With both the family I was born into and the family I choose #Happiness
“There are some things that you can fulfil with money, but
at the end of the day these are not the things that make you happy. It is the
small things that make life good.” – Sebastian Vettel
The last weekend of 2019 was the absolute best firstly my cousin got married and secondly in between all the wedding festivities I even managed to sneak in a breakfast with my Superhero Catherine Constantinides and almost all the Constantinides’s it was 4 days after Christmas but I felt like it was Christmas all over again – there’s something about that family they are love, loyalty and kindness and whenever I’m with them I feel like I fit effortlessly.
I doubt many things in life but i have NO DOUBT my Superhero truly loves meSpending time with my Superhero’s greatest achievement – such an extraordinary little human with great talent and an incredible imagination. I want to be like him when i grow up. Of all the people I met in 2019 he is my absolute favorite
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca
Today is New Year’s Day and with that comes new hopes, new opportunities and new goals. Check out my life’s purpose and 2020 Goals below:
My Life’s Purposes
Fill the world with kindness and love
Make a difference – level the playing field for people who were born with the cards stacked against them
Change perceptions about differently-abled people
2020 Goals
Continue to be kind, honest, generous, grateful, loyal and filled with wonderment
Every day be the best SuperSidekick to Superhero Catherine Constantinides (she’s the best, most hardworking real-life Superhero I’ve ever met she totally deserves me forever and no matter what else I’m doing in life I will always be here for her)
Do more for Breath of Life perhaps raise R29 000 in honour of my 29th year of life (Breath of Life is a place of safety for vulnerable babies here in my city I JUST LOVE THEIR WORK)
Take one classroom of kids who’ve never been to the movies to the movies
Eat healthily
Practice Patience
Publish my children’s book Different is Cool
Make a steady income
Teach kids and adults worldwide that Different Is COOL
Continue to raise awareness about the Western Sahara conflict – the Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975 due to the fact that it’s rich in natural and though the UN promised a referendum in 1991 it has yet to come to pass meanwhile half of the Saharawi People have been living in the refugee camps in Algeria since 1975
Choose people who choose me
Read 12+ books
Plant 52 trees in honour of how old Gerda would have turned this year
Do 29+ good deeds – for my 29th year of life
Visit London, Paris and Rome
(Note: Goals are subject to change with time and that’s ok because I will change with time)
“Make
measurable progress in reasonable time.” – Jim Rohn
As we near the end of 2019 it is again time to review the goals I set at the beginning of the year
My 2019 Life Purposes and Goals in Review
My Life’s Purposes
Fill the world with kindness and love [did my best]
Make a difference – level the playing field for people who were born with the cards stacked against them [did my best]
Change perceptions about differently-abled people [did my best]
2019
Goals
Continue to be kind, honest, generous, grateful and filled with wonderment [did my best]
Raise $28 000 for Charity:Water in honour of my 28th year of life (when we give water we give ,health, education and lost time back – I want to give one thing that changes EVERYTHING) [raised $4 141]
Every day be the best SuperSidekick to Superhero Catherine Constantinides (she’s the best, most hardworking real-life Superhero I’ve ever met she totally deserves me forever and no matter what else I’m doing in life I will always be here for her) [did my best with love she’s extraordinary i’m honoured to support all her hopes and dreams]
Publish my Moments Journal(s) [FAIL – did not try]
Make an income – doing good is wonderful and I’m proud that I’m known for that but also I need a steady income I don’t feel good about myself being financially dependent on my family at almost 28 years old [i made a wage which is a start but in 2020 i’m hoping for a steady stream of money]
Teach kids and adults worldwide that Different Is COOL [did my best]
Continue to raise awareness about the Western Sahara conflict – the Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco for the past 42 years due to the fact that it’s rich in natural and though the UN promised a referendum in 1991 it has yet to come to pass meanwhile half of the Saharawi People have been living in the refugee camps in Algeria for 43 years [did my best]
Choose people who choose me [ I did choose people who chose me realizing the phone works both ways]
Read 12+ books [read 9 books – most were romance novels but still]
Plant one tree or more [we bought a tree and our gardener helped us plant it in November]
Do 28+ good deeds – for my 28th year of life [I did a few but didn’t keep count so i’ll never know if i achieved this goal]
Say no,thank you when people ask if they can pray for me (in the context of me one day being healed) [did my best – there was interesting incident with our carpenter]
Visit London, Paris and Rome [did not happen this year]
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” -” ― Michael Altshuler
As we prepare to enter a new decade I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned from the current decade
7 Lessons of the Decade
1. Tomorrow is promised to nobody 2.We are defined by WHAT WE GIVE not what we have 3.Little Things are the BIG THINGS 4.People matter most and the right ones will love you as you are 5. Kindness is the compass that will guide you to happiness 6.People will say things about you, you can believe them or YOU 7.Fear is just a feeling
Catherine Constentinides with Saharawi children in the refugee camps.
