Tag Archives: Blogging

Day 103

The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.  ~Thomas Babington Macaulay

It’s8: 47 PM on day 103 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Appam – bread made of rice batter –   and beef curry for breakfast, watch TV, sent Christmas messages to everyone – I hope – had lunch with my aunt and her family – it was the quietest Christmas ever this year there were only 9 people whereas, last year there were at least 20 … everybody went to India for my cousin’s wedding 🙁 – feed myself Custard for dinner     and exercise for 15 minutes – the old me would have said its Christmas and left at that the new me didn’t – I couldn’t be prouder of myself 🙂     

We were having Christmas lunch at my cousin’s  house and I happened to say something along the lines of I’m going to buy the new Taylor Swift CD and my cousin looked at me and said why would you buy music when you can download it which I have to admit I have been guilty of doing in the past but somewhere along the line I realized that every time I stole somebody paid and from that day onwards I made a decision that NOTHING I wanted was worth compromising the values that I held so dear.  How far are you willing to go to get what you want? 🙂

Day 102

Even with our differences
There is a place we’re all connected
Each of us can find each other’s light

 – From the song Thankful by Josh Groban

It’s8: 56 PM on day 102 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself grilled chicken and potatoes for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign  –someone made a $10 donation to my campaign – I’m so happy 🙂 –   watch TV and exercise for 5 minutes – my mom let me off early because it’s Christmas Eve – one of the many reasons why I LOVE Christmas 🙂 –    

In the process of raising money for my campaign I have come to realize that the majority of the human species suffers from a large disconnect and I believe that that will only change when every human being starts recognizing the shared humanity between all of us. When you meet someone new do you dwell on your difference or try to find similarities? 🙂

Happy Holidays everyone!

Day 101

Whatever we think about and thank about we bring about.John Demartini

It’s 7: 23 PM on day 101 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself  Plain yoghurt and grapes for  breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign  –someone made a $25 donation to my campaign – I’m so grateful 🙂 –   watch TV, exercise for 10 minutes  and feed myself rice and curry  for dinner    

As the sun rose on South Africa today I was pleading with God to get me a donation and sure enough a few hours later when I checked on my page I noticed a $25 increase in the ‘Total raised so far’ at first I thought it was just a coincidence and then I remembered that this wasn’t the first time God had given me what I asked for and I couldn’t help but look up at the ceiling with a smile and say thank you. Has God shown up for you when you really needed him? 🙂

Day 100

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. – Albert Einstein.

It’s 8: 03 PM on day 100 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,     feed myself Puttu – [pronounced put] ground rice with layers of coconut –  and Kadala Curry – made of brown chickpeas –      for  breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign  – damn it I HATE being ignored 🙁 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, drink water by myself – I love doing the small things that other people take for granted because not so long ago I couldn’t do them 🙂 – watch TV, drink tea by myself, exercise for 10 minutes – all I can say is I’m glad that’s over talk about PAINFUL LOL 🙂 – and feed myself grilled chicken and baked beans for dinner     

This morning began like every other beautiful South African morning until my father went on a rampage because my sister had forgotten to print something out for him he was spewing venom saying stuff like no one does anything to help me, you guys are so useless, without me nothing would get done and all I could do was smile and say congratulations daddy you do everything because I knew that someday I would get out of here and be free to live my own life. What do you do in the presence of negative people? 🙂

Day 99

Gift – something that is given to somebody, usually on order to provide pleasure or to show gratitude

It’s 8: 16 PM on day 96 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,    tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – still no luck 🙁 I wonder what I’m doing wrong   –    feed myself grapes for lunch,    exercise for 10 minutes –my almost dislocated my kneecap LOL 🙂 – and    feed myself   Whole-grain bread and grilled chicken for dinner.

 About 2-3 years ago I was too broke to buy my mom a Mother’s Day gift so I wrote her a letter instead (see letter  below) and as I watched her reading it with tears in her eyes it occurred to me that all anybody wants from us is to know that we care and with that said I would like to ask you to be frugal with your money and frivolous with your love this festive season.    

 

Dear Mom,

I am writing you this letter because I know I would be too embarrassed say this to you in person.  Every year on mother’s day I either forget that it’s mother’s day completely or I make this last minute mother’s day card that I don’t even like, but you smile and say you love it. This year I am doing something completely different I am writing you this letter detailing all the reasons I love you and why I think you’re the best mom in the world.

I tell you that I love a lot, but those three words aren’t enough to express how I feel about you and everything you do for me.  I love you because you tell me you love me even when I tell you I hate you.  I love you because you know what to say and what not to say. I love you because you hug me even when I am as prickly as porcupine.  I love you because you’re always there when I need you and you give me space when I don’t.  These are some of the reasons why I love you but, perhaps the most important reason why I love you is because you taught me what it means to be woman in this world.

Please know that I am grateful to God for everyday I spend with you.  If you’re sure of nothing else in the world, never doubt that I think you’re the best mother in the world.

