“May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand. May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism. Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone. May you discover enough goodness in others to believe in a world of peace. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them. Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.

Teach love to those who hate, and let that love embrace you as you go out into the world. May the teachings of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them. Remember, those whose lives you have touched and whose have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished. It is the content of the encounter that is more important than the form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart. Find time each day to see beauty and love in the world around you. Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way. What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future. May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility. Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience. May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on another’s judgment of your accomplishments.
And May you always feel loved.”

- anonymous

I received this article in an email and it was a good reminder how using plastic in our lives is dangerous, not to mention bad for the environment. Please take note and avoid it as much as is possible and moms, please buy BPS free bottles and PLEASE don’t heat your baby’s bottles in the microwave!

Bottled water in your car is very dangerous!

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life!

My friends and I have been talking a lot about how we as women, need each other. We need the moral support, the empathy and nurturing care that to be honest one often can’t get from a partner. Men tend to want to ‘fix’ things, while women just want you to sit and listen. Maybe a few tears will be shed, maybe a few bouts of hysterical laughter. Women need to connect with other women to feel fully understood and supported. Ladies we need to stick together to help keep each other sane in an insane world. So, here are some great words from today’s Daily OM:

” There was a time where women stood together in a bond of sisterhood, women supporting women. It is only natural that the pendulum swings out of balance for a while so that we may have the experience of what we do not want. It is up to women to bring the pendulum back into balance and bring back the sacred sisterhood we yearn for at our core.”

In another email I received today, there were these words,

“God doesn’t give you the people you want; He gives you the people you *NEED… *to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make  you into the person you were meant to be.”

Worth reflecting on…

“Loss makes artists of us all as we weave new patterns in the fabric of our lives.”
– Greta W. Crosby

I received the above quote in my inbox this week and it was rather apt, as they usually are.

I don’t do confrontation very well.

Don’t handle loss either.

Funny, as this year has had a good dose of both.

I have learnt enough lessons and experienced enough karma to fill a few bags.

But, I don’t intend taking them with me.

No, I have learnt my lessons,

but will leave my baggage behind, thank you.

For where I am going,

you need to travel lightly.

I received this via email today and thought some if it was rather funny…
Braai
What is a braai? It is the first thing you will be invited to when you visit South Africa .

A braai is a backyard barbecue and it will take place whatever the weather. So you will have to go even if it’s raining like mad. At a braai you will be introduced to a substance known as mieliepap.

Ag
This one of the most useful South African words. Pronounced like the “ach” in the German “achtung”, it can be used to start a reply when you are asked a tricky question, as in:
“Ag, I don’t know.” Or a sense of resignation:”Ag OK, I’ll have some more mieliepap then”

It can stand alone too as a signal of irritation.

Donner
A rude word, it comes from the Afrikaans “donder” (thunder).
Pronounced “dorner”, it means “beat up.” A team member in your rugby team can get donnered in a game, or your wife can donner you if you come back from a braai at three in the morning.

Eina
Widely used by all language groups, this word, derived from the Afrikaans, means “ouch.

” Pronounced “aynah”. You can say it in sympathy when you see your friend the day after he got donnered by his wife.

Hey
Often used at the end of a sentence to emphasize the importance of what has just been said, as in “You’re only going to get donnered if you come in late again, hey?” It can also stand alone as a question.
Instead of saying “excuse me?” or “pardon me?” when you have not heard something directed at you, you can always say: “Hey?”

Izit?
This is another great word to use in conversations. Derived from the two words “is” and “it”, it can be used when you have nothing to contribute if someone tells you something at a braai. For instance, if someone would say: “The Russians will succeed in their bid for capitalism once they adopt a work ethic and respect for private ownership.” It is quite appropriate to respond by saying: “Izit?”

Ja well no fine
This is another conversation fallback. Derived from the four words: “yes”, “well”, “no” and fine”, it roughly means “OK”. If your bank manager tells you your account is overdrawn, you can, with confidence, say: “Jawelnofine.”

Klap
Pronounced “klup” – an Afrikaans word meaning smack, whack or spank. If you spend too much time in front of the TV during exam time, you could end up getting a “klap” from your mother.

In America , that is called child abuse. In South Africa , it is called promoting education.
But to get “lekker geklap” is to get motherlessly drunk.

