Never, ever, ever give up...

Hello Hello!!

I'll just begin by saying that I am grateful to be alive this beautiful morning and for the joy my Maker has put in my heart. Inspite of the moulding process He's taking me through, I'm still able to sing, laugh and love...
All the same, I just had a light-bulb moment and felt I should share this with you. A few days ago, a close friend asked me a question that totally caught me by surprise. She noted that I seemed to enjoy studying and admired the way I did it wholeheartedly (I didn't know that!). I sat down, thought about it and my mind led me down memory lane...
You see, coming from a family of smart people (Just calling a spade, a spade) academic success is something that ought to come naturally, right? Wrong. When I sat for my KCPE exams way back in '05, I was privileged to get great results, which landed me in one of the best secondary schools in Kenya...the school with rules more strict than Kenya's penitentiaries and a very distinct flyover? Anyway, to cut it short, I was somewhat over-confident in my academic abilities and my grades dwindled terribly. From top ten to bottom five in the class, that was a huge leap in the wrong direction. My parents can even attest to the fact that my report form looked like an alphabet chart...with most grades being C's and D's. There was even a time I got the lowest possible grade (E). It really affected me.

This isn't to say I didn't work hard. I did study lots, and even consulted teachers on a regular basis. Nevertheless, after doing KCSE I got a grade which I didn't like and I remember my mama consoling me for weeks on end, that everything would be okay and that I needed to move on and decide what I wanted to do. Eventually, the tears ran dry and I figured out what I wanted to do. A career that would entail lots of reading, writing, talking and human interaction. That is how I found myself doing Communication.

So, I answered my friend by letting her know that it is the drive to succeed and love for what I do that motivates me to work hard. Needless to say, failure was a word I had to eliminate from my vocabulary. It is inevitable, but not something that we should dwell on. My encouragement to you is this: If you can conceive it, you can achieve it. The only barrier to you achieving your dreams is your thoughts and capability to perceive what you can or cannot accomplish.

The future may look bleak from the view in your stained lenses, but in God's perfect view, it is brighter than you can ever imagine. All you've got to do is trust in Him, work hard and smart, surround yourself with people who build you and those you can build, and finally, set smart priorities and focus on them.
In short, Never, ever, ever give up.