Other Positives in Our Lives

   We have to find other things to make us feel good after this past Saturday night.

   We must, if Bafana Bafana's performance in the AFCON(Africa Cup of Nations) opening game against Cape Verde is anything to go by. As hosts of this soccer tournament much, much more was expected from our national soccer team. 

   For starters, it is really wonderful to have the whole African continent, so to speak, here in the country. The soccer fans from the various African countries,  in their national teams' jerseys and flags, make for a colourful sight on Mzansi streets. There is this vibe in the air.

   Secondly, the fact that this tournament started off well. There were no major logistical problems to speak of on the first day(Sat 19th Jan) of the tournament. The CAF Local Organizing Committee seems to have done an excellent job in putting this tournament together. Even more so given that they did not have much time to prepare for it. South Africa had to step in as hosts after Libya - the original 2013 hosts - declared early last year that they were not ready to host the tournament as they were still recovering from the tumult that swept Gaddafi from power in 2011.

   Finally, the host country did not suffer a complete humiliation by losing its very first game with everybody watching. And they could easily have. The result was a stalemate(0 - 0). A draw against Cape Verde - who are not really giants in African football and are also first time participants in the AFCON tournament - is not good enough. But the less it is said about this game the better.

      "We are still waiting for those goals and that flowing football you promised us, Mr Igesund."

                     

                                       ============================  

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                            =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

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The DREAMS DO COME TRUE Tour - Part 10, ABSA - Maponya mall

   Offers of coffee or tea by the hosts upon arrival are always so heartwarming. They make one really feel welcome. They also kind of set the stage.

   To these add some hymn singing and praying before the motivational talk starts, then not much can go wrong with this presentation.

   Indeed this ABSA talk went without a glitch on my side. One wishes all talks, henceforth, could go like this.

                                                  

                                                     SOME THANK YOU's

Ntate None(the manager) - for giving us the 'go ahead'. 

The 2nd in command -  for 'kamohelo e mofuthu'.    

The rest of the staff(bo- ausi Thando et al) - for your time.

                                      =============================

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                            =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

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One Prediction for 2013 We Want to Believe In

   I do not really believe in sangomas/witchdoctors/'lingaka tsa Sesotho' and their ways.

   From my personal experience, most of them fly by night. There has been too many instances in the past where one was given a powderish stuff and told to throw it to the west after having a bath at home. When this remedy did not work and you went back, you were told that you got the instruction wrong. The powder was actually to be thrown to the east.

   This year however, in this one instance, I am going to suspend my skepticism about the sangomas' know-how. I am going to be a believer just this one time.

   A friend of my sister who bought a copy of our FGM blog book(FEELING GOOD) happens to be a trained sangoma. She first smsd my sister this prediction on New Years's Eve(31st Dec 2012). In this sms this friend said my sister must tell me that I must be patient as far as the FGM blog book sales were concerned, because soon the book is going to take off. In 2013 the book's sales are going to go through the roof, the sms said.

   When I heard about this prediction, I did not take it seriously. My past history with sangomas did not allow me to get excited. What will be will be, I told myself.

   This past Tuesday(2nd Jan 2013) my sister's friend was again at it. This time she made the prediction in person while visiting us. She told my sister that the book is going to sell in huge numbers this year and implored my sister to please take her seriously. On being asked how she knew this for sure, she said she can 'see' these things. 

   On hearing the prediction for the second time - this time delivered by the horse itself - I sat up. I then decided to note it on my calendar, just in case. And I did get excited a little bit also. But I remained calm on the outside and never said a word to the friend. A guy must keep his cool, you know. I also decided to treat this divination as a self-fulfilling prophecy for myself. Now that my ancestors - through my sister's friend - have told me about the book's good prospects, I am going to work even harder, harder than I currently am, to make the book a success.

   There you have it otherwise, ladies and gentlemen. Remember you read it here first: FEELING GOOD is going to be HUGE in 2013. Courtesy of our resident sangoma.

                                    ============================

                                 

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                        =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

=====================================

               
             

THE YEAR THAT WAS - 2012

AROUND THE WORLD

   President Barack Obama's re-election not only pleased American citizens who voted for him, but it pleased most of the watching world. It could be said that the world wanted the fairy tale, that started when he was elected the first black US President, to continue. Everybody loves fairy tales.

   The African continent had even more reasons to delighted at Obama's second term win. This American President is the closest in blood relations(his father was born in Kenya) to the African continent. He is our man in Washington(DC).

IN SOUTH AFRICA

   Locally the story of the year for us has to be the heroics of our Olympic team at the London 2012 Olympics. Be it the swimmers(Chad Le Clos - 200m butterfly gold & 100m butterfly silver, and Cameron Van der Berg - 100m breaststroke gold), the coxless lightweight rowing team(Sizwe Ndlovu, James Thompson, Matthew Brittain and John Smith - gold), Caster Semenya(800m sprint silver), or Bridgitte Hartley(kayak single 500m bronze), all these guys made us really proud to be South Africans. These athletes flew our national flag well and high in foreign lands. 

