My 2016 in Review, Happy 2017 to you

I love social media yearly reviews but they only get to capture moments that one posts. What of those moments that do not get to be posted? I have thus decided to draft my moments of 2016 to be able to share them with you all.

I boarded my longest flight with a total duration of 21 hours. Thank you 2016 for teaching me the meaning of Jetlag!!!. It was my first main lesson in the Genesis of 2016. I now understand the meaning of different time Zones. I remember when I almost went to ask the Pilot about why he forgot to land. (Will be my story for another day).

I’m so grateful for friends and family here in the USA who made my transition so smooth. Some people have been asking me whether am home sick. To answer your question, how could I be home sick when I have people here who I call family and who take me as part of their family?. I got to spend my first Christmas out of Uganda here and I was so overwhelmed by the gifts that I got from my American family. Have you ever been in a situation where you do not know how to express your sense of gratitude? Where thank you seems to be an understatement? That’s where I have been this season. To all the people that I have met in my 10 months’ time here in the USA am glad I got to meet you and long to keep in touch with you.

I’m so grateful to God for using me as a child advocate. I got to travel to over eight US States and advocated for children in extreme poverty. I got to increase my effective communication and presentation skills and helped Sponsors, donors and Compassion International staff better understand the impact of their partnership with compassion International. Being a member of the Quality Assurance team at Compassion International has been such a blessing and the best gift that I would ask for and the best gift that 2016 would give to me.

2016 also saw me became a member of Toastmasters International, gave 7 speeches and got voted as best speaker and best table topics speaker most of the times. I got to learn to constantly let people evaluate me after every speaking engagement which made me a better story teller. This increased my cross cultural competencies by engaging with several people. Consistent feedback's from the people I have interacted with have shaped my point of view. I have learned how to build mutual understanding and human relationships which are necessary for achieving my future professional goals. I got so many people added onto my friends list and am so grateful for having you (One reading this post) as a friend. God made you and I know each other for a purpose. We just have to listen to him as he speaks and allow him do in us what he alone can do.

In 2016, I became a Scaled Agile Certified Training Practitioner, a Certified Social Marketing Manager, a certified google AdWords professional and enhanced my information Technology knowledge and skills.

I got to see all the Star wars Movies (Waiting for Star Wars 8 next year) this year and got to watch almost all the superhero movies. I guess you agree with me that this is also an achievement.

Whereas I do not know what 2017 has in store for me, I know the one who holds the future. He will lead and I will follow. I await him to open doors for me and am convinced that the doors he opens always have more to offer. He alone knows the end from the beginning. Not even the best New Year resolution makers can comprehend the Lord’s dealings and way of planning.

Wishing you a divine inspired, fire filled, happy and prosperous 2017.#Happy #new #Year

My Journey to the USA started as just a dream.

If you have ever had a dream put your hand up.

Let’s ponder on the meaning of the American Dream……

The year was 2002 when I traveled to the USA for my first time. I neither had a passport nor a visa. It was the shortest distance that I have ever moved. The speed on which we traveled was so fast that even the speed of light would be considered slower. No one can fathom it. No fastest thing can comprehend the speed on which we moved. It was the cheapest flight that I have ever taken in my life. It costed 0 cents only. I can’t remember the flying machine that I used. May be it was an airbus! 

I was fascinated by how experienced the pilot was. All the crew members were so smart (I mean smart upstairs in addition to being smartly dressed). I do not know how they could even tell of where we were because the sky looked the same wherever we were!!! I was still an infant to travel overseas alone (without my parents).

 It was only just a dream!!! (Sung Nelly). When I awoke from my dreams, I hoped that the dream would come to a reality someday. I did not know about the American dream then but the more I recalled my dream the more I would get thoughts of being in America. In 2012, I got a Ugandan passport; a travel document that would officially allow me get to my dream land (America).

In 2015, I got the opportunity to travel to America in the palm of my hands. You know what? I love doing what I can and can’t what I can’t. I tried my level best and excelled in all the interviews that I had to be involved in. As fate would have it I got the American visa and came here in February 2016.

I do not know what you believe in; Luck or karma. One thing that I know is that there is a God who turns dreams into realities. The one who knew you and me before we were in our mother’s womb. The one who knows the end from the beginning.

