Loving is the only way

Every day brings us opportunities to let go, and share the little we have no matter the sacrifice involved. If you have Shs50,000 you are going to drop into your savings account and you meet someone in dire need of it, give it without murmuring, because it might be the only chance you will ever get to help a brother (or sister) out.

The writer with orphaned children in Tororo. Loving is the only way.

Of course the financial experts and diehard capitalists will want to disagree. They argue that each one is here on his own; that the world is tough, that money is hard to come by, that every shilling must shrewdly be planned for; otherwise one may never get ahead in this world.

They may be right, but this rigid stance is not worth it in the end. While it is commendable to exercise some thrift, the day we quit caring and being each other's keeper will be the beginning of the end. How can you sleep soundly-on a full stomach when your neighbour is starving?

I say no one can ever find warmth or safety in a magnificent mansion surrounded with a high electric fence if that person is impervious to the needs of the poor, suffering lot. The standards of this world dictate that capitalism as is individualism is the survival mechanism; that those who refuse to seize life's opportunities should be left pay for their inaction.

But I believe all suffering emanates from exploitation and rejection one way or the other. Look at that three-year-old beggar in the eye; is he to blame? Do you blame that struggling mother who was abandoned by her husband after she delivered a child without limbs?

Even if a man killed himself, you don't leave him to rot in the open otherwise the stench will get to you as well. Whip the corpse if you want, but bring it down and bury it. Similarly, it is the moral duty of everyone with a heart to help those who are down. That is empathy. That is humanity. It is the ideal Mother Teresa of Calcutta elucidated when she said that the poor are our brothers and sisters—"people in the world who need love, who need care, who have to be wanted."

It is this love and this care and this communality that sustains a people; makes us belong; giving life its meaning and beauty beyond compare.

The greatest achievement

Today [last Sunday] is not just another day. It is the first Sunday of the second half of the year, which means we should all be taking a critical look at the goals we set out to achieve at the beginning of this year, and how far we have gone on the path of performance.

Don't let the ticking clock make you panic because you've not gone far fulfilling your New Year resolutions

Truth to tell, I am not half-way fulfilling my 2013 resolutions, but nothing is going to make me panic. I just read somewhere that July is a month of victory and going from strength to strength, and I say amen to that. Not just in self-consolation, but because never before have I felt the strength of character and psychological maturity I feel presently.

Just last week, I even turned down a job with a tempting seven-figure salary because I knew it was going to distract me from my mission and vision. And believe me it was not easy. We all need money and when someone who so believes in you dangles a juicy carrot, you want to reach out and take it. But I am finding my groove in self-employment, so after thorough reflection I decided taking the job would have dangerously diverted me from my greater ambitions.

So I encourage us all to stay focused and rise above the lucrative distractions that in the end never help us to fulfill the bigger and better goals; the dreams that are not just about us having money in the pockets but about us having abundant love, courage and wisdom which is what makes us better and revives our passion to change the world. The idea of changing the world can be intimidating, but the people that have, like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther Jr., were human beings too, with blood in their veins. Even though the odds against them seemed overpowering, they refused to settle for the crumbs that fall from the table of this loveless world.

We too can break the routine and cast our nets in the deeper waters. Go bungee jumping or fast on water for a week if that is what it takes to realise you can do something 'frightening' and not die. Then go volunteer at an orphanage or visit the cancer section at Mulago Hospital, and you will realise how much the world needs you.

And you will begin to seek to become a better you—the greatest achievement of all.

Fake Hips

Ever wondered what makes children adorable? The commonest answer to the question is innocence, but even that was unconvincing until a recent NTV news item opened my eyes. It was about how artificial bums
have hit Kampala's beauty parlours big-time! And just like that, the scales fell off and for the first time I saw that children are exceptionally charming for the simple reason that they are the realest people in the world.

An angry child expresses anger with tears but when reparation is made through sweets supplemented with a little tickling, the child forgives and the house is soon filled with laughter and sunshine again. I don't know why, but this realness seems to peter out the older we get. Mistrust takes the place of innocence and simplicity is displaced by superficiality masquerading as sophistication. We wear suits in the blazing sun, feign exotic accents and pin our navels because these are Hollywood times, and we must follow the script or stay in the past.

Consequently, many have been mentally enslaved to believe that natural beauty is no longer good enough. So it is enhanced in the plastic surgeon's laboratory where women are given mighty boobs and lips that are said to hypnotize even the most difficult man. But most of the dazzling-up is done at the beauty mall with all sorts of skin-bleaching chemicals, and where the hottest course is 'the art of wearing a wig.'

Therefore it should not surprise that herbal bums have been added to the madness. Men, we are officially in trouble. If you thought a new pair of spike heels for every party in town was draining your wallet, wait till your madam hands you the artificial bum bill! Even the naturally well-endowed women have declared the new bum "a must-have" as they have been blinded into believing that a man's eyes will never stray from it!

This is where you want to believe that women are indeed the weaker sex if they can fall for such duplicity. No man in his right senses would want to date a woman with an artificial bum. You have to first accept yourself; believe in yourself before the others can genuinely connect with you. And the closer you are to your true self, the more you radiate from the inside out, and inadvertently draw men to you just like light attracts fireflies. 

So, really, you are beautiful and sexy the way you were created. Don't trade that for a fake butt, and any thing else superficial for that matter.