For my father…

My dad is one of the strangest people I will ever know. Strange in a good way though. I think that he is everything that a father is supposed to be to his baby girl. When other people see us together they always tell me: “Aaw your dad is so cute…he loves you so much!”

When I was in my teens I gave my dad a bit of a hard time, but as I have gotten older I have started to realise that he does really love my brother and I so much. Also, I have realised that all the things that he has tried to teach me actually do make sense and are trueJ.

He is a really sweet father and I am glad that I have him as my dad. I think the thing I love most about my dad is that he is a very positive person. He only looks for the best in people and he goes for his dreams. To see someone who can be so positive and ambitious in life is really refreshing. His positive attitude inspires me and I love that! He always makes me laugh by telling me the weirdest jokes that only he really understands, but they are really funny nevertheless. I love that my dad can make me laugh because we have lots of fun together!

 I love my dad very much and am very grateful that he is my father!

The last lecture…

This is my last year of study. It has been a long five memorable years. As it comes to its end I find myself quite saddened by this (believe it or not). My student life has been great…so great that I extended it by one year (if you catch my driftJ). I wish that I could actually extend my studies by another year ha ha, but I think my parents would kill me.

So the time for me has come to enter the real, scary world and start earning my own money. I will however never forget what I have learnt through my study years, all the experiences I have made and all the friends I made along the way.

I don’t know what the last lecture will be like, but I think I will be sad to know that I will no longer be attending lectures. Most of my classes are very fun and interesting…others not so much, but nevertheless they will all be missed. I will be sad when I leave, but I will be back hahahahahaha (evil laugh)!!!!

I will be back to get another degree and then I won’t be sad and I will make new experiences and meet new friends and learn new things about life and whatever else. So, I’m excited for that! Let the learning continue!

For my mother...

My mother…I don’t even know where to start. Is it even possible to love someone so much that you can’t even describe it? I guess so…because that is how I feel about my mother. My mother is the most beautiful person in the whole entire world to me. Everything that she does and everything that she stands for can’t be described in this life time. I know that many don’t understand her and many may even think that at times she is crazy, but none can say that they have never been touched by her love and amazing outlook in life. Many leave her conversation with their eyes and mouths wide open, because having a conversation with my mother is like stepping out of this evil world for a while and experiencing something real, like you have never experienced real before. Many times I sit and think…where does she get it from? Where does she come from? Who is she? To this day it still remains a mystery to me, but I am the proudest, luckiest daughter in the world to have her as my mother.

She is the only person in the whole world that knows just how to make my worst day seem like nothing ever went wrong. She is the only one who truly understands me, better than I even understand myself. She is the only one who brings real joy and peace into my life and can make me laugh and when I say laugh I don’t mean giggle, I mean screaming with laughter! She is the only one who makes all the things that I think are wrong in my life, disappear.  My mother is my best friend and I know that with her I am never alone. If ever I feel down or need to scream and shout I just phone my mother and speak to her and she does the same when she is feeling down or needs to scream and shout. It’s as if we are two small girls who can only speak to each other when something goes wrong. My mother is the epitome of strength and courage like I have never seen before.

My mother is a truly remarkable woman and without her, my life would have no meaning. She has taught me everything that I know and she has made me everything that I am. Her love to me is like soul food. I actually really cannot describe and express properly in this blog post who my mother is, what she is like and what she means to me, because honestly it’s just something I can’t describe. My mom describes our relationship like the movie ‘Spanglish’. Maybe if you watched the movie you will understand what I am trying to say. All I know is that I am my mother’s daughter!!!! J   

Watch this space.

I know what I want in life and I know what I want to be in life. How I will do it and how I will get there is something I am clueless about. That is however what makes it all so exciting…watch this space!

What is the difference between living and existing?

I have thought about this a lot lately. Many people exist in life and they go through each day simply existing. They may think that they are living, but they are really not. When you look around at the people in your life, how many of them can you really say are living???? It would be actually very interesting to go around and ask people if they feel that they are really living or simply existing.

It is interesting to see all the feeds on Facebook on what people feel and go through every day. Majority of it is pure bulls*@#! People don’t even realise how much bulls@#t they put on Facebook, it’s ridiculous, but so extremely funny at the same time.

To me, the difference between living and existing is quite large. Existing is when you go through every day, just being. You live in a safety net which you are so afraid to leave and you are so curious about how it would be to leave this safety net, but yet you can’t do it. You do what you “MUST” do and you say what you “MUST” say, because this is what you were taught and this is how you were brought up. You will never go against any of the values you were taught in life because you believe in it and opposing this is not up for debate. In fact, debating it is not even an option. The irony of the situation however is that the people who teach you your values and morals are the ones that mess you up the most…yes I am talking about parents!!!! Parents are the ones who mess up their children the most! (Not all parents, but too many.)

