Author: Simone

Loves to tell and hear untold stories about people, places and experiences!

They Win. You Win!

Everyone wants to be number one. Is that a crime? No, but I am going out on a limb to say many of us likes to share that top podium. We may smile and congratulate them when they win in some regard, but how many can say there is not even a twinge of envy or disappointment missed in with that goodwill.

Having been a part of the rat race that is working (lol), I have come to realise how much more competitive adults are than children. In fact, I would again go as far as to say that adults are the real instigators of fierce competition among children. Many of us love to win, we love the attention it brings or the accolades and the recognition gained. So we always want to keep winning. No time for losers for we are the champions… No time for losers means that losers must be left in the dust because the winners have earned the right to be on top. But is this true?

Many persons who make it to the top of whatever they have been meaning to make it to the top of, are usually burdened by being there, are usually paranoid by being there and usually are unhappy. They spend so much effort and time trying to remain at the top that they make sacrifices of varying degrees that can leave a bitter taste for life. The unhappiness and discontent could stem from an inability to trust anyone because it seems everyone is out to replace you. It could be that once there it pales in comparison to what you expected or you feel no one genuine is there with you to celebrate and support you. After all, to get there you may have had to step on a few toes or heads!

So we come to the idea of winning with others. How about we think of ourselves all as winners? Where instead of fostering a spirit of fierce competitiveness that stems from a desire to stamp out the competition we help each other up? How about we consider the quote by Matshona Dhliwayo, You become strong by lifting others up, not pulling them down .

Be kind to yourself, but remember to show love and kindness to others great or small. We never know if the person’s whose hand we held to pull up may one day be the hand that pulls us up when we stumble.

Operating in Alignment

Are you operating in alignment?

Have you ever wondered if you are truly being honest with yourself at any given time, or, even at any time? We all at one point have good intentions, noble ideas that we want to achieve. We see ourselves, because of those intentions and noble ideas, to be a little better than those selfish careless and cruel people out there, who take, take and take some more but never seem to think of giving.

However, if we have been guilty of being conflicted in our thoughts, actions and utterances then we are not operating in alignment. This truth brings to mind 1 Corinthians 13: 1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. If we are out of step in any way with our intentions and noble ideas how can we truly implement them? There is no way that we can. If we say we are for peace or we are all about love, but say and do hateful things are we not hypocrites?

Or, consider these words that have been attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, It’s not just words. Action expresses priorities. If we confuse those around us where our message does not match our actions or our thoughts would scare people who think they know it well, then we are out of step with who we think we want to be. We are not only deceiving others, we are deceiving ourselves.

There are times and it is possible to be out of alignment and not realise this, but such ignorance eventually catches up to us. When we realise this truth and do nothing we have decided to continue the deception and become a part of the problem we are trying to be the solution to. There is a reason the saying, the road to hell is filled with good intentions, not just littered, but paved. It is a truth that has survived along with humans throughout the ages. It is certainly not enough to mean well, to have good intentions if we do nothing or if our thoughts, actions and words do not align with those intentions. It is not enough just to say we mean well if we are always putting others in harm’s way, or making the same mistakes over and over.

It is necessary for us to check in every day or even multiple times of the day to see if we are in alignment. To know the weaknesses that may pull us off centre and constantly work towards getting back into alignment.

The Plan?

The Plan?

                         the dream plan
get a board
make a vision
put it down
visualise
then wait for the universe

Oh,
there is more?

prioritize
organize
flexifize - oh not a word?
Okay scratch that one!
Now, set your goals
you must know those
and by damn
take action?
Action plan!

Okay let's turn this page...

                             God's plan
You must be saved
from your own disgrace
to find the grace
take hold of salvation.
the vision board cannot contain
a plan that is divine.
So what to do
what goals to make
and which dreams should you be running to?
root your knees
at prayerville
and let the truth flow in.
But this plan 
lacks your control
half it's truth will never be told
hard to grab and hold,
hard to follow and obey
but to expereince this plan it's the only way.

                                         Whose plan?
So much to consider
so much to do
so much paperwork 
when you are only human, 
and there is only you...

