Achievement

If you are one that wakes up everyday, disappointed with yourself for failing to achieve what you set out to achieve, or for failing to be the person you wish to be by day's end. Be glad that you strive, because striving matters just as much. 

On your first try you will most likely fail; that is not what matters. What matters is that you try again. And again and again until you get it right. 

“Over time, as daily routines become second nature, discipline morphs into habit” Words of wisdom by Twyla Tharp; indeed, if you do something every day, it becomes you, and if good is what you practise and everyday you strive to achieve something great, the number of times you fail only become dumbbells to building your success. 

The whole world telling you that you can't does not carry any weight. If you set your mind to it, and you bring reality into the equation; with persistence, you will achieve more than that which you set out to achieve. You might start with a very specific target, but the sincerity in you, your persistence and the hard work you put may lead you to hit multiple targets at once and successfully.

Serendipity; The iPhone was realised as a result of trying to make something else. With hard work and belief came the realisation that something greater could be achieved; and it happened. The iPhone changed the way the world looks at mobile phones forever. Better yet, the initial idea was realised years later, and the iPad also revitalised the world of tablet computers.

Have your identity, believe in yourself, put in work and do not take no for an answer. Be true to yourself, be confident in the goals you set out to achieve, and when people tell you you can't, show them why you can. 

When people judge you for your shortcomings, ignore them, because everyone knows that we are flawed creatures. The difference between a strong and weak person is that one is mature enough to acknowledge and address every shortcoming. 

Focus on yourself, not others. Do not envy others and their achievements. Do not judge others by their shortcomings, no, focus on yourself and achieve what you want to achieve; focus on building yourself and remind yourself everyday that the ride may not always be smooth. But know that every journey has a destination and only by sitting through the ride will you ever reach that place and beyond. 

Growing Up

As time passes, we grow. Everyday we learn. Life does not always shift in our favour and as we grow older we begin to realise and embrace the fact that every experience matters, good or bad. 

As time passes, and as we grow, we begin to see what matters most in our lives and we begin to think of ways of achieving our goals. Some people want to be the next Beyonce, others want to have a modest and peaceful life, away from all the craziness of life. Whatever our aspirations, as we mature, we begin to work towards achieving something great. 

We meet people along the way, some stay and some don't. But every person plays an important part in building us as people, and if we are wise, we would learn not to take anyone for granted, even the ones that don't mean well. We learn that it benefits us not to build relationships off of deceit and it certainly benefits us not to betray people or the trust they place on us. We do not need to have a million friends, when we have a few honest ones, but we do not have to have a million enemies either. As we mature and grow older, we realise wether friend or not, we strive to be at peace with every single soul we come across. 

We are human and we make mistakes, and sometimes we are selfish in the way we interact with the world but we grow and we realise that it is an everyday struggle to be the best version of us and from this, we strive honestly. We learn to let go of pride, a chronic condition that prevents us from amending broken relationships, from acknowledging our shortcomings, from accepting who we truly are as people. As we grow, we do away with pride, and then we make progress.

We learn that we are not always right, we acknowledge that sometimes, maybe a lot of times, we are at fault and that a different opinion does not mean a reason to fallout. And that we can all live in peace, no matter the difference in age, sex, colour, religion or lifestyle choice. As we grow older, and as we mature, we learn to understand the essence of retaining our values while respecting the values of others, and in that finding peace and comfort everywhere we are. 

Negative Space

A change in the moon raises earth's waters and in complete darkness, the shadow is absent. 

Man is only as powerful as the weakness of men, and peace can be attained in a marketsquare, pain from a place of zen. 

Love is like water, it cleanses, it also destroys. Honesty is good, but often leads to bad situations. 

A lie is as painful as the truth, a lie is prefared because in its pain, it provides a type of comfort the truth cannot care to provide.

Comitment is scary, it keeps one stable, man does not like stability, he prefers to move. 

Dogs are loyal, but jealous. They can kill a trespasser and can kill your little child.

Children are oblivious to reality, and in their neglegence, are honest about reality. 

Looking in from the outside, as seen through our individual eyes, there is only good people. 

Free-will is celebrated, faith kept on the side, but if free-will led man to recover from a dark place, man will not need to look to the east five times every day. 

The Power Of Illusion

Give them a little power, so they can have a voice to waste their energy.

Starve them, so you shift their perception of hunger.

Tell them what they want to hear, to give them hope, so they can serve you more.

Pit them against each other, so they can be distracted from the real issues.

Arm them with weapons and not knowledge, so that the only thing they know is violence.

Kill their friend in secret, wound their other friend and come to their rescue, so they may hail you as the saviour.

Convince them that they are beneath you, and that they serve you, so they forget their rights.

When people are hungry, what matters is the food they will eat now. Not that which will sustain them from tomorrow up till their last breath. 

