READ. WRITE. GROW.

All around the world schools are vying for more students, companies setting and maintaining higher standards, sports teams rivaling each other for trophies, countries battling for supremacy, and tons of other examples of competition. Competition is good, healthy even because it brings out the most creative parts in people: we have heard of business wars between Adidas™ and Nike ™, sporting rivalries between Messi and Ronaldo, e.t.c., these are all rivalries that pushed opposing parties to their maximum capacities so they could deliver the best goods. I remember a story I once read of a man who missed a turn trying to outrun the person in front of him. I thought it was a joke until I had a similar experience. Early one morning I went for a run. On my way back there were three boys ahead of me, jogging- mostly to show off than to keep fit.  I covered and got level with them, then I maintained my pace so we could go together but they thought I wanted to overtake them. They...

6% means six out of one hundred-6/100. You know that already, but you do not know the exams I got 6% in. First year of the university and everyone was serious with their studies, everyone except Dice and Banret: we would spend the whole day playing games and sleeping late. Days became weeks and weeks turned into months; the only thing we would do is to ask for the topics that were treated in class and we would put each other through. If there was a test coming up we would be notified (please get yourself friends that will feed you important information on time- it’s very important). Few weeks to our first exams, while we still hadn’t started reading, the Department of Pharmacy organized a mock exams for their students, and unfortunately for us my cousin, Kyenret was among the organizers. She asked both of us to come and give it a try- “it wouldn’t hurt to try; besides, the real exams might be a repetition.” She managed to convince us to sit for the mock exams. Banret had no ide...

DANGER IS IN THE EYES OF THE 'BEDANGERED' I climbed a tree, finished the ripe fruits i could lay my hands on and started to climb down. I know it had rained the previous day, but the fact that the tree would be slippery eluded me. To further complicate things for myself, I went up the tree with flip flops (slippers). On my way down, the proverb, “it’s not going up that matters, but coming back down” kept ringing in my ears, but it didn’t make me feel any better, if anything it made me feel worst. So I devised my own saying. One that would console me a bit…”Danger lies in the eyes of the bedangered .” At the time I didn’t know if bedangered was an actual word, I didn’t even care; this was no time for grammar. My adrenaline and stress levels were rising exponentially by the second. I even thought of throwing my flip flops down, “But what if I had to make a jump?” I asked myself. I kept the flops on. “Danger lies in the eyes of the bedangered,” I said out loud this time, trying...

Several ideas get rejected because they are not well formed, or their roots are not strong enough for the buyer(s) of the ideas. While pitching for a grant I noticed that the investors were more receptive to pitches for businesses that have already taken off the ground and are at least partially stable; no one wants to stake their money on the losing horse. The truth is that life is harsh, that reality is biting and you need to help yourself because no one else would. You have to show that you are ready to accept help when it comes and not continue to be pampered all your life like a child who refuses to grow. Before you get noticed you must leave your hole and poke your head up; you have to level up and be prepared to seize any opportunity that comes your way. Imagine a writer with no manuscripts; or a musician with no songs; a farmer with no piece of land to cultivate; or a footballer with no boots. You are not prepared but want to get noticed… think again. Nobody knows what ...

                                                           picture: https://www. healthdesigns.net A lot of the time we tend to focus on what we cannot do with little or no regard to the things we can actually do, but who by worrying will add a day to their lives? No one can, but we can make the remaining days nice, pleasant, and enjoyable- fun even. It’s ok to learn from the mistakes of the past, but what’s not OK is letting those mistakes hold you back from future achievements. Challenge yourself today to change what you have control of and let go of things that are out of your control. Know what is in your control- kill it, know what is not- leave it. You may have done some terrible things in the past and think that you are damaged beyond redemption so you just let fate carry you along like undirected wind...