One of the hardest things one faces when one has left one’s country of birth and settled in another far-away land, is that one is unable to support those left behind in times of need. The world is so accessible now and this has led to fragmented families as more of us choose to pursue our lives elsewhere. There are so many parents and grandparents who have to conduct their relationships and witness their grandchildren growing up via Skype or FaceTime. How many little kids think that their granny and grandpa live in their mom’s IPad? Its a sad fact…
Friends and Family
BREAD OF LIFE
I’m not sure I could relate to someone whose idea of a sandwich is sliced white factory produced bread, spread with margarine and a slice of processed cheese. In fact, I think that sandwich making would be an excellent way to assess each other when meeting for the first time and would be a great way to figure out if one wants to further pursue a relationship. After all, if the thought of being forced to eat such a tasteless and bland offering as the cheese sandwich described above is abhorrent, then why would one imagine that its maker would…
FRIENEMY
I have been thinking about the difficult people in my life. You know those people whom you dread having to encounter and when you do, they seem to suck the life blood and energy right out of you? Even if you are just thinking about them ( and they seem to occupy so much of our daily thoughts despite how we feel about them ), they have the extraordinary capacity to invade and pervade our beings as if by osmosis. If one cannot walk away from them or divorce oneself from them , then one needs to find a way…
BLA, BLA, BLA
You know those moments when you have been talking to someone and it becomes blatantly clear that they aren’t listening to you? This has been occurring with some regularity when I am conversing with my nearest and dearest. He hasn’t yet figured out how to give the illusion that he so interested in what I am saying, when in reality , he is miles away. He is too honest and too transparent for that. Instead, his eyes start wandering and in his case, he will interrupt what I am saying because he has been thinking about what he wants to…
LETTERS
How we communicate says so much about who we are. How much of a part does nature play in our natural inclinations and our modus operandi? Surely the way we have been nurtured and raised has a bigger influence but as we develop as adults, will our inborn, inbred instincts rise again to the fore and play a major role in our personalities and lives again with a tussle between the learned behaviour and that which is intrinsic to our fundamental core? Whether it was nature or nurture in my case, I know not. What I do know is that…
NEW HORIZONS
Its obvious that in order to elicit change, one has to make an effort to step out of one’s comfort zone. No-one is denying this. Quite often the measures that one needs to take are so simple, so obvious and ordinary and yet, they become this unattainable quest and seemingly impossible. It is only when one takes that first step that one can look back and realise that it only requires a simple decision. However, just stepping out once doesn’t effect any lasting changes or benefits. The key is to continue along this new route until it becomes commonplace and…
KINDNESS
I love it when signs point towards a specific theme or issue that I have already been open to. My desire to make contact with someone in need for 7 days was further endorsed and enforced when I came across The Thirty Day Kindness Challenge .The challenge is to be kind in words and actions to someone or several people you know for an entire 30 days. The hope is that like all habits that form when there is consistency and repeated behaviour, one can also train oneself to develop good and positive habits. The benefits are huge, not only…