 Anyway, back to my point-doing what you are supposed to do, saying what you are supposed to say and living the way you are supposed to live- This is what it’s like to simply exist.

Living is what happens when you question everything in life, when you take risks, when you fail, when you can rise back up, when you do stupid things (not irresponsible), when you can be completely ridiculous, when you are real and when you are you and not afraid to be any of these things. Yes, it is extremely thrilling and worth every second of it!   

So, if anybody out there still exists, try to start living a little bit and don’t be afraid to do it!

My favourite cat in the hat book is ‘The cat in the hat???’

I have never read Cat in the Hat books in my entire life before...well at least that’s what I think. So I Googled the video ‘Cat in the Hat’ and watched it. I love animation stories and I love watching cartoons, but I’m not a fan of reading….maybe that is why I have never read this book before.

So why is ‘The Cat in the Hat’ my favourite book??? I have absolutely no idea. I watched the video and honestly it wasn’t all that interesting. I know I am supposed to be writing about why this is my favourite book, but I have nothing to say because it really did not fascinate me that much and unfortunately I can’t lie and say that I loved it. If it was ‘Dexter’s Lab’ or ‘Ed, Edd n Eddy’ then that would be a different story. Now those cartoons really get me going ha ha!

The ‘Cat in the Hat’ is cute, but too simple and boring I guess. I love simple, but I was sitting and watching this video thinking to myself ‘when is it getting to the exciting part?’, but that never happened. Well anyway, that was my ‘Cat in the Hat’ experience (no offence to any Cat in the Hat fans). For those of you, who do love this show or this book, please feel free to fill me in the exciting bits that I missed. J

                                        VS 

Scared to enter the real world

I really admire all our parents. They go to work religiously every day and never complain. They work hard and earn a living to provide for their families, which is so noble and admirable. Our parents worked around the age of 18 (just an estimate) and they have never stopped working ever since.

I am about to enter ‘THE WORKING WORLD’ and I’m almost terrified. The only reason I am terrified is because I will have to have a routine-Din din din! (scary sound). Routine freaks me out big time and this is why I say our parents can be admired – because they have had to follow a routine for a number of years and they never give up or complain. I salute them!

Obviously when I enter the working world I will have to have some kind of routine, but I will try my best to make it as non-routine as possible (who am I kidding?) –I’m terrified!!!!!! I may be terrified now, but I know that I will be okay. I always know that no matter what happens I will be okay.

High use of language.

I hate using big complex words. Apart from the fact that I don’t understand most of them, I find it highly unnecessary.  Maybe sometimes you can express yourself better by using a word which is of a high calibre, which is fine. However, sometimes I find people whose vocabulary consist only of a high calibre and I find it most annoying! Conversations with these people are tedious and boring. Some literature that I have to read is of extreme high calibre and I hate that too!  

The reason I hate it is because at the end of the day when you say or read a sentence there is only one point to the sentence. In the end it all means the same thing. So why do things need to be made complicated by using very big and hard-to-understand words? I don’t want to sit with a dictionary every time I read or speak to someone. I find high use of language to be somewhat artificial…maybe I’m crazy, but that’s just the way I feel.

Stress causes illness

The worst thing to do in life is to stress. All of us are guilty of stressing, because we are human and that’s okay as long as it is not taken to the extreme. It’s always a guarantee that at the end of whatever it is you were stressing about, you find out that there was no reason at all to stress.

I hate stressing. I can’t stand it. Life is way too short to stress. Some people stress all the time about things that don’t even matter and they cause a lot of tension and even heartache due to this unnecessary stress. People need to learn not to take things so seriously and to get over themselves! Haha!

Stress makes you ugly. You can see when someone is stressed –short term or long term. It affects your entire being, your aura, skin, the way your face looks…just EVERYTHING!!!!!!! Many terminal illnesses are caused by stress and people don’t realise this. If you are happy you have a higher chance of being healthier and living longer. So stop stressing and be happy!

Why I have conversations?

I love having conversations. Conversations are so important to have in life. What would life be without them? Time spent on having a conversation is like soul food – obviously if you have meaningful conversations.

I base majority of my conversations on ‘why?’ ‘Why’ conversations, for me, are the most interesting ones you could ever have. You learn so much about anything you want to learn. It’s as if you have information at finger tips. You however have to be cautious of what you hear, because the sources may not be very reliable.

I also have conversations where I share my knowledge with others in hope that I can help them. This is not necessarily academic or factual knowledge, but life experiences. I have lots of conversations where I share life experiences with friends or family.

