MAINTAINING YOUR WILL POWER IS KEY

AMANDLA: Make it possible

All of us aspire to change certain things about ourselves. It could be losing weight, stop smoking, stop drinking or improving or gaining a skill that will help you go further in your studies and career. The challenge for most people is maintaining the will power to achieve those goals.

Every person is capable of changing, whether it is for the good or the worst. We all know people that have lost weight, that are over achievers, given up smoking or drinking and even people who have completed their university degrees. The question is how did they do it? How did they maintain their will power?

I have a friend who is a basketball player for the University of Johannesburg first team. Her ability to be consistent is a great lesson that I/ and all should learn. She trains whenever scheduled to train. Successful sports people do not negotiate training time they just do it, whether they feel like it or not.

They are very much disciplined, they do not listen to their feelings and they tell their bodies what to do, not the other way around. You need to give yourself instructions that you could exercise and put into action. Those activities will help you develop or improve a skill.

Perfecting an art begins with knowing what you want and creating goals. Do not just have goals, have visions as well. Having goals is one thing but knowing what you want is another. Automatically motivation builds up, helping you getting over all your fears and insecurities.

After identifying your goals, identify strategies that will help you to achieve your goals. They will be the things you are committed to do. Strategies need to become habits and a pattern of behaviour.

We all may go through tough times; not understanding what life is all about and what it wants from us. Have self-control and the will power to make it.

FIND YOUR SOURCE OF COMFORT



HOLD ON TIGHT: have faith and trust in someone to restore lost hope 

All of us need to have someone strong on our side; someone we can always rely on and call upon whenever we are feeling down. We will always need a shoulder to cry on, irrespective of our age. We need a person who is special, that we can trust and talk to about our fears and disappointments.

We cannot go through life alone. We need advice from mentors, role models and elders to look up to and turn to for advice. We need to have people who have walked the path before, to help us see our way through and who have achieved success, to help us as we start our journey.

I believe that a nation without a counsel will fail, but with it we are sure of success. This shows that although we may be educated, knowledgeable and mature, we need a person to advise us through life and that will make us better individuals.

Most us make the wrong decision because there is not anyone to guide them. So start surrounding yourself with people who are successful and who have a positive influence on your life. Imagine taking advice from someone who has not been successful in his or her life, be careful of who you pick as your advisor.

You need a person who will listen to you. A person who will not just hear your words but listen to what you are saying and come up with solutions or ways to solve the problem. He or she must also be willing to help you make great decisions that will have an influence on your life.

You might have all in life but without a shoulder to cry on; your wealth and expensive goods means nothing. Knowing that you are loved and cared for motivates you to do better in life. Find your source of comfort.

RUNAWAY LOVE



There is no FEAR in LOVe . but perfect LOVe drives out FEAR



Love that feels too good to be true is sometimes too much for a person to handle. This kind of love makes you say, do and think of stupid things. It is the kind of love that takes over your thoughts and makes you feel weak and inferior to others.

At the beginning of this year it was reported that a University of Johannesburg student died at her hostel residence. It was alleged that an illegal abortion could be the reason for her death, Read more. Recently in the news headlines, a University of Pretoria student had shot herself in the stomach at the day of her graduation, alleging that she was trying to commit suicide because she had failed her studies, Read More .

According to (Frank Sant'Agata; 1996), Fear is an unpleasant feeling aroused by the threat of danger, evil and pain whereas Love is a passionate and strong liking of someone. Love and fear work hand in hand. You treat the people that you love with the knowledge that you do not want to disappoint, hurt or lose them.

Both of these incidence and many others could have been handled differently and it saddens me that certain actions were taken out of fear and love for their family and friends. What I am trying to get out here is that love controls your behaviour and decisions that you make, whether they will or will not hurt the people you love and care about.

Love follows us wherever we go so make a decision to give and receive love from others. Do not be afraid, we all abound to fail there and there but our ability to get up, learn and teach from our experiences makes us conquerors and achievers.

