ENTRY 3- Breath of life

Uhuru drove back home thinking about Doctor Borman’s warning. “His right”, she said out loud. She knew that the more she held on to all the negative energy and heavy emotions surrounding her, the more her body would fail her. She needed to change and she needed to change fast. The idea of leaving her “life” seemed more appealing now.

Her thoughts drifted further and she remembered that the last time she left home was on her honeymoon. Maran, her husband, had spoiled her endlessly. He always promised that he would take her to all her favourite destinations around the world and thinking about him brought back the chest pains and she started breathing excessively fast.

I can’t do this without him, I just wouldn’t be able to cope, she thought. Her breathing became more and more rapid. She was hyperventilating.

This led to light-headiness and she started feeling weak. Without contemplation, she immediately pulled over, opened up the glove compartment and started frantically searching for the brown paper bags she kept in there.

She found one, opened it wide and started breathing in it. Her breathing slowed down and she was once again in control. 

If I were the boss?

If I were the boss, I would have a to-do-list of all the things I want to achieve in and with the company I am leading. One of the things on my list would be to take time to focus on the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) of the company and the employees.

My aim would be to use the business as a tool to meet my purpose in life whilst developing it to serve the community in which it operates. Through focused energy, time and finances spent on the CSI department, I would positively influence and contribute to society.

The next item on my list would focus on the Human Resources department. I believe that employees need to be happy or content with their occupation and work environment in order to remain motivated. An employee that is happy or content with their work, will be productive and passionate, no matter how challenging the job might be.

Employees would also put more effort in their work thus producing more and inevitably improving the organisation.

ENTRY 2- Healing

Uhuru was finally starting to gain control of her life. Something she thought she lost when her doctor told her how sick she was. The doctors warning startled her.

“Ms Ciaphus, you have to take better care of yourself. We both know the chest and backaches are not a result of your morning jogs,” he said.

He looked her in the eyes and his tone changed becoming more serious. “Maybe you would prefer to speak to someone, a professional perhaps.”


Uhuru refusing to listen further quickly stopped him. “No doctor, I am fine, you know, the pain could be a result of stress from work, I just need to relax that’s all.”

“I insist, Ms Caiphus”, the doctor said as he walked closer to her.

“Well, I insist, I am fine” Uhuru said confidently. “I have another appointment in an hour, so if you don’t mind, traffic is terrible, the sooner I leave the less traffic I have to sit in”


“Of course, please call me if you continue to suffer from pain”. He gave her a prescription note; “take this, the listed will help with the symptoms, but not the cause” said Doctor Borman.

ENTRY 1- Parched Land

Uhuru had finally made a decision. She was going to leave everybody and even what she thought defined her in search of something she did not know of. The ‘something” was not clear at that particular moment.

Her decision was sudden, she did not think it thoroughly, but it seemed to be the best decision she had made in months. She knew what her friends and family would say, but she didn’t care because the peace that came with the decision went far and above reason.

Her life was filled with so much resentment and misery. She lived with it. She hated her closets friends Anger and Bitterness, yet somehow they managed to be her reason for living, even though they ate at her everyday. She woke up to them sitting at her bedside every morning to greet her with a smile. They filled her home, they were dark and cold. When she faced the world, they were her protection, a wall that never allowed anyone in, never allowed anyone to hurt her, again.

But for the first time in weeks, she made a decision based on her, not her family or friends. She felt a sense of control of her life again and liked it.

Two people leave a building and walk into a story...

Two people leave a building and walk into a story. A story of their lives. Both filled with pain yet hope, both wishing to fill the void in their hearts. James, a 49 year old man, good looking and decent, spots Julia in the corner of his eyes. Immediately taken by her attractiveness, he walks towards her.

“I cannot miss this opportunity again,” he thinks to himself. The distance between him and Julia becomes longer. There’s a deafening silence in an area filled with thousands. “Please look at me, please look at me,” he whispers in anticipation, with heartbeats that seem to be louder than reason.

Julia, 3 years younger than James is beautiful in her red dress. She stands in the middle of a crowd, waiting. Waiting to see a glimpse of a man who had stolen her heart months ago without her awareness.“I hope his here. Seeing his eyes would be enough”, she thought.
However, she wanted more, more than the smile James had given her the last time. She thought if she wished hard enough and counted to three; like her mother would say as a young girl; her desire would appear. She closed her eyes, with faith in her heart.

One..Two..Three.........

“Hi”, a voice behind her says.

How hard is it to follow instruction?

The Oxford dictionary defines instruction as a process of teaching. The ability to listen and follow instruction is a learnt skill. Without this basic skilfulness, you might find it impossible to listen, never mind understanding instructions. Your intellectual growth would be stagnant.

My father is a primary school educator for the past 16 years. Having spent more than a decade teaching school kids, he would know all about how frustrating the lack of listening and following instruction is. “School kids do not follow instruction because they just don’t listen”, he says.

I like to believe that kids listen differently and like my father, you quickly learn how they think and accept that. Acceptance provides opportunities to do differently. It gives birth to ideas that help you help others. My father learnt this lesson rapidly.

Consider, that the inability for people to listen and follow instruction is due to them being different and therefore listening differently. In a country with 11 official languages and a diverse people, tolerance and our knack for understanding others, might help the process of giving, listening and following instruction go much faster.