Sometimes I have conversations to flirt too. These are quite fun! I do suck at them though haha! Then I also have conversations where I talk the biggest load of nonsense ever. The point of having these is to have no point, but I see them as important. These conversations help me to just forget about life for a moment and unwind and not take anything seriously. I love having these conversations.

I have conversations because they are fun, because you learn from them and because it’s interesting to hear other peoples’ views of the world. Communication is one of the most important aspects in life….never forget to communicate, especially with those close to you.

100 things to do before I die.

Here it goes:

1.       Travel the world

2.       Buy my own car

3.       Get another degree

4.       Have my own company

5.       Become an extreme adventurer as a career

6.       Become a boss

7.       Buy my own house

8.       Design my own house

9.       Build random things just for the sake of building

10.   Become a professional soccer player

11.   Become an engineer

12.   Become a geologist

13.   Maybe adopt a child (that’s still up for negotiation)

14.   Influence the world in some way for a good cause

15.   Create a law

16.   Become the president for a while

17.   Become a professional skateboarder

18.   Build my own skate park

19.   Become a music producer

20.   Buy a house for both my parents

21.   Never age

That’s all I’ve got for now and this is more than enough to keep me busy for a looonnnnggggg time. It’s all so exciting to be young because there are endless opportunities for you to explore. If you fail it’s okay, at least you have experienced whatever it is you wanted to and you learnt something from that experience. Failure is never a bad thing.

My big fat BIG dream…

I never really dream in my sleep….well I guess you always dream in your sleep, but I hardly ever remember my dreams. It is very rare that I do remember my dreams. I do however have many dreams for myself.

I have set many goals for myself which I would like to achieve for myself, but I am taking it one step at a time in achieving them. I sort of go through the motions of life and set my goals and dreams according to what I want in my life. This has changed many times, because as time passes I see things differently or I learn something new.

My big fat BIG dream? I don’t really know what that is right now at this stage of my life. I’m actually at a very awkward time of my life, where I feel like I’m floating in the middle of nowhere, just going through the motions, just doing the bare minimum. It really sucks, because I usually know what I want. I still do know what I want, I just can’t wait for this phase to pass.

I wish that this phase I am currently experiencing in my life was my big fat BIG dream, because that’s what it feels like. I wish I could wake up and realise that it is not my reality, but it is…

Conventional is a good fallback position isn’t it?

Hmmm this is something I will have to think about…conventional is tricky. It’s tricky because who created conventional? To me, conventional in human terms is conventional set by someone else or based on past events or experiences made. I don’t really like conventional to be honest. I do agree that in some cases it helps to be conventional as it may create some order or structure and in that case yes, it is a good fallback position. However, in most cases conventional is stupid.

People live their life based on what they believe is conventional. I see this happening around me everyday…even if they hate what they have to do and it makes them hopelessly unhappy, they do it because it’s ‘how things are supposed to be’.

To me, people who live a conventional life (no offence to anybody) don’t take time to question life or challenge ‘the norm’ and they don’t think further than what they should. In short, I believe that people who live a conventional life don’t live their life at all. I strongly believe that people shouldn’t live their life because that’s how they were told or taught to live their lives. You have a brain, a unique brain, a unique personality and your own character –use it and don’t be afraid to use it! Ask a lot of questions, create your own theories, don’t be afraid to fail, don’t be afraid if your opinion differs from most people’s and don’t be scared to pick yourself up if you have failed. Just never, never live a conventional life because you think you have to…nothing ever has to be a certain way!    

My sore teeth

I’m sitting here at this moment in time with terrible tooth ache...it’s so sore!!!! I feel like screaming! Everything is so sensitive and I feel like I can’t even move my mouth. I really hate the dentist though…maybe that is why I have sore teeth in the first place.

Whenever I went to the dentist as a child they would always end up hurting me and then when I got older I made the choice to just stop going to the dentist because they were way too violent and I always left crying. All my experiences at the dentist have been bad. One time I went to the dentist (I was in matric already) and my dad went with me because I was scared because they were going to extract my tooth. I was sitting in the chair, my dad was holding my hand and the dentist was busy doing his thing. Then, next minute he starts pulling and tugging at my tooth and I start fighting with him because he is hurting me and I start crying and my dad is scolding me on the other side – it was a disaster! That is just one of the many bad experiences I have had.

 I guess that a few minutes of being ‘dentist-bullied’ is not as bad as the toothache experience? Maybe I should start going to the dentist again because I’m starting to realise that these are the only teeth I have left in my mouth and I don’t want to end up with false teeth….:/

Losing my smile

The thing I fear most in life is to lose my smile - It’s the most terrifying feeling ever! The moment I start to sense that this is happening I start to panic. Over the past two years I have seen myself get a little bit more serious about life and I’m starting to worry. It’s almost as if a part of my soul is slowly dying. I feel that if my mother were here I would never be afraid and I wouldn’t feel this way at all because she makes my soul smile all the time.

