An Icon turned 94 yesterday

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ,(born 18 July 1918) often known as Madiba,is a South African politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the first ever to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.  Before being elected President, Mandela was a militant anti-apartheid activist, and the leader and co-founder of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and  though false, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mandela went on to serve 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island.
Strength, ability, zeal and knowledge of the truth was not buried but awaited the time the world would listen to him. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known as the most significant black leaders in South Africa. Most of Mandela’s approaches to apartheid activities was as a result of   Mahatma Gandhi’s Influence upon his life.
Throughout Mandela’s imprisonment, local and international pressure mounted on the South African government to release him, under the resounding slogan Free Nelson Mandela! In 1989, South Africa reached a crossroads when Botha, its president suffered a stroke and was replaced as president by Frederik Willem de Klerk. De Klerk announced Mandela’s release in February 1990.
Mandela was visited several times by delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross, while at Robben Island and later at Pollsmoor prison. Mandela had this to say about the visits: “to me personally, and those who shared the experience of being political prisoners, the Red Cross was a beacon of humanity within the dark inhumane world of political imprisonment.
Since Imprisonment, Mandela has achieved so much more.
He is a true living legacy for this day.

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.

Thomas Edison was a man that was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth,but he rose above the challenges he was born with:

–not being able to talk till the age of 4 years to an uprising entrepreneur at the age of 12 years.
–being deaf in one ear as a result of punishment inflicted on him at work,

did not deter the outflow of Inventions that this world has ever seen.
All the while he was cultivated a strong sense of perseverance, readily expending whatever amount of perspiration needed to overcome challenges. This was a characteristic that he later noted was contrary to the way most people respond to stress and strain on their body….
The key upshot of this attribute was that his unique mental, and physical, stamina stood him in good stead when he took on the incredible rigors of a being a successful  inventor in the late 19th Century….
We this day stand on the shoulder of such an attribute to make our lives what we desire it to be.

Is it time for another “FACE-OFF”?

Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of the famous movie by Nicholas Cage and John Travolta  titled “Face-Off“. A thought crossed my mind, we have to be careful about people we let into our lives. Not everyone is healthy enough to have a front row seat in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you let go of or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships or so called friends. Observe the relationships and friendships around you. Pay attention. Which ones lift and which ones lower you? Which ones encourage and which ones discourage? Which ones are on a path of growth uphill and which ones are going downhill? When you leave certain people do you feel better or feel worse? Which ones always have drama or don’t really understand, know, or appreciate you? The more you seek quality, respect, growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you…the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the front row and who should be moved to the balcony of your life.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

Some years ago, the economist George Akerlof found himself faced with a simple task: mailing a box of clothes from India, where he was living, to the United States. The clothes belonged to his friend and colleague Joseph Stiglitz, who had left them behind when visiting, so Akerlof was eager to send the box off. But there was a problem. The combination of Indian bureaucracy and what Akerlof called “my own ineptitude in such matters” meant that doing so was going to be a hassle—indeed, he estimated that it would take an entire workday. So he put off dealing with it, week after week. This went on for more than eight months, and it was only shortly before Akerlof himself returned home that he managed to solve his problem: another friend happened to be sending some things back to the U.S., and Akerlof was able to add Stiglitz’s clothes to the shipment. Given the vagaries of intercontinental mail, it was very possible that Akerlof made it back to the States before Stiglitz’s shirts did.
There’s something comforting about this story: even Nobel-winning economists and business entrepreneurs procrastinate!
Many of us go through life with an array of undone tasks, large and small, nibbling at our conscience

I think of myself, I opened my WordPress site in may but did not write the welcome page till July… procrastination.
“I can not forbear to reproach myself for having so long neglected what was unavoidably to be done, and of which every moment’s idleness increased the difficulty.”

Why do you think we do that? I have no idea but if you do, please feel free to comment and share with us.

Welcome to my blog

NOW it has arrived, the time to return back to my first Love. I hold this in high regard because of the many values that will be taught, shared and imbibed through these little series of letters to you all.

This is not the time to draw back, we learn concepts of worth though the different values that we open up our selves to.

Les Brown says,”Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner.”. So stand up and pick yourself up and let these little notes motivate you beyond your wildest Imaginations.

Stay on edge

The Memorable 4th Of July

The Fourth of July is a joyous day. It gives us a time to reflect on the Land of the free and Home of the brave with the help of friends, family, food (hopefully some sort of smothered meat) and fireworks.

It’s the fireworks, though, that we gravitate towards and the emergency rooms situated around this country are put on high alert because of it. There’s just something about bright, flashing lights and explosions that sit well with all of us, unless, of course, your house or hands are involved.

At some point, however, they will undoubtedly malfunction or be misused, but you can never be certain when or where this shocking turn for the worst will take place. One minute you’re blowing out Texas, the next you’re in the ER trying to explain how you still won the “bottle rocket war” despite having one currently lodged in your left eye socket.

This day also holds great moments, The Declaration of Independence was signed July 4th 1776, the Liberty bell was also cracked, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4th.

There is also another unknown thing to celebrate about July 4th, the death of your financial struggles and your Independence to Financial Freedom. It’s your’s today. I stand with the Benjamin Franklin’s, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson’s of this great Independent state in drafting out your declaration of Independence.

Happy “Financial” Independence.