And there will be…
The best of the best step out onto the field, clad in their armour and uniforms, some carrying their weapons of choice. Staring their enemy in the eyes they know that this battle for supremacy could be won by either side.
The crowds cheer with excitement as they wait for the onslaught. Let the games begin…
Sport is our modern way of safely waging war. I firmly believe that sport has somewhat curbed man’s enthusiasm and thirst for blood.
Millions of rands (or dollars, euro’s, pounds, etc) are spent on all types of sporting events and the top players are paid vast amounts of money to play for their teams and their countries. Their only responsibility is to play well and to bring victory to their teams.
As a sports fan, I know what it feels like to get caught in the excitement of a game. I will yell and scream at my team, cheering them on. Praising them when they succeed and wanting to cry when they don’t.
It’s the thrilling nail-biting moments that can make it all worth while. Millions (if not billions) of people all around the world feel the same way.
Sport can bring strangers together in celebration or despair. It is no doubt a powerful and driving force. The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa alone proved how sport can bring an entire nation together.
If we did not have sport, where would all this powerful energy go? The same place it was before sport became such a huge phenomenon… WAR!
Human beings have a naturally strong competitive energy, to be the best and to dominate over others. In the past the more countries and people a leader and his or her nation could dominate over, the more powerful they were.
Sport has in its own way saved lives, and countries, and it will continue to do so for years to come. If you don’t happen to be a fan of sports but have a partner who is, don’t get frustrated or upset with your partner (unless for a very valid reason) and keep in mind that by allowing him or her to watch sport and yell and scream at the television you are helping to make the world a better and safer place for generations to come.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Nike Philosophy
Sometimes the “How to…” guide for life can be as simple as “just do it”.
I have been very lucky in my life to be able to draw to myself some truly wonderful friends. They are there for me when I need them to be and they are straight with me even when I don’t want them to be.
They have helped me to learn important life lessons. I am going to share with you a valuable lesson I learned in my very early twenties that helped in the forging of these friendships.
“Just do it. Use it or lose it.”
This isn’t just a key to creating strong relationships, it can be used in many areas of life but I’m going to use my fledgling friendships as an example.
When I was about twenty I started to meet people who wanted to be my friends. I was a waitress at the time trying to pay for my own studies. This meant that I had little to no cash flow and a new group of people who wanted me to go out with them a lot so that we could get to know each other better.
I turned down a lot of invitations because I was worried about money, even though I wanted to go out. Then somebody pointed something out to me.
I may have wanted these relationships in my life but if I kept saying “no” then my friends would eventually stop inviting me out. Nobody wants to put time and energy into something if they are only going to be rejected time and again.
I realised that I could lose the opportunity of gaining something truly amazing because I was afraid to say “yes” to it. I could use all the excuses I wanted, including finances but it would not get me anywhere.
This is so true for all areas of our lives. We can see something we want and think ‘yes I want that’ but then we think of all the reasons why we cannot have it. We use these reasons to hold ourselves back. The trick is to find the real reason as to why we are not going for what we want.
Take a moment and think about something you would like to have in your life right now. Write down on a piece of paper what it is exactly that you want. Then underneath it write down all the reasons why you feel you don’t have it. Do you perhaps want a relationship but don’t feel that you are good looking enough or intelligent enough? Write down all of your reasons, everything that comes to mind.
When you are finished, have a look at all of your reasons. At the top of the list write the word “excuses” and read through the list again. Now that you see them as excuses, they seem to take on a different light. A lot of the reasons to do things (or not to do them) in our lives are really just excuses that prevent us from getting to where we truly want to be. What we need to find is the real reason why we are doing the things we are and self-sabotaging our dreams and desires.
Let’s have a look at an example of something with a large monetary value.
For example, if I wanted to buy a house, which can appear to be a very daunting accomplishment simply because of its financial value. My list of excuses could possibly look like this:
• I don’t earn enough money every month to pay a mortgage
• I haven’t saved up enough to pay a deposit
• I have a bad credit listing
• Living by myself in the city could be dangerous
• The current market isn’t conducive to buying property
These are just a few from a possibly long list of excuses to not do something. I would now have to sit back and be honest with myself and uncover the real reason as to why I might not buy myself a home.
