People will do just about anything for you if they feel an oneness with you – that’s what I learned today 🙂                          

It’s 8: 10 PM on day 107 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Plain yoghurt  for  breakfast,  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – 66 days and counting till the close of my campaign – God help me! –    feed myself mash potatoes for lunch, go watch Due Date at the Hemingways Mall – it was a funny and heartwarming tale of a man racing against time to make it to his wife’s side for the birth of their first child – I  REALLY recommend it to anyone in desperate need of a laugh – go to the bathroom by myself – it ended up being more trouble than it was worth – the back of my t-shirt fall into the toilet water and my mom had to help me change LOL 🙂 –   feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and mash potatoes    for dinner  and  exercise for 15 minutes – I was SO tired that I didn’t even want to do it 🙁  

 Today as we –me and  my sister’s best friend’s father – entered the movie theatre we couldn’t help but notice that the two seats next to me were taken  which meant that my sister and her best friend couldn’t sit next to me but as luck would have it one of the woman had been wheelchair bound for a year due to a stroke so  the  two of them offered to vacate their seats for us and as they got up to leave  I realized that the secret to getting people to do what you want lies in making the other person see themselves in you.  Have you ever done something nice for somebody else because you saw yourself in him/her? 🙂    

“Every act of dishonesty has at least two victims: the one we think of as the victim and the perpetrator as well. Each little dishonesty makes another little rotten spot somewhere in the perpetrator’s psyche.” – Lesley Conger.

It’s 8: 22 PM on day 105 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Batura – deep fried bread –   for  breakfast,  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – $2 205 more to raise in 68– I am SO nervous 🙁 – slept for a few hours – my hips were killing me 🙁 –    feed myself a banana for lunch, watched TV, feed myself Custard  for dinner and  exercise for 15 minutes  – I’m sweaty and stinky and in desperate need of a cold shower LOL 🙂  

Today a family friend of  ours came to visit and she always asks me about my plans for the future and although I hated doing I would lie through my teeth because lying was easier than having her think of me as a loser but today as she took a sit next to me and asked me about my exams I made a decision to tell her the truth no matter how uncomfortable it made me and to my surprise it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be she just said oh I understand and walked away and in that moment I  felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Have you ever lied because it was too uncomfortable to tell the truth? 🙂

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? 🙂

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? 🙂

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