Running into walls

Current mood: contemplative
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Ever noticed in life, sometimes it's like you have one foot nailed to the floor and it feels like you are going round in circles. Sometimes it is as if you were merrily walking along, and all of a sunnden there was a huge wall in the way, and smack you walked right into...*ow* my nose hurts...

This is not something I made up, I heard it somewhere. This is good and bad.
Good->because if you think it is stupid, you can't really blame me.
Bad->because if you think it is cool I can't take credit.

Now one day a man was walking along and he came to a wall that was blocking his path. He stopped dead in his tracks, the wall was so high he couldn't climb it, so wide he couldn't walk round it. This thing was like the great wall of China. So he stood there for a minute, pondering his next move. He could go back the way he came and try find another way around, or he could try something else.

So he stood there and looked up to heaven, like they do in the movies, and said "what now, God?".
Then, just like in the movies, a loud booming voice comes from the heavens...
"Push the wall over, my son"
The man looked up into the sky and said "but God, look how wide and tall and thick the wall is".
God says to the man again "Push the wall over".
The man goes "But God...I can't".
God says "How will you know, if you never try...Remember I am with you".

So the man walks up to the wall and puts his hands against it...And pretends to push...
God says "do it like you mean it."
So the man does.


He pushes


And pushes


And pushes

And guess what!

No...the wall doesn't miraculously fall over.

But after a really long time of pushing against the wall, God once again comes to the man.
God says "ok, you can stop pushing the wall now".
The man steps back, defeated, and says "Sorry Lord, but I have failed You".
God says "Look at your arms, back and legs. See how strong you have become".
And just then with a mighty bang the wall falls over.

Many times in life we end up walking smack into a wall. We have no idea of how to get around/past that wall, only we know we need to be on the other side. That wall could be anything from learning a new theory in calculus to learning to play an instrument to trying to get a buff body. You gotta just push that wall, and eventually something will happen...
You will get the calculus theory.
You will be able to ripp it up on the guitar.
You will look like arnold.

They say, "Hardship builds character". This is true is most cases, but in other cases the hardship just creates more resentment. You will often need the strength you gained struggling with some or other "WALL" to help someone else out, or yourself...

But...You can't do it alone, it is impossible, just ask me, I know.

That darn hard choice

Current mood: thoughtful
Category: Religion and Philosophy

No I am not talking about choosing between a large milkshake or a regular size...

I am talking to the way we react to life. I have basically noticed there are pretty much 2 camps when it comes to reacting to what happens in life. There are the people who just explode, and there are other people that kind of seem like they have been smoking weed. I reckon that you should try avoid belonging exclusively to either of these camps. If you are one of the angry people, you will upset the people around you by flying off the handle for the smallest of things. If you are the laid back person, you will get used, often...

Someone once said "Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans". So true. The choice you make on how to react to what happens determines what type of person you are (duh). Another real challenge is to stop being a human being and start being a human doing...Don't just be a lame duck floating downstream, going with the crowd...Do something with your life, swim upstream.

Me, I try to do just that...Sometimes it gets tiring though. Especially when I have had a long day at work and my little sister is pestering me...I just wanna snap and give her a smack. Then I think of something, though a little corny, that helps me not to do that... WWJD, yes we all know what it means, "WHY WAIT, JUST DO" it.... no, kidding, means "what would Jesus do?". Well He had patience...

He still has patience...

He will always have patience...

Forever...

Try it out, you owe it to yourself and
those you love

Who am I?

Current mood: disappointed
Category: Life

The eternal question rings in my mind once again:

WHO AM I

Sometimes I sit and wonder, what I am? Then I look around at all the people around me and see something interesting...They are also sitting around going "who am I?"

I can hear you screaming it now: "I know who I am", "I am a big strong bloke" or "I am a sexy vixen" or .....

But do all these people actually know who they are...Yes and no.

What??!?
Sure they know other people think they are "I am a big strong bloke" or "I am a sexy vixen" or .....
But who are they really? How do they define themselves?

People post pictures of their butts, their boobs, their sixpacks, their biceps...Whatever, and they define themselves by this...It's sad, because who the person actually is, is not what they look like. I know too many pretty girls/good looking guys that are so shallow, and they suck as people, then I know other people who are good looking or not who are awesome people. People these days define themselves by what other people think of them, what the media says they should look like (frigging stick insects!)...

That big strong bloke could get in a car accident and end up being a weeny after being in hospital, the sexy chick will get older...Then who are they?

Think about this
The more you worry about what others think of you, the less you know who you are...

SO stop worrying about who others think you are, and trying to be that person....Don't be a copy, be somebody!

BE WHO YOU ARE...EVEN IF IT IS A LITTLE CRAZY...IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE, FIND OUT BY NOT CONFORMING TO THE FRIGGING MEDIA...IT SAYS WE SHOULD ALL CARRY LITTLE DOGGIES IN HANDBAGS AND WEAR TIGHT LITTLE T's...

DEEP WITHIN YOU MUST LOOK, THE PERSON WHO YOU ARE, TO FIND

What is commitment?

