Rain Check

As I said in the other blog life operates in seasons. For the moment I feel for me it is time to take a break from writing to do other things. There are a number of other things that I have put aside to facilitate the time spent writing. I have decided that for this season I will focus on them rather than writing my blogs.

So I did not come to this decision easily, but feel it is the best for me. Thank you all my loyal readers it has been a privilege to be able to share with you. I will reevaluate my decision in February 2018.

Know what you know in you knower

There are plenty of people in this world who would like to tell you what to think, what to believe and what to do. In fact people like me who write blogs are doing it all the time.

However it is your prerogative to a decide what you would chose to do, think or believe. I would suggest to this is an important part of you truly becoming real with yourself and others. To develop your values and beliefs is a crucial part of maturity. If that was all that was necessary to become mature than that would be straight forward. For me however the case is not so simple as making decisions or thinking things through. This becomes of little value unless it informs your life and your actions.

I am not really just talking about conventional beliefs such as faith, morality and integrity. It can be as simple as saying a person, a place  or possession is valuable to me. Even in writing last sentence I had to change it around because I put possessions first and to me people are much more important than possessions.

1968 Ford Mustang

Now a case in point, I am a bit of a car buff. I like cars and have owned lots of cars in my time. I have always aspired to own a Ford Mustang.  They are great looking goes really well and are culturally iconic. This would be a kind of hobby, a keeper if you will, a car that you look after carefully and is precious to you. So you can imagine everybody's surprise when I made next decision.

A similar Toyota Levin

My youngest daughter is going to Europe for an extended period so decided to sell her car. A 1996 Toyota Corolla Levin that we have owned for 10 years. We bought the car with 33,000 km on the speedometer and now it has a 163000km on it. My daughter an I have spent an extraordinary amount of time in that car over the last 10 years doing things together. So I decided that I would rather have the Corolla than a Mustang because there is such an emotional connection to the car. I put my value of my family and people first,  so I find value in this car. The cars has dents, faded paint and scratches some of which I helped put there. It holds so many memories for me. So many would say this is not really a smart choice, giving up my dream, but for me it is the right choice because I can cherish it and will  keep just as it is.

No matter what anybody says to me I know I have made the right choice because I know what I value, I believe in and what I want to do. You see I had already made a choice once before and bought an iconic car that I had always wanted since I was teenager. It was great in some ways, but once I had owned it for a while I hardly ever used it because I had no emotional connection and in the end sold after a couple of years. The Levin makes me smile whenever I get into and I will just drive around the corner in just for the sheer joy it.

Know who you, are and live that way.

"All the world's a critic"

The saying goes "All the world's a critic" and to a certain extent it is true. We all have to deal with criticism in our daily lives
Some of it well done and others not so well done.
Some of it will seem to be personal attack and it may well be.
Others will feel like a personal attack but is not intentional just done by someone who lacks personal skills.

We can not control the way the criticism is delivered or the intent. All we can do is control how we respond to the criticism. Will it grow us, will it wound us, will it wound us then eventually grow us. This reminded me of an old story:

The Donkey and the Well: A Fable for Our Time

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out a way to get him out. Finally he decided it was probably impossible and the animal was old and the well was dry anyway, so it just wasn't worth it to try and retrieve the donkey. So the farmer asked his neighbours to come over and help him cover up the well. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well.


At first, when the donkey realised what was happening he cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down and let out some happy brays. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down the well to see what was happening and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was shaking it off and taking a step up. (Shifting)

As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he continued to shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, to everyone's amazement, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!

We are all going to receive criticism. Some of it we deserve, some of it we won't, but in the end it is what we do with it that counts. Will we we allow it to be a springboard to growth or will we allow it to wound us or stunt us?

So next time you feel or know you are being criticised remember the Donkey and Well. Will it bury you or will it be a stepping stone to growth. Ultimately the responsibility for your choice is yours not the critics.