On a Future Passing

I have seen much death, suffering and pain the last few weeks... the hurt in those left behind. The uncertainty, the sorrow and the bottled tears. 

When, in many moons to come, my time comes promise me this; hold nothing back. Mourn and cry, wail and keen in your grief, let the banshee fear that her voice has been stolen. But mingle such anguish with the laughter of old memories dusted out of closets long thought forgotten. Let the air echo with the fun tales of lessons learnt with hilarity. Remember fondly the lives that I have touched, for in them a difference i have made can be paid forward in an unending chain that echoes through eternity. And face each day with strength, secure in the knowledge that I will be waiting for you on the other side of the curtain to welcome you home.

Long may that day be in coming. For now let us fill each day with all the love, life, memories and goodness we can bring to bear, celebrating with each other along the way....remembering life is too short to waste on bad coffee. 

Hightened emotion in general can lead to a low clarity of thought. Emotions can cloud the decision making process leading to some really bad spur of the moment decisions, especially if you are depressed or angry. Writing in a high state of emotion can be a source of great inspiration or the pit from which you dredge up things you wish you had never written.

About to hash out an angry email, it is worth waiting a bit to calm down. Once you click the send button there is not a lot you can do to undo the damage.

Intention

Intentionality is a trait that we can all do with a little more of. You can wait for an invitation to a party or you can decide to hold one of your own. Life is not about a passive waiting for things to occur but rather an active pursuing of things you desire.

A Little Collection

I like writing-no secret there. I get a kick out of crafting sentences that inspire. I guess I have a love affair with the English language. There is a thrill when accosted by its written or spoken forms. So I collect articles-well written ones. The collection is small right now, but will grow with time. 

My collection is not purposeless though. I use it to learn from, to get ideas on how to write better articles. 

What do you collect?

Bigger Africa

Bigger Africa is a Global community that links people, and links dreams on the continent of Africa. Its vision empowers the three E’s: the entrepreneur, the employer and the employee. Bigger Africa aims to harness your potential, cultivate your competence and link you to the people or experiences you need in order to catapult you to a higher competing platform.

Check it out!

Momentum

Reading 'Think Big' by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker (Bill who you ask? Read and find out, but he knows a little about marketing-put the big name first!) What can I say, Trump can come across as an arrogant,no-nonsense, kick-ass, son-of-a-bitch (arrogance that is well deserved, he kicks rear anyway, I might have gone a little overboard on the last one though-his mother is probably not a bitch so apologies there Mrs Trump). I don't share Trump's value system, but this is still a great read. It is written in simple terms, gets your attention and gives some constructive insight into the mind of one of life's 'greats'. He is brutally honest and is probably not to concerned with your feelings; he's concerned with your success.

One of the issues he touches on is momentum. One of the reasons for a hiatus from this blog. Momentum is powerful in that the more you do, the more it builds. The converse is true. Stop and you will lose it all. I guess I lost a little momentum along the way and put regular posts on hold for a bit. Not the greatest confession but we move on...

Outliers

Finally managed to finish “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell . It’s only taken me about 2 months The reason for the length of time to get though it had little to do with reading effort, but rather the copy I was reading passed mysteriously across the ocean and I had to find another (in book starved Zimbabwe this is akin to ordering steak in a vegetarian restaurant).

In a nutshell, he takes you through stories of success and outlines some of the circumstances and events that have contributed to it (ever wondered why Asians are better at math-I now know! Of course I’m not telling you read the book yourself.). Each of us is a by-product of timing, opportunity, history and cultural bias (basically S**t happens type stuff). He points out the hand fate has had in shaping our lives (e.g. if Bill Gates were a couple of years older I wouldn’t be typing this on a Windows OS). He hints that we can change some of it. But, most of the time he leaves us blissfully ignorant of what we can do to alter our future and take full advantage of the hand we’ve been dealt. It does however tell you how to raise your kids a little better so at least the next generation gets a better shot.

Is it worth reading? Yes. But don’t expect any magic wand, just some serious thought provoking on where you have come from. Building your future based on this information in the book-well that part is pretty much up to you.