Funny Moment: So, I’ve been struggling to teach Kumi (3) to name her colours for a while. She has no problem grouping things into the same colours, but naming the colours is another story. So we’ve been trying hard to associate the colours with everyday things she’s familiar with, eg. This is red like your scooter, etc…..and we’ve seen some improvement.
So today, I got her dressed in a blue top and blue leggings…….as usual, after she gets dressed she goes to the mirror, and then exclaims “Wow Mommy, I look like a pool” 😂😂😂😂😂

Why You Have To Marry Up

Financially, I’m not sure which one, between my husband and I, married up, because we both don’t have money, except for that inheritance lumpsum waiting for me when I turn 30 (lol! I wish); and our families are far far far from balling.

Education-wise, I’m also not sure. He went to a high school that cost about R60 000 a year, while mine cost about R700 a year haha! Eish! But in varsity, [where we met actually :)], I ended up studying one level higher than him (Honours)…..so, I think somehow we’ve equalised there hey?

But that’s not the kind of marrying up I wanna chat about, I’m talking about character. When it comes to your partner’s character, it’s so important to marry up.

Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we must be on a pursuit to finding the most perfect, spotless human being to marry, because we might just wait around forever for that :/, although I didn’t. Haha! Jokes, my husband’s not perfect…… but he’s pretty close haha! Ok ok, let’s just say he’s perfect for me *pulls out the cheeseboard* …..yeah, I know I know, allow me 🙂
Coming back to my point: What I am saying is that it is super important to marry someone whom you can look up to in terms of character, a person who inspires you to be better, a person who won’t let you be less than what you’re supposed to be, but calls you up to a higher standard, a person who is consistent in their character and values.
I’m saying this because what I’ve realised (in all my long 5 years of marriage haha!) is that your spouse is probably your greatest influencer (and Adam said “Amen”). We all know that the company you keep ends up somewhat shaping your character and your values, how much more with the person that you spend the most of your life with? The person you trust the most, the person who is privy to your realest thoughts and emotions (yes, realest 😛), the one whom you are the most vulnerable to, the one who knows you better than anyone?

Now, of course, this is a two-way process, and you do feed off each other, and encourage, correct and exhort each other; but the fact remains that the person who has the most access to, impact and influence in your life is your spouse.

I’m so grateful that I have such an amazing friendship with my husband, I can totally be who I am with him all the time…….whether I feel like being crazy, silly, stupid, bluntly honest or deep….I can always just be real. But at the same time, he’s such a man of great character that he leaves no room for me to be mediocre when it comes to character. Not that he says it in many words, but there’s such an environment of ……… (really can’t find the word) that it’s not even about pressure to ‘become a better person’ but more of an inspiration or a calling up to greaterness (yes, greaterness). The person he is just makes me want to do better…..does that make sense?

For example, say I run into a certain situation where I feel hurt, betrayed or wronged by a friend. Honestly speaking, in these situations it’s very easy to react from a place of hurt and anger (eg. sulk, distance myself, seek revenge, have a bad attitude, etc)…..but knowing the kind of man that I’m married to, I know there’s no place for that kind of thinking because he values friendship, forgiveness, reconciliation, living in harmony, loving people, and all those lovely-sounding things……..not to say you’re not allowed to feel all kinds of emotions (because emotions are a real thing no matter how straight your character is) but it’s about how you respond to situations; and always checking your heart to see what’s really happening in there and why. It’s always good to have a person to nudge you and be a gentle reminder of the things you believe in, especially when you don’t feel like it. I really appreciate him because I realise how it could easily go the other way.
Disclaimer: Yes, I have Jesus…..yes, I have the Holy Spirit but I sure am glad that I have Langa as well :)….it helps a lot haha!

So, yes, choose carefully because your spouse shapes the person you eventually become, whether it’s intentional or not; and whether you realise it or not.
You need to marry up.

