How do you step from the top of a 100 foot pole?

How do you step from the top of a 100 foot pole?

 

They say that all things are possible to them that believe. To step from the top of 100 foot pole one must have faith that they will be okay or they must be ready to die. Often life presents us with 100 foot poles and places us in positions where we need to step off.

It is a risk to step of at that height yet we are confronted with risks every single day, some bigger than others. It is a risk to cross or to drive on the road but we do it because we have to.

We have the flight or fight mechanisms built in our bodies naturally for this reason that life is full of risks and mostly risks that we cannot afford not to take. To avoid risks would be the equivalent of not living at all.

It is a risk to start a business, yet it is necessary when starting one is the only way that you can make money and do what you love. It is a risk to study a particular course because you might not get a job when you are done.

Life offers us no guarantees all that we can do is take calculated risks, which will make a difference between crossing the road safely as opposed to being at the top of a 100 foot pole where there is very little chance that you will live if you jump.

 

 

 

We are what we do

We are what we do

Looking at it from a career perspective and a social standing, we are what we do. Whether you like it or not people define you and judge you by what you do for a living.

People make assumptions about your character, your personality, lifestyle and how much you earn according to what you say you do for a living. What you do also determined whether or not some people want to date you or befriend you.

When people say they are networking often it just refers to deliberately going to a place to meet people that will help advance you one way or the other. So in that sense people are only worth what they can do to benefit others and all they are is what they do.

We are afraid of the wrong things

We are afraid of the wrong things

 

We pay for medical aid because we are afraid we might get sick or be involved in an accident and not be able to afford the medical care we need at that fateful time. We pay for security companies because we are afraid of losing our valuables to thieves.

The wrong things are the source of our fears. We are afraid of accidents but accidents are a result of some wrong doing. If it's a car crash, there is always a party that is wrong a car that malfunctioned causing the accidents.

All of the things we fear are a result of wrong things.

 

 

Fish falling from the sky

Fish falling from the sky

The government is notorious for bad service delivery however we have an Israelite syndrome dominating among some of our disadvantaged people. In the bible times a big exodus happened as they were going from bondage (Egypt) to the Promised Land (Canaan). Along the way the Israelites were constantly grumbling and complaining about everything and expected miracle from God and Moses all the time. The point is that the Israelites were provided with the necessities to along the way to the promise land that would be flowing with milk and honey. They had manna falling from heaven every single day and they had water flowing from rocks when they needed to drink yet even so the Israelites still found reason to complain and where even nostalgic.

The current state of social issues in South Africa is similar to that. Our promised land much like the American dream is a land where we have jobs, house and can afford all our basic human needs. While we are in a democracy we are still progressing towards that state of all the need met, yet in the process there's those that are expecting manna to fall from heaven and are not doing anything to get themselves in a better position by taking hold of whatever opportunities within their reach instead they are waiting for the ever so slow government to spoon feed them.

There are opportunities to learn how to make a living instead instead they choose to rely on hand outs and expect hand outs. As the saying goes "instead of giving a man fish, teach him how to fish". Some people just don't want learn how to fish yet even worse they expect fish to fall from the sky.

 

The Public Protector needs protection

The Public Protector needs protection.

I was watching morning live when the public protector was interviewed about the controversial 500 million police headquarters leasing deal. She went briefly over what the procedure that was supposed to have been followed is as opposed to what General Bheki Cele and Minister Mahlangu-Nkabinde did.

I was happy to see that there is someone who is trying to combat corruption in government yet I also found myself wondering whether the case will have a happy ending were the corrupt officials are being punished. With the mafia way that South African politics run, a couple of scenarios of how the people investigated could get out of the whole thing came to mind. It's no secret that corrupt officials will go to any lengths to cover their tracks an example of that would be the Mpumalanga killings that happened in between 2008 and 2009. In this instance though my imagination went only as far as case files going missing or the Public Protector being investigated and sacked for some odd thing.

This morning I felt like kicking myself for not taking a bet over what I thought would happen to the Public Protector vs. Cele case when I saw an article in the Sunday Times which read "Sleuth's Cele files deleted by hacker". The article speaks how files relating to the Roux and Cele case have been destroyed from an investigator's laptop. It has been a trend with high profile cases that files would go missing or evidence would get tempered with one way or the other so it was not hard for me to predict that it could happen even in this case.

My only hope is that investigators made back up files because if there are no backup copies that would either prove incompetence and negligence or foul play and I do hope that in the end General Cele and Minister Mahlangu-Nkabinde lend up in court to answer for what they did. The government and opposition parties all talk off combating corruption yet it doesn't seem as though they are playing an active role in making sure that justice is served and that cases are investigated as quickly and thoroughly as possible instead of dragging long enough for evidence to go missing in the process. I also don't see much happening in protecting those dealing with these high profile corruption cases and those exposing corruption and irregularities in government processes. It is however good to see that the Public Protector is getting support from the public.

What is the colour of the wind?

What is the colour of the wind?

 

Wind is air moving and air has no colour. We cannot see wind but we can see the effects of the wind. We see the motion of the wind from the objects that the wind moves. We determine the direction in which the wind is blowing to or from by looking at the things that the wind moves like trees and flowers or even own skirts and dresses.

The wind is always associated with dust, the stronger the wind the more dust in the air. Just as the wind often moves various objects of different sizes, colours, shapes and in places like Cape Town we get winds that are strong in enough to lift a person. I would say because the wind has no colour of its own, it becomes the colour of whatever it moves or affects. So then the wind is a very colourful thing. It is the colour of brooding clouds, the colour of sand and the ocean, the colour of the dress that you would regret wearing on that windy day.

I am

 

Wendy Motsisi

Friday, February 11, 2011

I am

By name I am Wendy Maphefo Motsisi. I was born and bred in Johannesburg, Soweto. I moved to Cape Town as a teenager in pursuit of my dreams. The road to my dreams has taken many detours however I am close to reaching just one of the many dreams and that is obtaining a degree in Public Relations. I am an introvert with some characteristics of an extrovert in terms of personality. I am an ambitious, hard working, passionate and driven individual.

 

I subscribe to a Christian value system yet I keep an open mind on my view of the world. I spend a lot of my time reading for pleasure and also as a requirement to be effective in doing my job as a Bookseller.  Customers somehow expect booksellers to have read all the books and get surprised if we haven't never the less a bookseller should be able to recommend books to a customer. Apart from reading I enjoy other things like listening to music, watching movie and just spending time or going to some social places with friends. While this is not all that I am or who I am, I think it's a great starting point for anyone interested to get to know me.

Posted by Wendy Motsisi at