The first question I need to ask myself is, “have I tried?” because if I’m not trying then why am I even bothering at having this as a goal. I need to start doing something today to help me reach my goal and clear away my excuses.
• Have I looked to see if I can work harder or find another, better paying job?
• Have I opened a savings account to put money into every month to pay towards my home?
• Am I paying off my debts and clearing my credit listing?
• Am I looking at properties in areas that are safe?
• Property values might be falling still but have I been looking for bargains?
The problem with excuses is that there is always an answer that can turn it around so you cannot rely on these to not achieve your goal. If I really looked at my reasons for not having achieved this goal then I will also find the reason as to why I might be self-sabotaging my opportunity at success.
I now need to ask myself what having this in my life will mean to me. Once I’ve thought of this then another picture will emerge. Owning a house, for example, doesn’t always represent a house, it represents a home. What will my own home mean to me? Once I understand what it is I truly want then I can understand why I don’t have it in my life.
With wanting to achieve something in our lives also comes the fear of not achieving it. It does not matter how bad any of us want to bring something in our lives we won’t achieve it unless we work at bringing it into our lives despite our fears.
We all have different reasons and different fears and the key is to find out what they are. Do not let trying to discover your fears prevent you from working towards your goals in the mean time. Just do it. ‘It’ can be anything, it can be something big or small and seemingly insignificant but if it’s in line with your end goal and you are able to do it, then do it.
“Use it or lose it”. This is so true in achieving our dreams. How often do we hear about lost and forgotten dreams? If you want something in your life you have to use your resources to bring it into reality or you will lose your dream. It will forever be just that, a dream never bought into existence.
Every day is a day that you can just do one small thing and use the resources you have at your disposal to achieve your goals or you will lose it.
“Just do it. Use it or lose it”.
Don’t over think things. Actions are necessary in order to achieve goals. Thinking too much about things and situations can almost create a mental paralysis that prevents us from moving forward.
When it came to making new friends all those years ago, I learned to say “yes”. I put my excuses aside and found a way to make things work. I discovered my fear of change and my fear of rejection and I went ahead despite them and now I have the most amazing friends I could have ever wished for.
I have been very lucky in my life to be able to draw to myself some truly wonderful friends. They are there for me when I need them to be and they are straight with me even when I don’t want them to be.
They have helped me to learn important life lessons. I am going to share with you a valuable lesson I learned in my very early twenties that helped in the forging of these friendships.
“Just do it. Use it or lose it.”
This isn’t just a key to creating strong relationships, it can be used in many areas of life but I’m going to use my fledgling friendships as an example.
When I was about twenty I started to meet people who wanted to be my friends. I was a waitress at the time trying to pay for my own studies. This meant that I had little to no cash flow and a new group of people who wanted me to go out with them a lot so that we could get to know each other better.
I turned down a lot of invitations because I was worried about money, even though I wanted to go out. Then somebody pointed something out to me.
I may have wanted these relationships in my life but if I kept saying “no” then my friends would eventually stop inviting me out. Nobody wants to put time and energy into something if they are only going to be rejected time and again.
I realised that I could lose the opportunity of gaining something truly amazing because I was afraid to say “yes” to it. I could use all the excuses I wanted, including finances but it would not get me anywhere.
This is so true for all areas of our lives. We can see something we want and think ‘yes I want that’ but then we think of all the reasons why we cannot have it. We use these reasons to hold ourselves back. The trick is to find the real reason as to why we are not going for what we want.
Take a moment and think about something you would like to have in your life right now. Write down on a piece of paper what it is exactly that you want. Then underneath it write down all the reasons why you feel you don’t have it. Do you perhaps want a relationship but don’t feel that you are good looking enough or intelligent enough? Write down all of your reasons, everything that comes to mind.
When you are finished, have a look at all of your reasons. At the top of the list write the word “excuses” and read through the list again. Now that you see them as excuses, they seem to take on a different light. A lot of the reasons to do things (or not to do them) in our lives are really just excuses that prevent us from getting to where we truly want to be. What we need to find is the real reason why we are doing the things we are and self-sabotaging our dreams and desires.
Let’s have a look at an example of something with a large monetary value.
