the start to my morning...the use of time...wasted or useful?

The funny random pictures that made me chuckle this morning :)...they have utterly nothing to do with this post....

So its midweek, little saturday as they call it ;)

My thought for the day? is what do people do with their spare time? Ive always been the type of person who is just busy, ALL THE TIME. and no this is not always a good thing. Ever since I was in high school Ive always just channelled my spare time into doing 'stuff'.

 If I think of a typical week, I cant say I ever have one free night a week, or on a weekend there always seems to be some event, some birthday, wedding, engagement, baby shower,some band gig, some church function,a show or music concert perhaps or family affair, public holiday feasting or if not that by the end of the week you just need your social tanks to be filled so you force yourself to get out the house as apposed to sleeping or resting. As the quote goes, "sleep when you dead" right?

When I got to varisty in first year I was so shocked to find most of my classmates, had no hobbies or anything to do beside university. really wow?? I couldnt comprehend having that much time. But then again, maybe in little ways I would quietly envy the fact that they had so much time, I often wonder, how did I become this busy? hmmm think it's time to do some clean up and priority checks. I think I need some more me time ;)

After this year, I totally give respect to working people and will never tune them for why they want to have an 'early night' anymore.. haha I learnt the hard way.

Peace xx

the stepping stones

So been a while since I've blogged.

Past two weeks have been madness, but you learn and you live. So this is what has been some of my learning curbs...

1. the body loves sleep and rest, dont deprive it. It will show you who is BOSS and give up on you. Yes after a week of disturbed sleep and pulling all-nighters due to honours I came out after this weekedn, sick, tired and sincerly OVER everything haha! Lesson learned.

2. the next time I think im dreaming of the rain I WILL WAKE UP. So my drama for the week came at 230am on Tuesday morning... I thought I was dreaming of being in water and hearing the rain, but in reality, my room was flooding. Yes, indeed the geyser had burst and my room was no filling up with water. 5 days later, here I am, currently living on the floor in my study with 'stuff'. Room is bare and waiting for new paint, new carpets, new curtains, new bed, furniture. well that was eventful.

3. When life gets overwelming. STOP.

Theres a difference between being busy and being overwelmed. this past week, I dont think ive ever felt so stressed. Ever felt that everyone wants a piece of you, but they all have so many of their own issues that you feel like you cant share yours? well yes. ta da ;)

Its all about the mind at the end of the day. So when life hands you lemons and you have no evergy to whip up some lemonade, all I could do was sit back and stop. Just stop. stop. pause and reflect.

4. When your world is spinning. Pray :) the message lasnight at our church really hit home.

Life is all bout what we make of it, we choose to see things, to say things, to think things and to DO things. We need to constantly renew our mindsets to not be drowned out by the mess and drama of the world. Why are we always striving? what if the things we are contstantly striving for just never came. we need to find peace and contentment.

5. Remind yourself that lifes a journey not a race and you must always have the bigger picture in mind.

Keep it real xxx

When its cold and im uninspired to work. bleh

The net does wonderful things for my life when I'm feeling cold and flu-ish...

Procrastination has hit home once again ladies and gents.
I dont know why, maybe its just me but these are a list of the things I tend to WANT to do whilst in procratination mode.

1. Hit a solid facebook sesh (easy wastes an hour)
2. Find some funny ecards on tumblr and laugh by yourself
3. Paint my nails
4. clean my cupbords
5. have the urgancy to write a song or play an instrument
6. watch some series
7. make a 'to do list'
8. day dream about weekend plans
9. Make my files neat and tidy
10. highlight stuff...anything..notes, my diary
11. have a legit nap
12. Clean and straigten my hair for no reason at all
13. Want to go shopping
14. feel the need to bake or cook
15. feel the need to send message to friends you havent seen in a while
16. Go to gym

So basically, moral of the story, when one procrastinates it turns me into a OTT hygenic neat freak, with an obssion to be girly and domesticated and fit?

Funny what the brain does.

Thought of the day

Till next time xx

It’s the difference that counts.

