Statement of the week

"Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures." —John F. Kennedy. I wrote the ending of this post before I wrote the beginning. It's because  I realised the true meaning of finding peace at the end of the article. I have been on a journey lately to be a better person, so I wanted to attain peace. I wanted peace of mind: to put it mildly, my mind is like Mfecane(series of Zulu and other Nguni wars and forced migrations of the second and third decades of the 19th century)  itself. So I decided to try something new. Last week I was upset and overwhelmed by emotions; I found myself picking a pen and paper and writing down my thoughts. After that, I found myself calm in those moments I thought I was at peace. So then I realised; to achieve this calmness, I need to let my thoughts out to paper. Naturally, I wanted to understand this phenomenon which led me to do some digging. As I read o...

 Today's post will be a little different; I hope you like it. I was on YOUTUBE and came across this video by  Dandapani; he speaks about three ways of developing willpower. Now I won't go into the whole video; he says, " There are three ways to develop willpower; the first thing is to finish what you begin." I want to dwell on this today as I am guilty of not finishing what I begin. It doesn't happen with projects only, also with conversations, and unfortunately with relationships as well. Unfortunately, I tend to leave conversations hanging.  I do so because I like to pick up from where I left off. I realise with conversations; I don't respond and concluding the topic. I wake up the next day and say, "you know so true" at the end, I'm stuck in this conversation where we are not saying anything that makes sense at all; it's just a back and forth of meaningless phrases.  I am afraid of conclusions; the idea of letting the conversation die to m...

 Some days back, I had someone say thank you to me for doing my job. I can't begin to tell you how good that felt; be appreciated for the work I had done even though it is my duty. Needless, the words of gratitude stayed with me throughout the day; I found even my attitude to everyone I interacted with after changed. I was more patient and diligent in my work and tried to assist everyone to the best of my ability.  When we hear the words "thank you," we feel validated and seen whatever you did isn't just another completed task. Instead, it's a service that was, appreciated. When asked about how they feel when they thank someone, an unknown person said," First of all, it means that I have noticed, felt and been nourished by something or someone. Then, when I give it back to the universe, my soul does cartwheels with happiness. It's the best feeling ever. It's like getting a compliment; all you need do is say "thank you"."  So lately, I h...

  I have never been a fan of sports; any form of exercise I have done has been purely out of necessity. A few days back, I read a blog on sports and lifestyle. The author made running seem as if it was something life-changing. Naturally, I thought I would try it out;  I woke up today and decided to run.  The first minute I was crushing it, and dare I say it was fun; unfortunately, I became too confident and stopped looking at the ground. Before I knew it, I had lost my footing and was on my way down to greet the earth with my face. I didn't spend time lying down assessing my situation; I stood up and dusted myself and debated should I continue or should I give up. I decided to keep going after that; I started running with my eyes wide open, carefully assessing the terrain I was running on. As I reflected on what had occurred, I noted that I saw the error in my ways. I saw my mistake; I didn't blame the stone; I made it a point to correct my mistake. That is the attitude w...

Latin is a beautiful language; granted, I can't pronounce it. It has these phrases that speak to me at a deeper level. Audere est Facere( to do is to dare) I think thats my favourite of the 10 I googled. This phrase speaks of how every decision you make in your life is a risk and, there is no one definite outcome.  You may go to school and still be unable to get a job afterwards. You start a business uncertain of the profits it will generate. But still, we see many people take a chance; it goes well at times; other times not so much. So you never know what God has in store for you; personally, no one I know has a magic mirror that shows the path to their future. Instead, all of us take actions hoping that we will succeed. We all leap in faith every morning as we wake up.  Nothing is certain in this world; don't sit on your hands. Instead, take that chance the Latin say Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit (from nothing comes nothing). The bible says in Proverbs 10: 4 - Lazy hands make a man po...

 Last Sunday; was my birthday; I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Most of the birthday messages sent to me had this little statement "you all grown up now". Naturally, I pondered over the phrase a bit more and questioned whether growing up could be defined just by the number of years I had walked this earth. I concluded that growing up wasn't just about my age it has to do with my state of mind.   Maya Angelou stated that "Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honour their credit cards, get married, have children and call that maturity. What that is, is ageing." After reading those words, I now went on to find out what defined maturity. From my research, I understood that maturity was a state of mind reflected in our attitudes and behaviours.  One's ability to learn from mistakes and the attitudes we carry after taking a loss were some of the things that reflect maturity. It's easy to forget that we don't just grow on th...

  In Ndebele we have these saying it reads “ umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” in a sense it means a person finds meaning in others. Growing up I heard those words a lot and it wasn’t until a few days back after watching Tarzan for the up tenth time and mulling over the fact that he thought he was a baboon for most of his life until he met Jane did I realize the depth and meaning of them. Tarzan was surrounded by baboons all he ever knew was baboons so in truth he became a baboon and hence aspired to be the pack leader cause that’s all he saw. I may not sound all that convincing but here this we all need each other. For one to say they would live as an island on their own is most difficult because as people we are social beings. We are meant to belong to a collective at all times; its how we know to exist. We belong to communities, counties and families. So for us to belong lets be mindful of how we act and behave with others, treat the next person as you would like to be treated. The ...