For example, if I wanted to buy a house, which can appear to be a very daunting accomplishment simply because of its financial value. My list of excuses could possibly look like this:
• I don’t earn enough money every month to pay a mortgage
• I haven’t saved up enough to pay a deposit
• I have a bad credit listing
• Living by myself in the city could be dangerous
• The current market isn’t conducive to buying property
These are just a few from a possibly long list of excuses to not do something. I would now have to sit back and be honest with myself and uncover the real reason as to why I might not buy myself a home.
The first question I need to ask myself is, “have I tried?” because if I’m not trying then why am I even bothering at having this as a goal. I need to start doing something today to help me reach my goal and clear away my excuses.
• Have I looked to see if I can work harder or find another, better paying job?
• Have I opened a savings account to put money into every month to pay towards my home?
• Am I paying off my debts and clearing my credit listing?
• Am I looking at properties in areas that are safe?
• Property values might be falling still but have I been looking for bargains?
The problem with excuses is that there is always an answer that can turn it around so you cannot rely on these to not achieve your goal. If I really looked at my reasons for not having achieved this goal then I will also find the reason as to why I might be self-sabotaging my opportunity at success.
I now need to ask myself what having this in my life will mean to me. Once I’ve thought of this then another picture will emerge. Owning a house, for example, doesn’t always represent a house, it represents a home. What will my own home mean to me? Once I understand what it is I truly want then I can understand why I don’t have it in my life.
With wanting to achieve something in our lives also comes the fear of not achieving it. It does not matter how bad any of us want to bring something in our lives we won’t achieve it unless we work at bringing it into our lives despite our fears.
We all have different reasons and different fears and the key is to find out what they are. Do not let trying to discover your fears prevent you from working towards your goals in the mean time. Just do it. ‘It’ can be anything, it can be something big or small and seemingly insignificant but if it’s in line with your end goal and you are able to do it, then do it.
“Use it or lose it”. This is so true in achieving our dreams. How often do we hear about lost and forgotten dreams? If you want something in your life you have to use your resources to bring it into reality or you will lose your dream. It will forever be just that, a dream never bought into existence.
Every day is a day that you can just do one small thing and use the resources you have at your disposal to achieve your goals or you will lose it.
“Just do it. Use it or lose it”.
Don’t over think things. Actions are necessary in order to achieve goals. Thinking too much about things and situations can almost create a mental paralysis that prevents us from moving forward.
When it came to making new friends all those years ago, I learned to say “yes”. I put my excuses aside and found a way to make things work. I discovered my fear of change and my fear of rejection and I went ahead despite them and now I have the most amazing friends I could have ever wished for.
Friday, 4 November 2011
The H-art of Giving
Charitable deeds are just as controversial as politics. Everyone has their beliefs as to how, when, where and why to help others, animals and the environment or whether or not to be charitable at all.
I was bought up in a very religious family and as a child I helped at soup kitchens and an orphanage. My parents helped others even though at times they didn’t have that much to share. This ideal of helping has been instilled in me since a young age.
This has probably been one of the reasons why when life seems tough and I feel as if I’ve veered off of the beaten track, I always find gratitude in knowing that there are those out their who are less fortunate than me. No matter how bad things may seem I still have a lot in my life that I can be grateful for.
So why is helping others such a controversial subject?
We all see the beggars on the side of the road with their infamous cardboard signs. The signs tell us what these people don’t have and their life’s woes. I see these beggars as an example of the conundrum of giving.
Naturally we are suspicious of these people. We never know whether or not their signs are actually truthful or whether or not they are taking steps to better their lives.
The majority of vehicles that pass by ignore people who are clearly asking for help. After all for all we know they are drug addicts trying to guilt us out of our hard earned cash because they are too lazy to find a job. Then there are a few who give these people the benefit of the doubt and donate just a few of their rands.
We also have organisations that we can donate time, money and gifts to. There are good people and good organisations out there that need and deserve our help. Many of us do help where we can but unfortunately a small handful of these organisations are corrupt. It is these few corrupt individuals and organisations that also stop people who are willing and able to help from actually helping.
A good friend of mine is currently dealing with such an organisation and the individual who runs it, in the process of adopting her child. It has been an extremely long and hard road and even top officials have become involved. It is a heart rendering story with many tears shed. I won’t tell you the story, firstly it’s not my place to and secondly there is a book being written.
