Category Archives: My Friends

Blue sees yellow

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I was quite surprised last year after completing one of those ‘colour profiles’ to discover that I am in fact a Blue person and not a Yellow person at all. Blue meaning I’m quite analytical (which I am) and Yellow meaning people’s person (which I really thought I was).

I guess I can’t be both and my Blue is much stronger than my Yellow, yet some days when I sit at my desk and chat to my fellow colleagues, I have to question the analysis. You see, I find that I really am a people’s person and I’m able to “see” what some of my colleagues around me can’t.

While my colleagues walk around the office with their serious faces on and in business mode, in my mind I am often wondering if they aren’t thousands of miles away…

If I look around me, I see:

An artist: She paints the most beautiful paintings. It’s a reflection of her heart and her strong values. She never speaks unkindly about anyone. Ever! But lately I see her face a picture of sadness. I know why and I feel helpless. As long as she knows I am there for her while she is trapped.

 

 

A teacher: I discovered the other day that she teaches Sunday School at her church. You don’t get a greater calling than to teach kids God’s Will. It makes sense now when I watch her at work. She’s a soft-spoken, gentle soul. I see how the stress sometimes gets to her and wears her down.

 

 

A good wife:  She upholds the highest standards both as a mother as well as a wife. Having made the decision not to have children, I somehow love listening to her stories. I also see when she shakes her finger at me when I moan about having family over or my grumpiness about household chores. The respect she shows for her husband, family and her role in the home is honourable.

 

A sunflower: She makes me love this country. She makes me love life. She makes me never want to talk about negative things, only good things. She is a bundle of energy and fun. She has also taught me about work – life balance and to pack up and leave the office in 5 minutes flat. She knows how to work hard and play harder!

 

Wait. I’m analysing aren’t I?  I guess I am Blue.

Confessions of a runner: Of course I can run faster silly!

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In 2010, I ran the Pick ‘n Pay half marathon. It’s a great race and winds its way through Bedfordview and Edenvale. I remember getting to the 16 km mark and bumping in to an old friend from school. On that day, he was marshalling the race.

When he saw me, he looked surprised and asked me, “Bo, are you okay? Why are you so far at the back? Are you hurt?” In my head, I said, nope, this is my pace. I run at 8mins/km. But I was too embarrassed to admit that to him, so instead I laughed it off, claiming I was having a slow race and taking it easy. Of course I run faster than this, silly billy! Pffft!

Fast forward 3 years. I’m blogging about my race journey and sharing my ups and downs of my running and my quest to run faster. Last week, I happen to have blogged that I was in a dip with my running, that I was not having a good time, and pretty much hating my running. Guess who comments on my blog? My friend, the marshall, from the Pick ‘n Pay race.

However, this time, the encounter was different. Here’s what he wrote…

“… On the running side, if it helps, of my years and years of running have yielded many great victories, but plenty disappointments too. I actually hung up my shoes after last year’s Comrades. I lost the mojo. I never took a step until the Kudus race this year, then Dischem, then Bobbies on Sunday, and I’m totally passionate again. It doesn’t mean you must stop , I’m just saying that we all have little setbacks and disappointments. Some run through them, some take a break till the mojo returns. I think you are expecting too much too soon to be honest.

 Run Happy, Run Grumpy, Run Speedy, Run Slow, Run a Little, Run a lot, just have fun!!

Let me know when you are next at a race, I’d love to run your distance with you and have a catch up, and whatever your goal for that day, let me pace for you and give you a helping hand, it’ll be my pleasure. Keep your chin up Bo, and keep going!”

I did manage to bump into him at Johnson Crane. It was so great to see him and to chat.

How weird that sometimes it’s easier to hide our insecurities because we think others will judge us and not understand what we are going through. And yet, everyone has their own demons that they are fighting. Opening up and trusting someone can sometimes yield some wonderful results!

Try again. If that fails, try again.

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I did not have the best of week’s last week. Having received the news from my running coach that I had not followed my training schedule correctly and had therefore not improved as he would’ve liked sent me into a depressed spiral where I questioned my running and considered quitting.

I got blasted by my coach for even having thoughts of quitting. He said to me: Get your mind right!

Ironically, this is where I am lacking in “strength”. I am disciplined enough to train every day. I have even changed my diet, cutting out wheat and red meats. I drink enough water and have ensured I wear all the running gadgets one can buy. All the boxes are ticked. But getting up when I have fallen down is so difficult.

Previously, when it came to motivating myself and getting my head space right, I would sit quietly and repeat positive statements to myself. I would envisage myself running and completing races. I would fill my time with reading motivational running books. It would always be a very private and personal journey.

But there’s something I realised a few months ago when I started my blogging. When it comes to believing in my abilities, nothing helps me do that more than realising that others believe in me. In fact, spending time with people that build me up is exactly what I spent the week doing.

Dinner with a best friend (who meticulously read back to me every sentence from my coach’s email and analysed each comment with a fine tooth comb and turned each sentence into a positive statement – Marci, you mean the world to me), to the awesome run with an inspirational friend from Cape Town (Rogeema, you are too awesome for words) and an Iron Man (Morne) who surprised me with a visit, right down to the motivational tweets and caring comments on my blog telling me that quitting is not an option and that they believed in me.

There’s nothing that touched my heart more than realising that other people are so willing to share in my running pains and get me through the bad times.

I’m back up. I’m running.

Dear coach, let’s start again. I’m ready.

Talking to a non-tweeter about tweeps

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I bumped in to an old friend at a function this afternoon. Whenever I see her, I am always reminded that there are in fact some people ‘out there’ who simply do not understand the meaning and purpose behind Twitter. As much as you try and explain it to them, unless they give it a try, they will never really ‘get it’.

You see, unless you’re familiar with it, the world of Twitter is a strange and sometimes confusing, sometimes euphoric place to be. It is filled with times of ups and downs. Times when you get bored with it, and other times when you can’t get enough. I would have to say that the best thing about it is the making of new friends and being among the first ones to know about breaking news. (If you’re not convinced, check out @mandywiener’s running commentary of the Donovan Moodley court case!)

It did occur to me the other day that as a tweep, I’ve grown up quite a lot since I started tweeting. I have come through the addiction phase without getting divorced, I have survived nasty remarks from strangers on Twitter and realised how easy it is to brush them off and I’m no longer constantly worried about what people think of my tweets or if they’ll be offended. There’s only so much you can explain in a toneless environment.

I’ve learnt to realise that my Twitter friends are really genuine and have made a real effort in the real world. I’ve become close to so many people that I’ve met on Twitter.

I have learnt that people on Twitter can be really cruel to one another and that while they tend to mock Lamebook Facebook, my “friends” on Facebook are a lot more patient and understanding. They also have more time for me on the rare occasion that I visit them online.

Twitter is about communities. The breakfast (now supper) gang really has fun. The Friday burgers ‘n beers crew is a great way to end my week. But it’s the running community that not only inspires me but makes me realise that I am not alone in my running trials and tribulations. The minute I have a bad running day, I am bombed with messages of support.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that even if I am interacting 24/7 with so many people, those closest to me and in my life (especially those not on Twitter) have ‘lost’ a bit of me.

They don’t get to speak to me all day. They don’t get to hear my chirps and my jokes. They don’t know if I’ve had a bad day or get to share in something awesome I’ve just heard. They lose out on a running commentary of my thoughts. Complete strangers that follow me now have that privilege.

This is something I’m working on…even if it means using the phone to talk and not to tweet! Weird.