Life...

Some truth...

Taking Time

Time i Say 

I am a big believer in reflecting on life and taking time out from the hustle and bustle of it. I must admit I don't often get the time or have the energy to sit for hours just pondering on life but this morning i woke up before the crack of dawn with some thoughts/ truths to share.

I feel like life is short for most of us and the more we put off, the more we won't be able to do. It definitely does not work like a to do list that you can tick off and move on to the next task or fork in the road. Life is unpredictable, it so not a romance novel or a TV series where the "good one" somehow always win. It has moments of heart wrenching sadness and exhilarating happiness all wrapped up in lessons that we try to learn from.

Life can get messy and sometimes lonely even when you are surrounded by hundreds of people. It can also be filled with exasperating adventures and "chapters" waiting to be explored.

I realize that in this life if you are everything to everyone, you may end up being nothing to yourself.

So take the time to find your joys and embrace it, whether its climbing a mountain or sitting on a park bench with a good book. Take time to do it, share it with someone special.

Take time to live for the moments of right now, cause tomorrow or next week might not come.

Writing my BOOK

I love to read, I can literally spend hours in the thrills of a good novel and completely cut the world out so that the characters and I can embark on a journey together. I have a very visual imagination so I often find that it would put it into pictures hence I am not picky about endings as long as at the end I can feel like “I got it”, like I understood the plot.

Little Me

Lately I have been thinking of life (my own) as a book; with all its chapters culminating various stages, highlights and lowlights of my 27 years on this planet. Granted this is not as long as most, but I sure have learnt a thing or two.

It would have to starting with my first fond memories of garden tea parties when I was 4, through to my peculiar child hood where I have always had an opinion and a mother who would listen to my every entertaining word – when I was 7/8 I refused to go to bed at bedtime because I felt that my brain didn’t need all the hours of sleep and I would become so animated in my theory that my parents would just let me stay up.

Through my odd days as a teenager, I was not a difficult teen  but I was definitely always different -  I preferred  a good book over parties, drugs or boys.  There is a part of me now that thinks I have taken the world way too seriously before my time and another that is grateful that I have somehow always known myself enough to know when to stop, step ahead or step away.  

My journey from18 to now would be the bulk of it; because here I have learnt about love (the kind that does not change or falter), loss (as no-one lives forever), sacrifice (the art of walking away), friendships (the kind that deals with shit and still stands) and to chase my dreams even if it takes me a little longer to get there. 

I am not sure which chapter I am on right now however I think turning 28 in a few months will probably require a few new priorities. 

It promises to be interesting! 

Clearing out my maze

Read an article called “Interior Motives” in the August Issue of O Magazine that made me think about my professional environment and how I engage in it.  Made me think of all the actual times I have said Yes when I was dying to say No, the many times I have been polite when I really didn’t want to be and the countless hours I have wasted in conversations I really did not want to be in.

I realised reading through those pages that I actually needed to clean up my agenda, take a constructive step back and re-evaluate the battles I fight and those I walk away from. Easier said than done (I know) but I am starting small and hopefully it will lead me out of the Lady Macbeth maze in my head.  

So if you hear me say No more often than before bare with me because this is my truth and I would rather be blunt than be exhausted by hypocrisy.  If I don’t engage in a conversation with you don’t take it personally because I may just have nothing enlightening to say.

As I journey on this new road of telling the truth I will unconsciously be steered away from fake people and my circle may become smaller but that is a price I will willingly pay for inner peace. 

Roads...

I love this picture!

 Getting lost on a gravel road early Saturday morning somewhere around Vredendal for a few hours hoping it leads back to town :-), loved it.... 

The Help

A month or so ago while on holiday i read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett and for some reason the book has stuck in my subconscious. Four other books later i am still thinking about the journey it took me on. 

Subsequently i have been asked to review the book so here are some highlights from a satisfying read.

I found it to be sad and emotional but a very real in your face reflection of how people had their dignity stripped away from them and how all of that was viewed as acceptable.  The book has the scary ability to pull you into its pages and  the writer captured the era flawlessly.  You could feel the shame, happiness and fears leap off the pages as you reading it.

In the beginning when Skeeter takes on this journey to write the stories of the colored women in her town i don't think she thought that in the process she will also find herself and that is exactly what happens as you read on.  

The book is filled with self discovery as the women in it take risks and in the end you can clearly see "change is coming". With the quirks and humor you also see love, bitterness and dedication as these women soldier on because they have mouths to feed and "white babies" to raise. 

In my personal observation and conversations with others who have read the book i have discovered that if you have a domestic worker or if you know someone that spends their days cleaning up after others this book subconsciously forces you to rethink your behavior towards them. Forces you to consider their burdens too. 

It is a definite good read and you will walk away wiser for each chapter that you dive into. 

Trial and Error

I have always been told that the lesson is in the journey and not the destination. The journey is what builds your character, it is what reveals your strengths and weaknesses. Only when we are brave enough to take road less traveled can we discover who we are.

Sometimes we need to be bold and take time to try!

My quote for the day

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drown your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

– Steve Jobs

A bit of a reminder that we all have the power to do great things and that today is the best day to get started on what you truly want to become.

Reflections at Nomndeni

Stream in the backyard 

At this present moment I am sitting in a workshop on the outskirts of Nelspruit, having the cool breeze drift into the window beside me. How lucky am I that I got to wake up this morning, stand on the balcony and see the sun rise over the nearby stream and hear the birds chirping away.

I am amazed by how peaceful it is out here and how the air just smells crisp even though there has been no rain, everything is greener and I can see these little creatures on nearby tree branches with no concern in the world.

This tends to highlight the wonder of mother nature to me and how simple it all seems in this complex world of ours.

In this day and age we tend to make our own lives difficult with the constant demands on our time, the rush, the hurry and the digital wave where we go no-where without our Blackberry, Tablets or Notebook.

In all of this haste we forget to live and admire the beauty.

I urge you to take the time to enjoy the grass between your toes, to admire God’s creatures (big and small), to enjoy good food,  to take time to pray/ reflect, to love (just for the sake of it) and too live this life and not wait for the next.

Today is it, so enjoy it!