Living in a world where we always running to find the new adventure, meeting new people, working hard to reach your goals, running in circles, living life, having your ups and downs, fun and sadness in between. Ever wanted to just stop?

So after just doing more and more…it would be always wise to step back and take a break. It is not so much doing everything but how we do the things we do.

Do we do the things we do because we feel obligated or because we couldn’t think of life without them? What if everything we had to do disappeared, our schedules, work, study, play, duties.

My pastor said last Sunday that “it is not what makes us happy but where you find it that makes us happy.”

“Happiness is a relative thing based on what we have and don’t have” It’s short lived and runs out. So what then? Why is the world so hell bent on having a pursuit of happiness?

The truth is that we need to recognise what it is that we need. And this is what it is…JOY.

Joy is not limited to anything; it’s being content with your life, in the good times and the bad.

Joy is not just limited to laughter or happiness, it’s worth more than a fun weekend or road trip. It is our desire to live our dreams, it is our passion to try new things, and it is our will to live healthily. It is the delight we take in doing things that make us smile, or the people who make our hearts happy

So it’s the difference that counts, the difference between happiness and Joy. Where do people find their Joy?

The fact is that Happiness is often found in the external, the outside, the world that keeps on striving for more. But what if we just stopped and found a place of peace and rest RIGHT where we are at right now.

The revelation that there is no need to strive is amazing once we realize that the Joy we are looking for does not comes from us mere beings, but from the One that gave us breath, the One that gave us the will to pursue happiness, the One that planted the desire in our hearts to want things and do things.

Happiness comes from the world. But JOY comes from a relationship with God.

Simplicity at its best ;)

Much love xxx

*verse for the week:

Nehemiah 8:10 (NLT)

And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Fruit weigher by day, Engineer by night? Huh!

So my tale goes a little like this...

Once upon a time I was chilling with some university mates down by the beachfront. Yeah yeah okay I was roped into a night of Kareoke... (gotta keep up with my oriental roots you know haha)...
Anyway so its my turn to take the stage and boom, out of no where... this man comes running to the front saying, "can i sing with you?" ...oh dear.

Needless to say shame I couldn't say no, so the man tried singing along at the top of his lungs, not realising that the sound guy switched off his microphone.

By the end of it all I guess it provided the crowd with some entertainment. Anway moving on...I walk down and try to get back to my friends, but to my astonishment got stopped by this poor soul and his friends. Long story short, these dudes followed me to my table and started chatting to my friends. It seems his friends were GERMAN and couldnt really speak english.

So before making our way home, it seemed that the polite PE thing to do was ask these guys what they do for a living and well the dialogue went a little like this:

Me: Hi, so um what do you all do?
Kareoke star: Hi my name is..bla bla bla... and we engineers at WV, these are my friends from Germany doing their internship here and Im just showing them around town....
Me: Ok cool...



Time flys....

Two weeks later, hmm could be three?

Me and my friend are on our work lunch break and go to pick n pay to buy some fruit. After selecting some fresh goodness we go to get it weighed. and as I turn around....I think I actually turned around twice...it was the kareoke man? (in my head...What um why are you here....didnt this guy say he works at VW...um maybe its a extra thing, hobby perhaps? umm? SHOCK SHOCK HORROR)... I kinda felt bad for him, although he didnt seem embarresed at all, maybe he was an engineer at night? haha...So I just went up to him and said hello and carried on with life.

So turns out the man is a fruit weigher not an engineer...
Thought of the day: Why hide what you really are? Somehow the truth will always find you. Maybe cliche but man people should just do what they do and live. Theres no where you can really run to especially in a little town.

How far would a guy or girl go to impress a bunch of other girls or guys? well its pretty clear what not to do ;) It made me wonder what some other guys would do to impress a girl? Hopefully be a bit more subtle and less imaginative.

So THAT awkward moment when an engineer is not actually an engineer. well yup thats happened.

Keep it real xxx

The HUGGER games

So hugging. What’s all the fuss about ey?

