Make Things Happen!

I am guilty of being part of the serial new years resolution makers-then-breakers club. Losing weight and getting fit being at the top of that list! I have never successfully driven resolutions beyond the first quarter of the new year for some reason.... I always seemed to get busy with life and work and just forgot, then I would look up 6 months later and realise I had totally blown it and then figured there was no point restarting anything, best wait to next ‘new years’ to start afresh, I would say to myself...Silly right! Also, a clear lack of discipline in certain areas of my life. In the end, I just stopped making ‘new years’ resolutions as a general rule (instead of working on my discipline issue can you imagine!). That was about three years ago now...

On new year’s day I saw the image above on my friends Facebook wall and a light went on in my head! Instead of a long list of empty resolutions that will get lost along the way (mostly due to poor commitment to them) I thought to myself, that if I could have just one, one that I could not "fail", one that was linked to my ethos and vision and drive so much so that I have no choice but to focus on it all year... If I could set in stone just one RESOLVE, to; 

Make Things Happen!

...perhaps I could register more success that I had done in the past after all, last year I had lost 23kgs by starting my weight loss journey in May! Not on January 1 as a resolution dictates, and I stuck with it. Thing that helped with this particular goal were, having the right mindset, having a clear end in mind plus celebrating smaller milestones along the way. I also was not bound to perform a specific task in a specific time frame so there was no pressure and no real definer of what failure looked like because as long as I kept going I was winning! My life changed too, I reflected and revised so many areas of my life to accommodate a healther me and that helped me stay the course I feel, my hashtag in 2016 was #JusKeepMoving!

#MakeThingsHappen could be my 2017 hashtag and whenever I achieve something I will have it as a reference point for celebration! I fell that this is one resolution which would not be setting me up to fail, on the contrary it gives me a real shot at success this year because to achieve it, I just had to produce results in all areas of my life and in reality we all do this anyway, perhaps not in as focused a ways as having a resolve may inspire, so I have decided to adopt it and run with it!! 

Everything but the kitchen sink!

cynical

ˈsɪnɪk(ə)l/ (adjective)

1.    Believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of humans.

"She was severely cynical and hardened to all repeat offenders"

 I am a Christian.

 I am cynical.

 I am imperfect. 

There I said it! You did not read wrong when you landed on the home page and read the words, “Whimsical rhetoric from a cynical mind...”

 I choose not to sugar coat (wait that remind me, I really need to add sugar to the grocery list before I’m fired by the kids! Lol!) Where was I? Oh yes sugar coating, I choose not to do that and just tell it as it is about who I am and wearing my heart on my sleeve by being honest in this space is the result. 

#NewsFlash – NO ONE is Perfect – and my imperfection is cynicism from years of what I can only describe as abusive relationships - Not physical abuse but I think emotional and psychological abuse is right up there in the really awful things you shouldn’t do to people list!  I am talking about a list of violations from the seemingly small ones of a colleague always ducking out of doing overtime and saying, “well Jo is single, she has nothing better to do this weekend”, to the parents taking sides when I fought with a sibling growing up to corruption and inconsistent national policy…I could go on… 

Over and over again, HUMANS FAIL! (Myself included) and therefore I am distrustful of humans and their ability to be sincere… You should have seen me when my husband proposed… I laughed! I didn’t believe that a man would actually do right by me and well he is an exception but the rule remains, we are selfish as people and self-interest trumps doing the right thing (pun intended! Lol!) I am however aspiring to write myself into a better place regarding the cynic in me… 

So this is not me saying that I will be tearing people apart and focusing on proving myself right for being a cynic on this blog and I am excused because I am flawed, No. I am saying that it is going to be a journey from cynicism to whatever the opposite of cynicism is… 

I am also sure that offenses will come along during that journey which will create detours and setbacks, roadblocks and potholes that I will need to be navigated around but I am determined to try and be honest no matter what so here we go!

Fika

I love age old traditions that are rich in culture and designed to bring people together. I particularly enjoy those that are grounded in the ‘breaking of bread’ (which basically means anything that involves food! Lol!). Hang on I have a reason beyond gluttony for this preference, food and drink are basic needs but soul food goes that one step further to warming the heart while nourishing the body and all the more so if shared with others.

Being from the African continent I can identify a few “food focused” traditions that are inspired from this premise, the Braai (BBQ) being one of the most important (because meat is a critical element to soul food if you are African!). There is nothing like laughs shared around an open fire be it at the Gotch Gotch spot or a posh upmarket venue to bring people closer together. And whilst I am a firm meat loving African,  I have to say that my travels across Europe have inspired me to appreciate a different kind of ‘food focused” tradition, if you are English you would call it High Tea but if you are from mainland Europe you would call it FIKA! The subtle difference between the two is that Fika needs no occasion, it can happen at any time anywhere just add coffee and something sweet if you have a sweet tooth!

I first had Fika in 2015 as I travelled in Europe and met some awesome Swedes... "Fika is considered a social institution in Sweden” the idea of dropping whatever you are doing (including switching off your technology) in order to have a coffee with a colleague or a friend, even family – Giving and getting that affirmation of attention and time investment, its priceless.

 I prefer the concept of Fika to that of the English High Tea because the former suggests no pomp and ceremony, no overproduction and status, simply the act of togetherness and genuine and honest interaction. 

A reminder that life is indeed time and time well spent is time invested in others, those you love being at the top of that list….

Let’s share Fika sometime…sometime soon…