Pitstop

Growing up in Nairobi, my siblings and I depended on our folks to decide where we shall spend our holidays. School holidays, we would be shipped off to shags to be with our grandparents for few weeks. It was fun eating kienyeji chicken for dinner and real yellow york eggs with those huge broadways brown bread for breakfast. The day would be spent with our cousins chasing farm animals around and sliding downhill on mud slides. It was heavenly. Splash water world has nothing on those mudslides.

So we were mostly content with the holidays we got as kids. Maybe it’s because we didn’t know better. At 40 I obviously don’t have the same energy to deal with carton boxes and mudslides and often find myself in need of more breaks than I’m normally used to. It’s like I frequently need to hepa the intensity that halftime brings. Over the last few years or so, I have been looking forward to getting off the highway of my life every so often. To take a chill pill, do nothing and attempt to listen to myself. I call it reducing external volume. I look forward to these breaks like my kids do to swimming after church on a hot Sunday.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to a country I considered random. I classified it as random because I knew very little about it and it’s never made it to KTN jioni or Nipashe. This country is Namibia. There are no direct flights from Nairobi so that adds to it’s random status. The fact that you connect from joburg amplifies its uniqueness. Namibia has soul. It’s few people, good tidy Windhoek, new clean cars and huge flat landscapes make it stand out. Unpolluted is the word I’m looking for. I was lucky to get invited for a very well organised event. And boy were we spoilt (thanks to one of my public service roles that landed me the invite).

But I was reminded of something very important during this trip. You see I’m so eager to move onto my second half that I tend to live there in future and forget here in the present. It’s easy to get so heavenly minded and end up being of no earthly good. On my way to the airport two weeks ago I told myself that I’ll enjoy this four day break and be fully present. Truly the mind is a powerful thing. My trip ended up being a solo honeymoon. I spent a lot of time just hanging out with Lucas and met wonderful Africans with whom we had good conversation and laughter. It’s like when you occupy the present moment, folks are drawn to you. I’ve missed that.

I even broke a rule I have in my house on technology. You see, WhatsApp is for saying; gas imeisha or come with diapers and ketchup (Heinz ketchup is a basic food item in my house, like unga and salt). So Mummy shark and I had a very constructive dialogue on a few critical issues in our in-tray currently and we arrived at key decisions over whatsApp. I credit this to taking a break and being present. A good analogy is how my car goes in for repairs more often as it gets older. So service is recommended with less mileage after 40.

Going forward I will try to take breaks from this race and not feel guilty about it. To me it’s the equivalent of what they call a tactical withdrawal in jeshi (to regroup). So take a pit stop whenever you feel the need to guys. It could just be to check pressure in your tyres to enable you handle better the bumps or mashimos ahead. After all, why aim to go beyond your crossroads if you don’t have enough gas to set you off into second half.

Thank God, I have another chance for a break next week. And I’m so looking forward. Wacha I go pack. Later good people.