Caroline Mutoko To Kenyans:Do Not Let The Terrorists Win!

 
Caroline Mutoko is arguably one of the most meticulous and influential Kenyan media personalities of all time. With over 300,000 likes on her Facebook her influence just gets stronger. The Kiss 100 presenter takes this platform to encourage fellow Kenyans saying:

 Scanning through the TV stations I've caught images of Kenyans go about their business. It feels good. We cannot agree to be terrorized. Terrorism is an effort to bring a nation to its knees. We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don’t conduct business, where our children don't go to school, where people don’t shop, where we don't walk freely in our own country, where we don't live our lives.

That’s their intention. Don't let them win. If we hide in our houses; if we cancel our events; if we don't go to school; if we don't do business; if we turn on each other, if we begin to nitpick at those doing their part to help - then the terrorists have won.

Source:
Ghafla.co.ke

LIFE IS A VICIOUS CYCLE

Bad things seem to happen to the same people over and over.

Bad things seem to happen to the same people over and over.

Soon as they get over a horrible phase and think it is time for champagne, the bigger, 'badder' brother comes knocking.

It is as if life is not about enjoying, but about fighting a terrible cycle of events that seems to evolve viciously.

That is the better stuff. Even worse, the vicious cycle transcends generations.

Can it get worse? Take a man who watched as his father repeatedly beat up his mother to a pulp.

This man, besides having constant bile against his father, would swear throughout his life how he would never lay a hand on a woman, no matter how hard that woman pushed him.

Shock and behold, he grows up to be an improved version of his father.

His children feel about him as he had about his father, but he is somehow blind to this. He fails to see himself in his children.

He is blind to the future and the fact that his children would probably grow up to be just like him and his father. How do you break this cycle?

And how is it that a child from a divorced background is always the first among his friends to divorce?

It is every child’s idea of heaven to have two parents living together in harmony and, naturally, a child who grew up with divorced parents would want to give his/her own child better.

They will spend time and energy looking for the right spouse, one who would do the distance of “till death do us part” with relative ease.

Two children down the line, there are divorce papers, court battles, and the vicious cycle makes its mark on yet another generation.

Do we become what we detest most? Does fate have a goal against all human beings – you know, just to prove who is boss, and expertly steer us towards the very path we repeatedly swear never to take?

Is the decision to be better people out of our hands?

Perhaps it is a genetic thing – like high blood pressure or diabetes; if it is in the family then you are at a risk of getting it and there is nothing much you can do about that.

These are musings triggered by watching enough people make mistakes, swear never to repeat them, then repeat them as soon as the dust settles, musings from watching many children of divorced people follow in their parents’ footsteps.

They are musings from watching enough people who witnessed their mothers’ agony from the fist of their fathers dish out the same to their spouses.

It is either genetic or we are generally a damaged race.
On a slightly lighter (ish) note, about six years ago I was in a matatu that was carjacked.

We were taken to a notorious outer Nairobi estate where we were relieved of all our possessions.

After that I swore never to set foot in that neighbourhood as long as I lived (forget the fact we were carjacked in a different estate and dumped in this particular one, but everybody loves to hate on it and I was joining the wagon).

As fate would have it, within months, I was living in this same estate as a happy wife and was not nagging the husband to move out.

Moral of my story: If you are to swear not to do something, do not do it too loudly lest embarrassment wash over you when you do exactly what you swore you never would.
 
by
cikukimani25@gmail.com

Want To Lose Weight? Try Eating A Big Breakfast

Many health experts recommend a balanced breakfast to start each day and new research from Tel Aviv University in Israel has shown that a ‘big breakfast’ diet can even lead to more efficient weight loss when compared to a big dinner diet.

According to their report in the journal Obesity, the Israel-based team found that when overweight and obese women were given a weight-loss diet with the same amount of daily caloric intake, those who ate more for breakfast than dinner tended to lose more weight than those who did the opposite and feasted at night.

To investigate the health effects of meal timing, the research team enlisted 93 obese women who were randomly placed into one of two groups. Both groups were told to consume a moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-fat, 1,400-calorie-a-day diet for 12 weeks. The first group was told to eat 700 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch, and 200 at supper. The other group had a 200 calorie breakfast, 500 calorie lunch, and 700 calorie dinner. Both groups’ 700-calorie meals included the same foods.

At the end of the twelve weeks, the “big breakfast” volunteers had lost an almost of 18 pounds each, on average. They also lost three inches off their waist line. The “big dinner†group averaged a 7.3-pound weight loss and 1.4 inches of lost waistline.

