Don't just sit there do something

This is one of the most stressful times I can ever remember in the 30 and a half years I have existed on earth. The Cabinet Secretary for health Hon. Mutahi Kagwe is just from the national television giving an update of the last 24hrs on the current COVID-19 cases in Kenya on the 13th of April 2020, he broadcasted to an extremely anxious audience that the number of cases in the country have increased by 11 cases from yesterday’s figure of 197 to a total of 208 after testing of slightly over 600 samples and a total of 8,000 units countrywide, one person died over the 24 hours and 15 have recovered raising the total recoveries in the country to 40 patients. This to my relief is not that bad in comparison to the grim projections the Ministry of Health acting Director General Dr Patrick Amoth had announced late last month of 1,000 cases in the first week of April, 5,000 cases in mid-month and up to 10,000 cases by the end of the month.

There is an invisible shadow of uncertainty sweeping across faces I meet on the street and in the voices in conversations, my friends consider me as a positive and optimistic individual, I also loved to relate with the description but truth be told; the belief has taken a thorough beating over the last few months. Mark Manson holds the thought that being overly optimistic or positive prevents you from acknowledging the important lessons presented by negativity resulting in failure to act accordingly. He states that happiness comes from the ability to solve problems and we fail to solve our problems because of either denial which is the failure to recognise the problems in the first place or the victim mentality where we see all their problems as someone else’s fault and blaming outside circumstances. ‘If you continue to indulge in entitlement and delusional positive thinking, if you continue to overindulge in various substances or activities, then you’ll never generate the requisite motivation to actually change’, says Mr Manson. This is an accurate representation of reality at the moment as we continue anticipating more difficult economic times.

Thinking Man

This revelation has made me evaluate most of my actions in the last few months and realised that i failed to do the most basic thing one ought to do to change their situation, it is so obvious it’s a wonder most people waste their money going to self-help seminars or paying life coaches, when you are truly in bad need of something you should ‘do something about it’ the results will surprise you. Entitlement and delusional self-thinking gives us the occasional high which unfortunately does not last for long, we imagine the victory but not the battle that comes with it. It is not enough to stare up the staircases you have to take the first step.

Tough economic situations are in the horizon and we have every right to be afraid, it is not our fault but it is our responsibility to prepare, we are not able to control the situation but we can at least do something to mitigate how it affects us, we should not let the fear control us. We are worried about not being able to meet our financial obligations, why not use this opportunity to create new supply networks eliminating the middleman, if it is food pool funds together with family and friends and purchase directly from farms and wholesalers, procure transport directly from farms and factories directly to the household. Reduce unnecessary costs and expenditure, start learning a new skills through available free access materials and tutorials, start courier or cooking business and use your own networks to earn extra revenue, use this time to bond with your family and discover new talents. Tough times don’t last but tough people do, how we react to the challenges that we face ultimately defines our character.