Does your past define who you are today?

Some of us have had a really bad past but does that define who you are today? Some would say yes because of the experiences and things that have happened to them has shaped them to be who they are today. Some would say no because it is the past and we all need to move on and always better themselves. In my personal opinion, I think yes, your past does somewhat have a factor to who yoy are today.

I have a friend whose dad died at a very young age. She seeks and thrives on attention from men as she never had a dad and that attention from a male figure from a young age. She flaunts herself to men and she has a terrible reputation. She will go to any length to let a male notice her. My question here though is, is it her fault? In one way I would say no. This is how she has been brought up and some people feel it is the only way to carry on and live.  We also live in a society where it is ok to do this. On the other hand no, as she should know better than flaunt herself and receice attention in the wrong way. She can never hold together a stable relationship and I always feel the need to help her but there’s a saying “If you cannot help yourself, how are others going to help you”?

      http://wankinsellainanutshell.blogspot.com/2011/06/note-to-self-never-judge-book-by-its.html

The most important thing to do is to never judge these people. No one knows what people have been through and it is simple ignorance to judge a person as soon as you meet them. Yes, there are things that might irritate us at first such as bragging about money, being loose etc. but do we know what has made them do that? Probably not at first. “Never judge a book by its cover” is a saying that I have become familiar with. Get to know people before you judge a person.

                                   http://www.chrisbatu.com/2012/02/14/never-judge-someone/

It is a poor idea to lie to youself

“It is only due in 3 days time, I will do it the day before”, “my favourite program is on, I will do it afterwards”. Does this sound familiar? I am sure most of you answered yes.

                              http://stephdoinks.blogspot.com/2011/06/procrastination.html

I believe that the generation we live in are procrastinators. We are getting lazier by the day and leaving things to the last minute and then we end up stressing and running around like a chicken without a head. Why do we do this to ourselves? Lying to ourselves is certainly not going to help the situation. It seems the older I get, I become more professional about procrastination. What I have done for myself recently is set up a timetable with everything I need to do and when I need to so it by. You unfortunately need to be very disciplined with this. It will help you in the long run as we start entering the business world. So why not start now while we are still studying because we not going to get any second chances in the industry and the stress levels will get higher. So do what you need to do and remember lying to yourself Is going to get you nowhere.

http://itsaboutyoursuccess.com/network-marketing/procrastination-destroy-business-2/

The sound of one hand clapping

I have sat for hours thinking about what I am going to write about on this topic. It seems strange for one hand to clap, actually it is impossible. Then when I thought about the word ‘impossible’ it came to me and ideas were flowing. I don’t believe that impossible is a word. Everything in life is possible if we just put our minds to it. We cannot always achieve things alone, we need encouragement, support and motivation and believe it or not, most people are willing to help.

I have recently been going through a really hard time in my personal life and I am overwhelmed by the support and encouragement that I have received. I have been stuck between a rock and a hard place and I have been feeling like I am literally stuck and cannot move. With all the support I have received, I feel like I can move forward and see life in a new light and no matter what you go through, it Is only an obstacle that you need to overcome and you come out a better and stronger person in the end.

                      http://indulgy.com/post/t9B0MGUUE1/inspiration-motivation-encouragement

Some people may feel that they do not want to burden those around them with their problems and may feel like they are the only ones going through what they facing. Guess what? You not! The more you speak to people the more you realise that other people also have problems they are facing and it makes it easier as you share experiences and help each other overcome that problem. We are human and we are imperfect. We are all going to have problems and challenges in life. Let people help you, motivate you and encourage you because the sound of two hands clapping is better than one.

http://treesflowersbirds.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/ah-that-pesky-motivation/

Beautiful South Africa

I have been very lucky to have travelled to many different places in my lifetime. It is one of my passions as I love learning about different cultures and people. It also makes you realise that we are so fortunate to have what we do and live in such a beautiful country. Out of all the places I have travelled to, South Africa is by far the most beautiful. From our beautiful beaches to the most elegant mountains we shouldn’t be complaining so much. Yes, we do have our problems such as crime, corruption, poverty and so on but us as South Africans need to really start appreciating our country and stop taking it for granted.