Dreaming has been and still is one of my greatest gifts. I have had night dreams and some times day dreams. Why are dreams always beautiful? The reality can also be beautiful only if our dreams are bigger than our fears. We should live our dreams other than dreaming our lives. Our faith ought to be stronger than our feelings. If we follow our dreams with grit, we will achieve whatever we focus our mind too.

Keep your hopes alive, stay better not bitter, keep dreaming and your dreams will turn into realities. Never let go of your dreams and as C.S Lewis put it,” you are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream”. Let your heart make a wish today and follow the dreams as they know the way.

The power of a minute

On 13^th October, I set off to visit my mum and friends in Michigan. I was to spend the rest of my time with them up to 17^th and then fly back to the springs. I must confess, I had an incredible moment with them.  Each day was filled with its own adventures and excitements. From the Hot Tub, to working out, visiting the sand dunes and walking around one of the great lakes (Lake Michigan). Most importantly, having conversations with people.

On the 17^th, my friend Tyler got me to the airport so early. I had checked in on my phone, went through security and had to wait at the departure gate. The plane in which I was to fly in delayed and that changed everything about my schedule. I hoped I would be able to get hold of my connection flight in Texas but I could not. No sooner had we landed than my connection flight departed Texas.  It took only about 10 Minutes to miss my flight. It was sad to see my name on the screens showing those who missed their connection flights. It was late in the night and I had to spend a night in a hotel. Thankfully they put me onto the next flight that would leave at 6:57am.

As we flew in the morning, I began meditating on the power of a minute.  I realized that every minute is important. Friends you do not need a PHD to make an impact. Use the small increment of your time wisely. Remember, time is priceless, use every second to make a difference, impact, purpose or set a new goal. Commit your time to doing God’s will wherever your influence is. You do not need good looks or any special level of intelligence. We all get similar number of hours every day (24 hours). You can wreck or redeem a life in a few seconds. 5 Minutes are enough to show your character. When we missed a connection flight, you could not believe the bad words that were coming from the smartly dressed people including old people that commanded much respect. I do not use such words and so I can’t write them in this post.

Time is the most significant gift given to us; make significant choices. We have to use it carefully and intentionally ((Ephesians 5:15). If you are to serve, do it diligently.

Each minute is made up of seconds. Several minutes then make up an hour, which make days, months and years. Effective use of any minute is thus so important in any en-devour. I think when they say time waits for no man, it literally means “Use that minute effectively".  As you know time has no best ally and waits for no man. Will you focus for the moment and make good use of it? Blessings

Away from home experiences

Am not comic but some people have told me that am funny and have a great sense of humor. I would love to request for your honest comments (Feedback) on whether my “funny” is on point or not.
Two people from different walks of life met. Their names were haves (from extreme poverty) and have-not's (Wealth background). 

The conversation begins:-
Haves: How many children do you have?
Have-nots: I have 10 children. God has for sure blessed me. In fact they are not my children, they are God’s children. That’s why 5 of them are under Compassion International. My family was the first one to travel to USA without a plane. Don’t you know that the Lord is the provider and he cares for us?
Haves: Of course he is the provider. He has blessed me and he is forever faithful. 

May be that conversation above should cause us to ponder on all the blessings that we have. You may not have all that you need but I guess each one of us has what to be grateful for. Go for it!!!!

You know in Uganda we speak British English commonly known as the queen’s language. As I planned my travel to America early this year, I made several reflections on the American English. I think American English is a king’s language. That’s why it has several slangs that have a different meaning to me especially as I do a direct translation. One time a friend said that she wanted to visit with me. I thought to myself, “it must really be fun to visit with you”. So where will we be going? Only to be answered that it was to be a conversation that could even be done via video conferencing (Skype). On a scale of 1-10, my interest in the visit moved from 10 to 2. I nearly fainted.

In June I traveled to Louisiana and I had a hard time with the king’s language. As you all know Louisiana English could be a relative to my Rufumbira English accent. Why do I say this? As my accent can be hardly understood, I found it hard to understand Louisiana accent. Thank God, I was at the airport earlier and had ample time to check on the many monitors at the airport.

You know English is my second language and 1’m glad I can connect some words to make sense. I can now construct a good English sentence even though I still speak Rufumbira English. My English is neither queen’s language nor the American King’s Language. You know every construction needs a foundation. My sentence construction foundation was Rwaramba elementary (Primary) school. I’m grateful for all the teachers in Uganda who are professionals in teaching using a second language.

