WHEN DEATH BECOMES AN INSPIRATION TO LIVE

“Death is not a threat but the condition that maximizes my life”-Laura Rozo

My intention is not to sound pessimistic or dramatic in any way but reality always strikes. I remember playing as a kid with my friend Aziz, climbing mango trees, running around and doing just about everything that kids do. Hearing the news of his passing on at about 22 years of age saddens me. He was still a young man with a great future ahead. He still had so much to achieve in life. Anyway, who are we to question the law of death? It doesn't discriminate between young and old, rich and poor, elite and non elite. It comes without considering whether you have achieved much or little. It’s truly a thief that steals you from your loved ones. One fact remains; we shall all face the wrath of death.

As I remember my friend who has gone so soon, Laura Rozo’s  TEDx talk “If Not Now, When?” comes to mind. I’ll quote part of Laura’s talk to share her powerful thoughts with those who have not yet watched or listened to it.

“…….I tell you my story because I’m dying. The bad news is that you are dying too. The only difference between you and me is I know what’s killing me. The good news is that you don’t have to be diagnosed with cancer to claim your life. I tell you my story because the minute you realize that you will die, you’ll finally start living. You will take that leap. You will make that jump. You will fly. So, what makes you think that you have eighty or ninety years to live?…Seriously. There is enough time but none spare. If not now, when?”

Laura might be gone but she still lives on. Even to me who only got to know her through watching her TED talk. That talk has transformed my life. I know that one day, I too will be gone. Therefore, I have purposed to be happy, give my absolute best at everything that I do and do something that matters to me and to the world. When I finally leave this earth, I want to be remembered as someone who made a worthy contribution. I want to be remembered as someone whose life inspired at least one person. I want to be remembered as someone who successfully played his part and fulfilled his purpose on earth. How about you my friend? What are you living for? 

A LESSON FROM 7 YEAR OLD TERRY

If we all had the ambition that children have, we would be very successful. Children set their sights on the highest of goals which they believe is achieveable. One such a child is my 7 year old cousin, Terry.

Terry just got his report form and is back for holidays. When I asked to see how he performed in school, he reluctantly handed over his results to me. With such a disappointed look, he said to me, “I should have done better than that”. “I’m capable of so much more and I’m not happy with those marks”, he continued. Just to let you know, out of 14 sets of activities and subjects Terry has to do, he scored nine A’s, four B’s, and one C. His annual average was 87.86% which I thought was really good. To Terry, this was not good enough. His goal is to score straight A’s all through with an average mark of 100%. He is aiming for the highest and has refused to settle for less. His promise to me was to get back to school next term and give it his absolute best. He does not want to be the best in his class. He just wants to score straight A’s regardless of what other people have scored (Talk about being your own competition). He wants to prove to himself that he is better than his previous marks. I see a very successful man in this little boy.

You should have seen the embarrassment I felt. This little boy was teaching me what I thought I should have been teaching him. He got me thinking and made me critically look into myself. I realized how low some of my goals have been. How many times have we settled for less than what we really deserve? How many times have we settled for just average? Terry is essentially challenging us to know our worth and set Big Hairy Audacious Goals. All he is saying is, “Only the best is good enough”.

IT’S YOUR CHOICE

It is amazing how many opportunities life presents us with. What we have is the power to either say YES or NO. About a month and a half ago, I got a job offer. Well, this offer had almost everything that a recent graduate would probably need. At that time, I was leading a team of youth in organizing a blood donation drive. Taking this job would mean leaving what I was already doing and relocating. My heart swayed between going for this job (where I would get paid) and leading my team (where I would incur transport expenses and do work voluntarily). On one occasion, I received two emails urging me to take up this job. My sister was on my case to take up the opportunity. How would my uncle feel if I didn’t take up the job that he worked so hard to get me?