The breakfast group was also found to have noticeably lower levels of insulin, glucose, and triglycerides throughout the day, which could eventually lead to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, added the researchers.

They also noted that the big breakfast group also had lower levels of the hunger-regulating hormone ghrelin, suggesting that these women were more satiated throughout the day than their counterparts in the other group. The breakfast group also did not experience blood glucose spikes that often occur after a meal. Some experts consider these jumps in blood sugar levels more harmful than sustained high blood glucose levels with respect to cardiovascular disease.

According to the researchers, the results indicate that proper meal timing should be considered when attempting to manage obesity, in addition to a regular exercise regimen and proper nutrition. The study authors also suggested that people minimize late-night snacking or mindless eating in front of the television screen.

One of the study’s authors – Daniela Jakubowicz, a diabetes expert at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel – has been espousing the virtues of a large breakfast for years and even has a diet book based on the principle.

In a review of Jakubowicz’s 2009 book “The Big Breakfast Diet: Eat Big Before 9 a.m. and Lose Big for Life,” Los Angeles Times’ critic Anne Colby noted that most women would lose weight on the diabetes researcher’s recommended 1,100 calories-a-day diet. Colby added that a major drawback of the plan is that it slightly runs counter to social norms.

“The main drawback to the big-breakfast diet would seem to be the fact that people eat not just to satisfy hunger or cravings, but as a social activity,” Colby wrote in 2010. “And dinner is when they typically gather to break bread. Sure you can order up a vegetable platter or salad while others are noshing on pesto pasta and pizza, but it takes commitment.”

Source: Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

9 Things a True Friend Would Never Do

An acquaintance has a little something in common with you and merely enjoys your company for a short time.  A fair-weather friend flatters you when the sun is shining and the birds are chirping.  A true friend, on the other hand, has your very best interests at heart and would NEVER…

1.  Criticize you for being flawed.

As flawed as you might be, as out of place as you sometimes feel, and as lacking as you think you are, you don’t have to hide all the imperfect pieces of yourself from a true friend.  They see your flaws as features that make you interesting and beautiful.
The quality of the happiness between two people grows in direct proportion to their acceptance, and in inverse proportion to their intolerance and expectations.  True friends love and appreciate each other just the way they are.

2.  Walk away when times get tough.

True friendship and good character is all about how a person nurtures another person when they are vulnerable and can give very little in return.  Thus, it’s not who’s standing beside you during good times, but the ones who stick by you through tough times that are your true friends.
So take note of who remains in your life when times get tough, especially the people who sacrifice the resources they have in their life to help you improve yours when you need it most.  Seriously, when you come out the other side of a difficult period in your life, look around you.  The people still standing beside you are your true friends.

3.  Discourage you.

Unfortunately, some who seem like your friends will try to hold you back from your full potential.  It may be difficult, but don’t let these negative imposters bring you down.  Don’t ever let your so-called friends turn your sky into a ceiling.  Beware of friends who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small hearts and minds always do that.  The greatest hearts and minds – the people you should spend time around – make you feel that you, too, can become great.
Remember, encouraging things happen when you distance yourself from discouraging people.  Doing so doesn’t mean you hate them, it simply means you respect yourself.  (Angel and I discuss this in more detail in the “Relationships” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)

4.  Hold a grudge over your head.

Some people will refuse to accept that you are no longer who you used to be – that you’ve made mistakes in the past, learned from them, and moved beyond them.  They may not be able to stand the fact that you’re growing and moving on with your life, and so they will try to drag your past to catch up with you.  Do not help them by acknowledging their begrudging behavior.  Let go of their negativity, find peace, and liberate yourself!
A true friend never holds the unchangeable past against you; instead, they help your repair your present and future.  If someone relentlessly judges you by your past and holds it against you, you might have to take matters into your own hands, and repair your present and future by leaving them behind.

5.  Lie to you.

When you keep someone in your life who is a chronic liar, and you keep giving them new chances to be trusted, you have a lot in common with this person – you’re both lying and being unfriendly to YOU.
If you know someone who avoids the truth by telling you only what you want to hear, they do so for their own benefit, not yours.  They are not a true friend and they don’t deserve to be treated as such.

6.  Pretend like they have all the answers.

If you think about the people who have had the greatest positive effect on your life – the ones who truly made a difference – you will likely realize that they aren’t the ones that tried to give you all the answers or solve all your problems.  They’re the ones who sat silently with you when you needed a moment to think, who lent you a shoulder when you needed to cry, and who tolerated not having all the answers, but stood beside you anyway.
Don’t look for a friend who will solve all your problems; look for one who will face them with you.  (Read Tuesdays with Morrie.)

