O P o t B

My fiftieth year has dawned upon me and one thing I can tell you, without any doubt, that it felt the same when I was 49, or for that matter when I was 40, everything before that seems to be too far away to contemplate and requires way to much energy. Besides I am not one to hanker over the past, because, the fact of the matter is firstly, no, I would not know any better no matter how much I think I would, and secondly, I would make exactly the same decisions and choices and would be right where I am, right here, where I need to be.  I guess that is the one thing that happens to you when you age you become more forgiving and accepting of the decisions and choices you make. Make no mistake, things do change around you, suddenly you are propelled into the category of "old" and automatically those much younger than you give you the title "Uncle" or "Oom", even though there is no way under the sun you could have legitimately inherited the title.  I must adm...

Seeing my son after two months was absolutely fantastic and yet, in this elation, my heart felt a touch of sadness as it dawned on me that i would not be seeinng him again for another two months.  I guess as you get older, and your motallity stares you in the face each and every moment becomes increasingly precious.  For reasons of my sons health my ex decided to relocate to the picturesque town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.  It is a university town with the university campus essentially a part of the town and everywhere you go are the youngsters who are starting there lifes journey on their way to adulthood.  Being the center of wine farms in South Africa adds to the atmosphere and tourists keen to experience the taste of the best South African wines, and some woud argue the world, flock to this quant little town in the Western Cape.   Many claim that the quality of life here is much better than anywhere else in South Africa, but that is subjectivve and ...

Oh no, I missed he flight! Despite all my efforts I missed the flight.  To put in into perspective, my usual drill when catching a flight is to pack the morning of the flight.  Does not matter whether it is local or international, for a day trip or a three week trip.  I then just make it to the checkin counter, with minutes to spare.  Then it is fishing out passports, boarding passes and the like and by the time I get into the departure hall I am highly stressed out. This time though I thought I should avoid all the stress and started out by checking in online, exactly 24 hours before the flight, selecting my seat and booking my meal.  At night I packed my bags and got all my things together and before retiring I had, for the first time, everything ready for departure.   This morning I made my way to work for a meeting and even managed to leave at the time I planned.  I got to the airport a hour and a half before the flight, checked in my luggage and n...

As I sat by my window watching the sun dip below the rooftops, turning the sky into the deep orange of sunset, I contemplated the ending of another year.  I know that this is the sixth day of the new year but, until today, I have not had the time to contemplate the passing of 2013. As we get older time seems to pass us by faster like a sprinter picking up speed to the finish.  I think that as we get older we realise more and more that the most precious thing in life is time and we are most concerned that we unable to utilise our time to its fullest. Having been alone, for the last three years, has also made me realise how important it is to have the right partner to share time with, something I did not contemplate when I first got married, and something I thought I had taped when I got married for the second time.  But it seems that I had missed the boat on both occasions. I realised that, as a result of this I have missed, some of the most memorable events that a ...

The last post to my blog resulted in a number of comments on the style of writing and while this peaked my interest the comment that "this was my take on the subject" is what really made me think.  With this in mind I reread the post and realised that this was in fact my take on the subject.  Not only that, but this was a reflection of a life experience and the way I hoped it would have turned out but, alas, it was not to be.  Prompted by this realisation I felt compelled to examine my thought processes, do some research and decide what exactly constitutes a forbidden thought.    Firstly it became quite clear to me that most of us have forbidden thoughts and most of the time these are harmless.  It is when we decide to manifest these thoughts that they become potentially life changing and may affect those around us and especially those that are closest to us.  They can be of such a nature that they challenge or contradict our belief systems,...

It was not like she had planned it, nor did she anticipate it or contemplate it.  It just happened, unexpectedly.  You could almost say that it surprised her even though surprise was the last thing on her mind.  It all started when, as usual, she walked over to the coffee machine for her mid morning coffee break and selected, what she thought was her usual drink of coffee with milk, but, by some quirk of nature, had inadvertently selected the freshly brewed tea.  It did not occur to her that the drink took an unusually long time to prepare nor that the drink that emerged displayed the distinct signature of tea blended with milk.  Not even when she took the first sip, and the slightly bitter sweet taste, distinctive of tea, permeated her senses, did she realise her mistake.  For it was this very moment, this very instant, that the universe decided to change her life forever. It was this very moment, while her senses were permeated by the distinctive tas...

Looking back in time I cannot believe that three years have passed since I started this blog.  In these three years I have managed to post one hundred and fifteen posts on this humble blog and while statistically that is 30 posts per year the reality is that I was most proficient the first few months.   Today I chanced a look at past posts and I realised the breadth and even the depth of the posts changed over time.  It would seem that instead of getting down to the meat of things the blogs changed and became rather more shallow with time. I also noted, that while I get immense joy out of writing, I had not dedicated myself to the task and with the result have not given it my all and, if I dare, am poorer for it. I guess the passing of Madiba has had a more profound effect on me than I would have ever anticipated or imagined.  And while so many had visited his home, or attended the memorial services or even formed the guard of honor as his remains were transp...