What is commitment?
Current mood: working
Category: Life

Commitment....Something many guys are very afraid to hear about. It is a trap, a cage, a prison sentence for them. Here is the literal meaning:

commitment

1. The act or an instance of committing, putting in charge, keeping, or trust, especially:
   • The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review
   • Official consignment sending a person to prison or a mental health institution
2. Promise or agreement to do something in the future, especially:
   • Assuming a financial obligation at a future date
3. Being bound emotionally/intellectually to a course of action or to another person(s)
4. Perpetration, in a negative manner, as in a crime or mistake
5. State of being pledged or engaged
6. The trait of sincerity and focused purpose

But commitment is so much more than that. I am talking about commitment in all aspects of your life. These days commitment is something that is sadly not seen very often. People just won't commit to anything anymore. They won't commit to relationships, diets, excercise regimes etc. How many people do you know that are divorced? That right there is breaking a commitment you made to your partner and to God. (Now before you want to shoot me, I know that there are sometimes valid reasons for a divorce). What I mean is people who give up on their marriage as soon as things get tough, and they always get tough. There are so many young people that have a different girlfriend/boyfriend every week, I know some people that will go to a club/bar to find a new boyfriend/girlfriend and within a few days you no longer hear about this new "love" of theirs.

Besides relationships, commitment is lacking elsewhere in the world. People change religions like I change my socks....About once a month (Joking) . Check out the celebs, one week the latest religion is kaballa, next it's scientology or whatever is *new*. People base their lives on these flaky people. Then there are soccer,cricket,rugby,chess,drama,band and every other type of practices out there. How ofter does everyone pitch for the practice? Again I know people who won't pitch at practice if their friend isn't there.....(I am beginning to think I need to find other people in my life). Because sadly they aren't committed to the whatever they are practising for.

In fact commitment is at such an all time low, that even the media has caught onto it. There are adverts about "people change their minds, their friends.....". The gossip mags have endless stories about, "who is so and so with this week?"

Man this sucks...So here is a challenge, when you commit to something this week, stick with it.

Local musican support
Current mood: sad
Category: Quiz/Survey

Man my town sucks.

I have noticed there are quite a few musos or people who would like to be musos on myspace. Isn't it cool when you waltz out on stage with your guitar in your hand and a quickend pulse and you see lots of people out there?

Well unfortunately where I come from (A little k*k dorpie, in South Africa, called Vereeniging) it isn't so....You know in the movies when someone asks a stupid question and there is dead silence, all you hear is this chirp, chirp of crickets. Well you have a good chance of that happening to you when you walk out on stage there. There seems to be a sort of mentality going around where people won't go support local bands.

I have been to a couple of shows with live bands, and the turnout was terrible. I've heard stories of bands touring the country, going to Vanderbijlpark (Neighbour of Vereeniging) and having like 30 people pitch. The same band goes to Margate (On the coast) and the main beach is packed with people.

Now I know you might be saying, maybe they were sucky bands. Well the last event I went to had the following bands : Primecircle, The Parletones, The Finklesteins, Grounded, The Waiting Room Band. Now these bands are pretty well known here in SA and they are pretty decent.

Number of tickets sold : round 400.

Tell me that doesn't suck! Now I went to another event outside of the so called "Vaal Triangle" where there were thousands of people. This event was held in Potchefstroom. Another event I went to was in Cape Town and again....Thousands of people.

Now from what I have seen, in my area, there are no bars/clubs etc. where live bands play. The only place you find live bands on a regular occasion is in church.

1. What's it like where you come from?

2. Any ideas on what we can do to improve this?

Two roads diverged in a wood...
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Have you ever stood or sat or lay somewhere thinking.....Where in the world am I going? Why on earth am I here? I have....Many times.

Some people say that life is what you make it, you determine the way you walk, where you go and who you know. Other people believe that you are on a predetermined path. They put everything down as an act of "fate", they believe that where they end up is exactly where they are meant to be, and they could have been no where else...Now I don't know about you, but I find the whole "you are on a set path where fate takes you where it wants" a little too restrictive, almost like being in a rut or one of those little slot cars that just go round and round stuck in the same slot all the time....To me that sucks, what would be the point of that type of life?

I don't see much point to being a mindless drone. That is why I believe something else. Just one thing before I continue, I am a Christian and therefore believe I was created by God and that He has given me some purpose is life. Now I see it this way...He has some purpose for you, whether it is mowing old peoples lawns or helping the needy.

BUT

This is does not mean, to me anyway, that every moment of every day is planned for you. You were given a little thing called free will, which means you can make your own choices. God will give you clues about which fork to take in every situation, through others/feelings etc. but He will mostly leave you to your own devices.

So to paraphrase the title: "many roads diverge in your life"......Which ones are you going to take? It helps to as His advice sometimes...Sometimes you can be going along in one direction, feeling ok. Suddenly something good/bad happens in your life..This can sort of build and "offramp" off of the piece of highway that you are travelling, and it is your choice whether to take it or not. You make choices all day, everyday.