Tag Archives: Inspiration

Day 200

Two-faced – insincere in dealings with people, especially by being outwardly friendly, but secretly disloyal

It’s 8: 36 PM on day 200 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, reply to an email about my campaign – if all goes well I should be getting a donation pretty soon 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, go to physiotherapy – it didn’t that bad considering I hadn’t exercised for the past three weeks – I was SO happy 🙂 – watch TV, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – filled with tomatoes and chili for dinner and tweet about campaign some more –still no luck.

As you know I try very hard not to live my life in judgment of others but today when I heard that my uncle was dropping my grandma off at our house – yet again – because he didn’t want to take her to the prayer that he and his family go to every month I thought to myself with OUTRAGE why do these people even go to prayer they are an embarrassment to God and in that moment I realized that being Christian was less about what you did in the church and more about what you did when you left the church. Would you do something that you know to be evil just to protect your reputation?

Day 199

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Inspiration – somebody or something that inspires somebody to creative thought or to the making of art.

It’s 8: 48 PM on day 199 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself French Fries for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music, tweet about campaign some more – no donation were made but I found out that Sarah Brown – wife of former British Prime-Minister Gordon Brown – is following me on Twitter which might increase my credibility with the general public and thus make raising money for my campaign a little easier 🙂 – feed myself custard for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watched TV.

Today listening to Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift (see below) I longed for the time in my life where the biggest decision I had to make was what cereal to eat in the morning but then I realized that it would be kind of weird if we were all frozen in time and I asked myself what do I love about my life now and to my surprise there was actually a lot I loved about being newly twenty I guess what I am trying to say is something I eluded to leading up to my twentieth birthday just be where you are in your life because at the end of the day you can’t life in the past or the future with that said I urge to do what I did and ask yourself what do I love about my life now I promise you the answers you find will give you a new perspective on your life. Has a song, book or movie ever inspired you to see your life from a different point of view?

Day 198

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When all else fails go back to gratitude – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 10: 42 PM on day 198 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Spring rolls for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, email some people about my campaign – still waiting for replies – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and vegetable curry for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watched TV.

Today as I was lying on my bed attempting to turn to left-hand side – I was on my back – I remember thinking I hate my body, I hate my body, I hate my body but after a few moments had passed I came to the profound realization that my body – though it didn’t work like everybody else’s – was a capsule for my soul and with that I stopped being such an ingrate. In your moments of frustration do you get mad at life or say thank you God I’m still alive?

Day 197

Day 196

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You know you’re living a great life when you can pat yourself on the back without an audience present – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 10: 43 PM on day 196 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and tomato curry for dinner, tweet about campaign some more –still no luck – and watch TV.

Today as I was being wheeled from my bedroom to the dining room by our housekeeper I thought to myself with the upmost sincerity the world wouldn’t be the same without me and that I guess is my message to all of you guys do something every day to make sure that the world wouldn’t be the same without you because at the end of the day the feeling you get after helping someone will fill that hole in your heart that you didn’t even know you had. Do you feel the need to tell people of all your achievements because you know deep down that you’re not living a great life?

Day 195

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Politicians are leaders come election year whereas, leaders are leaders everyday of their lives – that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 9: 06 PM on day 195 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to watch Letters to Juliet on DVD while eating pizza and garlic bread – leftovers from last night’s dinner– for breakfast – it was completely sappy and I knew how it was going to end even before it began but I LOVED it nonetheless the less I would recommend it to all the hopeless romantics out there – brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – again I woke up to find that someone had made a donation to my campaign after I’d went to bed last night – thanks Rachel (@theWriteRach) for your contribution it means a LOT to me 🙂 –feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music for a few hours, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – filled with tomatoes and chilies for dinner and tweet about campaign some more – no new donations were made.

Today I was watching the news and I heard the leader of South Africa’s official opposition party, Helen Zille say something along the lines of people should vote for the DA – Democratic Alliance – in the upcoming local government elections because it is very hard to make a difference when you’re the opposition party and not the government and in that moment I realized with great sadness that politics had become nothing more than a game because I knew firsthand that you didn’t have to be in the President’s office to make a HUGE difference. Are your elected representatives politicians or leaders?

