Tag Archives: life

Attitude is everything!

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In my seven years of working (yes, I started to work in high school – I’m being honest – seven years), I have come across a wide variety of people. I have worked with people of all ages – private and public organisations (software company) and with students and teachers (teach Information Technology at a few local high schools).

As just about anyone in IT would agree, IT professionals can be very arrogant and I am not exempt to this trait by any degree – it is something that I need to be very aware of all the time and admittedly - it is something I really work hard at avoiding.

Often you will come across people that you dislike – both in a working environment or in a social environment – the main difference being that you cannot always chose the people you work with.

If there is one thing that really raises my blood pressure and makes me burn up in rage – it is dealing with difficult people who have a bad attitude (in the form of being grumpy, unfriendly, unprofessional or just outright rude and arrogant).

Attitude: A settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior

Something that I learnt in school was that attitude is a choice. It is a choice that only you can make for yourself. You chose how to perceive a situation and you choose how you react to it.

I recently was reading about how you can deal with people who have a negative attitude around you. I found the following  saying really insightful:

It’s our Attitude, and not necessarily our Aptitude, that determines our Altitude in life.

Your choice of an attitude is a life choice – it can determine the quality of life you live. Those who choose a bad one, often will be unhappy, unfriendly and generally an unpleasant person to be around as they breed negativity. Be cautious and aware of such people – avoid allowing them to bring you down.

Just today, I had to deal with an unpleasant co-worker. The tone of voice and body language both shouted arrogant and as I walked away to go to my next appointment, I was negatively affected – I thought “Oh, she really doesn’t respect me, or like me. I really try to be friendly to her, I really respect her”.

Tone of voice supposedly gives off around 40% of your message to another person. However this is not the main evil here – body language is. Out of the remaining 60% of the message – 55% is derived from your body language. That leaves only 5% to what you are actually verbally portraying.

With students, this is just about always true. If you have ever asked a question to an ‘energetic excited to learn group’ of students – you will see hands flying up to answer a question and see a sense of satisfaction as they get the correct answer. However on the flip side, a class that is uninterested and has a lack of motivation, often will not give you eye contact and you will be forced to select the student to answer the question – which generally comes with a shrug of a shoulder and a grunt or two.

The above mentioned is not really a question of intelligence, rather an attitude issue. You choose your attitude toward everything you do.

So what do you do? On my way in the car, I thought about what I could do about the situation which arouse and initially though “Do I bring it up with an authority?”, “Is that a childish way to deal with the issue?”, “Should I just continue to show respect and friendliness in the attempt to be the bigger person?”.

After some time and reading up, I came to the conclusion that not everybody is going to like me – not because I am a bad person or an unbearable person (which is possible), but because they have chosen an attitude which forbids them from giving others respect – or even the ability to be civil. I have decided that I will try with every part of my being to not change the way I deal with people like that – to continue to show them respect and friendliness – despite how they ‘talk’ (tone, body language) to me.

I refuse to step down to their level. I will not, and I hope those around me will hold me accountable to this – as I would do to them.

In closing, choose your attitude. Make the difference. Do not allow negative people to bring you down to their level – lead the way in hopes to bring them up to your level and beyond.

Realisations and happenings of late 2010 / early 2011

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The last few weeks have been a very eventful few. It has been a time for many positive things / changes in life – in fact all positive (well this post will only cover the positives – no need for me to grunt about my problems ;) ).

Firstly, I met my biological mother a few days before the new year. After over 13 years of no contact in any form – this was most definitely one of the highest points in my life. I had never really imagined this day – I guess I thought it would never come.

For me, I was able to have a number of questions answered, a number of personality features were highlighted – small things and then also a number of rather larger things. I’ve been spending great amount of times with her lately – I guess there is just so much to catch up on and so much to get to know. It really has been so very exciting. Possibly one of the best gifts someone could get around Christmas time.

I am very keen to see where this goes and to continue a good relationship with her in the future. (See photos below).

On a less eventful note, I have always been a very pro conservative kind of person. However I got speaking to a friend of mine, who listened to what I felt were my political views.

This friend has studied political science and works as a political strategist at the Cape Independent. After listening to my views, he informed me that I am more of a Classic Liberal. I did some reading later that evening – and it turns out that the views that I hold are in fact not entirely conservative – but in fact fall into the more Classic Liberal park.

Shock and horor?

Not really. For me politics is very important – especially in relation to Economics. The Classical Liberal view on economic is inline with those that I have adopted as my own. I will most likely be posting a little more on this a little later this month.

