Marriage lessons from President Moi’s political philosophy
Last week Tuesday, we woke up to shocking news of the death of second President Moi fondly known as Nyayo.
A lot can be said of the great man, both positive and negative, but one of the lessons he will best be remembered for and that we must remember at this time of heightened political activity around the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), are his famous words “Siasa mbaya, maisha mbaya” (literally, bad politics, bad life).
May I add a new twist to Moi’s common phrase by saying “Ndoa mbaya maisha mbaya”.
My mentor told me many years ago that if you want to be happy, make sure your spouse is happy and those of us married men can surely attest to this.
When your wife is not happy with the way you are treating her, she can make your life pretty miserable. Which man wants to go home and be met by a stone-faced wife?
Which man wants to hear these words “Honey, or babe, or sweetie we need to talk?
Whatever sweet thing comes first is quickly swallowed up by the last words in that phrase, “we need to talk”.
And when you hear such words, you know it’s not about being told how good a husband you are, but being reminded how you forgot it was her birthday, or you didn’t take her out on Valentine’s Day.
Therefore, in order to have maisha mazuri, take time to make your woman happy. And you know what, it doesn’t take much to do so. It’s the little things that matter.
It’s how you make her feel loved and special that matters. Remember those days you were madly in love with her? When you did those crazy things just to please her?
When you sang her praise the way politicians used to sing Moi’s in rallies? When you were ready to do anything for her?
Go back to those days. I know you will tell me that those days you were under the influence of some chemicals in your brain called amphetamines.
Then it was automatic, but now you must be intentional. Then, your actions followed your emotions, but now your emotions will follow your actions. Have a lovely Valentine’s week!
