Life...What it is really about.

I love my sleep. Waking up early in the morning, especially on Weekdays can be pretty tough, especially at the beginning of the week. I usually wake up thinking is this it? is this what its really all about really?
Monday to Friday, waking up early to beat the crazy Dar es Salaam traffic, working all day, or pretending to!! then in the evening it is the trek back home, again...an empty apartment, a bit of TV, a quick snack and off to bed again. So it got me thinking....is this it really? Shouldn't there be something more?
I come from a big family. I grew up in a family of seven kids, four brothers and two sisters. It was a full house always, with cousins and other relatives and family friends coming for long visits that turned to weeks or months! The house was always full, and noisy. I grew up longing for a time when I will have a place of my own, and have a bit of quietness.
And then I grew up, finished Uni, and got a job, and a place of my own...and here I am now! in my late twenties, doing very well career-wise, living on my own in my nice two bedroom apartment, but still with a sense that there should be more to life really!
So as I said it got me thinking, especially in the mornings, stuck n traffic and listening to music, all kinds of thoughts creep in my head! Anyway, this is the conclusion I came up with today.

We can have it all really, get to live our dreams, or what we thought are our dreams. But at the end of the day, three things Matter. God, Family and friends.

I was raised in a very Catholic home. My parents would make us go to church even on Weekdays. I remember when I was in Primary School, during exams especially, my mum would wake me and my brother John up very early in the morning and take us to church for the daily morning mass before we go to school. Novenas and evening prayers were a daily thing at home. And in those days, life was perfect!

After growing up and being an adult, no parents to scold you if you do not go to church on Sunday, no one to tell you to get out of bed and go for a walk if too much time was spent in doors, things change. Church becomes a place you go once in a while, and on weekdays it is easy to get home, heat food switch on the TV and eat till you pass out on the Couch. Its easy to forget to make God a daily part of one's life. Way too easy. And I truly believe it is this that gets me all grumpy most mornings...but the minute I remember to say a little prayer, ask for forgiveness and promise to do better, make him a bigger part of my life, I immediately feel a bit better.

My parents live in Dodoma, a small town (though growing pretty fast) in Central Tanzania, two brothers and one sister live there as well. The rest of my family are scattered in different parts of the world. A sister in Dallas Texas, with her husband,  three Gorgeous daughters and one very handsome son, a brother in London, Ontario, Canada with a very pretty wife, a brother in Arusha, Tanzania, with a lovely wife and the cutest little boy. And then there is me here, in Dar. Lots and lots of Cousins and Aunties, though we are not as close as we might have been when I was younger, so most of the time it feels like its just me here in Dar.

The only way my immediate family and I stay in touch is through phone calls, and skype (rarely). Everyone is all grown up and busy with their lives, its easy for two or three weeks to go by without having heard from one brother or sister. Its sad really. But they are my family non the less. And I try to stay as close to them as I can. I cant seem to remember the last time we were all together...sigh** comes with growing up I guess!

Now friends...I have been blessed with plenty. I have some really amazing friends. Girls who have been there for me through thick and thin.Girls who would drop everything at a moments' notice to come to my aid. They are amazing They are my family here in Dar. The funny thing is, most of them are lawyers, like myself!! I have two wonderful ladies who are like sisters. They don't drink alcohol as much as I do (which I love **covers face** I think it might have something to do with my being a Mrangi LOL) but they are wonderful, we have a lot of fun together, we go dancing, we talk about each and everything going on in our lives...I have other friends as well, some I connect with because we are just too much I like, the craziness in us brings us together, also like sisters!! and one particular friend who is probably the most annoying human being I have ever met, and dumb too...but they make me lough so hard, make me giddy with happiness...and misery too depending on the day LOL!! Others are because among other things, we have the very same fear/belief in God, we speak the same language when it comes to our relationship with God...like I said, I am blessed. Truly blessed.

So in such mornings, I think of all this, My God, My family, and my loving idiot friends. And I realize, I am one lucky human being. Like really, why would I want more? I have it all!

And now I should start my day here at the Office!! I hope yours turns out great too! And yes it is a long post I hope you did not skip to the last paragraph LOL!!