Now that she is not here it feels as though I’m surrounded by people who take life too seriously and as though I’m the only one laughing at life. I hate it, because I don’t constantly want to be the only one laughing. I think the fact that I’m constantly aware of this helps, because when I feel like my fire is taken out of me I just take myself out of the situation and spend some alone time. It’s not easy though.

My mother has told me that we are the only ones who create our own happiness and that we shouldn’t rely on others to make us happy. I agree with her, but I feel that without her here, a big part of my happiness fades. Does this mean that I am relying on her for my happiness? She is an angel though. I feel that wherever she is present there is light and joy. It’s hard to not be surrounded by that all the time. I fear that I am losing my smile and it makes me so unhappy and scared. I don’t know what I would do if this had to happen…

You cannot chase two rabbits at the same time.

Well technically you can chase two rabbits at the same time, but it won’t be easy. If you visualise this image in your mind it is quite funny. Chasing two rabbits at once only means two things to me. One meaning I interpret as chasing two people at the same time (in love) and that is always an epic fail as someone always gets hurt in the end. My second interpretation is that you are trying to do too many things at once, which could also be an epic fail because you can’t do too many things at once and you can’t satisfy everyone at once. So yes, maybe chasing two rabbits at once is not a very good idea…

“Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you only have one idea.” (Alain)

Having one idea is never a good idea ha ha! It is always best to have a backup plan. If your one idea doesn’t work out, firstly you’d be screwed and secondly you would be really disappointed. I don’t think you’d be disappointed because your idea failed or didn’t work out, but you’ll be more disappointed because you didn’t have a backup plan.

There was no room for error and therefore you are really the only one disappointing yourself. In life you need to make error, in life we need to fail. If we don’t fail, we can’t grow and we can’t learn and we won’t ever need backup plans. Avoid disappointing yourself and have a backup plan, because life does not follow plans – it is not rigid. So relax and be flexible, don’t live by the book and don’t take things too seriously. In fact hardly ever take things seriously J

Have you figured out the second head fake?

I don’t really get what this means (how often do I start my blogs like this) but from what I have researched, it seems that it is about achieving your dreams and living your life with good values. By doing this, the rest will follow. Karma will play its role if you play yours by being a good person. This is a speech given by life coach Randy Pausch. 

I guess that if you have figured out the first head fake you wouldn’t have to worry about the second head fake? Randy then says in the speech that the speech was not for his students but for his three children. Now I’m really confused…I’m not too good with understanding quotes (I think), I want to know exactly what it is you are actually saying. Anyway, Randy obviously had valuable lessons to teach and that’s beautiful.

How hard is it to follow instructions?

I bet you that most people would say that following instructions is not hard at all. However, my opinion seems to differ very much! There have been many times when instructions are written down in black and white, people read it and they still don’t know what to do or what the instructions are actually telling them to do.

I see this so often in daily activities, for example, at university the lecturers give clear instructions on what the students should do and in some mysterious way the students still achieve the exact opposite of what has actually been asked of them. I think all of us have been guilty of this once or twice in our lives, some of us all the time haha!

I know I have a very short attention span and don’t listen properly, but I think the bigger problem here is that people cannot apply themselves. Many people can receive and understand instructions, but cannot actually apply their minds. I wish the world could apply themselves more and be less formal and theoretical. I wish people would stop living by the book. People always complicate things for themselves. Hopefully one day we will get it.

Andy Warhol said, “In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” You can’t choose the 15 minutes but why would you be world famous?

This is what the internet has done. It’s made the world even smaller than what we think it is. With all the social platforms available you can post a blog, status, video, note- whatever you want! Within a few minutes, even seconds, you can be well-known for whatever it is you or even someone else has posted on the net. It’s amazing!

Internet has made our world so small and has given us all endless opportunities. People are no longer famous for exquisite talent, but they become famous for exquisite reasons and it’s simpler than it has ever been before. It’s actually quite scary at the same time. We now have access to celebs, actually to anyone, like we have never had before.

If I had to be world famous for 15 minutes I would want to be famous for simply being me. Or I would want to be famous for eliminating a problem in the world for good. These are the only two reasons I would want to be world famous.

A skill set called leadership

Leadership is definitely a skill. There are very few people in the world today who have leadership qualities and are in leadership positions. You find many true leaders in non-leader positions and many non-leaders in leadership positions. Yes, there are many generic managers, but no true leaders.

The problem here is that people in leadership positions have power. They make decisions which influence many of us and these decisions are often bad. We have so many bad leaders and it’s one of the reasons the world is so corrupt. In fact, it’s beyond corrupt.

