Anything but Ordinary

There can be no doubt that the world is complicated, between economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, together with food inflation, changing weather patterns and global warming, cultural and political upheavel on so many levels and massive risk of violence and corruption to the highest levels in government and this makes for a very interesting time to be living on our planet.  It is easy to be a cynic in these times, easy to be critical and opinionated, but if we stop for a second to pervay the surroundings we will soon note that there is still a fair amount of magic to be found and a whole lot of living to be accomplished.  No one says that change is easy and taking risks in times like these tends to draw major detraction, because it would appear to be the best to simply lie low and allow the storm to pass.  But in South Africa we tend to quickly adjust our normal and simply accept the new and often far more unacceptable norm, to become our reality.  We moaned excessively when the rand went to to $10 but now we are happy to accept that becuase times are tough, the currency is ok at $15.  So therefore we can afford to be entirely dissatisfied with ordinary standards and start tackling principles that have been neglected and rising to meet issues head on in this country.  A media celebrity this week managed to win a case regarding rasism and prejudice and even leaders of the ruling party in the Western Cape have had to endure attacks, all as a result of an unwillingness to bring about real change.  We tend to stay stuck in our circumstances indefinitely, even when we know that a different outcome and an altogetner happier ending could be possible if we take the right risks and have the courage to face the possibility that all we have now, need not be all that is best in our future.  It is possible to try to control everything in your life and end up having nothing like happiness, but we need to embrace the struggle and face the sacrifices that need to be made in order to truly declutter the loves that we are meant to have.  We need to stop doing the things that we do not truly care about because they deliver stress to our lives and start working hard on the things we love because they result in passion.  There is no embarressmemt in being emotional about the tough struggles, but we need to make sure that they really are the struggles that will produce fruit in our lives and will steer our course for a better outcome.  Whether you have to endure the struggles on your own, or in a relationship, the time has come to really work hard and handle the set backs and actually follow through on promises and conversations we have had.  There is nothing wrong in making mistakes but we cannnot afford to make the same mistakes on a regular basis.  I would rather be amongst those that work hard at success, whertner in business, or in life in general for that mattter, than being complacent and hoping that that a lucky break will enable us to fulfill our greatest desires and goals. May action speak louder than our words and may we find that life is not about avoiding the bruises, but rather about collecting the scars to prove that we showed up for it.