LOVE BEING YOU



YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE:
By bumnew.com



Life is full of ups and downs, and at one time or another, we all feel sad, lonely and blue. Everyone wants to live a happy and peaceful life. Self- esteem is a state of mind. By changing your thinking you can boost your self-esteem and create a happy and fulfilling life.

People spend a lot of time looking in the wrong places for their self-esteem. We keep getting involved in unhealthy relationships that hurt us and leave us devastated. We resist change and cling to sameness. We always want things that we can not have and can not see the things that we are blessed with. We have grown to be more comfortable with being victims that are ruled by fear.

What we need to do instead is to realise that self- esteem is a state of mind that can be changed, Read more. We should train our minds not to only focus on the negative attitudes because then we limit our lives and opportunities. The positivity in that is that we are able to boost our self-esteem by looking a these eight positive steps, that will help you view your life in a different way:

1.    Sing in the car on your way to work or school, while cleaning or doing the laundry

2.    Include yourself when you think of your favourite people

3.    Surround yourself with people that respect and care about you

4.    Spend time with upbeat people

5.    Learn to enjoy your own company

6.    When you are in a bad mood and feel as if it will last forever, remind yourself that it will pass

7.    Be grateful for all the things you have and STOP whining

8.    For today resolve only things that demand resolution and deal with tomorrow, tomorrow

These steps will help you look within and examine who you are with a new frame of reference so that you can transform your life into a happy and fulfilling one. Do not stay too fixed in one possession, move around and explore. Find out what your life is all about and where it is taking you.

DEATH DOES WONDERS FOR YOU

It is not an unusual thing that happens but when death strikes a family it is surely seen as an unexpected tragedy that many fail to overcome and conquer. Death can never be prepared and planned for. We have all lost family members and friends but if we were about to get calls stating that someone close has passed on we would lose our minds and suddenly fall apart as if this has never happened.

Death could never become a normal thing that happens such as celebrating birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc., but it is something that we all know is bound to happen somewhere along our life cycle.

Many people that have lost friends, family and pets find it extremely hard to move on. I am not talking about forgetting about the presence and the existence of another. I am talking about what happens after the loss of someone loved dearly. This blog contains the five guidelines that I think one should consider.

STEP ONE:  ACCEPT

My mother only learnt that my father was gone after seven years of his passing; she told me that it only clicked when she saw herself mowing the lawn one morning and that broke her down. But accepting his death set her free and gave her new strength of starting all over again, on her own.

STEP TWO: CRY

There is nothing wrong with crying when feeling sad and lonely. You got so used to having this person or pet with you every day, which makes it okay to have some sense of emptiness. So kick, jump, shout and even sing to let it all out. In exchange, freedom and power will suddenly take over your life.

STEP THREE: CELEBRATE

Celebrating the life of the deceased is highly important .Do the things that you used to do with the deceased such as hiking, painting random portraits, watching scary movies and so on. Though it might not be same but it is the thought that counts. Thinking of them reminds you of how wonderful there were. Those moments are treasured .

STEP FOUR: HAVE FUN

Start doing things on your own. Make some time for yourself where you concentrate on what you enjoy doing for example drawing, sewing, writing poems etc. This is such a great step in redefining yourself and who you are supposed to be. The same way that you depended on the deceased is the same way that others love and depend on you. So live abundantly with no excuse and fears.

STEP FIVE:  LIVE IN THE MOMENT

The last step is the most crucial because as an individual it is very important to be spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally stable. Know what your life is about and what outcomes you want. Be present in every aspect of your life. It is okay to have some regrets but let that not be an excuse to not fulfil every desire, wish and dream.

I hope these guidelines will help you step into a new world with more opportunities, love and grace.

A FRESH START

Starting over or starting afresh is the process of leaving what is old behind. It is a process whereby forgiving yourself and others is the only way to get through and overcome what you are facing. It is a conscious decision taken by those who are sick and tired of being undermined for their love and worth on earth.