Ever had one of those cringing hugs where you just want to run away or laugh? Or what about you go in for the hug and get a hi five instead or even better the side swoop? Hmm ever been crushed to the core by a full hug and had to 'blessing pat' your way out? Or what about just a good old natural hug with two friends that just makes you feel happy, welcomed.

I knew I had to blog about this some time or another. It seems HUGS never fail to be a hot topic for conversation between friends and family. Haha after retelling some epic stories of ultimate awkward hugs and doing the re-enactment of them. I finally found the inspiration to do a little research and splash the scoop ;)

Take it or leave it this is what the experts say…

So they say the most important thing to remember is that you always have to remember the context of the hug, “who are you hugging”

Um there a few categories it seems, but I guess I’m not going into such fine detail and just gonna keep it at the old ‘hug between friends’.

“Most of us have found comfort in the hugs of good friends or family members in times of stress or trouble. Athletes celebrate victories by hugging their teammates. We use hugs to wish someone good luck; show support; or say hello, goodbye and goodnight. Sometimes we hug each other for no reason at all”

Dr. Jennifer Schlegel, assistant professor of anthropology at Kutztown University says:

"Hugs are affirming," "The tension goes down, and people are just happier."

“The connection that people feel after sharing a hug goes back to the fact that hugs reinforce our social relationships.”
"Hugging is a joint experience, a joint accomplishment, "It's not something that you can do by yourself."

Scenario, you at a braai or a dinner or coffee sesh at a mates house. Room full of people. BOOM, game on for the hugs… lest see what type of hugs everyone gives.

They say you can tell a lot about people from the way the hug as well as you can tell a lot about the type of friendship you have with the person. The two most common hug types is

1.      The full frontal

What the experts have to say:

·         A full hug is what you see goods friends or people who are in a relationship give

·        When a person hugs another person and wraps their arms around the other person fully it takes plenty of trust on the part of the person who is getting the hug.

·        People who receive full hugs are not strangers and this hug is not an accident or casual it is intentional.

·          It's considered a heart-to-heart hug.

·         Hugs are used as a form of communication and they generally occur among people of equal status.

·       You're communicating that your relationship with that person is solid.
"It's like saying, 'We're good,'

2.      The A frame side hug

What the experts say:

·         Reading this body language would give you the idea that the person is an acquaintance or a relatively new friend

·         The half hug may be used in a social situation where there are many people to meet and greet with.

·         From a distance it looks like the two people are making an A

·         may turn into a bro hug where one arm is used to wrap around the other person or it could even be a full hug where both parties wrap their arms around each other

·         This encounter may seem unusual because the body language shows a lack of comfort.

·         The whole aura may even make bystanders who are reading the body language subconsciously uncomfortable.

So what type of hugger are you?

Crazy random facts: DID YOU KNOW?

WHAT? “Some people take hugging to a new level with free hugs events. These events, some of which can be seen on a video sharing website such as YouTube, portray people in various cities who head to the streets, carrying signs that say free hugs”

WHY? “Generally, a hugger waits for someone to approach, and then provides a hug. The duration and intensity of hugs vary, you sense that the overall mood of people on the street improves.”

So at the end of the day the bottom line is this…

“A hug can mean something or a hug can mean nothing, it depends upon the situation and the context of where the people are.”

A hug is a two way thing and wow do we get our fair share of awkward huggers. I guess the truth behind an awkward hug is the fact that the other person involved send off a certain vibe, may it be negative and uncomfortable or on the other hand it can be warm and welcoming.

My own truth to the tale:

Personally I don’t think all that much into the hug before I hug someone. Hug me, I’Il hug you back.

I have come to the conclusion that if someone doesn’t like hugging that’s chilled, your own prerogative but if your friends generally hug, just build a bridge and get over it .I think people reciprocate the other persons ‘vibe’ when put into a situation. I’ve found that I love hugs with people who love hugs too, honestly its natural and good sign of strong friendship. And then of course we have those that are awkward, mmm to go inside the head of those people? I would love to know ;) I guess you could say it has to do with their personal boundaries.

