Fight or flight - my decision

Fight or flight In life we are often faced with the tough decision – to stand our ground and fight for what we believe in, or hit the road and leave it all behind. If only the decision was as easy as the explanations thereof. I ran recently. I ran as fast as I could from things that had hurt me in the past and mistakes that had haunted me in the present time. And I thought I was doing the right thing – like most people usually do. When I returned I found that nothing had changed – except me. This just confirmed my believe that as much as we want other people to change, they won’t do it unless it is something they want to do. And sometimes they just won’t do it – end of story. So instead of fighting I let go of it all telling myself that I won’t waste time on things I cannot change. When it comes down to it, you are the only person that has to live with you. It is the voices in your head that you have to fall asleep with at night. It is your own regrets that keep you warm and your fears that stop you from reaching your full potential. I am done lurking in the shadows of ‘could have, would have and should have’ – regret is for those people who think they can change the past and I am not one of them.

My bucket list: Some things (not 100) to do before I die

About a month ago I had a life changing experience which got me thinking that life is too short to sit on the sidelines. I then made a commitment to do something I have always wanted to do: travel and see the world.

So here are some more things I would love to do before I kick the bucket, in no specific order:

Meditate with monks, watch the bucket list, fall in love, break a heart, mend a heart, read a full series of books in a month, watch a 3D movie, experience another religion, go to the gym (and not for a class), own a fish tank with living fish inside....

.... enjoy sushi, lay on the beach for an entire day, do a 10km run for charity, have a pointless job with a huge office, buy a full body designer suit, own a bachelors pad on the 11th floor, be an extra in a coke commercial, travel to work in a boat, see the stars in the Hollywood walk of fame, eat with my eyes closed and last but not least meet Justin Bieber

If you had to teach something what would you teach?

Well for me this was very simple, because I have made this exact decision lately. About three weeks ago I accepted a job to teach English in Thailand. Am I just doing this because it is more money and less hours? Yes. Am I just doing this because in South Africa you are underappreciated and underpaid? Yes. But all that aside English is and will always be my first love.

It all started before I was born. My dad would read English poetry while I was in the womb. He loved the language so much and taught it for several years before his tragic death. As soon as I was old enough to read I was introduced to books such as Someday the Blue Bird, Buckingham Palace and the Winchester book of verse. I would sit in his classes and just let my mind absorb all the language.
My entire life all I wanted to do was teach this magnificent subject. I went into PR for the variety, for just in case one day I wanted to do something else. And that day has come.

Now, with a teaching contract awaiting me, and the world at my feet I cant wait to begin this adventure. Never mind all the movies you have seen like Gangster’s Paradise, Lean on Me, 187 and Bad Teacher, I am going to show them how the Linti does this. But to be fair I will warn them in advance that this teacher is serious about English.

You cannot chase two rabbits at the same time

Follow the white rabbit - an expression commonly used by addicts to chase the high of their first hit, and for those of us who watched the Matrix (come on I know you all have) it is symbolic as the way out. Follow the white rabbit....

But what does chasing two rabbits mean? It comes from the wise teachings of the Zen believe. The story is as follows:

A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. “I would like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I would like to study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?”

“The hunter who chases two rabbits catches neither one,” the master answered.
The assumptions that were drawn from this story is that to excel at something one has to focus all ones energy on the task at hand. Another popular one is “Jack of all trades, master on none.”

So in context of our lives I would say, yes we need to focus our energy on things that take priority in our lives but I would not fully agree with the teachings of the master. We also need to keep the balance between things to keep ourselves from going crazy. Maybe the master should have come to Cape Town so I could tell him: All work and no play makes for an unbalanced Menay.

When will CPUT improve their services?

As another Monday is upon us I sigh at the thought of the day that lies ahead. Not because I have a boss that thinks I don’t have a life but because at 17h15 every Monday night I find myself sitting at a broken desk, with a broke chair in a stuffy room (the air- conditioning is broken) in Roland Street. So yip you guessed it, this is a ‘complaining’ blog.

Firstly lets start with the basics. Why did CPUT move the Public Relations course (national diploma and B-tech) to the building in Roland Street? Surely they could have anticipated that this would be problematic for certain students. I think the ones that suffer the most are the part time students without motor vehicles, who now have to walk down to the main campus at night to use the library.

And then they provide us with chairs and tables that leave much to be desired.
All of this I can deal with but what about the bathrooms? No toilet paper, missing toilet seats, used sanitary towels on the floor as there are no bins, no hot water and a continuously filthy floor.

And last but not least, why is the administration system of CPUT so messed up? On two occasions, while registering at the administration department I was informed that I did not complete certain subjects. This was not the case, and after several hours of back and forth between more admin people and senior lecturers the problem was solved. But what if I was a foreign student that only came to CPUT on the day of registration?

So yes readers I am gatvol! I am counting the days till this campus is no longer part of my Monday- or any day for that matter!

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea, when you only have one idea

Here is the deal - if you have one idea, no matter how great and mind blowing it is, you need to have a more than one. Even if you think it is the next best thing after sliced bread, ideas are like people (something my mom would always tell me), they like to have the company of those similar to them.

Although this friend expression was totally overplayed in my childhood, it holds true in this situation and many others.

Life is all about balance. We tend to forget that as we all want to be exceptional at something so we invest all our time and energy in a single thing. We want to be the smartest or the fastest so we study the hardest or train the most, not keeping in mind how important the balance is.

So when you have more than one idea, you can spread your attention and efforts and if the one does fail, it was not the thing that defined you. This can also prevent the common occurrence of people taking failure too personally and completely giving up.

So come up with as many ideas as possible, dream and do things that are ‘unlike you’. The only thing more dangerous than never dreaming is only having one dream.

Is red bull taking over the world?

While working on the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race, there was a huge change in the energy of the crew in the media office, compared to that of previous years. Everyone had this bouncy energy. Encouraging but a bit weird. And there it was, large as life - a blue red bull fridge in the middle of all the commotion, with people freely taking of the beverages.

In their defence, they had had sugar free (or that’s what they call it) cans as well. I was initially against it but after a few hours I walked over and had one. I felt all the sugar and caffeine flow through my body- this must be what heaven feels like I thought. One turned into three and for the next seven days my morning only started after my can of red bull. They were even kind enough to give me 15 cans to take home. I did not see the catch.

Once my red bull had finished, I wanted more, but could not bring myself to pay the exorbitant price. I instead had a glass of boring water and turned the TV on. And then I saw it:

The red bull formula one

The red bull sponsored DJ’s

Red bull golf

Corporate red bull

Red bull stunt racers, bikers, divers, dancers, RED BULL EVERYTHING!!

Is it just me or is red bull taking over the world?