Category: Life

5 things I would change if I had to had to go back into time

I was looking at my skin in the mirror the other day and thanking God for the good genes that He has blessed me with.  Unfortunately, genetics is not enough to keep my skin looking good. It definitely lays a great foundation though! 🙂  I haven’t always looked after my skin. In fact, as with most things, I started my face care routine a little late in life. This got me thinking about some of the tweaks I would make if I could live my life over.
 
#1. Don’t forget your sunscreen!
As a kid, summer was my favourite time of year.  I spent many hours in the sun swimming and playing outside.  As an adult, I have spent many hours at the beach and driving in the sun.    I never ever applied sunscreen in all that time. Shock and Horror!   No doubt it’s the reason for the damage I see on my face today.   It would be a lot worse if I didn’t eventually heed the warnings out there about the dangers of sun exposure.  SPF50 is now my friend.  Remember…it’s never too late to start the habit either.  I know it sucks trying to find one that doesn’t leave you looking ghostly if you are a person of colour. It looks like the companies are getting better at it.   We live in hope I  guess.
#2. Don’t smoke
Let me start by saying that I LOVED smoking.  I loved the ritual of smoking.  I loved lighting the cigarette and taking that first deep pull on it.  I loved smoking while drinking coffee (my other vice) or after a good meal in particular.   Yip…you get it…I LOVED smoking.  The thing is though, if I had never started, I would never have known what I was missing out on.  It’s been almost 5 years since I stopped and I will never go back.  Stopping was not easy and brought on a host of other issues so nope…I am not going to start once more.  I have no desire to go through that drama again.  This leads me to #3…
#3. Be an exercise junky!
Here’s the thing…once my life as a student ended, I became quite sedentary.  I also had a car so walking hectically long distances was no longer necessary.  Initially, the weight crept on.  You could still find me dancing the night away in the club over the weekends. The impact of having a car was negligible.  I stopped clubbing.  Well…that’s when the problem really started. The weight started creeping on faster and faster.  I was in denial.   I had been thin my entire life.  “This can’t be happening to me”.  I did nothing.  Then…I had a baby.  The weight piled on.  Only then did it twig that I better get my A into G and move.  I lost some.  I gave up smoking…sigh.  I gained loads more than I had lost!   Yip…Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho it’s off the gym I go.  I’ve got this!  This war I will win.  An exercise junky I will become!
 
#4. Take more risks
Those of you that know me, know that I can be quite scared of my own shadow at times.  I have probably missed out on a lot of opportunities in various areas of my life because taking a risk scared me.  There are times when I see my son been afraid of taking risks. My heart breaks because I know that he is missing out on something exciting that he will actually enjoy.   Sometimes he surprises me and faces his fears head-on.  That’s when he inspires me to face mine 🙂 
#5.  Fail more often
One of the reasons I didn’t take more risks when I was younger was because I feared failure.  I was soooo embarrassed to fail.  I am also a control freak.  The problem with taking a risk is that you don’t know how things will turn out.  Being in control has kept me feeling safe.  Life is short though and safe has become boring so my new life rules have become:
  • “I won’t get if I don’t ask”
  • “I won’t learn if I don’t try”
  • “I can’t win it if I’m not in it”
This is the tip of the iceberg for me.  Striving to give my son a great life experience has forced me to question my beliefs. I often have to unlearn things so that I can relearn them, especially through his eyes.  The world becomes a marvellous place again when looked at through the eyes of a child.
I leave you with an African Proverb …
#africanproverb #groundedafrican #african #blog #learning #life #quotescreator
Photographer: M. Frankson Venue: Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve, Durban

 

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Quality time with my little human

Holidays…what a pleasure!  It’s been a week and I have to say the time I have spent chilling with my little man has been priceless!  Not only have we been out and about spending time with family and friends but we have also been just been enjoying each other’s company.

This time with him has given me the opportunity to really “see” him and pay attention to the person he is becoming.  I must admit that I am blown away but what I see.  I see a big boy who is evolving into an impressive young man.  Of course I am biased but, at the same time, I definitely see lots to be proud of.

If I look back at the year past, he really got to grips with the concept of self motivation. He embraced affirmations and, on New Year’s Eve, was very keen to participate in a Law of Attraction exercise. He listed the things he wanted to let go of and the things he wanted to achieve or change in 2018. In a nutshell, he has matured a lot.

He has such a sense of humour as well. We were actually just chatting about the year ahead and the importance of discipline and focus.  When we were done, I hug him and tell him that I love and him and that I want him to prosper. His response, in his driest tone,..”like Absa”.  I laughed so hard.  (Absa is the name of a bank in SA that promises to help you prosper).  He hits me with these deadpan jokes of his when I least expect it. Cracks me up everytime.

This time has also been spent reconnecting with old friends and with family. My dad came to see in my birthday with me. We spent the evening playing monopoly. We all had such a blast that we completely lost track of time that night. Another of my favourite moments was driving down to the farm with my son. It’s about a 2 hour drive one way. The scenery is amazing. We had lunch with my aunts and their families. Lots of laughter was shared as well as great food. The time spent with them was so worth the drive.

Unfortunately, it’s time to return to school and work. 😔 I return feeling grounded. Centered. Clear on how I want to spend my year. I probably could have done with another week of rest but it’s ok. Some rest is better than none.😁 I hope that you have had the opportunity to rest as well this festive season. We forget how important it is to look after ourselves so that we have the energy to keep grinding and looking after our loved ones.

I’ll leave you with another African proverb I found…#africanproverb #groundedafrican #african #life #motherhood

Another year older…

I get to experience “New Year” twice in one week.  The first time on the first of January like everyone else.  The second, on my birthday,  a week later.  The second one always feels more important to me.   It’s when I really take stock, decide on my goals and lay down plans to make those goals happen.

I haven’t always done things this way.  I have largely flown by the seat of my pants for most of my life.   There are goals that I had as a teen that I actively pursued but I didn’t really understand what I was doing.   Looking back, knowing what I now know,  I see why and how I managed to achieve certain things and why I didn’t achieve others. In the last 3-4 years I have gotten into the habit of creating goals and actually thinking through how I will achieve them.  I know, scary that it has taken me this long but  I still believe in “better late than never”.  I have been reading about goal setting for a while and have even written a few down but I never had the discipline to plan how to make it happen.  It became clear that setting goals was a fruitless exercise if you had no plan on how to achieve them.

I have been talking to different people and reading different books in order to find a method that would work for me.  In my last post, I shared a method that I believe in and will be implementing this year.  If you missed it, you can read more about it here.  I have come to realise that, although I may have lived most of my life flying by the seat of my pants, I am actually a creature of habit on a day to day basis so this method should be pretty easy to make mine.  Will keep you posted on how it’s going as we move along through the year.

I will leave you with a pearl of wisdom from the African continent to inspire you…#African #Lifeskills #life #groundedafrican #motivation #africanproverb

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Bye for now