On the shoulder of a giant

Sometimes I surprise myself in the decisions I make, only to realise that there was a greater power involved to guide me. I am living on the shoulder of a giant, my Lord Jesus Christ, who loves me, guides me and protects me to fill my purpose on earth. I cannot take any credit for what I have accomplished in my life as He is the one who has given me the ability to be, to grow and to become.

With Him by my side, I can achieve anything with no fear to failure!

I live to praise Him, He is glorious!

It is closer than it is too far

After four and a half years of dating, my boyfriend and I are slowly but surely getting ready for that next step. Since day one we have been committed to each other. Not really knowing where our lives where going, we just went with the flow which ended up growing our relationship and life expectancy. So much so, that our future goals have jointly come together reaching a sense of balance.

We are very excited to go overseas next year to see the world and most importantly get a bit of a financial push in life. This will of course test our relationship once again but we are not afraid of the challenge. Even though there is still a lot of planning to be done and God’s will to lead us in the right direction, I am so excited to be able to do this with the one I love.

I am counting down the weeks already, hopefully it is closer than it is too far!

Cleaning out the fridge

Have you ever reached the middle of the month and realise you are so broke you can hardly buy something from a R5 store? Yes well it happens all too often to me!

Other than that bad habit of spending every sent as it comes rolling in, I also tend to be able to survive very well on the back stock of the fridge. By the end of the month I am convinced I got my budget all figured out just to be trapped in the same position the next month.

I have noticed that the harder the economic pressure on our wallets, the less we try to save and the more we tend to spend on the small feel good items. It is s bad routine to fall into with nothing to show for it in the end! Rather get a savings account and put away at least R100 per month, research has shown that starting to save even just a little from your 20s will show much greater results than saving a greater amount from your 40s.

Why do we put ourselves through this pressure of spending like there is no tomorrow without thinking about the last day of the month?

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." - (Andy Warhol)

Why would you be world famous you might ask? Well the expression from the late 60’s might have referred to many things but after five decades it seems clear to me what Andy Warhol meant. I think he referred to the introduction to the internet and social media. Blogging, Tweeting, Facebook and YouTube has made it possible for any person to become famous for a few minutes even if it is only to a few people the moment of fame will be on the World Wide Web available to everyone for a longer period than any paparazzi photo shot published or shown on TV in the 60's.

Together with the publics growing interest in reality TV, more oppertunity has been made available for everyday people to be featured on national Television.

A skill set called leadership

Leadership has many definitions but it comes down to a method used to influence others to achieve goals and objectives, which in turn develops the group.

"What makes leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don't what to do and like it" - Harry Truman

It takes skill to become a good leader, looking at the below listed characteristics needed, we realise every person has a little bit of leadership within them just waiting to be developed;

·         Inspire others, move and motivate others to achieve a particular goal or to make some kind of change.

·         See the big picture, think about today and most importantly about tomorrow.

·         Be dedicated to follow through with plans.

·         Be a good decision maker, you won’t always know it all so have a set of guidelines and people to consult to assist in making good and fast decisions.

·         Know the strengths and weaknesses of your team and delegate work to team members.

·         Lead by example, referring to ethical leadership of prescribed standards of what is morally right and wrong to earn respect from others.

·         Have a strong character, with firm beliefs and stay grounded.

·         Good communication, always be honest and keep your team informed while also being approachable and a good listener to their feedback.

·         Commit to greater responsibility.

·         Be passionate and positive about the job at hand.

·         Keep your team happy.

I believe anyone can become a fantastic leader with practise on the above traits, the most important character of a great leader is the way he/she treats his team.

Rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read (Frank Zappa)

Rock journalism is journalists whose focus is to write about rock metal music but according to Frank Zappa, “Rock journalism is people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t read.”

Reporting on rock music is not for anyone, it requires skill and an understanding of the rock culture, the message each song brings across together with the different instrumental sounds used. These journalists write about a deeper message, that not everyone can find hidden in the rhythm of rock songs.

List your top 200 achievements

It is not an easy task to list ones top  200 achievements! I am 23 years old and I am positive that I have achieved even more than that, but looking back I can only remember a few highlights in my life;

1.       My first achievement was to be the strongest sperm

2.       I was born on 14 January 2011

3.       I knew immediately how to cry without any training

4.       My first word spoken

5.       My first step taken

6.       My first word written

7.       When I slept a full night without crying

8.       Using a toilet by myself

9.       When I learned to read

10.   When I gave my heart to Jesus Christ

11.   Finishing a full 350ml can of Coca-Cola by myself

12.   Keeping a ice-cream cone straight while eating it

13.   Surviving to grow up with a 4 year older brother

14.   Learning to ride a bicycle

15.   Learning to change a bulp, a plug and work with a screwdriver

16.   Passing pre-primary school after 2 years

17.   Elected as media prefect in standard 5

18.   Voted as pom-pom girl for athletics team

19.   Being voted as captain of our standard 6 girls hockey team

20.   Walking 10km for ‘Noord Boland’ in 1hour5minutes

21.   Passing Matric

22.   Getting my license

23.   Not drinking and driving

24.   Having the highest Metric exam result in Robertson High matric class of 2006 for Needlework and Business Economics

25.   Having the highest Needlework Matric results in the Western Cape in 2006

26.   Getting accepted to study PR at CPUT

27.   Being accepted to do a 1 year internship at Marcus Brewster Publicity

28.   Celebrating my 21^st Birthday

29.   Completing a National Diploma in Public Relations Management

30.   Getting a bursary to study PR Management Btech degree

31.   Arranging my first event on my own

32.   Getting my first job

33.   Buying my first car

34.   Being able to support myself financially

35.   Not judging people ever

36.   Completing my first 10km run race in 56 minutes in 2011

37.   Meeting the perfect boyfriend 9 years ago

38.   Supporting my boyfriend through a hard time 

39.   14 Years of friendship with my first best girlfriend

40.   Learning to stand up for myself