be like a pencil

the pencil has five qualities which if you hang onto, will make you a person at peace with yourself and the world.first-you are capable of great things, but must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. we call that hand God, and He always guides us acording to His will.second-now and then, you will be sharpened. that will make you sharper.that makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he is much sharper. so you too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.we are not judged by what we go thro, we are judged by how we go thro them,and most importantly what we become in the process,always remember that.third-the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rum out any mistakes.this means that we are alowed to make mistakes, it makes us human, but most importantly, we should correct these mistakes.fourth- what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. so always pay attention to what is happening inside you.guard, it, protect it.finally-the pencil always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action. do not do anything that will live a mark you are going to regret. and always remember, the past never really goes away, you just learn to live with it.with every passing moment you make a past, make it such that you can live with it in the future

Ish ish kinda, eventually, probably, soonish? - Totally Grey

Is life in black and white, or does it come in sheds of grey? Will you do it, or will you probably do it? If you gonna do it, are you gonna do it at a certain time t or are you gonna do it eventually or probably soonish. Or maybe you just not sure, so it’s an ish ish kinda thing huh.

If you asked me, life comes in both black and white and in sheds of grey. There are certain things in life for which there is no clear answer, no clear position to take. For such kinda stuff, I guess its ok to approximate, to work on a balance of probability. You see the difference between uncertainty and risk is the difference between jumping off a 30 floor building, and bunji jumping! In one, there is a strong string tied to your back so the only risk is whether the string will work or not, which is a measurable, predictable and controllable risk. But its fun, it keeps you on the edge, raves up your juices. I mean who wants to know everything that’s gonna happen tomorrow. That’s pretty boring

For certain things in life, though, you have to be certain, you have to be exact and clear about your position. To be or not to be, that is the question.

So life comes as a rich and colorful mix of black and white and grey. A function with a variable and a constant, with the variable having more weight. The result? Rather than a life modeled around deterministic principles, we end up with a stochastic variable, the lays call it fate – ish ish kinda, will love you eventually, probably soonish!

Keyword-STOCHASTIC

Partially random or uncertain, not continuous; a stochastic variable is neither completely determined nor completely random; in other words, it contains an element of probability. A system containing one or more stochastic variables is probabilistically determined.

The Tragedy Of Dreams

The amazing thing about the youth in this country their passion for work, the depth of their intelligence, their desire to make money, their entrepreneurial spirit, their creativity and much more.Sometimes I ask myself whether this country is ready for the youth it has now, whether its ready to harness the immense potential they possess, whether it is ready for entrepreneurship. In a classical society, the youth grow up, with dreams and aspirations shaped by their heroes, their role models. People who have trodden down roads they want to pursue. If I was in the states I would admire Gates or Steve Jobs (apple computers-yes of the iPod craze) or even Trump. The tragedy of our youth is that they lack such role models. Yes, we definitely have people who have amassed great material wealth. But have they the spiritual depth that can inspire the youth, isn’t it true that all they have is high profile connections and corrupt schemes. Are the youth expected to be inspired to be corrupt?’ No one makes it in Kenya if the play straight’. Isn’t that what every one says?

Encouragingly, some of us have decided to take the road list travelled. Increasingly the new generation of youths is exploring creative, innovative and novel ways of developing themselves. What some aspiring entrepreneurs have done would transform them into billionaires if they were in a country like America. Think of products like graduates.com, afrogle.com, stockskenya.com etc. think of the many youth with the capacity to develop high end application software, offer above board IT solutions. Think of the dude who makes animations for adverts (have you seen the kayamba Africa video!!), the graffiti artists, the likes of home boyz, etc.

There is really nothing so amazingly creative about myspace.com or youtube.com. If those dudes were in Kenya I doubt they would have made an impact. They just happened to be at the write place at the right time. So are we, in Kenya, at the right place at the wrong time? Or maybe at the wrong place at the right time! We live I a country when some 50 year old asks for a payroll soft ware and expects it for free. Why? Coz you are young, don’t need money, and its just software! Were people expect websites to be developed for 30K but must look like, and have the same functionality as the eBay site! We are just not ready for the energy and brilliance that our generation has to offer.

The other day me and a friend of mine, who happens to be highly entrepreneurial were joking that maybe we should stop developing high end IT solutions and instead, go back to agriculture, buy matatus or just open a retail and whole sale shop. After all we live in a society were a product is a product if it can be touched, felt and maybe eaten-food, shelter and clothing: a basic needs society that stifles our creativity and kills our dreams- the tragedy of our dreams

Self Worth

Have you ever asked yourself what your self worth is.forget the deep stuff about who you really are bla bla, though thats the most important. but let talk money.is it jus me or is everyone, new in the job market feeling me on this: that employers are out to rip us off, that they take advantage of our vulnerabilities, expect us to outdo ourselves at work, while they compete and boast about who is most efficient at cutting costs(read underpaying employees) seriously the paycheck most of these big organizations offer reads like a stale joke! so i propose that we evaluate our selves.identify our skills strenghths and uniqueness and quantify that in monetary terms and not settle for anything less than that.suicidal? maybe, its your call at the end of the day

Thursday

There has been a crazy within the corporate circles going under the buzzword 'corporate social responsibility'.under this banner, companies have been falling over themselves to give to society, to be responsible citizens. it is a good thing if you ask me, especially when you consider the huge figures allocated for this course by the likes of safaricom and KCB, and most importanly the many lives it has touched.has this generous gesture been well received. mostly yes. but cynics will be quick to say that it is nothing but a publicy stunt, a marketing strategy. my position is: as long as it puts a smile on a sad mothers face, clothing on a naked child, a room on a homeless family, who cares what the motivation is.

but about personal social responsibility. ever asked yourself how you can give back to society.how you can do better than drop a coin in a beggers cup? i always hoped for the day when i would have the resources, the time and the capacity to give back to society, and wondered when that day would come. one fine morning, while going thro my regular duties in the hospital, i was introduced to a group that calls itself thursday. this is a group of 23 female medical students who have come together to make a difference to society.their objective at the time was to source for funds and donate cancer medicines to children of ward 1E(Childrens cancer ward-kenyatta national hospital)how i thought to myself,you are just students and cancer medicine is obnoxiously expensive! but the passion and dedication that was in them got them to put a smile on those beautiful children. thurday members forgo their luch every thursday as and dedicate the proceeds to a charitable course, they help their needy classmates, support the bereived, contribute to children homes....they basically touch peoples lives, in their own siple ways, with limited resources. they touched my life too, in more ways than one, they challenged and inspired me, and made me realize that all we ever have is excuses,in our own little and simple ways, we can touch a needy persons life, we can be responsible citizens.