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