After about a week of thinking, I decided the job wasn’t for me. After all, I was looking for something that I really, really, really wanted to do. I wanted something that would bring me joy and satisfaction. Of course my sister was so disappointed in me. Little did I know that sticking to my leadership role was going to be one of the most fulfilling things. The blood donation drive was such a massive success. We exceeded the expectation of the blood bank by 12 units. The director of the blood bank was very impressed by what we the youth were doing. I was filled with joy at the end of the day for such an achievement. By remaining at the KiBO Foundation, I have been in position to listen to so many successful people speak to us, I have started my own business and I’ve made so many fantastic networks and partnerships. I even got to attend a business breakfast meeting where top entrepreneurs in the country shared insights on business with us. I got the opportunity to meet and speak with my business mentor Mr. Patrick Bitature. It was an honor for me. It was like meeting Richard Branson or Warren Buffet. Of this I'm sure; so many great opportunities are yet to come my way for sticking with my colleagues and being a loyal leader.

I am glad I no longer make decisions based on any financial gain but on what I can contribute towards the growth and development of my society.

THANK YOU SCOTT DINSMORE

Have you ever been in a desperate situation? You are broke and all you can do is take up any job just for the sake of money. No passion, no love, no interest whatsoever.  Well, I’ve been there. I worked for about six months in a job that became quite monotonous and boring. I hung in there because I badly needed the money. Moreover, I was a graduate from the best University in Uganda, Makerere University. How would they see me without a job? I literally was dying of job dissatisfaction. I would drag myself out of bed every morning to get to work. It was a routine that made me ask myself whether I really wanted to be in that boat. So in May this year, I started asking myself questions like Who am I? Why am I on earth today? What do I really want to do? What difference do I want to make?

It was around that same time that I downloaded one of the TEDX Talks that later on influenced certain decisions I have taken. Scott Dinsmore’s talk on “HOW TO FIND AND DO WORK THAT YOU LOVE” was such an inspiration to me. Three weeks after watching Scott’s talk, I quit my job without any Plan B (that was in June this year). I kept asking myself “What is it that I can’t not do?” and I still ask myself this question very often. 

I set out on a journey of self discovery. A journey that should lead me to a destination of doing what I really love. From June to September, I never noticed any changes in my life. Little did I know that I was about to start on a venture that would really excite me. In late October, I started a business of making and selling bracelets. It is an infant steadily growing. I love it. Furthermore, Scott’s influence is the inspiration behind this blog EVERYDAY LESSONS. I surely hope that one day I will be a guest author on LIVE YOUR LEGEND http://liveyourlegend.net/. I must also say that I’m proud to be a member of the CREATOR’S GUILD on Facebook as well and I'm looking forward to being a resource to many of the new bloggers. Slowly but surely, I’m discovering new things about myself. I already know that I want to leave this world a much better place than I found it. I want to Live My Legend and leave a legacy when I’m gone. And one thing for sure is, I’m going to do great things.

Isn’t it so interesting how Scott who lives in San Francisco, California has massively influenced the life a young man Ernest who lives in a small town in Kampala, Uganda? Keep doing the great job Scott. You surely have left a mark on so many people around the world and I appreciate all that you are doing. 

YOU’RE "FHIRED"

I got my very first job in January 2009 at the age of 19. The financial regression was taking its toll on companies and if any one wasn’t productive, they got fired, Right? As a store keeper (I preferred to be called store manager) of one of the growing garments companies in the country, one of my duties was to ensure that there were no shortages whatsoever. Up until May, there was minimum shortage whenever the stock taking report was presented by the accountant. Well, not for the month of May. I have no idea what happened. The accountants report indicated an abnormal rise in shortages. To be specific, the figure rose from a previous maximum of about 200,000 Uganda shillings (80 USD) to about 2 million Uganda shillings (800 USD).

Monday morning, at exactly 8:30 am, my boss calls me to his office, reads out the summary to me and says “Explain”. I had no idea where to start from, I was dumbfounded for a moment and all I could do was look at him in shock. “Sir…., I have no idea why the figure is that high”, I said. “I have been doing my best to record and account for every piece of merchandize that comes in to and leaves the store every day”, I continued. The sight of him sent shock waves into my veins. He talked about how irresponsible of me it was to allow such a shortage to occur. He asked me if I knew the impact of such a loss to the company. He even asked me whether I was conniving with some of his employees to sell his products to make an extra buck behind his back. I was having a bad morning. He kept grilling me and making it seem like it was entirely my fault. My mind went racing straight to Donald Trump’s famous words “You’re Fired”.

