This is my evaluation findings!

I took a test and got the following evaluation,read on and take yours today:)

What Kind of Drink Are You?
	You are a Fine Glass of Wine. You are sophisticated and refined, but also complicated and hard to deal with. Not everyone loves you, but those who do swear that you're the coolest thing since sliced bread. One of these days the people that matter will understand you. Until then, you will be sitting on your throne as the distinguished product that not everyone has the taste to appreciate.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

Make it count

We hear many things that urge us to hasten our efforts because time is not on our side.One of the most profound and practical being ¨ripping a day off a calendar at the end of every day and saying,here goes another day of my life¨.The question that comes after this feeling that time escapes us,is whether we have used some of the time which we could ¨freeze¨ wisely.Say years from now,call it twilight years,or a decade from now...I could even be dramatic and say this time tomorrow.Can I honestly say,yesterday was a day well spent.So if I want to feel that way tomorrow about today I will do things differently.Ideally we know the things that wont matter much in our twilight years,those things include presentations at work,weekend fashions or entertainment...at least I hope not.I want to have abundant memories,of time spent with loved ones,I want to know more about them starting yesterday,than office gossip.I want to know the details of my sisters dreams more than the details of a promotion package.I will not miss my sisters important dates,like birthdays,matric dinners,graduations unless I have to(being out of the country is one reason).I want to extend this resolution to the family God has planned for me.All in God´s time,but I pray I use that time productively!

I heard the expression make it count for the first time from my bestfriend at a basketball match.Each time a baller had a freethrow,she would shout ¨make it count¨.I got to understand that the expression draws its strong significance because,the chance to make a basket can be realised or not in that moment.So,therefore the baller had to make a freethrow the basket,score the shot in order to make it count.I think about that making it count analogy,in small tasks too because they count towards a bigger goal.They all count towards a bigger goal.It all matters.

Animals get intoxicated too

Love gone right

A topic well,or even overwritten,a topic for all seasons.I am a little weary to write about love from any angle.Its a subject that is simply over-evaluated.Well,here is my 2 cents worth.I will start with listing some cliches about love,and note observations,experience and my resolution.

1)Love is blind:
I guess this explains why we fall for and continue to stay in relationships that are dysfunctional.Your friends,your family could ridicule the relationship,but you just wont listen.Friends would ask,what do you see in him or her,and you would reply,I just love her.I just simply dig this person.They make me feel ¨......¨This feeling is so powerful,its like a high.Each time,they do something or even what they do not do to warrant you walking out of a relationship,you get a whiff of this high.You are back.

2)Love sets you free:
Well,this perspective,seemingly contradicts the one above.I am not at this level yet in my relationships,but a good friend told me that love set him free.I have seen him with his girlfriend and they are good together.Moreover,they have accepted each other,knowing sufficiently enough about each other to look forward to the future.They are happy with redefining themselves as a unit contrary to two individuals.As I said Im not there yet(implying I hope to use and apply this definition in my lovelife in this lifetime)It sounds like what dreams are made of.Total trust and a great sense of belonging,like finding yourself again,in someone else.

3)Love conquers all:
This is linked more or less to point 1 above.Its the certainty of purpose when people are in love.Its the invicible belief that the unity of love will help people endure.This cliche has been credited to many stories of hope and the overcoming of great trials and tribulations.

Many people could profess that they have loved.This conclusion,comes from various beliefs.In the book ¨The road less travelled¨by M Scott Peck,he talks about the process of falling for someone.The whole shabang,starting with noticing, flirting, courtship(this step does not happen for all),engagement and marriage.Please note that I noted all the aspects just for completion,not necessarily because they occur in that order or that they all occurt all,but to open a bigger discussion.Anyway,back to Scott Peck,in his book he describes love as the driving force behind spiritual growth. He considers the notion that romantic love exists a very destructive myth, that it is about dependency, that true love is "falling in love", that love is cathexis, that love is a feeling. Instead love is about the extending of one's ego boundaries to include another, and about the spiritual nurturing of another.In short he describes love as an effort.

His perspective on love (in The Road Less Traveled) is that love is not a feeling, it is an activity and an investment. He defines love as, "The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth." Love is primarily actions towards nurturing the spiritual growth of another. Love cannot be sustained by mutual dependence, rather, love between two parties is made stronger when they are completely independent of one another.

