No more resolutions!!!

So what's the deal with new year's resolutions. For many years now I have found myself disappointed at the end of the year, with a list of unaccomplished resolutions in hand, and at the beginning of the year I simply copy and paste from the previous year hoping that this time I will have the discipline to exercise everyday, that I will remember to drink 8 glasses of water daily, that I will make time to read a book a month, and that maybe this time I'll enroll for that french class I have always wanted to take... Well, I still don't speak any french, the only time I exercise is when I do taebo three times a month -and when I walk to classes and back, and I only got to read about five books in 2010.

So, what's the deal with new year's resolutions and not being accomplished. It's as if there's an unwritten law that if you write it down you will not do it, or is it simply that we tend to be a bit unrealistic when we set goals and cross that fine line between goals and dreams.

I mean, what made me think that I - with a bladder like mine - would even want to drink eight glasses of water a day, unless if I wanted to go to the toilet eight times a day too... And, who would, with a schedule like mine - having to juggle school, church activities and other extra-mural activities - have time to fit in french classes as well.

In addition to all this, its not like when the new year begins you can simply erase the past at the click of a button, which makes it extremely difficult to start over and embark on a new journey, unless, of course, if you are lucky enough to be handed a brand new life on 1st January.

So this year, I decided to leave new year's resolutions alone. Instead, I will take my life one month at a time, so that I don't have to wait until December to realise that I don't know a word of french. This will allow me to take stock of my life every month and make the necessary adjustments in order to achieve the goals that I have set for the month...
And, I certainly do not suggest that this is the approach that everyone should take in setting goals for their lives, because everyone has a different life and should therefore have their own way of putting their life in order and that's exactly why the new year's resolutions thing doesn't work for most people, because evaluating one's life every 12 months is simply silly.

So goodbye 2010, goodbye new year's resolutions, and hello 2011 hello accomplished monthly goals

BLACK, so what???

So I'll admit it, I can't find the perfect topic to write about as my first ever blog!!! So I thought, the best way to introduce myself is to share a piece I wrote a while ago, then we'll take it from there.
So here it goes...

today, a thought struck me. today i had to answer the question: why does my blackness offend me?
today i had to face the fact that i AM a black woman, in a democratic South Africa, and i had to explain to myself, why this brought me such shame? so today, i thought i could pose this question, to you fellow black brothers and sisters. I thought maybe we could collect our thoughts and deliberate on why being black is such a shame.
i first discovered my blackness when i entered the gates of this institution – having grown up in Lesotho. All of a sudden I had to indicate on every form that i filled in, the colour of my skin. All of a sudden, i was told i had to live with my own kind, and that i had to attend classes with those that spoke my language.
My vocabulary was increased from 4-letter words to words like minorities, integration, transformation, “black & white hostels”, “darkies”. And some words which i only knew in theory suddenly came to life... racism, segregation, initiation!!!
So today i realised that it is not my blackness that offends me, for it is simply the cloak in which God chose to place me. What offends me is what it means to be black, not only in this institution but also in the greater South Africa.
Blackness means Poverty, inferiority, minority, dirt, townships & shanty towns, alcoholism, abuse, degradation of women...
The thing is, I am proud of being black. To me blackness represents; Victorius struggles, strength. As a young black woman i have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of other great black men and women that came before me, i have the opportunity to learn the history of our struggle, and to take pride in it. I have the opportunity to make a difference in my life and in the lives of those around me. I have the priviledge of having UBUNTU stamped on the depths of my soul, it just comes naturally to me.
As a young black woman I have the opportunity to be who I want to be in South Africa. I have doors opened for me, on behalf of those that walked this road before me. those that didn’t have such opportunity.
So today, i declare this, brothers and sisters. I declare it so that everyone should know that when you call me black, i don’t get offended. it does not offend me. Because blackness does not mean to me what it means to you.
so when you call me black, you are declaring me victorius, you declare me powerful and you declare me honourable because when u call me black you are putting my name right between Nelson Mandela and Chris Hani.
So don’t call me black to provoke me, because when you call me black i won’t raise my fist to fight you, but i will raise it to shout AMANDLA!!!
So don’t put me in a category with a black drunken brother who mugged you last night, because Rosa Parks was black, Martin Luther King was black, Oprah Winfrey is black, Maya Angelou is black.

I am not ashamed of my blackness. My blackness does not offend me. so don’t turn me against my blackness.