Lekker
An Afrikaans word meaning nice, this word is used by all language groups to express approval. If you enjoyed a braai thoroughly, you can say: “Now that was lekk-errrrrrr!” while drawing out the last syllable.

Tackies
These are sneakers or running shoes. The word is also used to describe automobile or truck tyres.

“Fat tackies” are really wide tyres, as in: “You’ve got lekker fat tackies on your Vôlla, hey?”

Dop
This word has two basic meanings, one good and one bad. First the good: A dop is a drink, a cocktail, a sundowner, a noggin. When invited for a dop, be careful! It could be one sedate drink or a blast, depending on the company. Now the bad: To dop is to fail. If you “dopped” standard two (Grade 4) more than once, you probably won’t be reading this.

Saamie
This is a sandwich. For generations, school- children have traded “saamies” during lunch breaks. In South Africa you don’t send your kid to school with liver-polony saamies. They are impossible to trade.

Bakkie
This word is pronounced “bucky” and can refer to a small truck or pick-up. If a young man takes his “girl” (date) in a bakkie it could be considered as a not so “lekker” form of transport if the seats can’t recline.

Howzit
This is a universal South African greeting, and you will hear this word throughout the country. It is often accompanied with the word “Yes!” as in: “Yes, howzit?”. In which case you answer “No, fine.”

Now now
In much of the outside world, this is a comforting phrase: “Now now, it’s really not so bad.”

But in South Africa , this phrase is used in the following manner: “Just wait, I’ll be there now now.
” It means “a little after now”.

Tune grief
To be tuned grief is to be aggravated, harassed. For example, if you argue with somebody about a rugby game at a braai and the person had too much dop (is a little “geklap”), he might easily get aggravated and say.: “You’re tuning me grief, hey!”. To continue the argument after this could be unwise and result in major tuning of grief..

Boet
This is an Afrikaans word meaning “brother” which is shared by all language groups. Pronounced “boot” but shorter, as in “foot”, it can be applied to a brother or any person of the male sex. For instance a father can call his son “boet” and friends can apply the
term to each other too. Sometimes the diminutive “boetie” is used. But don’t use it on  someone you hardly know – it will be thought patronizing and could lead to you getting a “lekker klap”.

Pasop
From the Afrikaans phrase meaning “Watch Out!”, this warning is used and heeded by all language groups.

As in: “The boss hasn’t had his coffee yet – so you better pasop boet” Sometimes just the word “pasop!” is enough without further explanation. Everyone knows it sets out a line in the sand not to be crossed.

Skop, Skiet en donner
Literally “kick, shoot and thunder”, this phrase is used by many South African speakers to describe action movies. A Clint Eastwood movie is always a good choice if you’re in the mood for of a lekker skop, skiet en donner flick.

Vrot
Pronounced – “frot”. A expressive word which means “rotten” or “putrid” in Afrikaans, it is used by all language groups to describe anything they really dislike. Most commonly intended to describe fruit or vegetables whose shelf lives have long expired, but a pair of old tackies (sneakers) worn a few years too long can be termed “vrot” by some unfortunate folk which find themselves in the same vicinity as the wearer. Also a rugby player who misses important kicks or tackles can be said to have played a vrot game – opposite to a “lekker” game(but not to his face).

A movie was once reviewed with this headline: “Slick Flick, Vrot Plot.”

Could also be used as an expression” I got vrot last night” (drunk)

Rock up
To rock up is to just, sort of arrive (called “gate crash” in other parts of the world).
You don’t make an appointment or tell anyone you are coming – you just rock up.
Friends can do that but you have to be selective about it. For example, you can’t just rock up for a job interview.

Scale
To scale something is to steal it. A person who is “scaly” has a doubtful character, is possibly a scumbag, and should rather be left off the invitation list to your next braai.

Ja-nee
“Yes No” in English. Politics in South Africa has always been associated with family arguments and in some cases even with physical fights. It is believed that this expression originated with a family member who didn’t want to get a klap or get donnerred, so he just every now and then muttered “ja-nee”. Use it when you are required to respond, but would rather not choose to agree or disagree.

A friend sent me the following email, with this comment added, “She makes us look very beautiful and sexy.”

