Not all who wander are lost

Not all who wander are lost - Timeless quote for all humanity

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.^[1]

 

 - Poem by JRR Tolkin

These words - not all who wander are lost can and does have many interpretations, the above mentioned poem by JRR Tolkien is where it originated from, but many adaptations of these words have been mentioned.  I think this is truly something that has a specific and different meaning to everyone - W all have a path in life and a responsibility towards ourselves to fulfill our unique destiny, the definition of this destiny is very different to everyone of us. I may feel my destiny is to be Queen, but my brother may feel his destiny is to be at home and provide emotional support for my grandparents.

Our life on earth is all about choices and every decision we make has a consequence, the career we choose, the person we decide to marry and what we take into our bodies. We need to respect and appreciate one another’s differences and choices, this is particularly difficult for parents when their children make choices that they are not comfortable or happy with or does not conform to their social or other status in life.

Human beings judge and condem one another so easily, without any factual information or just by looks, language and colour, this is an age old dilemma and even though South Africa has come along way in this, we have a long way to go in understanding and respecting choice and space of others.

So in a way we all wander this earth, some of us seem to or believe to have more purpose than others but at the end of it all we are all wanderers on a path of our own but we still need one another to attain whatever goals we have for our own lives.

Perception plays a big role in the above mentioned poem as well, we are all so easily fooled by what we see and perceive that we are actually so blind. Let us practice tolerance and respect and teach this to our children as well.

Love

Tanya B

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



Stepping from the top of a 100 foot pole

One step at a time of course! Most situations in life seem like we are either at the top or the bottom of a 100 foot pole and we have no idea what our next move should be, its a bit like eating an elephant, one bite at a time (FYI - I don’t eat elephants!). Problems, challenges and difficulties are part of our every day human existence, be it at the office, at home, in our relationships or even with ourselves, the way to deal with it is to start fro ma point and work your way through the challenges, the questions, the hard times and the frustrating and confusing walls and blockages we face.

If we take ourselves and life less seriously we will find that our greatest judge is ourselves. We shouldn't care what others think of us, or maybe not as much as we currently do. I know I used to give of my best at  work always, came in early, did more than was expected, never take lunch or off days, worked overtime for no extra money and came in weekends, while my husband was left with my tired, irritable and drained self (sound familiar). I have decided to balance my life properly and do things in my stride, especially now that I am carrying a little life, I have realised that this is so not about me any longer.

So I am now eating better and regularly, taking my breaks and leaving at 16h30, to be kind to myself , my body and most importantly my baby and husband.

What was not done today, can be picked up tomorrow morning at 8am. If you have relationship issues, really listen to what your partner wants and needs from you, talk rationally and then agree on steps to follow in order to try and accommodate each other better, try different ways of doing things and approaching situations before you give up.

So with all my blabbing and side tracking - my message to you today is chill a bit, be kind to yourself and those that really care for you and laugh at life now and then!

God Luck to all in this constant pursuit of balance!


Love

Tanya B

We are what we do



Our actions define who we are



As a child we never really worry about what we do or why we do it, we dont even really care or think about who we hurt. As an adult we become a bit more responsible and attentive to the feelings of others, but once you hear the news that you may be a prospective parent, things seem to change - very strange but true. Finding out that I am pregnant and carrying a little life has caused me to really sit back and think about who I am.

We all have good and bad within, we choose to ignore our bad and focus on what wonderful people we are. When you identify your bad points and really become honest with yourself it's difficult to conciously work on improving your behaviour and re-directing the bad habbits, be it language, food or lifestyle.

I tend to think about my actions more as well as the repucussions thereof before I react to something at work or at home, I am more concious of my relationship with my husband now, I want my child to be born into a loving and healthy environment and I want my husband to still feel important and precious to me even though a new arival is on its way. 

I am slowly realising what is important to me and what my actions really say about the person I am. Its a wonderful feeling really, becouse I get to have a second chance at life in a way. I get to start over with a new outlook on things and from a completly unselfish point of view. What is really rewarding is the understanding that life is not all about me and I get to lay all the good stuff I have learned  down as my childs foundation.

So ladies and gents as I'm sure you have all heard at some time in your life - your actions determine who you are, what you do when you are alone shows true character and your reaction to situations will build your character.


Good Luck to all of you and hapy journeying through life, discover what is important to you and be true to yourself always, If possible have 1 child - it is the most wonderful thing in the world to be a parent, I am honoured to cary life and pray that I will contribute positivelty and successfully to this life always!

Love

Tanya

We are afraid of the wrong things



What are we afraid of ?


