A breakfast meeting

JCC MEN’S BREAKFAST

Last Saturday morning, I braced the morning chill to attend a breakfast meeting at Jubilee Christian church in Parklands area. I had been invited by a good friend to this event that was hosted by Bishop Allan Kiuna. Getting to the venue was a hustle and had to wake up a friend who attends church services there to give me directions. At the fig tree stage in Ngara I asked a shoe shiner which vehicle I needed to board to the venue and he was shocked as it was a walking distance. He said that for sure Nairobians we are so lazy we could even not walk 100 metres, I thanked him anyway.

MAN: BEING A WINNER IN LIFE

We had the breakfast which I can honestly state the quality of service did not meet my expectations-never mind I am a Home Scientist now turned to other interests like Philosophy and Ethics.

Bishop Kiun dubbed his talk “Being a winner in life”. He started off by saying that when God created man he was meant for great things which means he was destined for success. But success does not just drop from heaven, but we have to make smart choices and work hard in life. Our God is pleased with our successes and likewise our families and society at large. The first pillar towards winning is Excellence which he describes as making mediocrity our first enemy in our undertakings. Excellent work earns us respect and opens great doors in life for example recommendation to others to open up to our ideas.  I agree with him that we have to foster a spirit of excellence in all our undertakings and demand the same from others.

The second pillar we covered was belief in one self which he said it is not arrogance, but confidence in our capabilities and we should never fear to let others to know what we are capable of achieving when given a chance. God can never place a great task before us that is overwhelming since from our creation he knew our destiny and it’s our duty to prove that we are worthy the task. Those who make it in life had a vision which became actualize through determination in their capabilities and acknowledgements of their weaknesses. Yes we are not perfect beings by the mere fact of our creation but we should never allow failure to determine our future since failures belong to the past. We should always rise up, dust our selves whenever we fall, pick up the worthy pieces and give life a try.

The third pillar was the need to set a foundation for success, which he called “prepare to win”. When we have set our goals in life and we know what comes with such success so we have to be ready for it otherwise we shall be overwhelmed and loose. He gave the example of those who want to have successful ministries, they have to prepare their messages, get the right accent (remove mother tongue interference), get professional skills etc. Success needs to be managed; otherwise it is a disaster in waiting.

The fourth pillar was to be courageous, but it does not mean absence of fear. Courageous people know how much danger they can conquer and know when to take cover. Success is a risk, so it is up to those willing to take up that path that they shall get the fruits ahead. Those who decide to do nothing get nothing, in return and the best way to be poor is to do nothing, but we all know poverty is bad.

The fifth pillar was to learn from past mistakes and make it a philosophy in life never to repeat the sequence that lead to the mistakes. Man is to error, but we should never be defined by our errors but success. But we should not at the same time not be afraid when making a mistake for the first time, but we should be very worried when we repeat.

The last was to be careful with the kind of friends we hang out with. Most of the initiatives we take in life are always as a result of friends influence, so if we move with mediocre people, then our plans in life will be mediocre. We need to move with friends whom you look up to, as role models of success since from them you learn the right steps. Don’t be the leader in your friends’ circles since they will look up to you and you will have no one to challenge you. Choose your friends wisely if you want to win in life

 Compiled by C. Kandagor 2012