For long, i was burdened by my inability to participate in giving and what kept me back was this misconception that if it is little, it does not count. So i held back, that 1,000, 2,000 and even 10,000. I refused to participate. How wrong i was.

In 2019, i had a conversation with my friend Edith about how her father even at 99 years religiously sent 10,000shs to the resident Reverend of the Church of Uganda in Kitezi, Gayaza and he had done this for years. He paid regardless of who was the Reverand at the time. She mentioned how her father in his old age, would pull the money out of his pocket and give instruction on where it should go for all those years. Yes, he paid, in his words, the salary of the Reverend and that is a pledge he made to himself and kept even to death.

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That story, seemed like an ordinary conversation but it changed my life. How? You may ask. You see, i have always felt at peace while giving. I never have a problem sharing. But i have always wanted to give much. It suits my giving. I just never really had the means. But i decided here on, that since i encounter many 10Ks and not many 1Ms in this season, i will be faithful in giving the 10Ks as opposed to waiting and wishing i had the 1Ms to give. Since then, i decided to participate in worthwhile fundraising ventures, church plants, crusades and missions by giving that 10k. For now, that is what is available and i will make good use of it.

I am reminded of the Bible verse from Matthew 24:40 that says, “But the King will answer them, “In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you rendered such services to one of the humblest of these my brethren, you rendered them to myself.”

I know that God does not despise giving “little’. After all we are his hands and feet on this earth. I just want to be faithful with the little and in due time, when the much is available, i will continue to do be faithful.

Are you struggling with this same issue? “Gira obusingye” which means have peace. Just do not pass up that opportunity to do unto God. My simple logic is that my 10K will meet with another person’s 10K and another and another and then a need will be met. That is what matters in the long run.

This is the end of my story.

God bless you.

I was very bitter yesterday. I encountered a bully. I didn’t know that in this day and age, an adult can choose to bully another adult. If that is what they call being ‘schooled’ then i was “schooled” but hurt at the same time.

So the bully happened to teach the 5 ‘S’ of success. I guess, i should use this information that i gained to better myself. The 5 ‘s’ of success as learned yesterday were State, Story, Standard, Strategy, Suredness.

State

The current state of affairs if undesirable can be changed. But you must do a self reflection. An HONEST reflection of yourself if you want a reasonable change that shall lead to success. Of course your life has different facets all going. Your Health, Wealth, Mental State, Family or for ease of reference analyse your life by the 5 capitals – Spiritual, Relational, Intellectual, Physical and Financial.

Ask yourself if you like what you see, if what you find is beneficial to all concerned and if it will further your growth. Sort of like ploughing the surface, to reveal the inner things, the baggage. Get a report on the 5 capitals by doing a self test and inquiring of your BOARD for an honest opinion. Some of the information you get will hurt but if you are interested in changing your life for the better, driving to success, then listen to the state of affairs and deal with it.

Story

So its possible that you have reasons as to why some things in your life are they way they are. Maybe you are not generous with money because you grew up with little to spare and you are not yet over it. Maybe you were bullied so much, you learnt to fight back by bullying others. Maybe you were abused as a child or as an adult and you are eating your pain away. Or you born rich and may never need to work but your sense of self worth is still low. Maybe, maybe…., i could go on and on.

You cant change the ‘maybes’ but you can certainly prevent them by influencing your every action. You have the power to take back your ‘PEN‘. Rewrite that story. Be a better person, a giver, give up bullying your way through life, give up the sorrow and embrace new love. CHANGE YOUR STORY, REWRITE YOUR STORY.

Standard

I will not spend so much on this. Growth is movement in the right direction. The right direction is a standard you set for yourself. I repeat Yourself because so many people set their standards based on other people. You are your own competitor. I am reminded of a story told by Pastor Wilson Bugembe to our team during a work place prayer meeting. He told us how as a younger man, together with his friends, while on a drive to Masaka, they decided to chase after a Land cruiser that had overtaken them. As young men, they felt that it would only be fair to pursue this powerful car to showcase the ability of the car in which they were driving. They didn’t know who was in the car they were pursuing. They were competing with someone they didn’t know, whose destination they didn’t know. Senseless pursuit. That is what the pastor called it.

Long story short, consistently raise your standard of what success looks like to you and you will beat it each time. Set a standard for your bank balance, networks, Spiritual growth, lifestyle. A part from Spiritual growth, i personally recommend that you remain level headed in your pursuits. No showing off. Just raise your standard and be your own competitor.

Strategy

Your strategy is so dependent on the direction you choose to take to grow yourself, or change your story in the 5 capitals. You may have to burn the midnight candle as you read, open that extra savings account for your savings, adopt the jewish 5 jar principle to grow your wealth, change networks or get more involved in family as you grow your social capital. Just choose what needs changing and strategize on how you need to change/grow and by all means do something. Do What You Say You Will Do. Its better if your strategy is measurable. Forexample, you can choose to attend 50% of the family functions you are invited to and 50% of the others you send a contribution and stay away. Its all with in your power. On savings, i encourage setting a minimum of 10% of your earnings. You must tithe too and tithe comes first. You could choose to physically visit your grand parents or even parents as opposed to phone calls. Set the number of times and stick to it.

Suredness or sureness

Ok, lets call it Faith. Whatever you choose to pursue, you must stay the course, climb up mountains, go down valleys or command them out of the way but you must never give up or lose sight of the mark. It is not too late to do that assessment so that you can count 2020 as the year when THINGS CHANGED. 2020 can be the year you choose to grow your savings instead of waiting for that ‘ka money.’ 2020 and beyond can be the start of you fellowshipping with a bible teaching church even if it feels awkward at first. You just have to stay, and wait it out. That marriage, that business all need you to stay faithful to the mission even if it doesn’t make sense.

I guess you are wondering what happened between the bully and i. Well, lets just say, the 5 ‘S’ of success happened. Or am i just putting up a facade….That is the end of my story.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.