What has come out of her story so far is something that I want to share with you. My friend could have given up, and the son she wants to adopt could still be “lost in the system” but with her heart and determination something even greater has come of it. Soon she will be hosting her own television segment where she will be working with Adoption SA in creating awareness about adopting and children looking for homes. She is an amazing woman who is now dedicating her life to helping others.
Times have been very tough for her and yet she is still willing to stand up, be heard and make a difference.
I’ve seen a few stories of people lately, who even though they are just one person, they make a huge difference in the lives of others and their communities. Then we have people on the other spectrum, those who don’t believe in putting in extra effort to help the less fortunate.
When you believe in something, it means that you feel that is the right way. Nobody can tell you what you feel is right or wrong.
I cannot judge someone who does not believe in helping. I can only admit that I don’t understand where their ideal comes from. Just like religion or politics it is an argument that can be held by two strong willed people as to what is right and what is wrong.
At the end of the day it all comes from the heart. If we help, who we help, where we help and why we help. Some people prefer to help children in need. Some prefer to help animals or the elderly or environmental causes. Some of us like to help in all areas we can help in.
This is one of the amazing things that make us individuals. We are unique in our decisions. I personally prefer to help children and animals because they find themselves in circumstances they cannot be blamed for and are unable to help themselves.
We all have the choice to make a difference in the world around us. Whether it is big or small or if you feel the world doesn’t need changing is up to you.
.
I was bought up in a very religious family and as a child I helped at soup kitchens and an orphanage. My parents helped others even though at times they didn’t have that much to share. This ideal of helping has been instilled in me since a young age.
This has probably been one of the reasons why when life seems tough and I feel as if I’ve veered off of the beaten track, I always find gratitude in knowing that there are those out their who are less fortunate than me. No matter how bad things may seem I still have a lot in my life that I can be grateful for.
So why is helping others such a controversial subject?
We all see the beggars on the side of the road with their infamous cardboard signs. The signs tell us what these people don’t have and their life’s woes. I see these beggars as an example of the conundrum of giving.
Naturally we are suspicious of these people. We never know whether or not their signs are actually truthful or whether or not they are taking steps to better their lives.
The majority of vehicles that pass by ignore people who are clearly asking for help. After all for all we know they are drug addicts trying to guilt us out of our hard earned cash because they are too lazy to find a job. Then there are a few who give these people the benefit of the doubt and donate just a few of their rands.
We also have organisations that we can donate time, money and gifts to. There are good people and good organisations out there that need and deserve our help. Many of us do help where we can but unfortunately a small handful of these organisations are corrupt. It is these few corrupt individuals and organisations that also stop people who are willing and able to help from actually helping.
A good friend of mine is currently dealing with such an organisation and the individual who runs it, in the process of adopting her child. It has been an extremely long and hard road and even top officials have become involved. It is a heart rendering story with many tears shed. I won’t tell you the story, firstly it’s not my place to and secondly there is a book being written.
What has come out of her story so far is something that I want to share with you. My friend could have given up, and the son she wants to adopt could still be “lost in the system” but with her heart and determination something even greater has come of it. Soon she will be hosting her own television segment where she will be working with Adoption SA in creating awareness about adopting and children looking for homes. She is an amazing woman who is now dedicating her life to helping others.
Times have been very tough for her and yet she is still willing to stand up, be heard and make a difference.
I’ve seen a few stories of people lately, who even though they are just one person, they make a huge difference in the lives of others and their communities. Then we have people on the other spectrum, those who don’t believe in putting in extra effort to help the less fortunate.
When you believe in something, it means that you feel that is the right way. Nobody can tell you what you feel is right or wrong.
I cannot judge someone who does not believe in helping. I can only admit that I don’t understand where their ideal comes from. Just like religion or politics it is an argument that can be held by two strong willed people as to what is right and what is wrong.
At the end of the day it all comes from the heart. If we help, who we help, where we help and why we help. Some people prefer to help children in need. Some prefer to help animals or the elderly or environmental causes. Some of us like to help in all areas we can help in.
This is one of the amazing things that make us individuals. We are unique in our decisions. I personally prefer to help children and animals because they find themselves in circumstances they cannot be blamed for and are unable to help themselves.
We all have the choice to make a difference in the world around us. Whether it is big or small or if you feel the world doesn’t need changing is up to you.
.
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