Well you gotta love em all anyway ey, huggers, non huggers, side huggers.

Happy hugger games to you all :)

Peace out xxx

Thought for Tuesday .Dream it.

Habakkuk 2:2-3

New Life Version (NLV)

² Then the Lord answered me and said, “Write down the special dream on stone so that one may read it in a hurry. ³ For it is not yet time for it to come true. The time is coming in a hurry, and it will come true. If you think it is slow in coming, wait for it. For it will happen for sure, and it will not wait.

The “Vibe Dance” Theory…believe it…or not :)

“So what is going on with Harry and Sally?”

Some typical answers may be like: “Oh yes they are vibing” or “ There is defs a vibe there” wink wink ;)

So in today’s modern world with twitter,bbm, facebook I poke you, you poke me back …together with some old traditional face to face stages there has been a trend brewing up. WE call it “Vibing”.

In the past few years, with some real life observation and some helpful friends to agree with me, girls and guys agree on this nature of vibing. So what is this vibe dance, why do we call it a ‘vibe’?.

A friend and I once explained this theory to a few of our guy friends who were no doubtedly shocked and stunned by the utter truth of this theory, brace yourself for some laughs and shocked face palms if you have either been in this before, in it now or notice friends in this season of life.

Stage 1. Girl meets Boy

So at this initial stage, you would probably be out with friends, having fun and loving life, then you meet this girl or guy. What’s your first impression? These days, one or the other just goes home and invites the boy or girl in question on the BOOK of faces.

You probably go home wondering, wow what a cool guy or girl...potential indeed..mmm maybe to soon to tell? nevertheless the seed of the viber dance enters the brain.

Stage 2. Cyber Vibing

Cyber vibing can be as short as few weeks or it can go on for months.

So what happens here? It is here were the chemical effects start charging in the air, but instead of being face to face, your thumbs get to do all the work and do a little dance I call “cyber vibing”

So these are some of the clear signs of the cyber vibe dance (Oh and just to be clear, this is only opinion and not true to everyone, you do get the occasional flirt or oblivious guy or girl who do these things and then get themselves into a little bit of a sticky situation which would probably end up with an awkward chat.)

·         They like all your status’s or comment on everything

·         They speak to you on bbm or whatsapp throughout the day, making small chit chat for no reason

·         They love using emoticons, especially the ‘eye wink’ or excessive ‘smiley face’

·         Messages are lengthy with open ended questions

·         Sometimes you may even get the occasional message just to say “You rock” or “You are a legend” or “Just popping in to say Hi” (ag please,mmm Im sure you are just ‘popping in to say hi’)

Stage 3. Game face vibing

This is when real life now starts to seep through your cyber dance. This is the stage where for some ODD reason, you just start to see both his and her friendship groups coming together more often or he joins the girls group of friends or the girl lands up at his usual hanging out places.

Scenario: bunch of friends at a public place or at a braai, and the two ‘vibers’ just gravitate towards each other, next thing you know. It’s like everyone else disappears. The VIBE takes over and it is literally as if you had special glasses there would be energy waves between the two ‘vibers’ (Warning, don’t be THAT awkward third wheel that tries to cut into their conversation, trust me, you will feel them energy vibes in the air)

Stage 4. The fork in the road

So this is where cyber vibing has generally died down and there is now just the daily text, bbm, whatsapp or phone call.

The tricky part now is that the ‘vibers’ can continue their journey down a little path we like to call ‘the umm friend path’ which could end in 3 ways.

1.       The Ideal: Boy man’s up and asks girl out

2.       Girl has had enough and asks the boy to have the ‘chat’ (could have a good or bad outcome)

3.       The vibe dance between the ‘viber dancers’ carry on for a while and then after some time the dancers get tired, take a break, one or the other sit down, game over.

So there it is, I wouldn’t say any of this is factual but it is founded on various observations between real life friends. Definitely any girl and guy could be the exception to this rule. HOWEVER, even if you are shy to admit, at some point in your life I’m sure you did a little vibe dance, maybe two ;)

Keep It real xx