Fear - what is fear? We all have a fear of something in life, be it spiders or the dark.
Our fears stem from our traditions and beliefs to some extent,for intance some traditional systems believe in the tokolosi. The Tokoloshe myth is well known and feared in most southern African countries. Many people place their beds on bricks (some tales state that they are wrapped in paper) in order to lift them higher off the ground so that the Tokoloshe cannot hide underneath and attack them, the tokoloshe  is a dwarf-like water sprite, said to be fond of women and sour milk. He has only one arm and one leg, the face of an old man on a boy's body.He is considered a mischievous and evil spirit. He can become invisible by swallowing a pebble, and comes out of the water to fight men If he loses the fight, he will teach the man magic and the art of healing.
Some fears stem out of upbringing, for instance the fear of failing could be born out of parents that were very strict and only expected the best at al times. Chlden from such homes usually become very competetaive at school, university or work and will stop at nothing in order to get to the top. Other kind of fear is the fear of rejection which is a social fear, teenagers seem to be most affected by this, as they are still finding out who they are and what thety are about - peer pressure is a symptom of this kind of fear and could have devistating and life long effects on the person and their famalies.

Another kind of fear is the fear of "not having enough" sometimes one is brought up in difficukt circumstances that may have scarred you in one or the other way and once you become self sufficient you overcompensate for ehat you had to do with out for one or the other reason when you were younger - this could be in the form of food, money, power, clothes and posessions or even just shelter.

I think fear also drives most of us to work each day - the fear of not providing for yourself and your family, of someone else perfroming better than you do at your job or the fear of not providing sufficiently for your future.

These examples are all good and well but are these really reasons to be fearful? Are we not really afraid of the wrong things?

Should we not rather be afraid of our life after death, our earth, polloution, recycling, destroying forrests, global warming and extinct animals? We need to get back to basics as human beings and realise what is really and truely importnat to us.

This requires alot of introspection and change within, if we all contribute to the good of the earth and our fellow man, life would be so simple.

I hope this blog inspires you to do something good for the earth and your fellow man:)

Love and peace to all

Tanya

Fish Falling from the sky



Fish falling from the sky



Any good old wives tale or superstition story has an impossibility that it is centered around, for instance, if a child looks through his/her legs someone i nthe room is pregnant, or if a black cat crosses your path you will have 7 years of bad luck or the one we have all hear, throw salt over yout left soulder for good luck in life!

We love to tell and re-tell these stories and most of the time we dont believe these superstitions or tales, but be honest, if a black cat does cross your path you are a teeny weeny bit scared of ill fate for 7 years.

So what small part of us refuses to let go of this nagging and ever present fear of "just in case it is true let me do what I need to do" My answer is fear and a bit of fable. Firstly we as hunman beings are driven by fear everyday, we are afraid of not excelling at work, of not being the best at everything, of not having enough and of well plain bad luck in life.

I think we all have an inner child and we all need a bit of fantasy in our lives so we hold onto these fables and old wives tales becouse it gives us a fairytale like aspect to our lives and existance, why else would we pass these fables onto uur children.

Its the same with fish falling from the sky, its literally impossible but scientifically possible. This phrase was born from a scientific finding caused by the process of evapouration, where fish from the river somehow get evapourated with the water and come down with rain again, strange but oddly true. So we say things like the day I do that is the day fish fall from the sky.

This phenomenon is a magical mix of fairytale, fact and old wives tale.

What is the colour of the wind?



The Many colours of the wind


There is a song by Vanessa Williams, titled colour of the wind,when I think of this question and this song, it brings up images in my mind of freedom and creativity, images of fairytales, unicorns and prices on white horses and castles made of Gold and Jewels, happiness and sunshine - all the good things in life, maybe even the child within me.wers

The wind, much like us as human beings has many colours, there are happy and bright colours in the form of rainbows, there are gentle breezes of summer but there are also grey clouds that the wind brings as well as storms and rain showers, these colours are glomy and grey. The wind also changes direction at times and works with nature,for instance when birds fly together in a "V" shape it warns us of rain, the wind has told the birds to tell us that. When clouds hide the sun and the sky we are warnd of potential rain ahead and when a huricane or tornado is on its way, the wind speed and intensity changes as a arning of what is to come and what we should prepare for. In summer the bright sun and a shallo breeze greet us with the promise of a beautiful day, housewives enjoy this as the washing gets dry quickly and easily and childen enjoy this becouse their play time is extended, working people enjoy this becouse we can apreciate the beautiful city in which we live.

For me the wind has many colours - it all depends on how we wish to see it, I may see a grey day as gloomy, while others may find a sense of spirit and comfort in the greyness. There is a sense of stillness in the wind that allows for introspection and self evaluation.

So to end off this blog - The colour of the wind is what you make of it and what you see in the many hues of colours.