Again,my friend would critisice this entry because he would observe that I quoted someone else.He would be dissappointed because I didnt relate directly,explicitly stories of my broken-heart in high school,betrayal and low self-esteem in university amidst distorted images of love which equated to sexuality or about giving oneself entirely to the other person.So yes,my friend again would argue that I must have learnt someting and have something personally valuable to share,well I think not.My stories of dissapointment ad self-doubt and mistakes probably mirror those of millions of others.How I dealt with pain and joy of love or falling in love also is nothing new or different or revolutionary.So I dont think,its really bringing any value.You see,I have thought starting from the source would be of help,finding out about love (what is is,how it is,when is it,wand why it is).So unlike my friend, topics in which Im not experienced,and that includes topics with bad results(in terms of love this means no decent past or present relationship status) I ask the experts.I ask the tried and tested.You know thats why we go to school for anything,any learning,to acquire something we dont know from someone who knows something more than us,and has experience and results to show.

Therefore since I had read M Scott Peck´s book a while back,and found it more that just riveting,I quote it here.I also think its useful,because I dont know many people in healthy relationships,and the problem is at the source.How people got together to the place and feeling they called love.Some people got it wrong the first time,some people say its falling in love for the wrong reasons like for money,for material posessions,for family ties,for power etc.Some people decide to get together and call it love because of fear,fear of being alone,fear of not feeling productive with their lives.Some people get together and call it love because they meet other people who they feel can make up for the wrong and inadequate things in their lives.For most people the decision and or feeling to fall in love is from psychological or physiological cause and iandequacy.The need to be completed.I was happy to hear the line from Jerry Maguire ¨You complete me¨is not so cool anymore to signify a deep bond of love.So the wheel turns...As for me my friend,since I have not been able to get this love thing right,I decided to call in the experts,and make love a decision,and fall in love the right way.Besides it was William Shakespeare who said ¨ Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments¨.

Inspirational-The Secret (The soundtrack is a bonus)

Filipino Prisoners-Re-enactment of Michael Jackson´s Thriller

Under the weather

,Im feeling a little under the weather today.I have a bit of fever.The weather in Madrid has not been that consistent.There has been windy days right after a heat wave and I think I was exposed.Plus I sleep with my window open.Anyway,there´s other types of brooding in the air.I hope it happens before Im 35:)Anyway,its been good to talk less today at work.It kind of feels like Im a different person,when Im not ill.Like a clown,a people pleaser,conversationalist,cheerleader...And it felt good to not have to do much,to be in a sublime state,to be introspective,and enjoy my latest craze:

http://www.tv-links.co.uk/

Invictus Through Christ

South Africa in Pictures

http://www.vagabonding.com/gallery_app/slideshow.php?set_albumName=southafrica

I miss South Africa because :

1)My family is there.

2)My childhood friends are there.

3)Most of my university friends are there

4)I can relate to people mostly face to face(offline)

5)Its easier and usual to make unannounced visits(within territory:)

6)Its a different feeling to call someone from local number to local number.It has nothing to do with clarity/reliability of a network,but the reality of being within one border.

7)The African print on clothing,mannerisms,food,interactions,places and people.

8)The food tastes different.Its not any more alimentation than it is...its more soul food.

9)The television programs mimic the life I have seen for most of my life.Think of South African soapies that have evolved over the years to continously track our lifestyle,our politics,our economy.The good thing is local content has increased and we even have movies that have captured the attention and imagination of an international audience.Think of Oscar winning movie Tsotsi and Sarafina.Its also heartening to see our stories being told,our struggles being shared.

10)I can passively listen.The languages are familiar.I speak 2 fluently(English and Sepedi),I can communicate faily in Afrikaans,and then its touch and go with Sotho dialects and Zulu!

11)Familiar gestures,habits,street slang,hood codes,fashion and people.Expressions like eish,joe after everh sentence.Popular street,township and suburbian fashion like All Stars,Loxion Kulcha,Stoned Cherrie,Billabong.South Africans can almost be segmented also by their fashion branding.

12)My roots are in many places.My history,my heritage,and a future I would still like to cling to.My family roots run deep in Africa,to places far and near.From Congo to Limpopo,sons and daughters of kings!

13)In the end,I miss South Africa because it has been part of my identity for 24 years of my life.I realised putting this together,that no matter how many pictures,words I could put down.The feeling,the reality the presence,the moments,the excitement,and sometimes dullness cannot be put down to completely capture how I feel when Im there.I appreciate South Africa more now that Im outside the country.When I touch down,its irresistible to kiss the African soil.

Invictus en Christo

Dedication

This poem is posted after tragic passing of a daughter of our pastor and her husband.Both were members of our church in South Africa.In the end its not how we die but how we lived our lives.The love we shared,the love we inspired and therefore the love we leave in people behind.Ultimately,as a Christian I need to be found in Christ,in happy and sad moments.I dedicate this poem to her family,friends and fellow congregants.

¨Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so,
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure: then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
-- John Donne