I think is about all I have to say for this moment.

2011 is here!

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Above: Photo taken on 1 January 2011.

So 2010 is gone. 2011 is upon us. I can honestly say that 2010 was an amazing year. I have learnt many new things, worked very hard, had great experiences and some not such amazing ones. I guess that is part of life – the good and the bad times. However, we learn from both – I finished this year with a very positive attitude with some amazing friends that I have got to know other the last 12 months.

As I traditionally do (if one can call it a tradition – considering this is the second year I am doing this), I would like to give an overview of 2010, and then also talk about my plans for 2011.

Looking Back:

  1. Possibly the most memorable experience this year was the experience of loving someone – for me this was very new.I mean, I love my family and many of my friends – so I speak of a more romantic type of love – I have gained love and lost love this year.

    However I do not regret it – I have learn so much from the process and also have come out as a better person – this person helped me make many important decisions in my life – for one – urged me to register to study in 2011.

    For this I am grateful  - I needed a kick to get that done. With love comes a fair amount of pain – this I have also experienced – yet again – I do not regret this at all – it was such an amazing experience.2011, I will be open to love. Something I was always closed to – I thought I never needed anyone else.

    So, thank you.

    “If you love someone, let them go: If they return to you, they will be your’s forever; If they do not, they were never your’s to begin with.” – Anon.

  2. In April 2010, I decided that I needed to follow my vision. I left a company I was working at for around 6 months and started my own business again – SpinningYourWeb.I started SpinningYourWeb in 2005 – when I was 13.

    It is now going into its 6th year of operation. It is finally looking financially viable and I guess this is testament to the power of hard work, consistency and dedication. I love my work – this helps greatly.

    Someone wise said something along the lines of – do what you love, then it is not work.I know where I want my business to be – I know where I want my life to be. I will succeed.

    “There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

  3. I have made many great friends. I love my friends. They are what keeps me alive, keep me from loosing my sanity and who are there for me when I am going through a rough time. Without them, I would be nothing.In 2011, I wish to get to know my friends better, to become more involved in their lives and in general, to build some more amazing bridges.

    “You can have friends as numerous as leaves on a tree, but only one good friend will change your life. My life has been changed” – Davide Mancinelli

Looking to 2011:

I have divided this section into two – personal and work.

  1. Personal:

    I have many aims in my life.  One of my aims is to be the best friend I can be to those who mean so much to me. I want to always keep my eyes open to new relationships and bridges that can be made. I find I have a very closed mind – this year, I want to expand my horizons and I want to be open to new things and new experiences.

    I start my studies this year, while working a full time demanding job. I made a decision to drop marketing and to move to my initial interest (which I was talked out of in 2010). I will be starting a long process of extending my education.I will be starting a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics. I would like to take this far – how far – that I am unsure of.

    I want to live a healthy life style in 2011. I want to remove things that make me stressed or add additional complexity to life.Life is not meant to be complex and difficult. Living a healthy life includes relationships (both friendships and romantic), healthy eating, fitness and such. I want to be fulfilled in all these areas – however I want to be open to what fulfillment is in these areas.There is so much I could say with regard to my personal life, however as I experience things – I will write additional blog posts.

  2. Work:

    With regard to work, I aim to continue my commitment and dedication to the businesses growth and success. I want to work harder – I often feel I do not put my all into my work.

    I guess it is important to do this – in order to reach the maximum potential. I need to be more harsh on myself and I need to force myself to work towards goals.In mid 2010, I launched a software project called Capital Software. This product has been in development for over 5 months. We have a number of clients wanting to license this software. This is very exciting for me – I would love for this to become the core of my business – and I know that it has the ability to become financially viable early on in 2011 as we expand the functionality and make the correct partnerships.

I think that is about it from me for now. I wish all my readers great success in 2011 and I hope that it is a productive year for all.

Here’s to 2011 and whatever it brings us, lets be open to anything.

The Lighter Side of Life :)

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Today I wanted to take a few photos – so I got the camera and looked what was on it. Now understand im not home all the much – so I had no idea what had been happening at home, but as I looked through some of the photos that one of my other family members took – I realised that we had some visitors. Im not going to say they were cute – because frankly – they are darn ugly ;)

Also, I found a few nice shots from the garden. So enjoy.

(CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE LARGER)

- Noel

Four Universal Principles to Living a Regret Free Life

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Recently I was reading the February 2010 Christian Living Today. My mother pointed out an article – “A no regrets life”. I skimmed over the article and then also researched it a little more and also put my own thoughts into it too. So this blog post is a combination of works of my own, the Christian Living Today magazine and a article called “One month to live”.

This post is titled  “4 universal principles to a regret free life”. I hope it makes you think about your life and how you could be doing things differently. However – in saying that – im not suggesting that you have problems in yours.

So the four principles are; Live passionately, love completely, learn humbly and lastly, leave boldly. With that being said – I feel it important to quote something that Mother Theresa said – “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much”.

Live Passionately

passion • noun 1 very strong emotion.  2 an outburst of very strong emotion. 3 an intense enthusiasm for something. 4 (the Passion) the suffering and death of Jesus.

“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” – John 10:10b (Msg)

This made me think of the fact that our time on earth is so short and that we should be looking at more than just what we have here on earth. What is of real importance on earth?

We look at how Jesus lived in his short time on earth – He forgave – even those who put Him to death on the cross. So the lesson I get from this is that we should be forgiving of everyone – despite what they have done to you.

I think of one of Don Francisco’s songs now. The name of the song is “I don’t care where you have been sleeping”. The words go something like “I don’t care where you’ve been sleeping, I don’t who’s made your bed, I’ve already gave My life to set you free; There’s no sin you could imagine that is stronger than my love, And it’s all yours if you’ll come home again to Me.”

Jesus loved everyone and showed this in numerous ways. We need to love those who interact with us fully. This will be discussed in more detail in “Love completely”.

So how should one express passion in life? Living a life of passion means living life as God would of intended you too. God wants our lives to be filled and guided by passion for life and others. He wants us to be compassionate to others and he wants us to care for those who are hurting.

We often hear people saying – “Live today as if it were your last”. This has everything to do with living passionately. What will you be happy with facing on the day of judgement? Will you be able to answer for all you have done? Did you do all you possibly could? Did you take every possible opportunity to use what you were given?

Love Completely

love • noun 1 an intense feeling of deep affection.  2 a great interest and pleasure in something. 4 a person or thing that one loves.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ This is the first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew 22:37 – 39 (NIV)

When one thinks about love, our minds often shoot directly to the romantic kind of love. I tend to think about the kind of love that God has for us. It is unconditional love – love that is not subject to being loved in return. Humans do not have the ability to love like this, but we can try our hardest.

I want to love people despite what they have done to me – and this I try to do. We see that in Jesus’ last 30 days on earth, he loved completely. This we see in John 13:1 – “Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”

So many people, at the end of their lives have many regrets – many of which could be said were from caused from not loving completely. When you question if you love completely – ask yourself the following questions; Did you love God fully? Did you love and show love to those around you?

We must love those around us despite what they do – the Bible says in Cor. 13:8 that “Love never fails…”

Learn Humbly

humble • adjective (humbler, humblest) 1 having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. 2 of low rank.3 of modest pretensions or dimensions: humble beginnings.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!” – Phil. 2:5-8 (NIV)

Jesus, at the end of his life, humbled himself to the degree of dyeing a shameful sinners death upon the cross. We should take every experience in life and use it as a opportunity for learning. I don’t speak from experience. I often take criticism badly – and after having time to think about it – I realize that, well – I could learn from it and become better through it – as bad, shameful or painful it was.

God allows us to see our problems and we need to take this with humility and try and resolve these problems. God does not expect us to do this alone. Life is not meant to be lived alone – we need people around us – to help us and in the reverse – for us to help.

We need to get to the stage in life when we can say that I cant do this alone. I give up. We need to then ask God for help – only after we admit these things can He work within us. So we need to take advice and criticisms in life humbly.

Leave Boldly

bold • adjective 1 confident and courageous

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” – Matthew 25:23 (NIV)

I believe that our time on earth is limited and I believe that we are not made to live on earth for eternity. We need to let go of earthly things when our time comes. We need to have a sense of security about what happens to us once we die.

We need to see death as simply a path to eternity with our maker – Christ Jesus. If we see it like this – we should not see death as the end of life as we know it – but rather a beginning of a new chapter – and if this is how we view it – surely we are able to leave boldly. So we need to ask ourselves – are we ready to meet our God?

I hope this article has given you some food for thought. It made me think hard about myself – as I write this article – I know there are many unanswered questions for me. So I write this not as someone who is perfect in all these areas – but rather as someone who would like to embrace these principles and introduce them into my own life.

Noel