The Journey...

Woke up today feeling like writing, so here it is. 

“Don’t be in such a rush to reach your ‘destination’. 

There’s beauty in the process.”

So this is what society teaches us in not so many words; life is journey, but don’t focus on the journey, focus on arriving, focus on the end goal, the destination. And so we conform to what society requires of us, spend our days fixated on reaching a certain place; a place of happiness, fulfillment, success and whatever else the one who has ‘arrived’ possesses.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with setting goals and working towards them, the problem starts when this obsession of arriving deprives us of enjoying the journey. The same journey that is meant to help us grow and learn, the same journey that prepares us for that next phase of life. Now notice I said next phase of life, because there’s never really a place of arrival, unless you’re into that kind of settling for less, 'Sky Is The Limit' type of life.

What I’m trying to say is enjoy the journey, take it all in because there’s beauty in the process. Let it evoke all kinds of emotion; tears of joy and the pain that comes with tears. I think what makes the process so beautiful is the self discovery that comes with it; how you never really know what you’re capable of until it’s you and the situation, how you never really know the kind of person you are until your character is tested. So yes, have your eyes on your goals but most importantly, have them on the journey. 

See it. Experience it. Live through it.

Just Be Yourself

So initially this was my post…

“Be yourself, everything else will conform to who you are because if you do it the other way around you might never be able to find yourself again”

I totally believe in that statement but for a moment please do indulge me. We’ve heard it time and again, “JUST BE YOURSELF”, well it sounds simple, right? But what does it really mean to be yourself and what does it consist of? To give definition to self… To be Panashe (you can put your name) is to know who Panashe is...

Parmenides in one of his principles of intelligibility supports the notion that you cannot be what you don’t know because in the faculties of your mind, what you’ve never been exposed to does not exist… Or does it not? Maybe that’s just the world’s way of trying to limit us, of trying to make us believe we can never be more than we’ve seen or heard, touched or felt…But what if there is something in each one of us that is beyond this world, something that great men and women who invented things never seen before had?

I like talking about social constructs a lot so bear with me. My question is, how is it possible to know who you are when all you know about yourself are merely aspirations to be what the world would call an ideal you? To be frank, what you know about yourself is what you’ve been exposed to since the day you were born.

But here's the greater truth, to know who you are you've got to know who's you are, you've got to know your origin. As with paintings, the true meaning of that work of art is found in the artist. This goes to say, the true meaning of the creation is found in it's creator. Going through life trying to find yourself without connecting with your Creator is futile and disappointing because it's not up to an individual to decide what manner of person he/she is nor what her purpose is but that she was created for a reason which will never be know without connecting with God, the Creator of the universe.

Next time you want to find yourself, get a Bible, go on your knees and pray. It will take you a very long way and my initial post will make a lot more sense...

“Be yourself, everything else will conform to who you are because if you do it the other                   way around you might never be able to find yourself again”

STRENGTH... Is it real? Is it natural?

Somewhere between being strong and totally breaking down. But then again, what is strength anyway? Is it not society’s way of saying get over it, it’s okay when it’s not okay and the famous “that’s life”? She’s strong because her child passed away but she’s smiling again, who she thought was the love of her life left but she looks okay, she leads stubborn people but the company is doing well… She’s strong… Do people who don’t face obstacles, people who don’t ever go through things outside of the ordinary hold the title of being strong?

STRENGTH... Is it real? Is it natural?

We live in a society where people are not in tune with themselves. In a place where what is happening on the inside is nowhere close to what is showing on the outside. It’s fake, it’s feeble, it can’t last. How is it possible that we’ve started lying to ourselves in the name of upholding an imagine expected from us by society, an image of strength? How is it possible that we’ve sacrificed ourselves just so we can fit perfectly in a world that is so imperfect? The irony though…

All I’m saying is sometimes it’s okay to breakdown, it’s okay to feel what you really are feeling and not suppress it with “strength”. Give yourself an opportunity to hear what your mind, body, soul and spirit is trying to tell you.  Maybe you’re going too fast, maybe it’s not for you, maybe you just need to switch lanes. And it can’t happen automatically, or maybe it can, point is take your time, it’s a process, a process in which you are allowed to totally breakdown before you can get over it or should I say be “strong” because it was never meant to prove you’re weak anyway.