And in the illusion of power, people we feel their actions matter, and will follow a predetermined path to their destruction. 

And if it is juice they like, tell them a fountain of juice awaits them, but only if they follow you. They shall follow. 

And as you take what belongs to them, encourage them to fight each other by elavating one skin color over the other, one race over the other, one religion over the other, one way of life over the other.

And give them drugs, give them guns and not books, so they can devour each other. Because books teach, weapons kill. 

And make them believe you care by being the killer and the judge, the culprit and the victim, the giver and the reciever. Make them believe you did not do it, even though you know it was you. 

And help them forget that in actuality, you serve them, they do not serve you. 

Society today. For the tyrant to bloom. Open your eyes, darkness will not cure your sickness. 

Mirror

Mirror on the wall, the truth you tell.

The truth that cannot be told by no other.

The truth by which I myself tend to forget.

The most honest friend.

The best reminder.

The mirror on the wall.

Only through you, do I see my face as is. 

Apple, Love & Poison (One)

On the boat, the river, copper-coloured from the sunset, trees on either side, rustling with animals traversing between them. With gentle strokes, he steered the boat toward the next town. 

He had traveled for days, stopping to take a night's rest at every town he came by-asking for a cure. The silver water it was called, a rare liquid that was rumoured to cure a very deadly poison; the poison that killed her slowly.

He had a well maintained farm with fruits and cattle, all which he loved dearly. Inherited from his grandmother, the farm was the only thing he had to call his own. Under no circumstance he would sell or let someone take it from him, till he met her. The beautiful lady. 

Before her, he had never met a person as beautiful and kind hearted as her. He met her, one grey rainy evening as he passed by a local woodcrafter's workshop. She was being mistreated by her boss. As skinny as he was, he stepped in to protect her, and from then, they grew closer with every passing day.

From his farm, he sold fresh apples and milk to big companies. He made something, enough to take care of himself yet still not too spectacular. Even though his earnings were not much, he agreed to cut it down further by giving her his apple business along with all the profits she made. 

On his fifth day, he docked by a small town, with little savings left. He knew, if he spent his money on a lodge that night, he would not have enough to find a cure for her. So he went back to his boat, wrapped a piece of cloth around, and slept among insects, fronts and the moon's reflection.

The next morning, a tall figure stood by, looking straight at him as he recovered from his rather comfortable sleep. His voice husky, he asked the traveller to come with him. "There's something you need, I can help" Still unstable from his drowsy state, he lay silent for a short while, before dashing up and following the stranger. Forgetting to ask all the important questions.

A very small town, crowded, wet floors and tight corridors that stood between opposing houses, he followed the stranger closely, looking both ways, trying to understand what was going on.

After a long walk, they arrived a small hut, which absolutely stood out from every other house standing around it. He followed the stranger into the hut, tables of enchantment, bottles of colourful liquid substances, dry bones. "Sit" the stranger instructed. He sat on a multicoloured straw mat. The stranger pulled out a small stone bowl, put some leaves and crushed before adding what appeared to be water. 

To his surprise, the stranger did not ask him to drink, he simply pushed it aside and told the traveller exactly what he needed to hear. But eventually ruined everything with one more thing. 

"The cure you look for, I can make. And because I see suffering in you, I will make for you at no charge. But, I do not have the ingredient. You can find it in a place I wish not to go. Should you need my help, you have to go there yourself" before a full smile developed across the traveller's face, the stranger added, "It's a nearby town, a few hours away. No one goes there anymore, because all that have ventured never returned. At least this is what the stories tell" overcome by fear, the traveller asked why. 

"A dragon" replied the stranger "What I need is the sap from the biggest baobab tree from these parts, it holds the cure" the traveller wondered.

"But whoever gets his hands on that tree must have killed the dragon" the stranger added, his voice so certain. 

School, Education

Education is a very important aspect of life. It is not absolutely necessary, but very important as it equips people not only with academic study skills but also with interpersonal and other important skills that translate to our everyday lives. True, not 

all the billionaires went to or finished school but life goes beyond getting and spending money, and through school, we learn a lot of valuable lessons. 

We learn to live with people that are different from us, we learn to go through challenges and tasks, we learn keep records of things; all these things we learn through education and school. We see the things that happen, the security situation, the poverty, the corruption. These things are directly and indirectly related to ignorance, lack of education. I am sure we all want to live in peace, to be secure, to have a roof over our head. It is important for us to take our education seriously, to go to school if presented with the opportunity and to provide those that cannot with the opportunity, that we may grow more tolerant of one another and build a better society.

The whole point of this essay is not to sway opinion in favour of, or against noting the importance of school, this essay is to highlight the importance of education and school and how it can help us become better people and build a better world. So, if you are in school, and are having problems, perhaps on the verge of dropping out, or if you are contemplating skipping school altogether, do look at the many benefits of school and know that everything takes time and school will definitely give you an edge.