To acquire the skill of being a true leader is not easy. It’s almost like an inborn quality people either have or they don’t. Many people try to be leaders, but fail terribly at this. Many people are also afraid of being leaders, but have great leadership qualities. We need real leaders and less people in authority!

“Rock journalism is people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.” (Frank Zappa)

I have absolutely no idea what this means. My friend showed me what this means, but I’m going to be honest – I don’t want to understand what this meansJ. So what now? Ok let’s get a-googling…zzzzzzz

I have done some research and according to Kelly Fisher, who wrote the book, ‘The words and music of Frank Zappa,’ Frank Zappa (who was a musician) did not like journalists. He did not like journalists based on the following three reasons: 1. Journalists don’t know anything about what you do 2. Journalists don’t know anything about music in general 3. Before a journalist asks you a question, they have already decided what the answer to the question should be.

Based on these three reasons, Frank Zappa made this quote. However, at the same time he understood that he needed journalists in order for his music to be heard. He did not want to explain what his songs, texts or quotes meant because he wanted people to interpret it for themselves. Journalists on the other hand interpret things for people.   

Top 200 achievements

I have achieved many things in my life. These are my own personal achievements and goals that I have set for myself in my life one or another time. When I did achieve these goals I was so happy and proud of myself! I will only be listing a few of my achievements:

1.       I finished primary school

2.       I was a star in my hockey team in primary school! Ha ha!

3.       I played almost every sport in school

4.       I made it to high school

5.       I played hockey for Western Province

6.       I sang in a school competition and came second

7.       I got a merit award for good work (I think that’s what it was for.)

8.       I was the first girl to play mini-cricket in my school

9.       I was a learner assistant in matric

10.   I finished high school

11.   I made it into university for a course I wanted to study

12.   I got a sound system in my car (something I’ve wanted since I was a child)

13.   I received my national diploma in public relations management

14.   I went on the cobra, monkey falls and diamond devil only this year! Ha ha!

15.   Every casual job I have wanted to do I have done.

16.   I received ‘karateka of the year’ award at my school

17.   I made it to green belt in karate

18.   I can skateboard and go up and down ramps and stuff! Ha ha!

19.   I can change sparkplugs of a car all by myself

20.   I managed to stand on a surfboard

These are a few of my personal achievements. I have still got lots more goals to achieve which I am currently pursuing. It’s like a game I’m playing and each thing achieved is another level passed! Each goal is the next level! It’s so exciting! Bwahahahahaha!!!!

What motivates me?

“Life motivates me. My friends motivate me. My family motivates me. I have so much to live for. Life is so awesome when you have goals, thus the people around me motivate me to go for it!” This is what my friend, Bilqees Hendricks wrote for me in this post. Sweet girl isn’t she?

Well, those are the things that motivate me, but I think what really motivates me is that I want to be the best I can be. Also, everything I have in life, the life my parents have given to me – that motivates me because I know how lucky I am and I am extremely grateful for this. I think that my parents are my greatest motivators. They are such great role models to me. The fact that I would like to be the best I can be for myself and the others around me motivates me.

It’s easy to be motivated if you just look at the finer things in life. Think about this every time you feel unenthusiastic about life. Look at your life and look at other people’s lives around you and realise how lucky you are and be grateful for everything you have.

10 Most unexpected consequences of being online

Here is MY list of unexpected consequences of being online (in no particular order):

1.       You find your face on an advertisement that you gave absolutely no consent for.

2.       Someone hacks into one of your online accounts and makes one of your personal documents a public one.

3.       You become famous.

4.        Your email address gets entered into a competition through an automatic database and you win a massive prize.

5.       People know where you are and can track your every move.

6.       People make a documentary of your life using pictures, blogs, tweets and statuses from the social platforms you use.

7.       People make a music video or song of you and post it up on YouTube.

8.       Someone creates a website on you about how much they love or hate you.

9.       People use your online published work (videos, documents, songs etc.) and make a profit from it.

10.   You get your butt kicked because of something you posted up on Facebook or Twitter.

                                                            

The elephant in the room

What is this all about? I really don’t understand it. Let’s give it a try. I have a room. In this room I have a cupboard, a computer, a desk…I have many things in my room. One day I come home and go straight to my room only to discover an elephant chilling in my room. I am very confused by this!?!?

I run downstairs and ask my mother why there is an elephant in my room and she has no clue what I’m talking about. She is quite nonchalant about the fact that there is an elephant in my room. I talk to her about it for a few minutes and she thinks I am crazy and that I am seeing things. Eventually I give up and decide to go back to my room, hoping that I am indeed just seeing things. I open my door and the elephant is still there!

