Change is all about you. “Be the change you want to see in the world” is Mahatma Ghandi’s overused quote. Overused maybe but definitely not to be sneezed at.

Many years ago a relationship I had had all of my life became rocky. I began to suspect her of ulterior motives, of not supporting me, and of having a different attitude to me. My relationship with her deteriorated to such an extent that I did nothing but fight with her. One day I even pulled her aside accusing her of not supporting me in my intimate relationships. She could say nothing right. Times were so rough for me that I was seeing a psychologist at the time and so I sought his counsel on this imploding relationship. He took me on a journey that altered my perception of the person and the situation. As I began to see things differently I noticed that the only aspect of my relationship with her that had changed was how I was seeing her, nothing else. She was the same person I had always known. By changing my perception I changed the relationship back to what it was. “She” is my mom.

So a new campaign that has launched in South Africa has caught my attention. It stands above other initiatives because it is a call for every South African to stand up and lead by example. We’re an interesting bunch in this country where we are quick to drive away from a dinner party over the alcohol limit, yet complain when we are then asked for a bribe by the police officer who pulls us over. Both actions are against the law but we play victim and choose which is acceptable depending on who committed it. Lead SA is encouraging each person to be the leader of their own life and to recognise that changing your attitudes and actions, even as small as smiling and greeting people, changes your world and will then have an impact on the country. Good on you, Primedia, for a campaign that starts with individuals, because each person is the centre of their own world and change starts with them.

Be the change. See its effects. Lead SA.

P.S. I love you mom

A little while back I wrote a piece on the South African psyche of not having faith in our ourselves that we will get things right (see Greg’s View on Fun). We always look forward and assume that we will mess it up, which the media then laps up and spews out there.

The pendulum has now swung to the other extreme. Now no negative press is tolerated by South Africans regarding the Soccer World Cup. We are now in a panacea of perfection and efficiency, despite actual experience. My experience is an example. I am aware that my comments may be seen by some as “afro-pessimism” or negative but it is a factual account of what happened. I also must point out a feature of my personality where I get frustrated when I see that things designed to achieve something are not being utilised properly.

Here is my experience of the opening game. (continue reading…)

2010 can be fun – it’s our choice.

Sometimes one of the hardest things to do is have fun. We find every possible reason not to.

Next year South Africa hosts the World Cup. The country has been abuzz with talk of “2010” for four years now. For four years we’ve been looking forward to hosting the biggest event on the sporting calendar. Yet we have yet to get excited. We have yet to start enjoying the fact that we will be the centre of the sporting stage in a year’s time. There is still concern that we will not be able to host it; until recently we even believed that there was a chance that FIFA would move the event. Newspaper reports still focus on the reasons why we will not be able to host a successful event even though FIFA is confident.

Last Saturday a journalist pointed out that there are still no good news stories going around on how South Africa has almost completed the stadia, has upgraded transport systems and is successfully hosting the Confederations Cup. No, instead the papers are filled with the news that the Egyptian soccer team’s hotel rooms were robbed, once again highlighting the crime in the country, despite reports on how this has happened across the world at large sporting events.

So when does the fun begin? When do we start enjoying being the centre of attention and hosting such a great event? We should start before we miss it.

How’s the event you’re hosting that you call “life”? No matter what is happening it should be fun. Even the low points hold anticipation of the high. It is so tempting to take life seriously but it is more refreshing to just let all things go and to approach the days with innocence, purity and trust. Choosing fun does not mean then that you have control of the outcome though, which actually makes it more fun because you never know what will happen! Just as we don’t know how the World Cup will go. All we know is that we can choose to enjoy it!

So choose fun today, tomorrow and in 2010. And enjoy not knowing the outcome.

As South Africans go to the polls to vote in a new government many are wondering what the truth is about the arms deal which has been causing such controversy. Is the soon to be new president really as innocent as he claims to be or is there really fire where there is smoke?

We all have many things in our lives that are a mystery and will never be solved and we feel that had we the answers then things would be different…we would be able to let it go. But this may not be the case because if we heard the truth we may still not believe it. We may dispute it and continue on our search for the truth; the truth that we hope for and want to hear.

So is it possible to ever discover the truth about your greatest questions? Who are you really? Why are you here? What is your purpose? If you received the answers to these questions in a dream would you believe them anyway…and so would they really then be the truth?

The truth is what you know it is; nothing more and nothing less. So if you know that you know nothing then that is the truth. Nothing is then the truth. If you are confused as to what your truth is then confusion is your truth. But there will always be truth even though you may surround yourself with lies – those lies are then the truth.

So, back to my original question about the arms deal and the soon to be South African president: what is your truth? Once you have that then it does not matter what stories you hear. So why not make the truth constructive? Make your truth about South Africa the most beneficial you can make it for you. Make it so brilliant that you influence the way that South Africa thinks and is. Be your truth.