sat down and decided to go back to the drawing board. I wanted to take a whole new direction career wise but my mentor could not hear none of it. I wanted to stop being mentored and just be let to make decisions that I thought were right for me but thank God for calm people in this world.

I came back to my senses when this question "so what is the short term plan? Because what you have is good but long term." was thrown at me. These kind of people are a bit annoying at such moments, and so I made two short term plans both of which had persistence as the main ingredient. Eventually after hard work, persistence like that of the proverbial widow and prayer without ceasing, it paid off. I couldn't hold my tears when I got the positive news. I was elated, it is not much but the joy of seeing something you have worked so hard for succeeds is always amazing.


There are a few lesson I have picked along the way and I will share them with you below. Some will make sense while some, well let us just say people have different perspectives in life.

1. In life, you need a mentor and as hard as it may seem to always ask the opinion of someone over something concerning your life, if you want to grow, you cannot avoid this.

2. Know when to walk away; not all situations have a positive side.

3. If it is draining you, it is time to make a change.

4. Your network is your net worth. Make friends at every opportunity you get.

5. Celebrate small victories but do not get comfortable in them, aim higher after every step.

6. Positive energy bounces back to you in equal measure but not necessarily same speed, give it either way.

7. Depersonalize failure ; things do not always go as planned and it has nothing to do with you. Failure is failure and so is success, it is not about certain people, it is about situations.

8. Getting a passion and going after it is a great thing. It is mind occupying and at the same time it lets you compete with yourself. The eventual result is growth as you achieve certain personal goals.

9. Things happen the way they do for a reason but that should not make us resign to fate, instead make the right choices with the end in mind.

10. Always have the end in mind and work out the plan to get there. Without the end, we are heading nowhere.

11. Read wide. I am not the best of readers but I try and I can tell you that reading makes you see the world through a different window.

12. Do not be afraid to shine.

13. Work out, It makes you feel good about yourself even.

14. Believe in the beauty of your dreams. If you can not see how beautiful your future is, you cannot convince the world to see it and you cannot work towards it. Something has to motivate you and that thing is a mental picture of what you want to be like, to have or to own in the future.

15. To thy own self ; be true.

16. If it involves pleasing people , do it but not for long because it will take away your self esteem.

17. If what you do is all you have at that particular time, love it, do it with passion. Working from a point of love is essential, it makes you happy. Happy people deliver good results. The question that you will always be asked is; how do you do it? Even if you say it is love, people will not  understand.

18. Try new things, you never know what new talent you may discover.

19. Keep time, it makes you look organised even if you are not. :)

20. Do not hate the player nor the game, hate the fact that there is nothing you are doing about it and change that.

21. Get a system to deal with anger and disappointments. Do not let it weigh you down, neither let them make you negatively affect those around you.

22. Laugh, it heals wounds.

23. Make friends across all age brackets, older people will give you wisdom, children will ask you thought provoking questions, young people will make you realize that life is never that serious and your age mates should challenge you.

24. Forgive people, yourself included.

25. At any given time , whatever you do, give your best , not for anything but so that you can leave a legacy. Let it be said, "there once worked a girl here who gave her best" about you.

26. If boiling an ocean is what you have to do to earn a living, do it. Do what you have to do to stay relevant. It is a fast paced world, if you slow down or get too comfortable. you will soon be obsolete. Remember to never sink in your ocean.

27.Never forget the days of your humble beginnings, let them inspire you to greater heights.

28. It is better to be peaceful than to be right. This is the most important lesson.

29. Last but not least, commit all your plans to God and he will make your path straight.

Taking Stock for 2015

The year is quickly coming to a close. Amazingly, It has ended in a way that I wished for but never expected. God has shone his face on me. It is like watching the sunset on a beach. The view is breath taking and the feeling it gives is uplifting. It remains in your mind, beautifully weaved together for you to remember and smile. I am excited about 2016. I don't remember being this excited about a new year. I am walking into it with so much energy because I know God has better things in store for me if I keep believing him.


Making: New friends at every chance I get. Your network is your net-worth.

Hoping: To diversify my writing next year. To write better articles and impact more people through my blog posts.

Cooking: No, baking more often than before. So far, lemon cake is my best. 

Drinking: Less tea and coffee and more water.

