Purity

Watching you
Dexterously moving
Each step clutching
Acceptably onto the earth
Chin held high
Beautiful harmonious voice
Deeply intellectually engaged
Saccharine contagious laughter
No small talk
True gift to nature
Truly gifted by nature
Purity!

The long spongy fuchsia hair
Pouring freely onto your
shoulders
Canvasing your gold-bearing complexion
Glowing from the shining sun
Radiating your beauty
By each striking ray
Purity!

Marking your territory
With your hourly-glassed shadow
With your cologne
Leaving the air redolent
Rich scent
Breathtaking
All breath in
All breath held
Deep
Purity!

Notice the favourable winds
Only blowing your way
With Purity
Approving your beauty
Gently caressing,
Intimate
Through your mane
A conspiracy of nature-
Perfect strength of breeze,
Air so clean,
Grass so green,
Fit so jean,
Heart's only scene,
Prettiest smile I've seen,
Truly yo queen,
Purity!

©Olegamba 2016.

Please Reply..

I’ve had this feeling

One too many times

Always feeling alone

On the other end of the tug

Of a war am willing toil

And a company I die to tag

Longing with a deep heart

For you alone I desire

My eyes staring blankly

To the echoes of my vacant heart

Filled with this emptiness

Of your banging discordant silence

Someone please tell him

I have seen the blue ticks

With bundles of hope online

I hope to catch his eye

For an ever lasting scene

As with a vague reply

Will assure me a chance

And dry my soaking eyes

Please say something

My eyes are wetting

My eyes are waiting.

©Olegamba 2016.

My Fast Lady

I long yet for another tryst

Not wanting to give up and ready for every twist

Hoping this time round we shall be lost together

Basking, snuggled, spread under the beauty of the sky

Wide open blue or pitch dark with starred holes.

I know this may not be the right time

Maybe we should allow first some things to rhyme

But has there ever been a right place and time for anything?

Trying both to be myself and not losing you

I long yet for another tryst.

I always want to be in charge

Then enclosed in frisson wary of moving in surge

Opting instead to approaching gingerly

But in your eyes you want me to be reckless

I know this may not be the right time.

I strongly hold deep down, this feeling is mutual

Though with silence all may be neutral

The moment seem auspicious to break the ice

Because I don’t believe we met just to leave in silence

I always want to be in charge.

I know others have tried but haven’t last long

And you are hoping I sing just one line of the song

As we both understand the absurdity of our love

That cannot be reified in only a few lines and quotes

I strongly hold deep down, this feeling is mutual.

I can’t help waiting sharing that spark

With deep and long intercourses of intellect we’ll spike

Molten repartees and affinity that will never abridge

A rarity that doesn’t usually accompany your beauty

I know others have tried but haven’t last long.

With the speed of a bullet my lady shifted

Whilst all I believed for me she was sifted

What bounteous wisdom that springs freely and promptly of her

Which deprives the perfect replies that only come when she's gone

I can’t help waiting sharing that spark.

As the chemistry builds our time is short

It moves so fast I feel like I’m shot

My heart growing weary, an augury that we wouldn’t catch up

Silencing my love with purity of sadness

With the speed of a bullet my lady shifted. 

©Olegamba 2016.

Create Your Luck. People & Chances

We all have different perspectives as far as the issue of luck is concerned. Some do not believe in luck at all whereas some believe that they were just not born lucky or as the cliché goes, not born with silver spoon in their mouth.

Research has proven that to a large extent, we make our own good and bad fortune. It is also evident, through a scientific study, that it is possible for people to increase the amount of luck they encounter in their lives. Truth be told, we all have a lucky tie in our closet, a lucky shirt or dress or a lucky something we do or wear to enhance our chances of being more fortunate. These may make us feel nice for a while, yes, but it is not the kind of formula that is being addressed by these scientific research.

In an article in Reader’s Digest, Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology, explains his findings on a research he did to find out why some people are consistently lucky while other are not. He placed advertisements in newspapers and magazines asking for people who considered themselves exceptionally lucky or unlucky to volunteer in the study that was to be done in ten years.  400 men and women responded, coming from all walks of life aging between 18-84 years. The research was done through interviewing the volunteers, asking them to complete diaries, personality questions, IQ tests, and through laboratory experiments. 

Results: Lucky people get lucky through some basic principles – seizing chance opportunities, creating self-fulfilling prophecies through positive expectations and adopting resilient attitude that turns bad luck around.

To find out why lucky people have chance opportunities while unlucky people don’t, he gave the lucky and unlucky people a newspaper and asked them to tell him how many photos were inside. On average, he reported, unlucky people spent about two minutes on the exercise while lucky people spent seconds. Why? The paper’s second page had a big typed message saying, “Stop counting: There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.” Lucky people spotted the message. Halfway through the paper, he’d put a second message: “Stop counting, tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $250.” Again, only the lucky people won.

Results: Unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too busy looking for something else. This is what I call the TB pandemic; being Too Busy to spot and seize opportunities to better our situations.

