Sumbua Tenants.

Shelter is considered a basic human need alongside food and clothing. However, I think to love and to be loved should be included on that list too. Many people live in a pandemic of loneliness and starvation of emotional support. Anyway, that’s a story for another day.

Shelter (housing) has been a major agenda item for every regime that comes into power. Out of the quarter of a million homes required every year only fifty thousand of those are available. Sadly from a mwananchi’s perspective, the government is not doing enough to bridge the gap. There seems to be more talk than action. Maybe it’s a trust or perception issue. The plot thickened recently when a housing levy was introduced. Now every salaried Kenyan is giving a small percentage of their earnings into the levy. The goal again is to help more Kenyans get not just affordable shelter but increase the chances of owning that roof over their heads. Seems like a long shot but better kujaribu.

The majority of us rent the places where we live and work. Homeownership is a preserve of a few. It then follows that rent is a major item on everyone’s list of expenses. Being a landlord is one sure way to financial security because the need far outweighs the supply.

Now that’s the external scenario. Let’s consider the internal scenario. Wouldn’t it be absurd if someone lived in your house rent-free? Now imagine how often we allow people to do that, only this time in our minds. This thought came from a comment a lady made at the women’s leadership summit that I attended two weeks ago. She told us not to allow someone to live in our minds rent-free. That was profound.

We go about life carrying stuff people said or did that does not benefit us in any way. Most of us have excess luggage in our minds occupying much-needed space for creativity and possibilities. As humans, we tend to remember how people make us feel. And that is maybe just how are wired. I once heard that you can’t stop a bird from flying over your head but you can prevent it from building a nest there.

This is easier said than done. The mind is a strange yet powerful machine. We have to find a way of regularly sanitizing it so that it can perform optimally. It is the source of great ideas that have changed the world and the lives of those who bore those ideas. We therefore need to find a way to vet what or who we allow to live in our minds. Make it like a know-your-customer (KYC) version of the mind the same way real estate agents vet potential tenants before offering them a lease to sign. Shouldn’t we do the same to people we give access to our minds and lives in general?

Many of us in our 40s are relatively productive and have had a fair measure of success in life but we still carry a lot of stuff in our minds and hearts. Imagine how much more we would accomplish if we evicted thoughts (and maybe even people) who don’t add value to us. This applies in reverse too. Are we also living in other people’s minds rent-free yet not helping them in any way? Well, we would know if we asked them. That takes courage and is a good part of personal responsibility to self and others.

We should keep our checklist close on what and who qualifies to dwell in our minds and hearts. But we need to also take inventory with our near and dear ones and find out if we are living in their minds as sumbua tenants maybe even with arrears. And should we find out that we are not needed by some people then let’s do the honourable thing and move out willingly. And maybe as a sign of further goodwill, we can let our mind landlord keep the deposit.

That level of self-awareness and personal courage will lead us to go only where we are wanted or needed. Now that’s a picture of an effective and self-aware life. Doing all we can not to waste our time and talents as we help others maximize theirs in the process.

Are you residing in someone’s mind and not paying rent by adding value to them? please move out. And if we are carrying folks we shouldn’t be carrying in our minds please issue them an eviction notice as well. This might be the best thing we do that will elevate us to the lives we deserve and desire. Ni kazi these mental living arrangements but necessary for our well-being and overall success.

Let’s be choosy about who rents space in our lives. As the saying goes, show me your friends and I’ll tell you what kind of person you are.