Thursday 27 December 2012

When doors seem to be shutting from every direction the easiest thing to do is fret and give up. After reading a passage from a story of a young man who found himself a slave in a foreign land, hope was re-ignited. The young man had a dream. One that seemed too far fetched for his family's liking. How can a young boy have such a dream, be exalted above all of them...impossible! After all he had no birthright and stood no chance of inheriting any legacy...he was one of the youngest in a family of possibly men and women of stature and here he comes saying "You will bow..."!
The voices do speak up now and again, "Who are you to believe you can be great..." but Truth says "Who are you not to think you can be great..."
With a tone that sounds like logic, "It's too costly, too complicated for a simple mind like yours..." Yet I will rise, soar above the rest or with the rest momentarily but rise I shall.
The answer to my application for the Unogwaja Challenge did come. As hyped up as I was, it was a no, one that I embraced yet the dream lives on to bring change in one way or another.

Clear Vision

The wise king said, "...Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, so he may run that reads it...."
My heart has been yearning for an answer, for a sign, something to give substance to dream that seems rather flaccid under the weighty odds . As I recall the words of yet another "...no woman carries a child never to reach the season to birth..."
The dream to take part in the Unogwaja challenge at this stage seems far out of reach yet faith is the string that ties what could be with the present reality. So to write the vision down I have hastened to do, that it may be endorsed, maybe not a tablet of stone but upon a heart filled with hope. The vision is therefore clear, do whatever is humanly possible. To envision the end, I have busied myself, not that I may perchance claim honour or worse still bestow it upon myself but that I may do a service that may perchance change the life of at least one or two in Africa.
Many at times I am worn out. I feel I can't anymore and the only thing to do is condescend to ever-decreasing circles where life is somewhat entrapped. The end or beginning of the year for me is time to contemplate. Each time I am left with an unbalanced ledger, seemingly a debtor to life and creditor  to what could have been.
As the last few days of the year roll by, I try to position the plug that I may salvage what is left and hopefully have something to use in creating the mortar for the foundation I intend to lay for the coming year. Intentions I seem to be overburdened with, yet the ability to turn them all into realities I neither possess or perhaps it is buried so far deep within that excavating would be in good order.
Confused I sound,yet the reason I find myself back in this exact same spot, year after year is unknown to me. As I embark on this quest, may the heavens be open to rain down some answers that I may find that which I search for

Monday 22 October 2012

This would be the point where I would scribble "Dear Diary..."
Alas, diary I posses not and my fingers have become too accustomed to hard keys to yield to the rather attention demanding task of writing.
Getting back to the purpose of my current engagement as an e-scribe,  'tis quite an interesting one.
Back curved and mind set on the year to come, a challenge was made and reciprocated by a single word, "Accepted!"
A challenge that will not only demand mental and physical strength but one that will require summoning the Provider and His hosts to bring in the finances required for an 11 day journey by bicycle and the 12th on foot!
Crazy as it seems, faith says it will be doable! Absurd and naive I walk into this yet hope tells me we will have enough supplies for the journey set to begin on the 23rd of May 2013 from Cape Town to Durban.
A dream it all seems, vague and somewhat foggy, yet the end is in sight, at the finish line, with my second Comrades Marathon medal.

Unogwaja Challenge, with but a dollar in my pocket...challenge accepted!
Comrades Marathon, with a wobbly knee and cracking ankle...bring it on!
Blood, sweat and tears will be inevitable but I still say...Yes!

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Flames Alive!

Many at times we get hyped up about taking on a challenge then somewhere along the lines, life happens and we lose focus of the prize. We get busy doing "stuff" but when it comes to taking stock of the "stuff" we may find that only a handful of the tasks we partook in had any real value or yielded any results.
Embarking on a journey into the long-distance-running world, I was pumped up, inspired to take over the roads and trails. What I felt then was a cross between what Alexander the Great would have felt had he voyaged to Mars and how
Through the past year, the wells of passion have overflown while in some periods ran dry yet the flame flickers on. Tooth and nail (not always) fighting every flame dousing element.
Coals on my head constantly reminded me of the debt I owe the next generation, shoes to fill and words of hope to impart.
Challenge after challenge, the journey has continued, some ending quick and painlessly while others took every ounce of courage and determination possible. The most memorable of all not only left me mentally renewed but with a permanent vision of what it is to literally run the race of life.
Starting at high altitude one cold June morning I endeavored to eat away mile by mile chunks of the Ultimate Human Race (Comrades Marathon). Huffing and puffing I hobbled my way to the finish line, with neither strength nor poise but a heart filled with gratitude to the crowd of witnesses that spurred the runners on from dawn to dusk. Quite overwhelmed with emotion I collected probably the smallest medal ever received, yet the most well-earned on my humble "wall of flame".
Far be it from me that I be perceived as singing myself praise, for to sing is not my forte, furthermore my lungs falter rather dismally with any attempt to blow a trumpet.
Though many may said it was impossible, too premature, too grueling a challenge but I've learnt never to take anyone word till I have had a taste (of course with the exception of highly toxic or poisonous dishes). As crazy as certain challenges may seem,  attitude will certainly determine altitude.
The road may be long as the milestones slowly roll by the wayside but pain only builds resistance and resistance makes you stronger.
Many are the voices in our heads, a lot of the time they prophesy doom and gloom but turn up the volume of that still small voice that sings "Yes you can!"
Whether you run, crawl, roll or have to be carried across the finish, never give up for the price of giving up is too dear.
When the going gets tough along the way, set your eyes on the prize for great will be the rejoicing when the task is complete.
I am beginning to sound like the preacher on the mountain so I better away that I may perchance sit under the tutelage of life itself once again.