KenyaOnAShoeString: Real Advice for Real Kenyans

We all carry around a few maybes —those half-formed ideas and dreams that hover in the background, whispering that maybe one day, we'll take the plunge. Maybe I'll move out. Maybe I'll go back to school. Maybe I'll buy land in that quiet town. Maybe I'll cut ties with that draining friend. These thoughts are not always harmless. Some maybes haunt us for years, quietly costing us peace, time, clarity, or money. This article explores real, grounded examples of Kenyans wrestling with maybes—choices that linger, pull energy, and clutter our decision-making. And how, by eliminating a maybe—either by turning it into a solid yes or a firm no—we make space for clarity and progress. 1. Muthoni – The Maybe of Buying Land in Naivasha The Maybe: Muthoni had her eye on a piece of land in Naivasha for months. She envisioned weekend getaways, a tiny home, maybe even hosting creatives for retreats. The Cost of the Maybe: She spent months obsessively browsing listings, calculating...

"Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world." — Arthur Schopenhauer Every few months, a new listicle goes viral: "30 things I wish I knew at 20," "What every 40-year-old should do before it’s too late," or "Advice from 80-year-olds on how to live a meaningful life." These pieces are often earnest, even well-meaning. But they carry a hidden danger: the illusion that there is one way to live well, if only we follow the right script, take the right risks, or apply the distilled wisdom of others to our own lives. The problem is, life doesn’t unfold in copy-paste format. Each of us is living a different season. And not all advice is timeless. In fact, some of it can derail you entirely. Life Comes in Seasons. Your Choices Should Too. There is no universal roadmap. Each decade of life asks different questions of us — and demands different answers. Your 20s: Exploration, Curiosity, Failure This is often the seas...