A generous person

I often wondered why it is that some people get born with a silver spoon in their mouths and others just get a raw deal in life. Some people are born with love in their hearts and others are born always looking for love. It was only recently I discovered how much a persons love can change a heart. My mother does voice training with boys from the Ottery Youth Centre. Majority of these boys don’t have families that love and care for them and are also low in self-confidence. The time that my mother spends with these boys has really made a difference in their lives as well as in mine. The boys are so surprised that a stranger really cares and loves each and everyone of them. To me the love that they are getting is the norm in my life and is often taken for granted. Seeing the boys at practise and how much fun they have makes me feel good inside. This is probably the very same feeling that my mother gets every time she practises with them.
It truly is a demonstration that shows that the smallest form of kindness can change a heart without you even realizing the impact that you make on others around you.

Friendships

We must be very careful what type of friendships we have with others. Even though we might not be aware of it, our friendships mould, shape and affect who we are. People are often judged on the friendships they keep as they so often say “birds of a feather flock together.”
Good friends bring out the good in us and bad friends bring out the bad. Sometimes good friends can influence us to do bad things and sometimes we can influence bad friends to do good things.
So what do you do when friends you truly like continue to do things and act in ways you do not agree with? Instead of making excuses and staying away from them, a true friend would speak to them and let them know how they feel. Should they then have the same, or any regard for your friendship at all, they would at the very least consider changing their ways.
Should they choose not to, the friendship was doomed anyway. It is better for you to be a good influence on others than for you to allow others to be a bad influence on you.

Utilizing Time and the Management of the process.

How can I utilize my time to my advantage? Always be on time. When you have to attend an event make sure that you leave timeously taking into consideration the time needed to travel to your destination. You can never make up for lost time and no amount of rushing or cutting of corners will enable you to do so.
Make sure that you start work on time. Try to arrive at least ten minutes before your starting time as this allows you some time to settle in before you have to start working.
Have you ever noticed how much smoother your day runs if you are early? When you arrive at work late, you start your day at a disadvantage as you are rushed and thrown off balance. And it is at times like this that everything seems to go wrong. When you are on time, you are calm and relaxed and able to cope with the pressures of work. People who are constantly late are always flustered and rushing around trying to make things happen. They scream and shout and bark out orders to other people in an often disrespectful manner leaving a bad taste in the mouths of the people they have to work with. As a result they overlook important things. Plan your day in such a way that you also have time to do nothing. In this way you will not feel as if you are wasting time.

Recession Up and away! Think again.

Economists say that we are coming out of our recession but I really don’t think this is the case. Last month alone I came across so many small businesses, bars and restaurants that have closed down, some of which have been around for many years. And that was only in a small part of the southern suburbs.
It appears as if many people are going to remain unemployed for some time to come and, considering how people are already struggling financially, it is going to take a lot of willpower just to survive from day to day. For those who are fortunate enough not to be feeling the recession as badly as others, spare a thought for the less fortunate when purchasing groceries, and more especially your luxury items.
If you are not really able to assist anyone financially, you can assist them by not buying grocery items that are excessively priced. In this way manufacturers, suppliers and retailers will be forced to reduce their prices to get their stock moving again.
One can even apply this strategy to so many other areas of our lives that require us to part with our hard-earned money. This is the only way that we can try to break the stronghold the business world has on our economy and restore some semblance of normality
In these tough economic times there are many opportunities for people to show their kindness and generosity towards others. If all those who “have” can share just a small portion of their wealth with those who “do not have”, it will go a long way to assist in the eradication of poverty and improving the standard of living in our communities.

Death is Reality! Why not leave preapared

Very few people are able to say that they are not afraid to die because the majority are not truly sure about eternal life. But, whether we are sure or not, we are still going to die. It is often said that talking about death is morbid but what is even more morbid is not knowing what the deceased would have wanted. We all know we are going to die but none of us know when. It would make life so much easier for those who mourn if they at least knew what their loved ones wanted. If people feel uncomfortable about talking to others about what they want, they should at least put it in writing and make sure that someone will know where to find it when they pass away. Death is a reality! Do as much as you can for others while you are alive as there is no guarantee that your wishes will be respected when you die, especially if you have not specified what you want in writing. What we must realize is that, more often than not, the death of a loved one, especially parents, seldom draws families closer even if they have a close bond.

Observing Relations

If you fall in love with someone and they turn out not to be the person you thought they were, don’t prolong your agony by thinking that they will change, again, and become the person you first thought they were. Break away immediately. People only show you who they really are when they are confident that they have you exactly where they want you and they will never again become that person that they pretended to be when you first fell in love. This is how many people, young and old, become trapped in relationships where they live in the hope of the person whom they fell in love with once again becoming the person they pretended to be when they first met. It is not going to happen and, the sooner you face this fact, the more heartache you will save yourself in the long run. Many people spend a lifetime living in hope only to discover that it was never meant to be.

Nurturing the young

If you are wondering why so many of our young people are going astray, then maybe we should start examining ourselves as parents and role-models in this day and age.
It is amazing to hear how many adults do not show their own parents the respect that they are supposed to. Many of us are treating our parents as if they are our children but we expect our children to respect us. Adults who still live in their parents’ house do not even have a proper relationship with them. Some do not even speak to their parents. Do we, who are still children, not realize that we will never receive God’s blessing if we do not honour our parents? It is the only commandment of God that holds a promise. Children who do not honour their parents will never be truly happy! They will continually strive for worldly achievements and approval but they will never find true fulfillment.