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

   The publishing of our Feel Good Movement blog book - FEELING GOOD : The best from 
the Feel Good Movement blog - PART 1 - was a personal highlight this year. It was an achievement that made me truly believe that dreams do come true. After pulling off this goal - in only 9 months from start to finish - I now fully subscribe to every motivational speaker's mantra, "You can achieve anything if you set your mind to it". Hence my subsequent '1 Million Books Sold' target for this book's sales.

   The start to this '1 Million' target, which is now my second BIG dream, has been slow admittedly. In the past 8 months since the book's publication, I have only sold 57 books(an average of 7 books per month). But I am not discouraged. These 57 books are the first step of the fabled journey of a thousand miles. Like the book dream, this sales dream will, too, come to pass.

                                      =============================

ON THAT NOTE, MAY I WISH ALL FGM BLOG READERS A HAPPY XMAS AND A PROSPEROUS 2013.

                                         ======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU JUMP UP AND DOWN WITH JOY IN 2012?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

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The DREAMS DO COME TRUE Tour - Part 9, Nedbank - Protea Gardens mall

   On arrival I was fortunate to find at least one staff member - Bongani - waiting outside the premises before opening time. I had then taken the initiative to make some small talk with him. This chat to a staff member - who was going to be part of the audience - helped a great deal in calming my nervousness. 

   I know that after having done 8 of such talks already, nerves should not be a factor anymore. But the reality, in my case, is that I do still get butterflies in my stomach before addressing a new group. I think these nerves before addressing a group are a form of stage fright. I have heard some performers say even after many shows they still cannot get over it.

   The motivational talk itself went well, I think. During the talk one or two staff members would nod their heads in agreement with some of my points. And this I found very reassuring. The biggest confidence booster, however, was seeing my newly found friend - Bongani - in the audience. Each time I looked in his direction he had this half-smile on his face. It was like he was saying(with this half smile):  "You are doing ok. Keep going ".

                                           Some Thank Yous   

sis Lorraine(the Manager) - For saying yes to my request.

Nedbank staff(bo-bra Robert et al) - For giving me your attention. 

                                 ==========================

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                   =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

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The DREAMS DO COME TRUE Tour - Part 8, Old Mutual - Protea Gardens mall

   I have not done one of these talks in a longish time. And I did kind of miss being in front of a live audience. It felt good to be back.

   This talk at Old Mutual(O/M) turned out to be a lively one. Most O/M staff at this branch happened to be strongly into self-improvement stuff like yours truly. They were telling me about how they read and visualize their goals; how they use vision boards, etc. I was pleasantly surprised, needless to say.

   I was there to give a talk on goal achievement, but this encounter was close to being a round table discussion on achieving our goals. In addition to my tips, we also talked about the challenges  we each faced when using certain goal achievement techniques.

   This movement towards bettering ourselves, whose small signs I witnessed here at this O/M branch, I hope takes a big and firm root here in South Africa. Because, from my personal experience, there are a few things that can beat the feeling of achieving a big DREAM(or big goal). From here it will then be a short distance to us becoming a nation of doers.

                                           Some Thank Yous 

- sis Bongi(The Manager) - for agreeing to try out our brand of motivation.

- O/M staff(bo-Jeanet, bo-Mpho et al) - for warmly hosting me.

                                   ======================== 

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                    =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

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"Everybody is Writing a Book These Days"

Commented a friend recently.

   She was referring to the plethora of books by local celebrities that are being published these days. In particular, she was talking about books written by people who are not writers per se. That is, people who do not earn their living from writing. 

   Indeed when one looks around it does seem as if everyone who is anybody has a book out. There is the socialite - Khanyi Mbau - with her "Bitch, please! I'am Khanyi Mbau"(ghost written by Lesley Mofokeng). Gareth Cliff - the 5FM breakfast show host and DJ - had his book( Gareth Cliff on Everything) published last year. Anele Mdoda - the 94.7 Highveld Stereo drive time show host - is featured in a series of pocket-sized books called 'The Youngsters'. Her book is entitled - "It Feels Wrong to Laugh, But...." and is edited by Mandy Wiener.  In this 'Youngsters' series there is also a book by Danny K - the singer. The latest  to have her book published is Redi Tlhabi - the 702 talk show host. Hers is called - "Endings & Beginnings: A story of Healing"          

   I told my friend that this proliferation of books by people in the public eye, even if ghost written as some are, is something good. This may just kick start a reading revolution here in Mzansi. After reading these books by people they admire, the man in the street will be tempted to try books by bona fide writers.

   This growth in the reading audience will encourage people who love to write to write more books. In fact, this growth will encourage everyone to try their hand at writing a book. I told my friend to give it a bash herself. Why ever not?

                                ================================= 

THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.

                                          =======================

SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU FEEL

GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com

=====================================

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