There is so much negativity of our country in the media all over the world that people do not actually get to see what South Africa is all about. Almost everyone I come across overseas asks me if we ride elephants to school and do we need to build big walls around our houses to keep the lions out. Really? The only thing that people are most certain about is that Nelson Mandela comes from South Africa. People are so quick to judge and are so blinded to what South Africa has to offer.

Seeing what I have been fortunate enough to see makes me just realise how we blessed we are to be living here. Recently my sister and I travelled to Mauritius and we came across a few South Africans who were staying where we were. They were running our country down so much to foreigners that it was actually embarrassing to be sitting there. Why do we speak so negatively about our country? We really need to start promoting our country in a positive way and embracing what we have.

Poor service in South Africa

While I was in Durban last week, I went out to a restaurant with some of my friends and just could not believe the service that we received. She didn’t smile, was not helpful at all, everything she did seemed like she was doing us a huge favour and was just plain rude! In my opinion, service is what makes a good restaurant. Being a waitress before, I know what customers want and that is a smiling face and being helpful and friendly. What I think these waiters and waitresses don’t understand is that they should be so grateful that they have a job. Thousands of people and especially in South Africa are without jobs and they would do almost anything to get one. If you don’t want to be serving people then don’t. Don’t walk around like you are about to kill someone.

http://www.sodahead.com/fun/for-sprint-customers-how-has-your-personal-experience-with-sprint-been-for-you/question-2110395/?link=ibaf&q=poor%2Bservice&imgurl=http://images.sodahead.com/polls/002110395/462738543_Poor20Customer20Service202_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg

Another thing that makes me so mad is don’t the managers see what is happening? They should be the ones who can see the problem and do something about it. People go to a restaurant to have relaxing time with a good vibe and atmosphere. Yes the food is also important but what is a place without good service? Poor customer service leaves a bad impression on the restaurant or place you are at and you most probably will neer go there again because most people will remember the service rather than the product.

It is not just the food industry but service everywhere in South Africa no matter if it is at a convenience store, a shopping mall or at a club. People need to start taking action and voicing their opinions not only to those who are serving you but to the managers as well before it really starts getting out of hand.

                                  http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/p/poor_service.asp

Not all who wander are lost

Have you ever felt like you are headed for one direction but you just cannot seem to get there? Or you have set out specific goals, long-term or short-term, but you just cannot quite seem to achieve those goals? For some of us it does take a bit longer to reach our goals or destination because we don’t know exactly how to go about achieving them or how to take the right approach in achieving them. Each one of us needs to set out specific goals to work toward, whether it means losing weight, getting that A, stop smoking or just eating healthy in general because if we don’t have goals in place we cannot work hard to get where we want to be or better ourselves in everyday life.

                                            http://emilylevenson.com/guest-post-goals-are-hard

Sometimes it takes a bit longer than others. We may drift off path. I know from my personal experience that I have tried every diet under the sun. I have set out certain goal weights that I have wanted to be. What I have learned is that you cannot just lose weight or stop smoking overnight. It takes time and there are certain steps in place to get where you want to be. The biggest mistake people make is when they do not immediately see results or they still get cravings or whatever the problem may be, they just give up. Giving up in my books is failure. No one said that life would be easy and reaching a specific goal is definitely not easy. When life gets tough or it is not going your way, carry on. When you see the end results you will be so happy that you did not give up and reaching your goals will get easier overtime.

So go and get a pen and paper, write down your goals and the steps that you are going to go about achieving them and remember that if you do drift off a bit, it doesn’t matter just don’t give up.

http://nattynat.net/2011/06/27/emotional-rationality-process-xs-three/dontgiveupquotecolorlife-edea42c10a8458b9ffdc60a9ed611ad1_h/