Category Archives: Success

Oscar Pistorius – Mothers Day tribute-

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Oscar Pistorius, known as the ‘blade runner’ is South Africa’s sporting hero. We’re so proud of him being chosen to represent our country in the Olympic Games (for the able-bodied) despite being technically disabled with prosthetic legs.

His sporting motto is “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have”. Focus on your abilities rather than allowing yourself to be brought down by your disabilities.

Being Mothers Day I thought I would read up about what his mother was like. I could only think that she must have been an incredible driving force behind Oscar as he was growing up. I wasn’t disappointed with what I read.

Oscar has a brother Carl and when their mother Shiela told Carl to put his shoes on, she told Oscar to put his legs and and ‘that’s the last I want ot hear of it!” She died when Oscar was 14 and he has wonderful memories of her. ‘She was very cool; a very hectic, free spirit. She didn’t really comply with much and had a very carefree approach to life. She didn’t take anything too seriously…. and never made decisions for us. When you try to do things sometimes and you don’t succeed and you give up, you never really know what the potential could have been if you had stayed dedicated to something.’ What inspiring words and what a wonderful tribute to his mother.

This did get me thinking… We can either bring our children ready to explore this wonderful world of ours, or we can limit them by our own fears. When we limit them by our fears children walk in the footsteps of their parents, go to the same college, qualify for the same job and marry the same sort of person as their opposite sex parent. Children grow up into replicas of their parents – all very safe!

We all learn from our mistakes and so children should also be given the opportunity to explore this world and grown into the people they are meant to be. If you don’t try you don’t know what you’ve missed out on, so you’d better make the most of every opportunity that comes your way!

To all the mothers out there – Wishing you a very happy Mothers Day!!

Information on Oscar Pistorius obtained from : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2117316/Oscar-Pistorius-exclusive-walking-wild-side.html#ixzz1tv4EM24y

Living a True Life!

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‘I wish I’d been courageous enough to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me’.

This is the most common regret people have as they reach the end of their lives. Isn’t it true that many of us worry excessively about what other people might think about us. How often did we hear parents say ‘don’t do that, what will other people think about you’. No wonder the world abounds with people pleasers! We all want to be accepted and loved, so we behave in a particular way just to get the approval of others.

The stress of being a people pleaser often ends up in depression. Really not surprising, is it? Trying to please everyone is inevitably going to lead straight down the road to failure. You simply can’t be successful living according to someone else’s expectations! To live an authentic life, you have to live a life true to yourself.

Don’t depend on other people for affirmation. Look inside yourself for what is right. Rather seek affirmation from the Lord.

In Jeremiah 17:5-8 (ESV) the Lord tells us why:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

When you meet the Lord one day he is not going to congratulate you on living a life that others expected of you. He will ask why you didn’t live like the person He made you to be!

 

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!

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How often are we given the advice ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!’ It’s a common saying meant to give encouragement.

HOWEVER it really isn’t very good advice. It’s actually very bad advice! Think about it. If you didn’t succeed in the first place, why just keep on doing the same thing, the same way, over and over again? Unless of course, you want to fail, and fail, over and over again.

I love this picture! If you want to succeed you need to reassess your ‘travel plans’, see where your original ‘road map’ might be wrong. Take the next exit to Success, rather than staying on the Highway to Failure.

My daughter has been battling to get her driver’s licence for quite a while now, but each time she tried, she failed. This was so disheartening for her and for me. She had been very loyal to her driving school, but in the end decided it was time for a change. Maybe a change in strategy would lead to success. It was time to change driving school. With that decision made, she booked for her drivers test again and passed with flying colors!

So, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, think of another strategy, and only then, try again!

Charles Dickens

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Charles Dickens – Worldwide,  people are celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of this very famous author. At the time he was writing there there were only 60 books in print in England! (Time magazine February 6 2012) What a comparison to modern times, where books no longer even go ‘out of print’ because of electronic text!

Dickens wrote stories of poverty, hardship, and even about a debtors prison. What interested me in particular was his final bit of legacy. He appointed his friend Forster to write his biography after his death. He felt so ashamed of his upbringing that he didn’t want his readers to know that it was his own life that inspired his writing, until after he died. The books were essentially about him. So after his death, this shock was revealed to his readers. He had seen his own father go to debtors jail and Dickens himself worked in a factory as a child.

What a story of a man who overcame adversity. So many people become a victim of their past, or their bad life experiences. Not so with Dickens. He used his bad experiences to create a better future. Only a person who really knew what hardship was like could so vividly portray the community of that time. What an example to follow.

So many people go through life with a victim mentality, an ‘if only’ mentality. ‘If only’ I had more money, then …. ‘if only’ my partner were nicer to me, then ….  and nothing comes after ‘then’… They have become victims of their past.

Try to think of the ‘if only ….’ attitudes that could be keeping you a victim of your circumstances, of your past. Change ‘if only …’ to something like ‘it would be nice if….’ and then get back to reality, creating a better future for yourself with what you have. ‘If only’ statements keep you focused on what you don’t have, rather than what you do have.

If you’ve experienced many difficulties, you’re the expert! Turn it around for good and use it to help others through their hard times!