Born Again

Born Again

Each night I shed my skin
and take it off
look within
to see what remains
after each imperfect thing
I could be condemned for.

Out of the ashes
I am leaving
to capture life and begin
anew 
on this same narrow road
prepared a long time
wholly good and wholly mine
where cracks and crookedness 
are all apart of a beautiful design.

on mended wings-
broken once-
will spread them wide
to take flight
above the hills and many mountains
to a destination
predetermined.

The Season of Violations

The Season of Violations

I first feel the biting cold
sinking its fangs into my soft supple flesh.
Tearing at the meat 
it hits bone,
and sinks further.
aAn electric shock
that would have knocked 
me on my knees - 
if I were not already there-
wounded deeply by betrayal.
The hole they threw me in 
is so dark - 
it was not for my colourful coat that they condemned me-
but for my young flesh,
youthful blood.
Stones have been thrown down 
at me
with no space to dodge them
I take them
inside of me 
forming
nuggets of rot
hate and decay.

For a moment I had seen
a thread of light,
but
it was snatched away from me
my violations left to fester for some time longer. 

Seasons come and seasons go
or do they go and come?
I do not know.
My limbs refuse to move
to be tempted by the winds of change,
by possibilities.

But could it be
the season must end?

I must be restored,
and one day soon
I must and will snatch back my true self,
and wield this jaw of defeat as my weapon of victory.

Fatal Narcissi

Fatal Narcissi

Foolish human beings
who think we are gods
see the writing on the wall
and still proceed
to tear asunder
through great blunder
those valuable seeds
that contain our dreams.
Potential lost
like garbage tossed
on the wildly improbable
and obscene.
We mourn our folly
that one great fall
that leaves us
to pick up the pieces
like a never ending siege.

Accountability

Do you still blame your situation on circumstances beyond your control? I do. All the time. And I know I need to stop. I know it solves nothing. I know it leads nowhere.

9 Accountability Quotes to Inspire Action — Info Product Conversion Copywriter

It is so easy to blame your problems on things outside yourself. It is so tempting to offload all of that responsibility onto something else, especially if you feel or know within your heart it is justified. However, what purpose does this serve? Does it mean that by blaming others or something else, we can work through or even solve those problems?

When we think about accountability, we often times, think in terms of someone else. It is hard for many of us to separate our feelings from fact and see that we may have a lot of responsibility for the undesirable seasons we find ourselves in. When the wound is fresh and we are blinded by the pain of a particular situation we ignore the fact that the vehicle that carried us to where we are, are based on the decisions and choices that we made. Yes, those behind it may be evil, wicked people, but did we know that they were evil, wicked people going in? Did we know we were entering blindly, lacking the proper wisdom and knowledge and still went in? Did we know that we were starting something that held no guarantee, but we did it anyway. Now we are devastated because the results do not match our expectations – even if we knew those expectations were baseless.

Yes, there are times when really, things just happen and we have to roll with the punches and make the best of a bad situation. On the other hand, what we choose to do after the unexpected, may require us to take some if not all of the blame for the way things turned out. Things happen, all the time, but how we react to those things is a choice we make, whether it takes an eternity or a split second to make that choice. At the end of the day it was a choice that we made. There is no going back from it and there is no hiding from it either.

Can we take accountability fully and stop watching as things fall a part? When we see things are not working out, whether with a project we are working on, a relationship, job or friendship, we may need to step into solution mode and stop blaming everything around us. Do you know someone who seems to never get along with anyone, never fit in anywhere and can never do anything right? Maybe we check those boxes? Well at what point does it become a matter of that person taking a good look internally, and not what others have done or not done, not focusing on what opportunities were given or not given, but at what that person did or not do, believe or not believe assumed or not assumed? Unless there are perfect persons walking here on earth, then at some point the continuous valley season some of us experience may more than likely have something to do with what we are doing or not doing.

Accountability is necessary. It is important to hold others accountable but it is more important in solving our own problems, to make sure that we are holding ourselves accountable. So no excuses, do not fall in the trap of being a bystander in your own life, take accountability, know what you are about, take back your power and do what is needed to write your story in the way you see fit.

Steve Maraboli Quotes on Accountability - BukRate