Be Inspired by Miss Stone

As I sit here, on Christmas eve, I can't help but think back at the year that was. I tried refraining from the 'what 2013 has taught me' messages, but I just cannot. I mean, as I sit here thinking about the reason we celebrate Christmas, I cannot help but be thankful. Thankful to the Lord. Thankful for His birth. Thankful for His sacrifices. Thankful for the blessings He has bestowed upon me. Christmas has such an overwhelming effect on me. I find myself holding back tears, of both joy and sorrow. This year, two things happened that I am very proud of: I started my blog :) It seems all my talking and ranting can now finally be put to good use! All my opinions finally have a home. I also made it into the Clinical Psychology Masters programme for next year. A very selective programme, and one that I am honored to be a part of. I know that I am more than ready for this and I will reach the end of this journey having achieved my dream of becoming a Clinical Psychologist. ...

Today, South Africans all woke up with heavy hearts. Today, South Africa and the rest of the world mourn the death of an icon. A true legend. The father of our nation. Today, we mourn the death of uTata Nelson Mandela. Social networks were buzzing with the news since last night, and many beautiful messages have been sent out, but there is one I would like to share with you today. There is one message that I would like us all to carry with us on this day and for the rest of our lives. Gareth Cliff wrote this: ‘The Father of our nation has closed his eyes, so that the rest of the world may open theirs.’ After 27 years in prison, you came out, you forgave and you became our President. The people’s President. We will never forget you Tata. We salute you always!! And we thank you for everything you have done for us. Rest In Peace. Your Soul lives on forever. You have reached your final destination Tata. Your utopia awaits. Take Care Miss Stone

As I drive through my neighbourhood in the morning, on my way to work, there are a lot of images I see that disturb me. But slowly but surely, we are turning our community around. I get mad at people sometimes when they talk about Heidedal and all the bad things that accompany it. It angers me most when they generalize. They see people drinking and fighting and automatically think we are all like that. They think we are all drunkards. They see young school girls walking around with their big bellies and think that is what all young Coloured girls are destined to become: young mothers. Young mothers who have no future. Young mothers, who have no education. They see young boys getting drunk and high, and they think that is what all Coloured boys do. They think this is all they can do. They think our boys have no ambition in life. But with every neighbourbood, there is good and bad. It is sad that they can only see our bad. We have so much good in our community, but people do not...