Of course, I cannot move in my room because the elephant is taking up most of the space. So I start talking to the elephant and guess what???? It’s a talking elephant!!!!!!! Now I’m even more confused! I asked the elephant why it is in my room and it said that it was lost and was trying to find his family. So, I decided that I was going to help this lost elephant find its family because nobody should be without their family.

I took the elephant downstairs and off we went to go and find his family. Did anybody notice? No. What’s the point of this story? I have no idea.

Built for business

You get many kinds of people in this world, but have you ever noticed how some people are just ‘built’ for business? Well, obviously they are not physically built or designed for business, but their entire being is as if their purpose in life is to strictly engage in business 24/7 -to live, breathe, eat, sleep business.

I know a few people like this. It’s as though they approach everything in life as they would a business deal. Their lifestyles are designed and built for business. They are usually not married, but maybe were before. If they are single, they may have a partner and they don’t usually have kids. If they do have kids it’s from a previous marriage. These people are usually quite well-off and are big achievers. They put hard and long hours into their work no matter what profession they may hold.

This, to me, is quite admirable, especially since this is what the world is moving towards. However, at the same time it’s also not that admirable. It’s as though their lives are unbalanced. They are overworked, have achieved many things for themselves, but perhaps there may be a possible void somewhere in their lives? This may not be entirely true, but I have observed this before. It’s quite interesting.

Every day is a good day

Many people don’t believe that this is true. Believe it or not this statement is true majority of the time. What many of us don’t realise is that we all have choices. These choices allow us to do and become whatever we want to become. The trick is a simple mind-switch. I feel that many people choose a hard life for themselves based on their attitude and the complexity of their attitude as well as the choices they make. Don’t complicate things for yourself and don’t complicate your life because life is really simple…if you make it simple.

Get over all the bulls@#t and live your life. Live your life to make yourself happy , love yourself first and your love and happiness for others will automatically flow with little effort. Stop trying so hard – just be yourself and you will be happy. Don’t allow anyone to ever put you down. Simply make the choice to have a good day and your day will be good.

Asia

Over the June holidays my dad took our family on a holiday to Asia. We visited Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. In Thailand we visited Bangkok and Phuket. In Singapore we were in Sinapore lol and in Malaysia we went to Kuala Lumpur. We went for 15 days, which is roughly two weeks.

When we left Cape Town it was freezing cold and when we got to Bangkok I just felt a massive wave of heat coming over my body. I almost couldn’t breathe!!!!!! It was extremely hot! We eventually got into the city and it was craaazzzzyyyyyy!!!! Nothing like I had ever experienced before, there are cars, scooters, people, markets and dogs everywhere! The cars the people drive there are just Honda and Toyota and they drive some of the smartest, new Honda’s and Toyota’s we have here in South Africa as taxis. The roads are unorganised and everybody just drives where they can get a spot (scooter, car and tuk tuk), they do however have lanes on the main roads. Everywhere you look you see markets. People are selling all sorts of things such as food, clothes, gadgets, mobile phones and various items.  The food, in my opinion, looks really disgusting, especially the meat! I don’t think it’s really the way it looks; I think it’s more the fact that the food just chills out in the open humidity the whole day uncovered, no ice or anything to keep it fresh. The people hardly sleep at one o’clock in the morning people are still selling stuff on the markets, the town is still very busy, teens are still going to internet café’s to play games and so on-it’s amazing!

Everything was really amazing and I definitely want to go again!

Just be there

Whenever people are upset and down I always feel the need to pick them up and make them smile. It’s not that I think it’s my duty or anything, I just really hate seeing people look sad. So, if a friend is going through something I will always be there for them and try and pick them up from the low that they find themselves in.

However, I was shown and taught something else-another way of dealing with the situation of seeing a friend who is sad or down. This way is to simply just be there. Just to be around the person and hang out with them. You don’t need to say anything or try to take them out of their misery, you simply have to be present in their company. This was a very different and new experience for me. It was also not that easy, because it was something other than what I was used to. Also, it made feel so helpless. This is how it felt, but to the other person this is not how it was.

I was amazed at this because to simply be present in another’s company is so effortless. Most of the time friends and people in general usually want something from one another and majority of the time that is what their relationships are based on. So, if you don’t get something from the next person, the relationship is not regarded as high. To do something as humble as simply being present in another’s company and this being the factor that cheers them up and makes them feel much better is something new and beautiful for me.

Cars have eyes

I have always looked at cars in a strange way…or at least that’s what I thought. If you look at the headlights of various brands of cars, you notice that each make or model has different shaped headlights. This always amazed me because the headlights kind of gave the car a ‘personality’. Some cars have big round headlights, some have small round headlights, some square, and some rectangular-there are many shapes. If you look closely though, you will notice that the headlights look like the eyes of the car. This is what gives the car character. Some cars look angry, some look sad, some look happy and some even look sexy.

