Feels like a lot of doom and gloom at present. And death. Since this weekend, we’ve heard of the deaths of prominent South Africans, almost on a daily basis. Dr Thandi Ndlovu, founder of Motheo Construction, over the weekend; Gavin Watson, of Bosasa fame, on 26 August and Ben Said, renowned journalist, on the same day. Believe it or not, there have been others. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

We’re mourning our fatally ill economy.

I want to offer condolences to a country in continuous mourning. We’re mourning the fabled rainbow nation. We’re mourning our fatally ill economy. We’re straining ourselves to remain hopeful.  But that’s what happens in times of change.


Change can be so disrupting. It’s painful. But most of all, it’s inconvenient. Or at
least, that’s what most of us feel when we’re going through change. But this is
not sustainable. For any human being. To feel panic, anxiety and high stress
all the time. I truly believe that stress will kill us before our poor diets
and sedentary lifestyles. So what?


We have to realign our thinking. Our thought patterns which are directly related to our reactions. We’re all on edge. Just the slightest provocation gets an unwarranted explosive response. I know. My poor kids. And husband. Blame it on proximity. But that’s not good enough. I’m trying. Here’s a starting point.

I only love good surprises.

There are those personalities that just love surprises and those who detest them. I only love good surprises. But life’s not like that. We don’t always get to choose. Change can be likened to surprise. Best you learn to embrace it as it’s never going away.


We need to welcome change as a necessary part of our evolution. Think of the mythological Phoenix.  It had to burn, totally disintegrate, to emerge new and whole. We can interpret this as birthing a stronger version of itself. Going into the fire is never going to be pleasant. But it has to be done in order to move to a new level. I liken it to childbirth. It’s pain with a purpose.


So, what’s changing in your life that’s got you in a spin? You don’t look at young as you did? Your career or business has hit a slump? Your partner or spouse is acting
strange? Or your money’s not stretching till the end of the week, forget
month-end? There are a million and one permeations of what drives our anxiety
levels through the roof.


Whenever you feel tension, it’s indicative of change. Let me illustrate with a simple
example many can relate to. Almost every adult has experienced a headache. A
headache, or any other body pain for that matter, is simply a communication
tool. The body is saying, ‘hey, this is not going so well, you need to pay attention
here. Change something that you’re doing’.


When we ignore it, it intensifies. It eventually becomes a crisis. I’ve had the
traumatic experience of watching a friend start with a headache at work, which
escalated in a few days to a full-blown brain aneurism. It eventually killed
her in a very short time. She often suffered from headaches. To what extent, I
will never know.


My point is that change is not always something we may want. But it’s what we need. It’s the Universe letting us know that we have to move. That we have to act. That we have to take certain decisions. That we have to go into the fire to emerge victorious.


Anyone up to view change as a pleasant surprise?