Wednesday, 26 June 2013

How far can one go rescuing “souls” from self-inflicted troubles?

Before venting I want to share an anecdote from one Chinese Newspaper of July last year, headlining as;

 Young Man Drowns Saving Family of Three, The Rescued Leave Saying It Has Nothing To Do With Them:
To save a family of three from drowning, a 27-year-old male, X jumped into the river without regard for personal danger. However, he ran out of strength and was soon swallowed by the rapid river and drowned. Just as X’s life was in danger and whether he was alive or dead was unknown, the rescued family of three chose to leave. A witness says, “When the crowd stopped the family of three from leaving, the woman said “none of my damn business” before driving away.

Can you believe this?

When I read this sad story last year I rationalized it, and thought maybe it was his time to go – but the more I think of it I think the World got cheated. Those flippant morons robbed us of one of God’s compassionate people. The consolation I get from this in any event, is my belief in the concept of Karma, that if one sows goodness, one will reap goodness; if one sows evil, one will reap evil. So the totality of their actions and their concomitant reactions will one day catch up with them.

Unfortunately for me, the same Karma concept has me trapped, I keep on giving and giving and giving that I sometimes feel so stupid even to myself. To tell you the truth, some people have taken so much from me that I’m drained just by thinking of it.  Do they ever show some appreciation, nope! Do they ever feel urges to help others, nope again! They literally do not think they should get involved in other people's businesses.

As I’m typing this, I feel so sorry for myself and people like me. It’s not really a “Pity-Party”, I’m in a Rage! My blood is boiling! 

We go out of our way trying to help, and the forever ungrateful scoundrels who don’t even care about the depth of our sacrifices as long as we save them, are going about their lives without a care in the world. As you can gather, I’m so resentful to an extent that I think I have reached the end of my tether. Lo and Behold!  I’m done helping!

Coming to think of it, in many a times these idiots are suffering from self-inflicted troubles. What irks me even more is that these people always think they are owed something! As for me, I’m really tired of bending myself backwards for such nonsense.  

Sometimes I wonder why do we even bother, are we bound by some form of contract to rescue these forever ungrateful bastard just because they are human, or is it a case of having them as relatives sometimes? For me my stupidity ends here!


Ay, those of you who have been rescued, listen up: your lack of appreciation has reached the extreme! I think you should start acting your ages because we wouldn't feel this burdened if we were rescuing young people – it means you are old and you should know better -and in the final analysis, you will be held responsible for your actions - plus you should be held responsible for making me to start thinking of profanities over your actions!


Also, please note that you have ruined “rescue missions” for others …. Now Shape up!

Tuesday, 25 June 2013

My soul weeps
I have a soul and it weeps.
My soul weeps when I ponder over the past and fore-think the future.
My soul weeps over the upshots of the old and the new.
Are the consequences really the same?
Strangers predict the end of time?
Are we there yet?


I also weep when; through the window of my soul I see persecution of Life.
Treasures, plagues and greed have become the “Greatest” gifts of Life.
Some say the World was pure.
Others say the World has been corroded by “Greatness”.
My soul weeps for never knowing the difference
Can the end really be nigh?

The old and new World thought is unbelievable.

My soul weeps for not knowing the difference.

Celiwe Ngwenya

Monday, 6 May 2013

Between the devil and the deep waters

I feel waterlogged
No matter how much I try caulking the waters away from me
The deep waters keep coming 
With a huge conviction to get to me

When I look in the horizon,
there are monster rocks too
They seem ready to crush me to death if I run towards them for shelter.
I seem to have fewer options.

I have looked closely at Me
My beautiful landscape was there
There is no confirmation of that now, save for a shattered bridge
That is a symbol of what was there.

My head has been buried in the sand, to escape the perils of fanaticism
To my surprise all my efforts have become so pointless
My beautiful landscape is becoming ruined by the day
And I have no other options but lift my head up

My choices are limited?
Do I allow myself to drown in the deep waters of bigotry
Or make a run towards the approaching devil’s monster rocks?
Or roll over and die despicably irate?

Oh! Why should our existence be so testing?


Celiwe Ngwenya

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Fashion faux pas

As usual my lunch break buddies and I congregated at the table for our lunch time banter. This is a platform for anything and everything. We have an unspoken rule, "we agree to disagree". Topics are random, and they sometimes leave a person wanting to do something about what was discussed.