TRUST?

Ever found yourself uttering the words “do you trust me” and there after biting your lower lip wondering if you’re going to get the yes you’re expecting. Reality is when you ask someone that question secretly you hope they don’t ask you too. Why so? We’ve mistaken trust with falling and expecting someone to catch you or putting your life on the line because you trust someone. Just because you don’t believe every single word the person says doesn’t mean you don’t trust them. Just like love trust is found in your heart. You will say you trust someone and remain with a question mark of whether you really do and there are times you will say it just for the sake of saying it.  Trust is hearing a different story to what the person is telling you, believing it but letting go of what you’ve heard the other person say because their side of the story matters less than what this particular person is telling you. Trust is knowing that no one is perfect and being able to overlook their mistakes. Trust is hoping that next time she will get it right, it is unmerited belief in someone or something. It’s not because they are being honest, it’s that you hope it would turn out to be true. After all, no one checks if the chair can support them before they sit, even that is trust.

Thoughts...

Ever felt like you've tried so hard and you just can't do it anymore. You want to stop trying but then there's something that keeps pulling you back. It's hard to explain it in words because even in your mind it's a whole jumble of mixed emotions. Everything else starts falling apart it's as if that one thing was connected to everything else..but sometimes you are just so fed up and you've had enough so you finally gather the courage to let go. It never feels right in the beginning and you want to give in to your weakness but when you look back a couple of months later, you'll be shocked just how strong you are.

WE SEE A UNITED AFRICA

We see a united Africa,

A place of peace and tranquillity,

A place where wars have long ceased and unity reigns supreme,

Where we are all brothers and sisters, children of mother Africa,

We see a united Africa,

A place where poverty is nowhere to be found,

A place where resources are shared equally among the people,

Where Africans live in overflowing riches,

We see a united Africa,

A place where corruption is a thing of the past,

Where leadership is transparent,

Where leaders are for the people and not for their own gain,

We see a united Africa

A place where Africans are proud of who they are,

A place no longer known as the Dark Continent,

Where we as Africans take our place and help each other to be the best we can be,

This is the united Africa that we see.

LIFE OWES YOU NOTHING !

 Lately, a lot has been going through my mind. Don't really know how to express it in words, I hope it makes sense. We tend to go through this life angry and frustrated thinking that life owes us and that we deserve better. The truth is life owes us nothing, people included! We stress over futile things that are today but not there tomorrow, mourn and weep for things that don't give us everlasting satisfaction... How many times do we say we are going to die but still live, how many times do we say we give up but without realizing it still hold on?

I was just thinking... If life was really predictable and everything happened according to the way we want it to, would there be any satisfaction, would there be any point of living?  Imagine someone lending you a scary movie but before they give it to you they've already told you everything that happens, you even know the characters in the movie. Truth is, whenever you're getting to the scary part your mind will program itself in such a way that you won't get too scared... you might even close your eyes. One would then wonder, what's the thrill in that??? You might as well not watch the movie! Sad enough that's exactly what we do, we want to direct our lives, know what's coming next and either prepare for it or in most cases, prevent it from happening.

We live in ignorance not bearing in mind that every moment unleashes a different emotion in us, it adds to building our characters, shaping us to be individuals. SO if things happen the way we want them to, we die unsatisfied souls, self made weaklings because those good and bad times are what makes us complete. We worry too much, think too much but the end result is depression because no amount of thinking can change any situation. We are run down by other people's problems and carry their burdens on our shoulders yet we expect to be happy. We seem to be so affected by the things happening at the moment that everything else in the future becomes blurred.

Losing hope over a lost job like every other company is shutting down, giving up on love because of the end of a relationship, throwing in the towel because of material things lost as if it's impossible to attain them again. It's just a phase and we need to see it that way. As long as there is still life, there is still  potential, in the short run it might seem like it's going from bad to worse but what you do during that time determines the outcome of the future. I believe we should stop being too hard on ourselves and start taking things one step at a time. By taking control of our lives, we become happier individuals and people will enjoy being around us more because nothing is as annoying as being around someone who feels like life owes them and is treating them unfairly!