Ever wonder what happened
To those cute ‘n crazy good
Lookin’ young hippie chicks
Who did drugs, smoked weed
And ‘did’ every guy during
The ‘Age of Aquarius’ back in
The ’60′s? ….

Well, wonder no more…

It was interesting to see. You are supposed to laugh I guess and feel good about yourself. I took a long time to look at the woman in the picture. I took in her nakedness, her old, sagging body and many garish tattoos. But do you know what I noticed most? The way she walked so proudly.

Sure, she may not be what society deems, ‘beautiful’, but how many of you reading this actually are? And quite frankly, who would want to be? I would trade ‘Hollywood style beauty’(if I had it!) for a dose of that kind of self-confidence anyday! Her inner spirit shines through and I find her ‘realness’ more appealing then the young, fake engorged breasts with hearts on them, displayed in the background.

Given my current sagging stomach, I only wish I had the courage to walk naked and unashamed like that! Maybe when I am 70 I will!

I received this via email from my friend Anchen (who STILL doesn’t have a blog and really should!) I am not sure who the original author is, but found it rather amusing, so I thought I would share it…

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious
diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with
walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning…. Uphill…
barefoot… BOTH ways Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in
hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they’ve got it!

But now that… I’m over the ripe old age of thirty, I can’t help but look around and notice the youth of today…

You’ve got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn
Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don’t know how good you’ve got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn’t have The Internet. If we wanted to know
something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter – with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox
and it would take, like, a week to get there!

Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn’t care if our parents beat us. As a matter
of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass!
Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3′ s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We’d play our favorite tape and “eject” it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause – that’s how we rolled, dig?

We didn’t have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that’s it!

And we didn’t have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn’t know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn’t have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like ‘Space Invaders’ and ‘Asteroids’. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen…. forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on
Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I’m saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn’t have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.
You’re spoiled. You guys wouldn’t have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd

(Send this to someone you’d like to make smile, Whether they are under 30 or not.)

Red Queen Theory

I am not sure how familiar you guys are with the kids book Alice in Wonderland. I am not so familiar with it myself but you don’t need to be in order to grasp the theory, so here it goes anyway.

The story is that there was a witch who was bent on making Alice’s life miserable as in all children’s fairytales.

The theory is based on a situation where Alice fell down a well and found herself in a tunnel. Once Alice realized she was in this tunnel she tried to get out. A tunnel only has two entrances/exits with no turns so that was a no brainer for Alice.

As Alice began to walk in an attempt to leave the tunnel she noticed that even after a while she was at the same spot with no progress. Alice was a clever girl and therefore tried a new approach by running. It seems the harder she ran the more she found herself at the same spot.

For those who are interested in the story; the Red Queen used magic to ensure the tunnel walls travel at the same speed as Alice but in opposite directions, hence Alice found herself at the same spot all the time.

Now for the theory part: substitute ourselves as Alice and the tunnel walls as life/the world/ progress etc.
Now deviating a bit from the story, everything around us is constantly changing whether we like it or not. There are opportunities passing us, people getting promotions, people getting ill and passing on etc etc. So essentially, you have to change as well. You cannot be the same person with the same strategies and hope to achieve the same results because the environment you are in is changing all the time and this is out of your control. Calm down, there is still hope. The part you can control is yourself.

A few points to help you take control of your life:

Be aware of your surroundings and the environment at all times.
Gain knowledge. Knowledge is power.
Think out of the box – let me explain this one; it means to think differently to the norm. It means not to just follow instructions but to question everything thrown at you in life and I mean everything.
Continuous development of one self.
Keep fit. You never know when you will have to run and be faster than the next guy.
Change – don’t be resistant to change, welcome it. Also the rate of change is important. You can’t be changing at a slower rate than the tunnel walls.
A few stress relievers:

Start some cooking classes if you want to do things differently. You will be surprised at how much cooking can relax you.
Exercise at least twice a week for a duration of no less than 30 minutes per session.
Laugh as much as you can without holding back.
Read a good novel and you will be amazed at how easily you can escape your own life and live in your novel.
Eat healthily and no less than three times a day and remember that breakfast is your most important meal for the day!
Stay away from gossip but when a friend needs a shoulder try and be that shoulder without getting emotionally involved.
Live every day like there will be no tomorrow.