This is a sensitive topic to tackle as people are generally all at different stages and in different places – some more gatvol than others and with good reason. I’m sure we can all list a few things that are causing our lil’ flames to burn low: Eskom, Zuma, DSTV’s porn channel - to name just a few. SA is not Lalaland, although a bit of candyfloss, happy thoughts and a decent police force would be a welcome change.

The mind is an extremely powerful organ. If we hang around negative people long enough our thinking becomes just that: Soiled. It’s the natural flow of things: Trash in, trash out. But like with everything else in life, we have a choice. We are ultimately in control of what we allow our minds to feed on. If we fill it with crime statistics, Malema’s yada-yada and all the latest gossip it will eventually snowball and create a destructive pattern of negative thinking that will control our emotions.

I like to think of myself as a Hopeful Realist and will admit [on record] that this country is everything but fully functional at the moment, but I can’t allow it to get the better of me. I’m not talking wishful thinking or fairies – I’m talking common sense and mind over matter.

There is a life to be lived and I’m planning on living it to the absolute full whether Malema gets away with the moola, Eskom cashes in on all our hard-earned money or whether the neighbours get hijacked. Every day consists of many moments and we lose out on these moments when we get consumed with all the bad stuff happening around us.

I have devided my life into 3 categories:

  1. Our family: The family unit and its needs
  2. Our problems: These are not minor problems that need solving, they are issues we don’t have the power to change, such as political issues, crime stats, Cell C’s poor service etc.
  3. Our Wants: Stuff (material)

And this is how I deal with life (well, mostly):

  1. If my family is effected directly I get all uppity and into battle mode. Action is needed and I’m very willing to take it.
  2. If it falls under the problem category I remind myself that I cannot change the situation, so I let it go and move on swiftly, or rather, eventually.
  3. If it’s a stuff problem – it’s just that: Stuff. It has no value or power to influence the quality of my life.

I think the way to go is to be informed and to do whatever you can to bring change and keep the powers that be on their toes, but not to allow your thoughts to influence your emotions negatively.

That will just spoil your day and turn the milk sour.