Being undermined not only misleads you into understanding and accepting yourself worth but also misleads you into understanding the direction of your purpose here on earth. What I am saying is that what you receive and accept from others is mostly determined by what you think of yourself, so knowing who you are is the number one key.

It is incredibly shocking of how most of us suffer from depression and exhaustion, not really understanding where all of that pain and fatigue comes from. As individuals you need to make a case study of yourselves, where you apply certain principles of life and that will help you evaluate the elements that one needs to change, work on and totally dismiss.

Well yes, starting over is a long process that not many of us have gained enough courage, knowledge and strength to overcome it all. It is the breakthrough of one’s freedom, it is the breakthrough of ones hidden and it is the breakthrough of ones unseen secrets and the unknown.

Pursuing your journey starts with a clean and clear sight of where you are today versus where you would like to be tomorrow. It is about embarking on a journey that what is unexpected and unexposed will no longer be hidden but revealed to you and the world.

It is about merging your soul, mind and body as one. Spiritual changes are bound to take place so let it be and ask yourself do I need to start over?

BLACK VERSUS WHITE VERSUS THE WORLD

http://thyblackman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/black-white-hands.jpg

I was just thinking the other day, about poverty in South Africa. I hear about it and see it everywhere. What caught my attention was that I have not heard much about white poverty or white squatter camps, or even about a gang of white men raping a fifteen year old girl.

I recently read an article on the internet http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/03/26/us-safrica-whites-idUSTRE62P0UJ20100326, about the President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, visiting a white squatter camp which is not so far from where I stay. I was shocked as this exceeded my expectations. 

It saddens me to see that the media mostly focuses on poverty and crime within black South Africans compared to the white South Africans and that then has promoted a biased and malicious public perception of black South Africans.

White poor South Africans are humans and have equal rights according to the constitution Bill of South Africa, http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96cons2.htm. Creating awareness around this issue will not only benefit the white community nor the black community but will also benefit the nation as a whole.  

It is not about being black or white; it is about embracing the blessings of life and its challenges. South Africa is celebrating eighteen years of democracy this year but there isn’t much to celebrate, as the problems that where experienced before are still being experienced today.    

SENSE OF PURPOSE...

As a Young South African woman, the colour of my skin tells u more about the opportunities i have waiting for me  http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/does-your-skin-colour-define-you/. My teeth are a story of my social status. The size of my hips are a reflection of my mother and grandmother, the women that I look up too. My ancestral route is my past but yet a true definition of my future. My breasts are a continuous reminder of my true purpose, which is to feed, to teach, to nurture and to love another. My feet enlighten others about the journey that I have taken and how much further I should stomp towards self-recreation, self-realization, and self-acceptance.

Over taken by what the world wants me to be. From what I should wear, to what colour lipstick is appropriate for my complexion, to what dress size is considered to be sexy, to rather having a weave compared to natural hair etc.  I call that loss of identity.Not many of us even have the slightest idea of where our life journey is taking us or whether we are taking the right path. In the journey of self- realization, we need to take a pit stop. Sit down and think. Analyse your lives expectations not according to what the world considers them to be but what you consider to be pleased with.  

Walk at your own pace, you don’t have to look at who is in front or behind you because you might just trip and slower your progress. I have always excelled in comparing myself with others, but it was such a normal thing to do. Growing up with a gorgeous twin sister, though I am not bad myself, it was extremely difficult for me. We were always compared to each other, “she is prettier she could become a model”. You could just imagine what those words could do to a child.

Self-hate is not the answer,  it is time to love you for you. Self-recreation is the period of learning something new or how to embrace something old about you. It is the stage during a journey where a person tries new things and spends more time alone and really enjoys it. It’s the process of breaking down every single hateful and hurtful bthoughts that leads to self-acceptance  http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic48289.html.

i leave you with one question, Does self-acceptance of all physical and physiological flaws, help change the degree of ones love for them self?