Top of our list today was poverty. We wondered aloud about SA, if we would ever win our poverty struggle – and it was unanimously agreed that it definitely is becoming impossible for the country to think of social upliftment when it is busy trying to fit-in in the global stage. We also agreed that as a people we have equally become unfailingly selfish!  From the discussion it sort of dawned on us that we are feeling the effects of globalization. Phew! We are experiencing hard times! We went on and on until it was time to go back to work.

Once alone I thought of our discussion; is globalization really our enemy? “What really does globalization mean to the man in the street?” . I ran straight for the dictionary, and it didn't let me down. The Cambridge International Dictionary defined globalization as; an idea that events in one country cannot be separated from those in another and that a government should consider the effects of its actions in other countries as well as its own. 

Psst! I don't really think there is an actual definition of the word, because most  times when experts explain the concept they associate the word to events. Nonetheless, the dictionary definition made me think. The butterfly effect jumped straight into my mind ... Something I heard and read about somewhere:-) To try and explain this I'll say, the butterfly effect is always associated with chaos. In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is described as the sensitive dependence on initial conditions, where a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. Good or bad!

So, when I was alone thinking about the discussion I had with my posse, I thought of globalization as a butterfly. The flapping of its wings being the movements of products, ideas, money, people and cultures into the world today. This is supposed to be good but somehow in our shores these movements have managed to widen the socio-economic imbalances.  So to explain our glum lives we can argue that though we have had a history of being poor in this country - created by the legacy of disfranchisement, since globalization became our pop-culture, the plight of the poor has been accelerated to poorer. 

So where do we go from here? Others argue that the remedy is in the poison itself. So if we don't talk about issues how would we identify the ingredients in the recipe that need to be discarded?  Why aren't we talking about this? What happen to social spaces developed during our ‘revolution’ for liberty, equality and fraternity? Have these discourse spaces become a fashion mistake? Should we create new spaces for economic freedom?

Thursday, 18 April 2013

I got a lesson on “Me time”

I have had this conversation with a colleague this morning (separate departments), he was surprised that I was already at work at 6h30 yet my day starts at 8h00. I told him that I like being on my own before everybody else arrives, and that if I arrive with everybody my day is thrown. He wanted to know what I do that early – I told him that my early mornings give me a perspective for the day and that I also use this time to reflect upon  previous day's events. He then told me that he also prefers the early mornings as a ‘me – time’. So our conversation moved towards things that people can do during me time.

He mentioned that his ‘me-time’ is always spent praying, especially since he has come back from the dead, he said he  has something to be grateful about. He was diagnosed with Cancer two years ago, and he says there were days when he thought he would not see the next Xmas, which was 2012, he beat that mark and is now healing every day. Gets you thinking, doesn’t it? 

He left me wondering about what I would have done, and what I'd still be doing if I were in his situation.

This poem was inspired by my this morning's 'me-time'

Becoming

Sunlight vanishes to Night
Darkness transforms to Light
Winter disappears, Spring appears
Seedlings grow into Crop

A chrysalis transforms to a butterfly
So pretty and colourful like a painting
A chick becomes a bird
That serenades with sweet reverberation.

A flower sprouts out in spring
Alas, in autumn it withers.
A child becomes a man -
So strong, and gallant and capable
Alas, old age creeps in,
The man, fades and perish.

Become the light
Germinate into edible harvest
Be the butterfly
And sing like a bird.

Be delightful and converted
Enchant us all before time catches up.

Celiwe Ngwenya

Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Growing pains


There was one trying and interrogative question that relatives, teachers and to some extent, if you’re lucky your parents, always asked when we were young; “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I can still hear them, in their monotonous tones, you'd swear they were related! 

Very often there was some form of expectation attached to this question. I guess the inquisitors wanted aspirations that would lead the uncertain into an “upstanding” member of society. The list of expectations was limited to teacher, nurse, doctor, policeman, teacher, nurse, doctor, and policeman. This was a closed directory. Whether what was in the catalogue suited us or not picking one was a must!

Anyway, the point of the matter is, then adults placed so much burden on our little shoulders with their expectations, and we thought of that as torturous, yet when we think of it now, we know they cared!. Sadly enough, the same "cruel" mindset is still prevalent (guess who are parents now:-) -  and the trying question is still the essence of the inquisitors’ frame of mind. These days however, the inquisitors have become aggressive. Their fallen dreams are to be lived through their young. The often sung tune these days is that “my daughter /son will be a doctor, lawyer or engineer”. Does the poor child know about this? Not really. Does this optimistic individual know if his/her child has the ability to be? Nope again!