Reading: Those nursery school books everyday. I am teaching the little man how to 

read. Yesterday during our reading session I realized that these new generation kids are 

not a joke. In his alphabet book , I is for Ice cream and J is fr Jeep. I think I knew a Jeep 

while in high school. J was for jump, I was for insect :).  #goals #generationZmaybe  

Wanting: New challenges everyday. I want to hang around people who are bubbling with energy and bursting with ideas like they are paid to think.

Looking: Forward to the new year :).

Playing: That song "Moto ya kuotea mbali" in my head nonstop. I cant stop myself.

Wasting: No time in terms of goal setting and chasing.

Sewing: Nothing at all.

Wishing: I can get a watch for New Years or for just existing :).

Enjoying: Coming to work over the Holiday season. There is absolutely no traffic.

Waiting: For January to start. The month has only 20 working days but there is so much to do plus, hey it my birthday month. 

Liking: That Domino's Pizza opened a store right opposite our office. A slice once a while wont hurt :). 

Wondering: Whether I am the only one with so much psyche for 2016. 

Loving: The color pink more everyday.

Marveling: At God's love upon me and my family in 2015.

Needing: A mentor. A high flying female in the corporate world. Recommendations can come.

Smelling: Some chicken pies from the kitchen. 

Wearing: Pink, black and nude heels.

Following: Nothing.

Noticing: That I have added weight over the festive season. Njaanuary will work on it though, no worries.

Knowing: I am better than I was last year like now.

Thinking: That I should buy myself these three books  ; The Tipping Point, The Rules of Power and Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda. I should start the new year on a bright drive.

Feeling: Excited knowing that mid next year my little man joins school. I don't know how I will manage to hold back my tears when I see him in uniform. 

Bookmarking: Many blogs on Agriprenuership. 

Opening: My desk to take out lip balm.

Giggling: At nothing really.

New beginnings are nothing if you do not transform that energy into something useful.

Go ahead and celebrate, but remember there are 364 days ahead for you to execute your plans. Wake up everyday and remember what excited you about that new beginning, ignite that fire and keep going.

You will feel like stopping, going slower and generally being in doubt, but always find a new reason to go on. If you cant find, remember why you started. If it still does not inspire you, remember you have so many people you need to prove wrong, do not let anyone ever define you as a failure. Be a success in your own terms. 

Thank you so much for reading all through 2015.
Happy new year.

I Hit Rock Bottom While Aiming for the Sky.

Focus is when you put all your energy, thoughts, hopes and aspirations in something you believe in. When you focus, you hardly hear the wind pass. You concentrate, you get immersed, lost and suddenly you are defining a new self. When you believing in something so much, you start envisioning yourself in it, with it or being it. You lose yourself.

This has been me the last two to three months. I wanted this new job position so much. I chased managers across the corridors and asked leading questions. I knew the positions were opening but I dint know when and so I kept tabs on every new change. 

When you want to find a husband, you put yourself out there. It is the same thing with finding a job. I was out there more than It is needed. :)

People started to notice me, I took part in almost all group activities, heck I even anchored the news on the t.v channel at our workplace. Yes we have t.v channel . That was a good night, that night I was on air. I was almost a celebrity overnight, people poured out hearty congratulations as others were amazed that I had the courage to do that. 

The thing is, I am told I have a misleading face. People meet me and think I am uptight and serious,probably even boring but I think they are the ones who have a problem because after sometime they actually admit it " I never knew you were this talkative, or funny or whatever else adjectives they feel like using to describe my happy self. I am used to being profiled by the seriousness on my face and I keep wondering, should I go smiling around like a smiling machine or what do they exactly mean when the say " You are too serous"?

The job positions opened up and you can bet I was first to drop in my application. Five minutes after a communication was sent that the vacancies were open, candidate number one was already waiting. I did a lot of following up weeks later to  ensure that it had actually been received. On the weekend before the interview, I locked my self indoors and read manuals and websites. I was more prepared than was required as I realized during the interview because that was the first time I had been in front of a panel that nodded when I talked and one that I actually got to interview a little because I felt like they dint pose a challenge big enough for me . They were done; I actually got myself asking "Is that all?" Where was I to take all this information on Forex, FDIs, Dispora banking and all those things? I dint want to use the next time, I dint see a next time. I walked out of that room feeling proud of myself.  

Meet the brand ambassador for the night :)
Behind that smile were tears that needed to flow.