I thought I was always the only one to notice this (well not the only, only one), then one day when I was standing outside of tech, I saw a car drive past and the headlights of the car had eyelashes!!!! I thought to myself: Wowwwwweeeeee!!!!! I knew it! This just confirmed that other people too see the headlights of cars as eyes. I was very happy and amazed.

Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses.

This reminds me of the movie called the social network. Well…not really. Anyway, so for those of you who have watched it Mark Zuckerberg is far too intelligent for his own good. He is one of those individuals who have a really smart mouth, but are allowed to have a really smart mouth. His strength is that he is an IT guru and he created the social network called Facebook. As many of you know Facebook is huge all over the globe.

Facebook generates an immense amount of profit for young Mark Zuckerburg and he is today known as one of the youngest billionaires in the world- this is his strength. He is a billionaire and he is extremely smart, however at the same time everything that went into creating Facebook was his destruct. He ruined friendships, got many people mad at him and many people suing him for various reasons. In other words he built this wonderful social network which connects people all over the world and is very popular for it, but at the same time he is very unpopular for it too. This is when his greatest strength was his greatest weakness too.     

Try a cliché

The problem with these topics is that I am too literal for them. Or am I just not flexible enough? No but really…try a cliché? Okay here it goes…so my friend is a really sluggish person that always gets away with murder. He does bad things to anybody who crosses his path and simply thinks nothing of it. At least once a day he does something bad to somebody and nothing bad ever happens to him. This is the story of his life. He goes on each day doing these terrible things and gets away with it.

However, there will be a day when someone won’t be so kind to him and he will get what is coming his way. That will be the day which may change his life forever. Or will it? Surprisingly enough, there are people who live their lives like this and even though they get what is coming their way, they still never change. What does one call this? I think it’s crazy. I always wonder when and if mean people actually get what they deserve and how it makes them feel. Is it a life changing experience or does it just not have any effect on them?

If anyone out there has experienced this before, please let me know if you got what you deserved or not. I would really love to know. I mean this in the most genuine way. So where is the cliché in this? Here it is…every dog has his day-overused and unoriginal.

Feelings follow behaviour

If this statement were true many of us would be in a lot of trouble a lot of the time. In most cases, feelings can follow behaviour only if they are rational, well-thought out feelings. However, feelings hardly ever really follow behaviour. Wait…what does this actually mean? I’m thinking that the feelings that overcome you is how you will behave? Is this right? Now I’m confused. I’m really tired right now and so not in touch with tech work…trying to get back into the groove of things.

Well anyway, how many times haven’t you wanted to smack someone or how many times haven’t you just wanted to do something outrageous? I’m sure these feelings have overcome us many times. Point is that if we were to act on our thoughts we would be likely to face some consequences…some good and some bad.  

Therefore, feelings don’t always follow behaviour. Some people never get a chance to express what they are really feeling. This can be bad and good (in some cases). Bad in the sense that many people end up suppressing their feelings and good in the sense that some peoples thought need to be suppressed. Whatever you are thinking though….it’s always a good idea to think about how you will deliver your thought to the next person to make sure that it is expressed properly. I sometimes (well most times) forget to do this and my feelings often follow my behaviour…oopsJ

Why does it have to be mint?

I’m actually a bit reluctant to write this blog post because this topic could get quite gross, but I’m not going to make it gross.

I was sitting with my friend and I asked her if I could have one of her mints. Her answer was of course, yes. As I reached over to get a mint, this crazy thought crossed my mind (this happens often). I asked her, “Who decided that a mouth should smell like mint? Why can’t it be pomegranate or something?” She burst out in laughter!

Wait…another epiphany came into my mind – There are various flavours of chewing gum! Well, now I've just spoilt my own fun and ruined the purpose of this blog. (Long silent pause)

No wait! Regardless of this, the standard ‘mouth smell’ still remains mint. So what is the deal with that? I get that a mouth can’t or shouldn’t smell like egg, garlic, onion or cheese, because that wouldn’t smell too good, but why mint?

There are other nice smelling things too, such as lavender, cinnamon, strawberries or even daffodils. So why can’t it be one of these? Why can’t one of these smells be the standard mouth smell? Just something I’m curious about…  

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot.

There is a girls’ soccer team. There is a soccer team consisting of girls (I have no idea how to start this story). So anyway, these girls have practices and matches on a regular basis; they work well together and have a lot of fun as a team.

The problem is that one ‘bad apple’ in the team could potentially spoil the team spirit. So what do you do? You remove the ‘bad apple’ from the team…well not in this case.

This bad apple passes negative judgements on other team players and always has something to say about them. The team players never say anything in return because they choose to focus on improving their personal skill and ability on the field, instead of judging others. The irony in this situation is that is that the ‘bad apple’ is not that much of a great player at all.