The truth of the matter is that parents believe that this is the right thing to do. Coming to think of it, it does make sense, parents are merely looking out for their young. Unfortunately, parents are seldom right about their preferences because often  there is some soul out there crying over what could have been. 

Anyway, because parents take no prisoner to get what they want the poor devils have no alternative but submit into what is desired. Unfortunately they end up walking in a limp, since what they could have been was cut off. They will go through life in borrowed robes and when it is their time to be parents they start seeing reason; their parents were right! The cycle begins again.  It is a chain-reaction!

Unfortunately this is every child's fate. Out there lurks some adult who is ready to chisel some child into something conventional, because  it is their duty to knock some sense into the idle mind. 

When I’m confronted with this I get to think about my childhood. Were my circumstances the same” Yes, and more! Did I know what I wanted to be when then? Not really but somehow I knew that the inquisitors wanted answers, and I always told them what they wanted to hear; a teacher. They would nod in approval. Well it was easier for me to say that because my parents were teachers! I’m also lucky somehow because despite the little fact that I got socialized into becoming a teacher, I ended up loving it..I wonder though, had I told my inquisitors that “I am my hair” Lord forbid; I would have been branded a trouble maker. My parents would have admonished the worst of punishments.Read this as a metaphor, that I really didn’t know what I wanted to be.  I was really my matted coils of hair that have their own personality! Every child is like that - some form of a mystery! A jigsaw puzzle! As they grow older, they reveal themselves in snippets to parents and to themselves. Are snippets trustworthy? It depends! Some complex matter! 

Friday, 12 April 2013

Heroes and Villains


When someone goes an extra mile to help others s/he is considered a hero by those showing appreciation. In addition, we also refer to those who brave dangerous conditions/circumstances to save others’ lives as heroes, like the recent story of a certain gentleman in some informal settlement who braved an inferno to save a life (a story for another day). He is regarded a hero to the life he saved, a hero to the family and a hero in that informal settlement community.

Ever wondered about the origins of the word? Well I hear it owes its origins to Greek Mythology and is somewhat explained as a word that means a defender/protector. Apparently the definition originally referred heroism to martial courage or excellence (think of the exploits of Hercules, Odysseus, Theseus to name but a few) and later the definition was extended to more general moral excellence (heroes of Greek Mythology would never qualify in this category;-).

Now that we are all on the same page, like everybody else I also have a fixation with heroes. Top of my list are the garbage/waste collectors. I should warn you that there won't be any mention of my family  because they are in by proxy.  In my topsy-turvy world, they were long ago anointed  to be my protectors, so whatever they do won't be seen as 'going an extra mile act'.

Anyway, the on-the-job hazards the garbage collectors are exposed to are never ending; you will find amongst other dangers disposed needles, broken glasses, diseases that come with contaminated waste, dog attacks, pests, dust, rough weathers, and foul odours. I don’t know how they do it but these men are forever smiling and full of banter. I have lived in many places and in all the places I've lived in,  I’ve yet to meet a grumpy garbage collector.

Subsequent to these guys, I also consider petrol attendants  my heroes too.The level of patience these guys exude – bless their souls! Oh my goodness, the supermarket parking attendants, (I may be showing a bias towards a particular gentleman who always find me a good spot at the supermarket). There is also the shoemaker up the road where I live, my goodness what would I do without him. I don't want to forget my neighbours (we are chalk and cheese, but operate like salt and pepper)! My list can go on forever but I think I will conclude it with Mrs Moses, my Sub A teacher (Grade 1 was called SUB A when I was young). Dear Mrs Moses, may her soul rest in peace! she smoothed me out into who I am today. I was her apprentice (another story to tell in the not so faraway future)! At the moment I just want to say I'm forever grateful to have met my heroes.

Lord be hold! I seem to be going on about the good guys, you know we can’t really tell stories about heroes without mentioning villains. They creep out everywhere where there is a good guy. We have Lex Luthor in pursuit of Superman. We have Popeye’s world being the target of Bluto’s envy. There is also Megamind who defeats Metro Man but later finds out that life is without purpose without Metro Man. Talk about the reality of life!

Nevertheless, like everyone else I also have a few people I secretly wish them many things that would not be appear on this page, like the girl you meet at the till-counter when you have to pay for an item, who’d size you up then make a suggestion that a certain brand will be good since the one you are about to pay for is expensive. Not to mention the girl who chooses to serve a handsome gentleman behind you at the confectionary. Once I threw a fit, and overheard the little witch mumbling something that sounded like she doesn’t know why I frequent that counter since I was already bulkier than the hippopotamus.