7.  Take from you without giving back.

You deserve to be with friends who make you smile – friends who don’t take you for granted – friends who won’t leave you hanging.  When you notice that a friend is always taking from you without giving back, you might need to distance yourself from them for a while.  If they care, they’ll notice.  If they don’t, you know where you stand.
You should want to give, but you shouldn’t be forced to always give more than you get.  If you feel like you are being taken advantage of, respect yourself enough to confront the situation.  This doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends with those who you feel are at fault, but you need to evaluate your friendships and realize where to draw the line when you give yourself to certain people.

8.  Bully you.

It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but just as much to stand up to your friends.  Sometimes bullying comes from the most unlikely places.  Be cognizant of how your friends treat you, and look out for the subtle jabs they throw.  When necessary, confront them or distance yourself from them – whatever it takes to give yourself the opportunity to grow into who you really are.
Life’s too short to be hanging around people who try to control and manipulate you.  Anyone who does so is not a true friend.  Gain your independence by taking off the shackles and freeing yourself from these bullies.  (Read The Mastery of Love.)

9.  Make you feel like you’re burdening them.

True friendship is never burdened with stressful promises and obligations.  What true friends do for each other should be done because they care and because they want to do them.  Period.
So don’t chase people.  They don’t need to be chased.  If someone is a true friend and wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you.  You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot.  Never, ever force yourself on someone who continuously overlooks your worth.

Afterthoughts

A true friend who understands your tears and troubles is far more valuable than a hundred friends who only show up for your smiles and joys.  Because a true friend accepts who you truly are, and also helps you become who you are capable of being.
Friendships like this require more than just finding the right person, they also require you to be the right person.  When someone believes in you enough to lift you up, try not to let them down.  True friendship is a sweet responsibility to be nurtured, not an opportunity to be exploited.

Your turn…

What would you add to the list?  What’s one thing a true friend would never do?  Leave a comment below and let us know.

Dump Your Expensive Girlfriend, Advices Chris Kirubi

She is Expensive? Dump her!

Are you a young man who’s aspiring to accumulate wealth and make a name for yourself? Well, Capital FM chairman and business mogul, Chris Kirubi has some wise counsel for you.
In his weekly podcast on business tips#AskKirubiThursdays the magnate gave tips on how to generate capital to start business by developing a saving culture. Kirubi comprehends that most young people live beyond their means as the first things they want to buy when they get money is purchase is a BlackBerry or an iPad.
Demanding women is also an issue that Kirubi dwelled on saying that the choice of girlfriends also determines whether you are to make it or not. He specifically points out men who have pricey girlfriends who want to be wined and dined at expensive establishments and to get showered with gifts in form of watches, cars and clothes.
He reckons that such individuals have a very difficult time trying to save or invest.
Kirubi says, “Spend less, save more and accumulate wealth and money that you can freely spend in

Revealed! Early Traits Of Becoming An Entrepreneur

I was reading an interesting article yesterday on Sunday Nation written by Sunny Bindra where the author says as a country we have become a nation of glorifying ‘tenderprenuers’ at the expense of the real entrepreneurs.

If you are lost as I was, a tenderprenuer is someone who masquerades as a legitimate businessperson while using political contacts to secure lucrative government contracts.



What follows is quick money, life on the fast lane, big cars, media coverage because hey, you are now one of the successful people in the country…people want to know how you did it…people want the same kind of success that you have…people envy you endlessly….if only people knew the shenanigans you employed to be where you are today.

But the people to be put on pedestals are none other than entrepreneurs who put on time and a lot of effort into their startup companies which later flourish to become companies to reckon with.
Can you know if you were born to be an entrepreneur? Is it something you can know when you are young or is it something which dawns on you one day when you have searched far and wide for a job but can’t find one and now you are like, “Uh, maybe I should try being an entrepreneur and see how that goes…..”
According to a new study by German and Swedish researchers, they found out that in comparison to people who did not found businesses, entrepreneurs were more likely to have displayed anti-social behaviour in their adolescence!

Here are some of the characteristics an entrepreneur might exhibit:
•    staying out later than allowed
•    Absenteeism
•    cheating in exams
•    getting drunk
•    smoking marijuana
•    shoplifting
•    loitering in town in the evening

Can you believe it! Do you write mwakenya? Skip classes? Smoke pot? You my dear friend could be exhibiting an entrepreneurial trait which you need to explore and see where it will take you. I kid you not!
The research also goes ahead to say that entrepreneurs often engage in “productive rule breaking” It suggest that mild acts of rebellion in the adolescent years could be a precursor to that useful skill.
What are your thoughts on this interesting research?

By Tabitha Makumi