Between Friends

In light of our recent conversations and since i am the oldest and often most opinionated, I thought it a perfect time to impart some of my 'wisdom' on life. I know our roads will not be the same but who knows these could be used as markers or small road signs along the way.

It is never too late to start something new or different; if you want to do that degree, do it. If you want to learn to ride that bicycle, start now. Postponing might sound easier but what you don’t realise is how fast time goes by and before you realise it your twenties are over and you will be approaching another decade with nothing tangible to show for it. Whether you believe me or not, this here life is short.

Embrace your femininity ladies; being a woman isn't always easy, so you don’t need self hate to break you down even further in a world of negativity. Whether you have curves or not becomes irrelevant when you learn to love who you are. God does not make flaws, he makes us uniquely perfect.

Whether you do it in the benches of a church or alone in your quiet moments, take the time to know God. If there is one thing in this life i have learnt over and over again it is that He is omnipotent (all-ruling), omnipresent (present everywhere), and omniscient (understanding of our intentions even before we are). So when those times get hard remember you are never alone or forgotten.

Find people that you can love; it might sound ironic but love is meant to be shared and given away otherwise it defeats its purpose. So even though you might have been hurt and had your heart stomped on remember that unconditional love that you share with your daughter, sister/s and brother/s, now imagine sharing some of that with the world. The most profound things happen in this life when you are willing to share of yourself.

There is a need for more kindness; so smile at that stranger because there will come a time when you will need that same kind of karma back; speak to the stranger on the bus because right there you might find the different perspective needed to change the world. Kindness is just that simple yet we take it for granted in little ways everyday.

Let me just say that i am without doubt so proud of you, you have grown from the loudest teenagers i have ever met into these incredibly strong young woman and i am glad i have been there through the tantrums, the boy dramas and the lectures (mostly provided by me). I would not trade a minute of our friendship and our fights for in and through them i have learnt that family is not just defined by blood.

In Life and in Death: Letter to my MOM

Thank you mom for always attempting to keep me sane and protected from some of the ills in this world. For teaching me kindness, showing me how to care and passing on your selective patience. You have looked out  for me even when I didn't think I needed it and let me learn by making my own mistakes.

Thank you mom for always being there; for waiting up and worrying, for the late night lectures and the early morning cups of coffee while you laughed with me and at times also at me.

It saddens me to think that my future son or daughter will never know your unconditional kind of love, he/she will never get to call you "Ma" or "Granny". Will never have you in there corner and will never know your silent wisdom, i only hope i can stick up for them and encourage them with half as much passion as you have done for me through the years.

Thank you mom for teaching me to be honest, courteous, appreciative and loving.
Thank you for trying to teach me to be neat and tidy, even though we both know it didn't work so well.
Thank you for teaching me to try to see the best in people, even if it meant looking deeper than just the surface.

Your lessons on humility, fighting fair and conflict has been instilled so deep in my being that i would not be me with out them, so thank you for taking the time over the years to nurture my open mind and listen to my theories on everything from world peace to genocide.

Thank you mom for instilling in me a love for travel, books, flowers, photography and food. How i will miss the back rubs, talks, stories and reminders that i can do anything i set my mind to.

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others,but whose place no one else can take." Author Unknown

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. 

Endless Possibilities

A few weeks ago I attended my Graduation and before the 2 hour procession  I had a chat with a gentleman in a very long line while hunting down our graduation gowns. He was very kind and listened as my nerves got the better of me, he smiled and very confidently said “don’t worry this is only the beginning of greater things”.

A few minutes later gowns in hand we wished each other good luck and parted ways.

Close to the end of the graduation procession they introduced the Doctorate Candidate, to my surprise this was the very same young man that was in the line with me. Upon his introduction they mentioned that he suffers from Dyslexia  and for the last 11 years has been working towards this mile stone in his life, which he reached (with Cum Laude).

The first humble words from his mouth was “without God this would not have been possible” and as I sat their listening to him recall his journey I realised just how right he was because without Gods grace and the people he sends our way at different trying times many of our achievements would not be possible.

This also had me reflecting on the hard roads we often need to take to find ourselves in this world. On what we need to give up in order to move on; on how we sometimes need to first fail and fall in order to learn and rise.

The message to me was somehow clear that in the end its all possible when you believe a little more and push a little harder.

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.

A song for the SOUL

Sometimes we all need a reminder that beauty is deeper than skin, flesh or bone. That beauty in essence cannot be bought, borrowed or stolen. 


So let your beauty shine! 

"JOY"

This morning driving to work i was reminded that "Joy" can be found in the most simplistic things, it's all in how we look at it. The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote: 

And Joy is Everywhere;
It is in the Earth's green covering of grass;
In the blue serenity of the Sky;
In the reckless exuberance of Spring;
In the severe abstinence of gray Winter;
In the Living flesh that animates our bodily frame;
In the perfect poise of the Human figure, noble and upright;
In Living;
In the exercise of all our powers;
In the acquisition of Knowledge;
in fighting evils...

Joy is there Everywhere.