Day 194

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You become your choices. – Unknown

It’s 3: 58 PM on day 194 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, make sandwiches for the people in our housekeeper’s neighbourhood (if you have no idea what I am talking about refer to ‘Day 184’) – I buttered the bread while my mom put the jam on – it was SO much fun the only thing I would do differently was tell my mother to buy foil instead of using the sandwich wrap but still all in all it was great day 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – I woke up to find that four more people had made donations to my campaign after I’d went to bed yesterday which brings my grand total raised on my birthday to $161.68 –a special thanks to Anonymous, Melanie, @dianarusso (Diana), @laurajteacheroz (Laura) and Anonymous for their generous donations 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, go visit my cousin who came back from university for a week and feed myself pizza and garlic bread for dinner.

Today I signed up to be a part of Earth Hour 2011 hoping that all of the members of my immediate family would participate unfortunately for me I didn’t take into account that Kevin – my 10-year-old brother – couldn’t survive an hour without watching TV so we reached a compromise I told him he could use everything in the living room provided that everything else in the house was switched off and although I tried my best to my okay with it I remember feeling so annoyed that he refused to cooperate but then I realized that sometimes you should stand for something even if it means standing alone. Do you only make the right choice when you’re in the majority?

Day 193

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If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants. – Sir. Isaac Newton

It’s 11: 35 PM on day 193 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, cut my birthday cake (see pictures below) and feed it to myself while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. New Zealand–we lost and are out of the world cup and of course it stings a little but in the bigger scheme of things it’s just a game … people are dying in Japan – and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – someone who prefers to remain anonymous donated $54.92 – both you and I know who you are thank you for your donation 🙂

Today being my birthday and all I would like to dedicate this post to:

My mother who does things for me that nobody else would do

My father who has taught me everything I need to know about myself to survive in this world

My siblings who never complain even when my parents give me more attention just because I am on a wheelchair

My extended family who show me every day that I am not in this alone

Virginia – our late housekeeper – who has taught me how to love unconditionally

Gerda – my physiotherapist – who expects me to go out and do great things in spite of my disability

Nelson Mandela who has taught me courage of conviction

Oprah who has taught me that you receive more when you give

The cake

The cake out of the box

Me cutting the cake (my eyes appear closed because I am looking down at the cake)

Day 192

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By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. – Confucius

It’s 9: 08 PM on day 192 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a cheese and lettuce sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – no donations were made but you would never guess who responded to one of my tweets … country music superstar Leann Rimes I know she’s just a person but come ‘on I’ve been listening to her music since I was 10 so naturally I was a tad star struck … it was a nice early birthday present from the man upstairs 🙂 – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and mutton gravy for dinner continue to tweet about my campaign – still no luck – and watched TV.

Today as I was lying on my bed staring at the TV I couldn’t help but make a list in my head of all the things I’ve learned in my adolescences and this is what it looks like on paper:

Lessons I’d like to pass onto the next generation

People will only treat you how you treat yourself e.i you have to love, respect and accept yourself before others can

Everything is in the way you see it e.g. you don’t have enough money to ride the bus you can either whine about it or you can say oh well I can walk I need the exercise anyway

Always be grateful for what you have because there’s always someone out there who has less than you

Day 191

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The media is making parenting very difficult – that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 9: 16 PM on day 191 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – and watch TV.

This evening I was watching my brother watching WWE – World Wrestling Entertainment – and I realized with great sadness that the media was responsible for the increase in violence and promiscuity amongst kids having said that I would like to tell all the boys and girls out there that you don’t have to get into fights and have sex to be cool and have fun just ask my friends Sophie (@SophieBrown95 on Twitter) and Kendall –Sophie is a 16-year-old from the UK who’s raising money to raising money to build a school for village children in South-West Uganda while Kendall from the USA founded Kids Caring 4 Kids – an organization which aims to raise awareness and money for AIDS orphans and other highly venerable kids in Africa and to inspire kids to care for others in need – in 2004 at the tender age of 11. Are you parenting on autopilot or do actively seek out positive role models for your children?