To my Refugee Children in the Sahara Desert. You will know that the United Nations is currently spearheading the first Global Impact Summit on Refugees under the leadership of the UNHCR. You will know that they have invited representatives from all refugee groups, nations and even minority refugee groups from all corners of the world. What they have not shared with the world is that the Saharawi refugees are the only refugees that were not invited and thus not present as such a global forum and platform. You will also know that when this was questioned it has been said that there are too many ‘Political Sensitivities’. I could write an entire thesis on why and how this is absolutely unacceptable, financially motivated and how this continues to perpetuate the unfathomable injustice being carried out my am elite few who continue to benefit from the status quo remaining as is. That is that an entire nation of people known as the people of Western Sahara continue to be sidelined by the opressive colonial power that is Morocco. They continue to pull the strings with their allies while the Saharawi people divided physically by the Wall of shame and kept apart: those living in occupied Western Sahara and those living as refugees forgotten in 1975 living in what was a temporary refugee camp and yet heading towards 45 years, there they still remain. How is it that you can go to bed at night as leaders when you pretend that #EveryoneCounts but deliberatly exclude the Saharawi due to political pressures. How then does the United Nations claim to be an organisation for all, when in fact it’s agenda is dictated by those who have access and resources to decide who gets invited and who gets forgotten.
Saharawi Refugee Camps in Algeria where the Saharawi People of Western Sahara have been living since 1975
To My Saharawi Children who live as refugees, to my children that know nothing outside of a refugee camp, I pride you I will keep fighting and I will keep pushing, because in my life time you will return home. I will not allow them to get away with this. You are my people and this is unforgivable!!!
You
realize that there’s something to be said to limiting oneself, not just
geographically, but also emotionally. That there’s a certain depth of
experience and meaning that can only be achieved when one picks a single piece
of creation and says, “This is it. This is where I belong.” – Mark Manson
Years ago I thought living fully meant travelling the world, making new friends and tasting new foods but yesterday as I sat chatting and giggling with babies at Breath of Life I had a feeling there, with them, I was living fully (if I get to travel and do other stuff that would be awesome but I won’t do it in search of the fullness of life because every time I’m with the babies and wonderful people at Breath of Life I’m reminded that I’m already living fully). Thank you to Michelle, Andrew and the Breath of Life team for all you do and for a 2019 full of beautiful moments I look forward to making more beautiful memories with all of you next year.
Friends of KFC #AddHope (Image Credit: Twitter/@BrentLindeque)
“Volunteers
do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”~Elizabeth Andrew
As a part of International Volunteers Day and KFC South Africa’s #AddHope my Superhero Catherine Constantinides and her friends got to visit Sizanani in Soweto to interact with the youngsters who receive warm meals thanks to the R2 that you so selflessly donate every time you visit a KFC here in South Africa.
Superhero Catherine Constantinides Superheroing [Image credit: Twitter/@ChangeAgentSA] Kids + Superhero = MAGIC [Image credit: Twitter/@ChangeAgentSA]Superheroing is hard work people [Image credit: Twitter/@ChangeAgentSA]
“Christmas
will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.” – Dr.
Suess
Yesterday I watched the Woolworths Christmas Campaign ad featuring great South Africans including my Superhero Catherine Constantinides I just had to share it, Watch “A Happy Day | Lindough & Valdo for Woolworths” below:
“It is so much easier to believe in
yourself when you are able to see people who look like you achieving the same
dreams that you have. People who have differences really just want to feel
included and accepted without feeling the need to hide what makes them unique.”
– Mandy Pursley
Today is World Disability Day and in honour of this day I would like to celebrate Mandy Pursley – a fantastic human who decide to do a Cinderella photoshoot but instead of a glass shoe Mandy used her prosthetic hand which looked like it was made of glass thus proving EVERYBODY CAN BE Cinderella. Thank you Mandy for teaching all the young people out there that there’s beauty in physical difference of all kinds and thank you for allowing me to use your photos
To feel
deeply is both a blessing and a curse– that’s my message to the world
Today
I am still sad that my late physiotherapist is dead I miss her so much and I can’t
talk about it with my parents they are very stoic people (I can’t remember the
last I saw either of them cry) they think I got over this a month after she
died but the truth is I’m still not over it the depth of my cries nobody will
hear because I cry quietly I know Gerda would want me to be happy but I can’t
right now all I can think is “Where is
Jesus when I need Him to resurrect someone? “ I would give anything to hear her say one last
time “You stepped over my heart with your
muddy feet.” in response to my excitement at the end of each of our
sessions.