 A week later, I was selected among other people to be a brand ambassador for the new brand. It was a great feeling, a premonition of better things to come. The wait for my interview results was painful because doubt would creep in now and then. But I held on to my faith. Word on the corridors was that I was second in ranking. My competition must have been born way earlier than I was because the only thing she had above me was experience. I was happy because number two counts too. But time went and there was no communication and finally it dawned on me that the only place to be is at the top. Average does not cut it. I was not ready for such news. I broke down. It was the day were to hold the event where I doing the brand ambassador roles. I was not happy. Behind my smile were tears that could occasionally make me visit the washrooms more often than normal. I wanted to scream and curse. I wanted to hate whom ever took my job. I was not prepared for failure. I hit rock bottom .

This post comes from a point of pain. A point where self acceptance is needed but there is not enough to give. But the pen takes away  my pain in a way I cannot explain. So I thought about; it not conclusive thoughts. They were scattered all over and they dint even care to gather and make sense. I decided to write about it. 

Because in life no situation is unique to you. Some one must have gone through the same, another may need to hear that someone like you can actually fail. There maybe one wondering why she is alone in failure. Here is to those who have aimed for the sky and fallen for the stars, we have to keep trying, better still, change strategy but we must get what we want because we deserve the best. 

This is beside the point but hey, I googled the meaning of Mihas, and this is what I found: http://www.meaninglike.com/what-does-name-stand-for/mihas timely, right?

Cheers!

700 Words for 2014

Let’s raise our glasses……….

 

Only once in my whole life have I written down yearly goals and ticked off 90% of them. It’s got to be 2014.

Il make it 95% this evening when I walk into a store and get myself a toaster. Finally Il stop saying how much I need one every time I am having lazy bread. Toasted bread is active bread. I want an active 2015. 

In this year, this blog came to birth. I bore it to light a candle for my little boy. Id want him to be a writer if he can. If he fancies it. If he can believe that girls love men who write or at least read. If he can hear me say that intelligence is sexy and knowledge bears intelligence with time. I want him to know that if he ever wants to write, he should write. 

One more child was born. Mihasgifts. My little gift shop. Its little, it has no much publicity. But babies grow by the day and I am ready to feed this one to maturity. 

It has the name my Grandpa gave me. Mihas. I love it!! This name will be a brand one day. It’s a resilient name and defines exactly what id like the brand to be……….”it's all over”. That, I was told is the English translation of this name Mihas!!

Grandpa, the one man whom I have no words to describe.Your strength at 75 makes me look too old for my age. Man, you never give up. See how well you recovered from that wheel chair back in July now you are walking on your own. Guks, I love you more than you will ever understand. Probably it’s because I have daddy issues, but who cares, I love you. I enjoyed all the trips to the hospital because of how much difference in progress each visit gave. If I had my way, my lil man would bear your name somewhere at the end. Do they make certificates for double barreled kids whose second surname is from great grandpas? Am I a first? But I know he has your spirit. The lil champ is as naughty as you tell me you used to be. He’s also gentle to the ladies and does not pick petty fights. That is what you taught me is wisdom. May be he will be a Doctor like you. Dr. Kariuki J. Someday.

 I am looking forward to your 75^th birthday in two weeks time. You won’t read this blog so it will still be a surprise :).

Lil man turned one this year and we made it grand. Like I had wanted it to be, not exactly, but that’s why we shall out do ourselves at two. This life is short, let’s make good moments grand- that’s my news years’ motto.  

Lil man had corrective surgery for his umbilical cord. It’s not a story, its just that. A statement of fear and anxiety then power.

I fell in love.

This year, I loved to wake up to work. I loved the thought of working with great minds. I loved that I can read an article a day and feel like my I.Q just shot because I know a new word. So I fell in love with my job and books. The two are synonymous.  One time I almost gave up. But then again, it takes a day to learn that happiness is a choice you make every morning.

 I have redefined my style. I have become such a free spirit. I have guilelessly fallen in love with myself this year.

I went back to wearing spects. This blindness thing is not a joke. :)

Thank you so much for reading. It’s amazing how hard I smile when I look at the stats for this blog yet I still feel its so small. 

But you dear reader are big. You are the big reason I cannot go MIA forever.

Let’s make a toast…………. As I also get myself a toaster :).

 

 ………………………… to the new year!!