Lucky people on the other hand, see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. They relish the upside of every situation. They don’t just look for the spoon in their mouth; they walk to the kitchen, I mean that’s where spoons are kept. Or better still walk into a cutlery store. 

Don’t miss the nourishment of the things around you that can help you live a better life. Have an open mind and grab the opportunities as they present themselves. Create your luck and seize the opportunity to be at the ATB Entrepreneurs and Start-up Event on 14^th November. See you there

©Olegamba 2014.

Focus Lessons from the Classics Etiquette.

About 3 years ago, I attended the Ravenna Festival-a classical music concert. This was my first live classical concert; dedicated to the youth of Nairobi, with the aim of awakening their souls through music’s universal and boundless message. This was achieved through the discipline of the classical music. And a taste of how it feels when the etiquette is observed was served- Super performance! Ravenna Festival demonstrated that super performance is certain in our careers and in our lives, if we follow these simple classical tips:

1.      Mind your time

Be early enough to find your assigned seat and stay in your seat until the end of the performance or intermissions if you have to go to the bathroom. Dedicating a substantial amount of focused time towards our work can be challenging amid a busy buzzing world. However, we should strive to achieve this and entertain no negative distraction during this time. 

2.      Be quiet 

As much as possible, avoid talking, sneezing, coughing, shuffling around or whispering during the concert. This is termed as the most important etiquette -Total Silence. In his book, As a Man THINKETH, James Allen writes, “Calmness of the mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.”

3.      Stay still

Stretching your arms, cracking your knuckles, snapping your fingers, tapping your toes or chewing is improper during performances. These actions distract the viewers and performers. Sustaining attention is the key to success and it allows the brain the capacity to be productive, creative and organized as Margaret Moore-MBA, writes, Sustained focus is possible in a calm, grounded state. Keep your thinking on track, stay connected to your intention and set aside all other distractions.

4.      Alarms, Flashes Off

Wristwatches with alarms, cell phones and flash photography are not allowed during the concert. “Before you can get focused, you need to get into control, or at least have a handle on your emotional frenzy. Multiple inputs zoom at us head-on all day long, demanding all of our brain resources. This frenzy impairs and overwhelms the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s CEO region, so that we can’t ‘think straight.’” –Margaret Moore.

5.      Hold your applause

Do not rush to applaud. It is forbidden between movements. This can be hard and confusing if you are not a classical musician or unfamiliar with the piece. Racing thoughts can be confusing; they divert our focus and hinder our concentration. Be calm and demonstrate self-control.

6.      Maximize on intermissions

Classical concerts have breaks. This is the right time to leave your seat for the rest rooms and to respond to your texts or calls. “Shifting from mindful to mindless work gives the brain time to process complex problems in a relaxed state and also restores the energy necessary for the next round of mindful work.” Erin Doland-Unclutter.com

“Self-control is strength; Right thought is mastery; Calmness is power...” James Allen

©Olegamba 2014.

There is joy in breaking your own record

Overcome by the frustration of a job hunt on the internet, I started clicking on any link that says, no experience required, opportunities for amateurs, your background does not matter and happen to find myself deep in the web of the internet (My wealth of experience in technical and non-technical fields had to be humbled). Somehow I was reading about the Berlin Marathon. Initiated in 1974, the race normally happens in the last weekend of September, enrolling both professional and amateur runners in the city –wide road race.  

Since its inception 41 years ago, the Berlin Marathon world record has been broken only seven times, the first record being broken 25 years after it was initiated. If the Berlin Marathon is anything to go by, this may be an indication of how challenging it is not just to be a champion, but a world record champion.  

A lot of patience, perseverance, and hard work are required to attain that status. And for the case of Dennis Kimetto, who until four years ago was a full time farmer, a lot of skills must have been acquired and applied really fast. In one of the interviews, the new world record holder says he was declared fit only two weeks to the event, following an injury he was sustaining from his training sessions. And my highlight of the interview was when he said he did not go to the race with any plan of breaking the world record but just to race and run his personal best (Yes, I had to look for his interview. I tend to enjoy the Kale athletes’ interviews more than the race).

For most subsistence rural farmers, their main aim wouldn’t be competing on whose farm yields more produce than the other, but doing a little more extra to ensure that they surpass their previous season’s produce. Simply, this is what I call breaking your own record and it makes your whole body smile.

Do not get stuck in the good old days and lose sight of the better new ones. Stretch yourself, never get contented with past success when there is room for improvement. How many times in your conversations do you tell people what you used to do or who you used to be? Both individuals and organizations speak this language, not realizing they are limiting their way of what and who they need to be.

Life is a marathon race. It is not for the swift, but for those who endures its tests. Like a marathon, life signs up everyone, the skilled and the not-skilled as its participants. Through a funnel like course, we are meant to race with only a few expected to cross the finish line. Similarly, life gives you a chance to improve on your performance, to break your own record because life is full of abundance and all you need is to believe you can better your best.

Never give up.  

©Olegamba 2014.