Why didn’t anyone tell me that water aerobics class at gym is for gogos?? 😄😄😄
I think I’ve just seen, in movies probably, those water classes where people do these amazing-looking manoeuvres in the water, and I really thought maybe they were gonna teach us stuff like that in that class haha! A bit ambitious maybe?…….I can’t even swim lol! but I was hoping for something somewhat elaborate.
And that is definitely not what I found when I got to the class 😄😄😄.
Firstly, I arrived there and I was the only person under 50! At first I was disappointed, and then I thought “at least I’m the fittest person here, I’ll be the star of this class” haha! But in all honesty, some of the exercises did show me flames, particularly the ones that require you to float 😳. And then there was one Gogo in the class, 74 years old, who made me her granddaughter for the duration of the class, shame she was so sweet…she’d show me the technique for the exercises and stuff. So, besides being the youngest and firmest 😄 in that class, I was somewhat humbled. This was actually not the first time that something like this happened to me at gym, I experience the same thing in Pilates…..always the youngest there but the one who seems to struggle the most, simply because the people in these classes have faithfully committed themselves to learning these techniques and over the months and years, they have mastered them, and although their bodies are aged, they are quite fit.
Lesson learned: it’s not always about being the youngest, fastest, fittest, prettiest, smartest, etc…….faithfulness and commitment can go a long way.
Most things in life don’t happen overnight, as much as we wish they could. It takes faithfulness and commitment to accomplish anything that’s worth accomplishing……whether it’s achieving fitness, learning to play an instrument, honing a skill, starting a business, etc…..it can take a while to start seeing progress, but once you’ve attained it, it’s something you can enjoy for a lifetime (in most cases)

Gym Is So Inspiring

Every time i go to gym i can’t help but be inspired by all the people there, it’s inspiring on so many levels.

Firstly, people at gym have made a resolution: to work on having a fitter/healthier/stronger/slimmer body. It’s one thing just deciding on something, but when you have to invest your hard-earned cash into a decision, it’s something else. And phela, gym is quite pricey…(sidenote: it’s actually quite sad that gym is only accessible to an elite few but well, there are a whole lot of other forms of exercise)

And then when you are at gym you come across at least 3 different types of people.
First group is the Strong Ones, the type you expect to find a gym vele, the examples of why you want to be at gym (lol!), the ones whose bodies you can’t help but stare at in the change rooms 😄. This group is inspiring to me because they have worked very hard to be where they are! You know what I mean, we’ve probably all tried some kind of exercise at some point, and it takes a while to start seeing any kind of results, and these people have persevered past that point, worked hard consistently over a long period of time, and now are finally reaping the benefits of a healthier/stronger/fitter body….and everything that comes with that. To the Strong Ones: I salute you!

Second group are the Inbetweeners, they’ve also worked hard for a bit, and it hasn’t been easy….it’s taken consistency to see some kind of results, they’ve probably backslidden somewhere along the line…..but they are still at it…..they are not quite where they want to be, but they aren’t quite where they started either…….it’s easy to give up at this point because you feel like you’ve at least achieved something…akufani…….but you keep on pushing on. I salute you Inbetweeners!

Then there are the Nowheres 🙈, now these people! These are the unfittest (if there is such a word) of them all, break a sweat at anything 😄, maybe overweight, struggle to keep up in group classes type of gymer. It doesn’t matter how obese a person might even be (I came across a lady so big she had to get help going down the stairs) the one thing that really inspires me about this gymer is that they have made a resolution, not to continue the way they’ve been living, and they’ve set goals for themselves……and they literally have to start at rock bottom, but they are there, doing it one exercise at a time, no matter how tough it is because they know they’ve made a decision to change their ways. These people work on a high level of hope because even though they have a vision, it seems so far that they probably struggle to see it. Nonetheless, they push on.
To the Nowheres, you inspire me so much!

By the way, I’m an Inbetweener 😊