These are just a few faces that are accorded the VIP spot on my dart board. However, these don’t top what I secretly wish to bestow on one  particular person, my Standard 4 teacher. She was the meanest person I’ve ever met. She made me hate school. I know sometimes that I asked for it because I was a little Missknowitall, but it was all for her. I tried so hard to impress her, she just didn't like me! I couldn’t understand why she didn’t like me because everyone liked me, corpulent shape and all! Anyway, if she is alive I know she will never be able to read this extract because she would be as old as hills, besides she wouldn't be techno savvy. But if she does read this, when it is late at night and her old bones are stinging, I'm in collaboration with the universe against her because that's what always happen to villains in the end, the universe returns everything the villain once dished out!.

Thursday, 11 April 2013

Transgressions are the quintessence of youthfulness


Last evening I had quite an interesting conversation with an interesting young person whom I admire because of her achievements at such a young age, she is 25 years of age by the way. She runs her own business and has a few people working for her. She’s my role model! 

Her jargon! Lord have Mercy, consists of words like branding, projections, procurement, surplus, profits and all other technical expressions used in business. You better believe me when I say, my role model is 25 years of age! Anyway, as our conversation progressed, she shared something about  her younger sister who is ‘a piece of work’, and whom she believes is narcissistic and needy, and that she worries about her because her life seems to be a “roller-coaster ride to nowhere”. I asked if this “little monster” was the youngest member of the family, and she nodded. Suddenly, a gush of bittersweet memories engulfed me, “it’s difficult to be a young family member,” I said, “the expectations ( I sighed) can be burdensome, your older siblings become your compass, and your actions are adjudicated through theirs when they were your age.” I was not talking about her sister anymore I was on about my youth!

I don’t wish to bother you about ‘the pleasures of my youthful transgressions’ my conversation is about what it means to be young. Being young means an over obsession with life and the world. Being young means the yearning to be different and loved. If you can't find love at home you search for it everywhere, and in all the wrong places. Being young means to be a little selfish and irresponsible. I still have to see a young person whose values  are in sync with that of his/her parents! Regardless, my idea is not to bash parents and promote delinquency but to add tit-bits to what parents already know. 

The youthful mind is like a sponge, and wide-open to influences, be it positive or negative influence. Unfortunately as adults we spend most of our time condemning and preaching instead of trying to understand the pressures of their world. Somehow we forget that we were once young, and that during our youth things were different, our pressures were home-grown not global. We were not plagued as much by many deadly illnesses. We were taught to respect our elders, and today we teach our young not to talk to strangers. And there wasn't so much information (good and bad) going around. I can go on forever... Anyway, I don't really have any combative solutions about how the youth should be treated because that's not my style, but I do know though that if we keep condemning everything we will never know about what goes-on in their lives. My outlook, I shared this with "my role model" as well "don’t be an enemy, create a ‘circle of trust’,  and powers to influence, positively I must say, will be bestowed upon you, by the transgressor of course. " And the rest ... you decide!

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Rising from the Ashes


As I sat in traffic on my work today I observed a throng of people walking past, to work I imagine, some were walking in long strides, carefree and chit-chatting, others walking shoulders hunched as if they were headed to a  slaughterhouse. I then wondered about my set of circumstances, whether I was with the carefree or the downtrodden. I couldn’t place a finger on it, instead my thoughts wandered away from the strangers to (as strange as it may sound) Greek Mythology. I thought of how a friend from my youth, a profound gentleman with the biggest of hearts, often spoke about the Phoenix rising from the ashes; at the time I could never understand how relevant this was in our lives, but now I’m a convert!

I have discovered that nothing in life is constant and that we have to somehow constantly try and make it work. Unlike the Phoenix our rising from the ashes is a continuous engagement. We shouldn't lose that! We just have to learn to manoevre the waters. I’m tempted to say the waters can be defeated but I know that would be untrue because that is not life. The Life as we know it is a constant challenge. There will be times when we are broken and times when we experience the ups. So if you are up today be content with your all because your tomorrow might be tested. And if your spirit is broken today be certain you will also be gratified.

I have been broken and I have been content, broken again and content, and broken again then content, with that I want to say this poem for every broken and hunched shouldered soul.

A Broken Spirit

A Broken Spirit,
What an amazing formation!

Ever wondered what becomes of a Broken Spirit?
It wallows in misery, gets tangled in anguish while engrossed in ancient wounds.
The frame of mind becomes suspicious, presumptuous and evil.
And the Man becomes a Victim and blames everyone about him.