Over time, the players who get constant negative criticism from the bad apple improve their soccer skills and abilities and perform better on the field. The ‘bad apple’ however, remains stagnant in her performance and continues to look for things she can criticise on about other players.    

What‘s the moral of the story here? The ‘bad apple’ should rather focus on her performance, than constantly criticise others. This same principle applies to everything you do in life.

Wedding cake in-the-middle-of-the road.

A wedding cake in the middle of the road cannot be a good sign! There are many rituals involved in a wedding, such as the bride and groom not seeing each other before the wedding as it is believed this will bring bad luck and so on. So, a wedding cake in-the-middle-of-the road is really something else! Does it resemble something negative for the bride and groom? Will it bring bad luck to the bride and groom’s future?

Firstly, if there were a wedding cake in the middle of the road it will surely be driven over and trashed to pieces. If I saw a wedding cake in the middle of the road I would run to it and start munching away at it (unless it’s a fruit cake). This of course depends on the state of the cake. I can’t imagine that after being in the road it will be too hygienic either.

The cake could also be a trap in the middle of the road for people like me who would run to it and start eating it. Something weird could pop out of it, it could explode or it could be poisoned and kill me! Someone could even be out to get me and as soon as I approached that cake in the middle of the road, they come zooming with their car and knock me over!

Who knows the possibilities of a random cake in the middle of the road? Never underestimate the agenda’s behind a beautiful wedding cake chilling in the middle of the road. If it’s trashed then that will be unfortunate for the bride and groom of the wedding. If it’s in perfect condition then beware of the consequences!

Selflessness.

Did I learn a thing or two about selflessness! I guess you never really know until you really know! Selflessness is a hard thing to grasp, especially the extent to which you are selfless. You think you’re living a good life everyday – you do good for others, treat them well and put their needs before yours most of the time. Then you learn about being selfless on a whole new level and that’s totally different to your everyday normal good deeds. How many of you can actually say you are a truly selfless person, especially when it comes to relationships?

We do things for others without expecting anything in return, but yet you also want to be treated well sometimes and you want someone to make you feel good too. To be loved is a human need is it not?

So how does this work? Do you sacrifice yourself for others all the time without wanting anything in return and don’t consider your feelings? Or do you sacrifice yourself, but consider your needs as well? I mean we all have needs don’t we? What if you never get anything in return? Or is it wrong to want something in the first place?

To what extent are you selfless? What if you become so unhappy due to your selflessness? Does selflessness have boundaries? I don’t think it does. I think it’s such a beautiful trait to have. Maybe we are scared of being completely selfless because we too have needs, which we fear will not be met.

I’m so unsure of the extent to which one can be selfless without harming yourself. Or am I just bad at balancing this act of selflessness if it can be balanced at all? Can being selfless even hurt you? This is something so interesting to think about. Maybe this is lacking in our everyday lives. It takes an emotionally intelligent person to master the act of selflessness. Do you have what it takes?   

Touched by an angel...

Her smile brightens my heart. Picturing her beautiful, pure face in my mind warms me up inside and brings peace over my soul.

So sweet she was in a way that can’t be explained. She was definitely one in a million. Trying to understand her ways was not as valuable as loving and cherishing her just as she was .The precious being she was.

Now we sit and feel her presence and reminisce about the wonderful person she was and it’s truly comforting beyond words.

In nature lies all beauty, beauty more significant than any other beauty you will experience in the world. In nature she lies and being in nature makes you feel closer to her, because she is the beauty which nature presents.

Another jewel in the beyond…waiting for us to enter. Until we meet again…You will forever be remembered, you will forever be treasured, you will forever be missed and you will be loved beyond eternity.

It is a poor idea to lie to yourself.

Now this is definitely something I live by! It’s so important to be true to yourself, but yet so many people cannot do this. This causes real unhappiness.

My mother always taught me that I should be honest with myself no matter what (sometimes to her detriment). It’s however not always easy to be true to yourself, because sometimes the truth hurts.  To analyse oneself is always a good thing to do every now and then. I do it often and I try my best to be aware of how I am and how I treat others. When I feel that I am slipping or haven’t been too good, I have to be honest with myself and stop myself in my tracks.

Even though being honest with yourself is not always easy to do, it’s the best thing you can do for yourself as an individual. You never have to be anxious or be in distress about who you are and that’s how you find your true happiness as an individual. It’s the best feeling you could ever have! If you lie to yourself you will find that you will be in constant turmoil with yourself, which will make you really unhappy.

Being honest with yourself means you will be comfortable. You will be comfortable being you, just the way you are. Life becomes very easy for you once you can master this skill.

Never lie to yourself. You could fool everybody else around you, except yourself. Be you to and for you.