One of the things I do not like doing during my stay in the USA is ordering food in restaurants simply because of the many questions asked. I know, the many choices can be confusing. Even when I want specific things I get several questions as though am not clear on what meal I really want. During my first days here I was asked about the kind of dressing that I wanted. I thought to myself, do gentlemen put on dresses in the USA? I wondered whether I looked naked. Thankfully I have built mutual relationships and have always had people around me. This has made my transition smooth and my experience worth while. I will keep sharing my experiences with you and can’t wait to share it all with my family.
#Proudly Ugandan, Proudly Mufumbira.

You have got all it takes to be happy

Today I had a chat with two friends of mine on whatsApp and Facebook and they seemed to be going through difficult situations. As always I have got a positive feedback from them about how chatting with me relieved them.

So I have just decided to have an encouraging write up to whoever may be hurting. I may not be knowing the exact situation you are going through but I’m so sorry for you if you are feeling lonely, depressed or having suicidal thoughts. It may be a relationship breakup or a feeling of inadequacy. Whatever the case may be, just know it’s all for your own good even if you can’t see it yet (Romans 8:28).

First of all you need to have self-acceptance and stop counting on the people around you for joy and happiness. I know it’s hard to do but happiness should come from your heart. Can you try to be patient with yourself and replace those bad feelings with pride, even in small accomplishments? Begin appreciating yourself for any achievement you make.

Knowing about your indicators of depression or knowing personal indicators of rage and anger may be great but not good enough. They should propel you into action preferably talking about it with those close to you. You should also get involved with some community service, social or sporting club and try to interact with people physically. At times people on social media can be too picky and may not respond to your posts simply because they do not know you fully. As you interact with others, you will realize that great people who like you and care about your feelings do exist. You may also consider talking with a therapist or a counselor.

Just know that you can overcome your circumstances and achieve extraordinary success through determination, grit, and some bit of luck but inner happiness has to be the center of it all. To all going through difficult situations, be reminded that tough times do not last but tough people do. There is no situation that is permanent; even that will pass away. I will be praying for you to have peace of mind.

The greatest Search Engine ever

Guess what the most powerful and greatest search engine is? Its neither google nor yahoo. It is the Mind. It finds what you focus it on to look for and your search results are your reality, your outcomes and ultimately your life. 

As George Lucas wrote in Star Wars episode one, your focus determines your reality. The focus of your attention and thought like the search engine is in putted in your mind which later late on pulls specific amount of data. Queries are inputted in the mind which scans the strings of data in relation to what you put in your search box. 

We are all presented with a blank page and what we spend time focusing on and thinking about matters a lot. As a search engine it does not play games or favorites. It seems it’s the rule of the universe. Terrible search results can simply be blamed on bad input/search inquiry. We need to stop thinking that it’s who we are or its the cross we are meant to bare, doomed for poverty, or failure (Let go of the excuses). Change your inquiry and you will get great results. 

Do not dwell on what ifs or blaming your background. Your mind will not care what you search for. It will deliver results marching your inquiry in forms of success, joy, and happiness to mention but a few. If you do not like the results you are getting, you do not blame the search engine but instead have to change the inquiry and you will get required results.

 Will your focus your mind on what is positive today, what’s possible and the ideas, people and actions you need to make it happen. Remember to strive for results over everything. Keep your search engine (the Mind) working on the positive results that you seek. Register on http://www.darrendaily.com/ to for daily mentorship. You will be inspired on a daily basis.

Different stories one Message

Every human being has a story and can tell it better than anybody else. Truth be told, there is no saint without a past. Our backgrounds, our struggles and our achievements are ingredients of our stories. (For good cooks, you can choose to call them a “recipe” for our lives). The good news is that we are all God’s workmanship irrespective of our indifferences, strength, weaknesses, inadequacies and “accent”.

Each one of us has a value stream and a dent to fill in the world. Is there need for competing with one another? Certainly not but rather a need for complimenting each other. Is there a need for self-righteousness? Certainly not but rather a need to have each one of us to be more like Jesus. Is there a need of taking ourselves as of a high value than others? Certainly not; but rather a need for humility (Philippians 2:5-6).

As people created in the Image of God we have to respect fellow “images” irrespective of the different classifications of the world (Name them; Economic status, cultural differences, level of education..etc). We ought to have the common denominators of Love, Care, Compassion, and Kindness or simply put the fruit of the spirit as in Galatians 5:22-23.

It’s my prayer that each one of us uses his/her story for the Glorification of God not for personal drives or egos.