On the contrary, after about 45mins of being grilled, he calmed down and explained to me how he wants me to be a person of great responsibility, that guy who will stand for what he believes in. He continued by telling me how much he believes in me and thanked me for the good job I was doing. Finally, he gave me a firm hand shake and with a smile, he told me to get back to work. You can only imagine how much relief I felt after his fatherly talk.

How many employers today take off time to mentor their young employees? How many care to appreciate the work these guys do? How many even pick the interest to have a chat with their employees? 

A FIGHT TO REMEMBER

It is said that in the African setting, the entire village is responsible for bringing up a child. I am not sure that statement holds water today. The day had begun so well. The excitement of the holiday was just fresh. Thankfully, I had no homework and all day was planned for play, play and play. I got into an argument with Ayikobua. From exchanging simple words like “bad and silly” to words like “stupid and useless”, a fight ensued. Ayikobua threw a punch at me like he was Mohammad Ali. I responded with a flying kick like I was Bruce Lee. The fight got so nasty and I kicked Ayikobua right into the middle of the road. An old man riding his bike knocked him down. I celebrated my victory for a moment just before this guy jumped off his bike, picked up a stick, lay us down in the middle of the road and gave each of us three strokes of the cane each. That was really painful I must admit. “Now pick yourselves up and keep your friendship going”, he said to us in such a rough tone, “and I never want to find you fighting again”, he continued. Ayikobua and I have since been great friends. In fact, we never really fought again and for me, fighting has never been an option in solving a disagreement again. Well, may be just once when my friend Ian and I were about to beat up some guy called Phillip for being such a bully. But I feared because violence was not my thing anymore. 

Is it not amazing how kids never keep grudges. Fight, forgive and forget is what drives a child. This world would have so much peace if everyone had a childlike character; a strong spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. 

SUPER SURVIVOR

Little children are always daring enough to risk their life to achieve a goal. There was this one time in my village as a 3 year old boy when I sneaked in to our grass thatched kitchen. I wondered in admiration how I could make perfect use of that fire which for some reason looked really nice to play with. Just a description of this fire place; There were three large stones placed in a triangular shape on one side of this hut. With fire wood stacked in between these stones and fire lit, a pot of something was boiling (I don’t remember what exactly it was).

My inquisitive nature led me to picking up a long strand of grass from God knows where and pushing it into the fire. Upon catching, I raised it up to the roof and my oh my oh my, I liked what I saw. The grass roof had just caught fire. My excitement level was beyond imagination because I had never seen anything like that. I was beaming with joy, looking at the burning roof, laughing and celebrating my achievement of setting this hut ablaze. But wait a minute…. the roof was about to collapse on me. For some reason, I believed I was safe. From nowhere, my super hero father appeared just in the nick of time to save me from the falling roof. I survived death by a whisker. I came out of that place alive and today, I say thank you dad for carrying me out of that place.

Who is that person that has saved you during the toughest of times? Just say a big THANK YOU to them today. 

WHY I DON’T SMOKE

It was one of those good evenings back in the 90’s. The sight of the setting sun was such a beauty to watch. My friend Bosco and I thought trying something new that evening would be great. Of all the new things we thought about doing, smoking topped the list. So with no money whatsoever, we set off to find cigarettes. Well, we didn’t get any so we improvised and decided to settle for a very cheap option, pawpaw leaves.

Image from bubblews.com

Bosco carried the matchbox and I had the pieces of paper. We crashed dried pawpaw leaves, placed them on two small pieces of paper, rolled them up and then lit our “cigarettes”. Holding my “cigarette” like I owned the village, one puff was enough to send me cursing the hour I ever thought about smoking. My lungs felt like exploding, my brain froze for a moment, my heart didn’t know whether to beat fast or slow and my eyes turned red and released tears like never before. I don’t remember how long it took me to recover but one thing for sure is, I have never wanted to smoke again.