The world ceases being beautiful
Everyday becomes dark and sad.
The Man sees the bad and ignores the good.
The Man antagonizes kind actions of others.

The Man becomes glad when others notice his misery
His shoulders become slumped by the day
He rekindles old wound and sinks further in his misery
And the bitterness becomes his realm.

Then again, They say the Lord delights in the person with a Broken Spirit.
When we experience brokenness blessings follow, a Broken Spirit produces genuine sorrow.
Out of a Broken Spirit there is humility and pursuit of Salvation
Out of a Broken Spirit there is willingness to change, compassion and gratitude.

Remember, the Spirit is a marvel formation of the Lord
And He delights in the Broken Spirit.

Celiwe Ngwenya

Tuesday, 9 April 2013

The Notion of Ubuntu


After I grunted somewhat under my breath over what was said by one 'expert' during a talent development symposium, an equally annoyed acquaintance asked me to define the concept of ‘Ubuntu’ since she could see that I was contemptuous (her words) of what was said by the ‘expert’. I was at a loss for words because as disdainful as my expression seemed this was something I couldn’t explain since I would never capture this notion in a single word not even in a sentence. I looked at my acquaintance a little defeated, and mumbled, 'I can’t explain it.” She then gave me one look, and it declared ‘If you can’t walk the walk don’t talk the talk!’

After the look, like a Mexican stand-off I stared back at the acquaintance, then at the “expert” as she waltzed off then shot from the hip, “I am one of those people who learn through pictures, and right now I’m busy flipping pictures in my head to paint a few for you, guess what and I can't seem to find something that will help me explain this to you in a manner that you can understand. I am out of my wits but that does not mean she is right, Ubuntu did not begin in 1994, it really was no cornerstone of nothing, the notion is supposed to be part our everyday life as a human race, and goodness me I’m exhausted by these so called 'experts' and courses on Ubuntu!”

Suddenly it dawned on me that my acquaintance didn’t get it, and that the reason I couldn’t explain this notion to her was because it was never explained or taught to me either, this notion formed a huge part of my childhood, my youth, my young adulthood and my present life. My passage through life has been a circuit filled with a plethora of acts of kindness, some I grew up witnessing and others are still witnessed and being experienced to this day.  I stammered further “Ubuntu is not something you can touch, smell, hear, or taste. I’d like to think the sense of sight might only come close if you are really pushing me for a definition.”

“Here’s the thing” I pushed on “Ubuntu is an act that my siblings and I grew up witnessing. We witnessed our parents being parents to all children in our neighbourhood. We witnessed our neighbours parenting us when our parents weren’t there, when my father was hospitalized leaving my mother spending time in hospital. We witnessed weddings in our neighbourhood attended by people form near and far, some known and unknown, and that wasn't strange. We witnessed strangers visiting our household during a meal and our parents offering a meal to them too. And that my dear friend is something we proudly pass to our children.” I paused waiting for a response instead the lens that the acquaintance was by then looking at me through had change or so.

“We were not unique like that, you know, nearly every African people I know grew up in a similar system, and my understanding is that when it is said that someone does not have Ubuntu it only means his/her actions have gone beyond what is known to humans as conventional – the person would by then threading in the world known only to those in fours and by him/her.

As I'm writing this I do not claim to be an expert but am driven by wanting to know the correct method by which we can  impart Ubuntu. What really is the conventional way ? Can Ubuntu be regarded a skill to be  taught at an institution by ‘experts’  or Is Ubuntu what defines humans, and sets us apart from animals and should be passed down by the hands that rear us? Should children be nurtured only by their parents? And finally Is Ubuntu a skill or a totem?



Friday, 5 April 2013

Millennial Generation (Generation Next)


Generation Next, a bunch reared in a world full of abundance and opportunities. You can't condemn them for taking whatever they get, to them the abundance is there for the taking. Their protocol should be read as "finders keepers, losers weepers" protocol. Our sons and daughters were born with more advantages than my social generation (Generation X) who were hugely invisible, if you recall the saying ‘children are seen not heard’. They are also better off than those in the generation before us. The generation that was known for its unhealthy silence and their gentle and adaptive ways of looking at their circumstances. This is mostly the Post War II generation; some were already born during the war but were too young to fight in it. Boy! This generation can handle crisis situations better than any generation.