 

 All my love,

Nisha               

 

                     

Day 98

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~ Elizabeth Stone

It’s 6: 01 PM on day 98 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, sleep until 12 PM – I didn’t get much sleep yesterday due to the fact that I spent most of the night with my head over a bucket puking my guts out – suspected food poisoning  – don’t worry I feel a 100% better now it takes more than a little food poisoning to keep me down LOL 🙂 – finish writing and publishing yesterday’s blog post – I fully intended to publish it yesterday but I thought I would sleep for an hour, wake up, finish write it and publish it but the next time I woke up was at 4 AM this morning with my head over a bucket – suffice to say things didn’t work out  exactly according to plan LOL 🙂 – and drink to glasses of tea all by myself – the next time you feel like vomiting drink black tea without milk and LOTS of sugar – it works 🙂

 I had always thought that wherever happened to me affected no one else but me but yesterday as I was watching my mother hovering over my bed checking to see if I was okay I realized something that I will carry with me for all the days of my life – we are an extension of our parents and they hurt when we hurt – so to all the kids out there please know that whatever your parents do that is offensive to your sensibilities is done out of the best of intentions.

Day 97

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

It’s 5: 22 PM on day 97 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and beef curry  for  breakfast, spend some time with my cousin watching Cricket – a bat-and-ball team sport – it was the funniest thing my cousin was supporting India while I was supporting South Africa LOL 🙂 –       tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few minutes – still no luck 🙁 –  feed myself  curry and rice for lunch, go to bathroom by myself – if someone had told me that the greatest lesson of the day would be learned in the bathroom I would have laughed in their faces LOL 🙂  exercise for 5 minutes – SO much pain 🙁

Even though I’ve always needed help with the simplest of things I’ve always been independent of spirit which more often than not got me into to trouble as it did today – I was in the toilet attempting to grab the toilet paper to my right trying not fall and in that moment I realized that the only thing worse than asking for help is falling flat of my face and so I ended up calling my mother to come and help me out. Would you rather fall flat on your face or ask for help? 🙂

Day 96

You bring who you are to everything that you do – that’s what I figured out today 🙂

It’s 8: 16 PM on day 96 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself All-Bran Flakes for  breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few minutes –I wish I could say it helped and that somebody  opened his/her heart and donated $1 000  unfortunately for me that didn’t happen  but hey tomorrow  is a brand new day 🙂 – go to the  Hemingways Mall with my mother and sister – it was SO much fun I only hope that my dad won’t keel over from a heart attack when the credit card bill comes in at the end of the month LOL 🙂  –   feed myself a chicken burger and French fries for lunch,    drink a glass of Sprite by myself, go say goodbye to a family in our community who are emigrating to Australia – everybody was fine until we were  about to leave then the sadness crept into all our voices 🙁 – exercise for 15 minutes –I was watching the movie Knowing starring Nicolas Cage while doing so I didn’t feel a thing a thing 🙂 – and    feed myself  two slices of Whole-grain bread for dinner             

On the drive back from the Mall I remembered buying a charm bracelet in support of Activism Against Domestic Violence and wondered why opportunities to be of service seemed to follow me everywhere I went and it occurred to me that it had nothing to do with opportunity and everything to do with me – it didn’t matter whether I was at home or at the mall I attracted philanthropy. What do you attract? 🙂

Day 95

Don’t judge a book by its cover” – American Proverb

It’s 8: 39 PM on day 95 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and chicken curry  for  breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for most of the day – raised $65 –I don’t know if the people who made the donations would want me to reveal their identities so I won’t but I would just like to take this opportunity to thank them from the bottom of my heart – who knew people I’d never met would end up giving me the best Christmas present EVER 🙂 –  drink a glass of Coke by myself – I didn’t even spill a drop I am SO proud of myself 🙂 –    feed myself  curry and rice for lunch and exercise for 5 minutes – the bones in my leg started creaking loudly so I stopped because I thought I broke a hip or something  LOL 🙂             

A few weeks ago we – my family and I –  went to a party a few hours after we got there the guest of honour came to exchange pleasantries with me she said so what do you now and I replied I study and read a lot and she looked at me her eyes full of pity and said oh and in that moment I was so temped to tell her all about my philanthropic efforts because I knew that the look of pity on her face would be replaced by one of  aw and amazement but then I remembered Matthew  6:3 – but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing – and suddenly  I didn’t feel the need  to show her up anymore. Do you use what you do to make yourself look better in other people’s eyes? 🙂

Day 94

Others will follow your footsteps easier than they will your advice. – Unknown.

It’s 8: 28 PM on day 94 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself  Oats  for  breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for most of the day – still no luck 🙁 –help myself in the bathroom – the only part I needed help with  was  getting  myself off and on  the wheelchair – I’m SO proud of myself 🙂 –   feed myself  curry and rice for lunch and exercise for 20 minutes –  I looked like an idiot doing the bicycle but I was having too much fun to care LOL 🙂             

Anybody who knows me knows that I try not to live my life in judgement of others because I believe that those who judge are just inviting judgement on themselves but after watching the video of Miley Cyrus stoned out of her mind on Bong –  a.k.a Stivia – I would feel remiss if I didn’t say that she has made a REALLY bad decision and in doing so has set a bad example for her legions of young fans around the world and with that said I solemnly swear NOT to take drugs, drink, smoke or have sex out of wed-lock and it is my hope that other pre-teens and teens will follow in my footstep. When you want something done do you lead by example or give instruction? 🙂