“BUNCH OF ANIMALS” is one comment on CPUT strikes. What is yours?

People have had their personal views on this heart touching topic. As individuals everybody is entitled to safety and security. Don’t we? Yes, we are. Though students were out of control in their dealings, everyone can back me up on this ‘if you make decisions using your intuition the worst happens’. Is not so?

This is heart touching because some of us are being negatively affected by the strikes taking place at CPUT. Just imagine when you fight for your own rights but instead of negotiating the matter concerned you get jailed. I mean we are here for one reason and that is to pursue our careers but how one is expected to do that when intuition fees increases every year. Well, I know the global economic recession play part on this but that does not mean that the increment should be 100%.

However, Student Representative Council should monitor their fellow students and ensure that they do not vandalize any property but how is this possible if management locks themselves in their offices when needed to come and negotiate with the SRC. Students have seen that they only take action once something is destroyed.

Strikes at CPUT are becoming a new culture which inevitably gets students’ voice heard. If you have noticed every time students strikes they get what they have been striking for. This is the worst year of my life with this institution, though there have been, in the past few years, strikes but they never are like this one.

My comment on this is that strikes at CPUT need to be announced well in advance so that all students are aware and they come prepared. Bunch of animals should take part on strikes because most of these issues affect us directly or indirectly.

Every day is a good day

When I looked at this topic many questions popped up on my mind…. Questions like, what about the day when things are pretty not going well? When you were not feeling right? Do these moments portray a good day?

But I got to think of a day as an absolute day….to think of it as a blessing for the Almighty. I think every day is the same, all the minutes, hours we spend every day are equal, there is no fast or slow day but it is only our minds that perceives a day as bad, slow, fast or otherwise. But the truth is every day is as good as any other.

I think every day is determined by thoughts, what is on your mind when you wake up in the morning will certainly tells how your day is going to be like. But whatever your mind can think of the day, it is just a day it has nothing to do with our problems. A day is just a precious commodity or an opportunity in which we do our daily activities of life.

Even if the weather can change throughout the day, but it still remain the same as good as it is on a sunny or rainy day. Weather or other things that might ruin your day should not make it a bad day; it is only your mood that changes.

Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses

I have been contemplating a lot about this topic and it took me not too far from the notion that this could be true. Actually it is true. Though I tried to look at different views so as to oppose this but I guess that would be unfair of me.

Our strengths are our greatest weaknesses, this goes without elaborating. I mean we grow up stumbling, chopping and changing how we do things so that our future could be what we want it to be. It is mostly said that our steps today leads or determines our destiny.

So this means that you should step very carefully. Think when a child is crawling for example, its’ main weakness is that it can not walk. But when time progresses, with a lot of practice, it walks eventually. In this regard, whatever you are good at today was once your weakness, because as a human being with conscious and/or subconscious mind you work durable and smart to convert these shortfalls into your strengths. Today you can walk out proud on the street because you posses a great zeal in something, but know that it is not that you knew it from the word go, it might happen that it was once of your most weakness but you worked on it, now its your strength. Our strengths grows out of our weaknesses.

Feelings follow behaviour

Pretty much so, most of us have a tendency to listen to our feelings or to what we think before making any decision, this also empirical with behaviour. I mean what you think will determine how you behave….. to elucidate this; as a human being there are things we are fond of and we hold them dear to heart and those that we are not fond of we just neglect their existence. What make this occur are the feelings that you have towards that certain precious thing.

I wholeheartedly agree that feelings follow behaviour. I am of the mind that our day-to-day performance is based on our feelings. As a cognitive, we feel angry or happy; we like or dislike, etc all these feelings will direct you to behave in a certain way. In most cases we know what we want, what makes us feel better and what to do and the things we do are regarded as behaviour. And behaviour is more related with attitude and both these cues are exasperated by our feelings.

When you wake up in the morning with a fresh mind and a vision to accomplish something, for sure that day you will have a positive behaviour and good attitude. Same applies with me, when I wake-up everyday my day is beset with conflicting demands but I always thrive to complete my to-do list so in this way my feelings to accomplish my daily activities creates a positive behaviour. How I feel determines how I behave. So when you like something you will do it and if not you will not. You first feel it then do it or not.

It is better to practice a little than talk a lot

I fully agree with this. It is better to practise a little than talk a lot. I mean if you think of it, talking might help but there is always something to talk about, and if you want things done you better start acting. Talking a lot doesn’t get things done. It, however, prolongs the process of practising things.

Talk is cheap. Well, that’s what they say. If you look very close at this statement, it means that talking will hardly make you a fortune but practising will get you somewhere, yah!! People make mistakes and mistakes can be rectified, but if you don’t implement how are you going to know where you go wrong? So my suggestion would be talk a little rather and practice a lot because practice makes perfect.

Something just crossed my mind; I know someone who has a business vision, he is a business-minded. Everyday she comes up with new business idea(s), magnificent plans and she goes on and on telling potential people about her plans, virtually everyday. She invites some to collaborate with but the thing is she never gets any of her ideas into practice. We’re are now on the sixth month of the year, and running her own company was on top of her New Year’s resolutions, she has not registered any to date. Not that I make fun of her but I mean if she can get her acts together and start practicing, I’m sure things will page up.

No matter how little you practices but it is a step towards something, I believe that baby steps can get you somewhere, no matter how small they are but you’ll reach your dreams. It takes time anyway to achieve your dreams. Yet talking a lot will just consume your time immensely. After all, it is better to practice a little than talk a lot.

It is a poor idea to lie to yourself

When I asked my friends why people lie to

themselves, I got different answers, some of them don’t know, others think those who lie to themselves need a professional help but my own opinionated thought is that those who lie to themselves wants to feel good, actually to feel better, to paint this perfect picture which sends a message that’s favorable to them, to people around them. They live a falsified life. But where does it get them to?

Don’t think those people will really get somewhere with lies but they actually constructing a vicious descending sequence that makes it harder for themselves to achieve their set goals. For sure if you lie to yourself you’ll lie to others as well. Meaning you will live a false life. Lies lower one’s dignity. You will not get respect from others and definitely from yourself. Would you walk in the street with a connotation of lies within you, will you?

I believe a man who lies to himself has a problem. I mean, just think of the monomania one gets. Lying to yourself is one of the biggest problems people do and it prevents them from doing things they really want to do in life.

It is a poor idea to lie to oneself because you don’t take a path to righteousness, I mean in your career, your life and to other important things in life, so don’t lie to yourself.

Not all who wander are lost

This is so very true. Not all those who wander are lost. As human beings we all have dreams and want to achieve them. We thrive to elevate to our destinations. However it might happen that on your journey to your desired endeavors there will be ups and downs in a way that some of you find yourself being controlled by obstacles, wandering. They find themselves taking a different path from what they intended to, maybe because of these obstacles.

It might be that some of us are wandering because they want to; they treat life as it presents itself to them, while others are wandering because they simply don’t know what is right for them. They don’t know what to do. While some wander because they are timid to take responsibilities, they don’t want to be accountable.

Some wander because they have reached a deadlock, they perhaps have tried everything they dreamt to have but nothing worked. Not all who wanders are lost, some achieve their goals while wandering…they try anything that comes their way and make the best out of it.

I don’t think there is any individual with no purpose in life, there might be those who are lost or wandering but it might be a temporary thing. Everyone wants to get some where in life. That is why I say not all who wander are lost.







Picture by Jean Skipper