Now if we take Generation Next, I’d say they are raised almost free, without shadows of unscrupulous legacies like the legacy of race distinction, which is a past experience of all generations in this world. If by any chance some of those dodgy legacies are still practiced, the whole world frowns upon them; We should scowl on them too! Honourable or a case of let's tell each other what we perceive  to be what the other wants to hear?

Moving on, I’d say our sons and daughters’ proficiencies are far more progressed than what we knew when we were young. Ask our sons and daughters about whom they are and where they are headed, they will tell you about their techno knowledge and how driven they are. They will also tell you about how they will make it big before we can blink. Talk about confidence! Generation Next neither possess  an ounce of a silent gene in their bodies, courtesy of their grandparents, nor are they invisible. They have dreams and they follow them. I must also add that they are generation that is “highly conscious” of civic duty.

The bone of contention however, is that their liberation is also their burden. This generation grows up with so much anxiety. I can’t fault them for wanting to do everything now, they are “dead men walking” surrounded by scourges of the modern world; greed, celebrity, disease and indifference.  Their world is such a superficial world that lacks sincerity. It should however be given to them, they work hard at “giving back” to the poor. Sometimes I really wonder about “giving back”. Is it really giving back or is it a self-serving act? Who are these people? Are they reared to be pretentious? Is it really their fault or we should blame ourselves for it?


Thursday, 4 April 2013

In retrospect


Sometimes I wonder why people don't get it when their bullying ways are not forgiven, let alone forgotten. I mean really now, why should it be easy for the offended to let bygones be bygones when the bullying was not a coincidental act but a plotted and planned assault? Well, I say it can never be an easy journey. If we are to be progressive I’d say the process needs a complete overhaul. It would need both the tormentor and victim to be psychologically ready for emancipation, for the reason that all participants would be bearing scars from the past and shackled by their past roles. In many instances the bully would have had absolute power over the victim, and the victim would have been a mouse. So, in order to reach the state of accord, the culprit needs to be freed from his superiority complex and the victim needs to be freed from the sufferer mentality.

For instance, most of us can share anecdotes that portray us in our locked in roles, by which, in retrospect we are drawn to think, I wish I could, would and should have dealt with that incidence along these lines. Yours truly has had her fair share of coulda woulda shoulda moments. I really mean opportunities, big time. where I should have told someone to stick it, but didn’t think it at the time, because my wiring was on victim mode. So I kinda gave the bully the upper hand. Funny enough, when I meet those bullies today they want us to be friends. Why should I? Can you believe how taxing it was for me to duck and dive trying to avoid the bully; I mean I did not even want to make eye contact as that would have meant trouble.

Sometimes we blame our childhood for this foolishness, accusing our parents for over-protecting us hence our being ill-equipped to deal with these evils. In reality symbolic violence was never really the context of your background you were just overpowered by blood-sucking low esteemed individuals who wanted to break you for whatever reason they had. If you think hard about this, these chumps are the real victims, since they are now going around trying to mend fences, as they would say it; they want us to move one! I just love the way things turn out, talk about poetic justice!

On the flip side, like a Phoenix I am reborn, I am not afraid of standing my grounds despite having earned tags like being agro and having a chip on my shoulder and a big ego. In my point of view there are neither chips nor aggression within my disposition I have just out-grown the man-made place or shell and can now categorically and rationally state what I like or don’t like, and not feel awkward about it. The position that I am at is so therapeutic and has made me see things in perspective!

So my point is that the victim goes through sets and sets of emotions; anger, humiliation, emasculation then resentment. When the victim gets there he is pushed into demanding respect or taking back his power. In many instances the victim does not always take the high road to emancipate himself, he can also take the low road. And then things can become really nasty!  It is sad to think that the bully doesn’t always get it, he begins to see chips and egos when victims are emancipated forgetting that under his graceless mannerism victims are pushed to forcefully unshackle the shackles. When things start going down the poor bully is not equipped enough to withstand the heat, he then regresses into being victim. How convenient! What can be irritating as well is that the bully is still demanding when and how to be forgiven. Bullies don’t know when to stop!

Basically bullies must take heed that before things start turning nasty the bully should sort his scheisse out by trying to discover what’s up with him. If his bullying ways may mean that he is a person that needs affection, he should begin with embracing self then everyone. Or if he is one of those that enjoy inflicting pain on others he should see a shrink. If the shrink or his newly found affections aren’t reciprocated, he should start appreciating life in its entirety – perhaps he will find what he is looking for which would lead into his liberation. When emancipated it would be easier to practise tolerance – and making amends where necessary which could lead to happily ever after!  If there is a thing called happily ever after.