A short interlude

Made you read it again and again and again...
And again

Honestly, I thought I would be blogging more during this Christmas/Birthday/Wedding season. Well... Here's my delayed notice that I will be was on Hiatus for a month or so. I know it would've been better if I told you sooner, but I honestly planned to keep writing while I holidayed. But I guess life took over... (yes, I just got distracted)

Boy, that was a good holiday! Here's a breakdown of what I did in that space of time:

• Lived through every day successfully,
• Didn't die once! Honest!
• Drove a lot in one day - leaving at 5am and arriving at 11:30pm (we had many breaks along the way to Wilderness),
• Ate food,
• Slept,
• Went to Christmas with my girlfriend's family,
• Attended the AWESOME wedding of my sister and Francois on the 8th of January,
• And started working once again.

I do wish it lasted at least a little longer, though I certainly enjoyed the time that I had with my family and experienced great amounts of joy. T'was the season to be jolly after all! - Tralalalala-lala-la-la

My sister is a married woman!

Breath-taking pictures were captured on the beach.
I'm so proud to be your brother, you look beautiful!
And so do you Caro!!!

I still struggle to understand this concept. She is married, I have a bro-in-law, my mother is now a mother-in-law and MY SISTER IS A MARRIED WOMAN! Oh, I said that twice :O Wow... It blows my mind... And it's really great! If only I could see them more often. I love you my sister :D

Okay! So with this post, I'm back for good. I'll write more regularly again (hopefully) and try not to disappoint my adoring fans (that would be you).

I'M BACK BABY!
OK bye now...

Yours in writing
Benjamin

THE END OF THE WORLD!

PUPPY!!!

It's the end of the world as we know it,
It's the end of the world as we know it,
It's the end of the world as we know it,
And I feel dry...

The world shall end not with a bang, but a water-less, crackly whimper...

That's right folks - there is drought in the air. I don't know how many days I've gone without a bath... Thank goodness I can shower every week! Seriously though. We didn't have water for nearly 2 whole days and I thought I was going to die :'( I felt so filthy because I couldn't shower on Tuesday evening like I normally do. I live for those weekly Tuesday showers... Not having running water is enough to drive you mad!

Well, with the drought and my random rants. That will probably drive you crazy rather soon. So now I'm treating the water that we do have with a great deal more respect, you're taught a little humility when you realise how lost you are without it. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, they say... And since you are made up of an astonishing 70% water, you get pretty fond pretty fast.

Speaking of distance

I really need to talk to my dad and sisters! I feel like a bad sibling-son when I don't talk to them for so long, why do I suck so much when it comes to keeping contact? I would like to take this time and space to send a shout-out first to my dad, thank you for being so great and raising me so lovingly. Then thank you Carol for marrying my dad and making him so happy. Thank you Kathryn for being the best (little) sister in the world, and I'm so proud of you for studying so far from home and your beloved family (I mostly mean me ;) but our parents too). Thank you Caroline for being the greatest (also little but older) sister in the world! Of course you also make me so proud, what with you having your own place in such a beautiful area and getting married. I am soooo excited for that. And lastly but not leastly, thank you Francois for bringing joy to my sister's heart. bro. Okay I think that's it for the shout-out, so lastly I just want you all to know that I love you! Even if I don't call every day. Or week. Or month... I do think of you all, I promise :)

As my beautiful girlfriend quoted on her blog, "Ohana"! (for those of you that don't know, Ohana means family. And family means no-body gets left behind, or forgotten)

- Thanks Jess

Yours in writing

Benjamin

FEAR Can be over-come! But how?

So many people tell you that fear is simply an obstacle to be defeated - that you can show your fears who's boss! I don't know how. Scary things scare me! Not knowing what's happening frightens me most of the time. The idea that something could change my life, no matter how insignificant, is a scary one to have when I don't know how it'll happen. It's got an element of excitement too, but mostly that deep-dark-relentlessly-scary-&-intimidating fear!

I am unhappy with work. (anything I say from here-on-out is something you can not quote me on! Because that could get me into shit. Pretend I'm lying about the following things I say. As my reader, you know that I wouldn't lie to you, right? But for my sake let's pretend I am) I am currently - or not currently - being made to work every other Sunday. (Yes, they ask if I can work, but by saying "No" when no-one else is able to would pretty much be telling my boss-lady that I don't care about the business and I want to quit...). I miss my weekends, this is getting ridiculous! Speaking of fear, I'm afraid I'll leave here before I find another job, and have no income. Scary!!!

I've been reading up on the following website for labour laws. Click here: HERE! <--- Click on that! The one that says "here"! It explains (in layman's terms) the laws by which all businesses in S.A. should be governed. Informative! Haha, you can actually press on any 'here' that you want, I linked them all to the page! Here again, so go check it out there! (yes, I even stuck one into the word "there", since is says 't-here')

The logo of the Department of labour of S.A.
Obviously.

More on fear - and how to "Deal with it."

One or two basic tips on the matter that I may be so bold as to suggest:

• Remain calm, and think things through carefully. Assess the situation as best you can. Ask yourself: "Is this a rational fear?". If it's not, Deal with it. You don't think it's rational so what's there to be afraid of?
• If that fear is irrational and you find that you can not Deal with it, you may have a phobia. I can't help with that.
• And if that fear is crippling, then don't move! Oh wait... You should move! Try to change your angle, see it from a different point of view.
• Ask for advice from friends and family, they just might have some insight on the matter which can help to pull you through.

Well that's really all I've got, I suck at handling fear. I tense up and freak out, panic and sh*t myself. Not a good role model in this regard.

Although, having said that, here's what always helps me. Support!

My loving family being loving, my caring girlfriend being caring, my nosy friends being nosy! (And ultimately helping me) And really any support where I can find it. So support your family and friends, they need you more than you know.

So tiny and horrifyingly... Pudgy! NOOO!
Run away! Hurry! AAAH!

P.S. Sorry for the super late post, I wasn't in a good place for writing things the last few days.

Benjamin, signing- AAAH! SPIDER!!!

Religious views

This is gonna be a stressful post to write 0_0

I am not religious, I don't enjoy church and I'd much rather hear about the good nature of a persons heart than be told that God's grace is the only viable answer to enjoying life. To be clear, I'm not hating on anybody or talking without experience. I have gone to church for a good portion of my child-hood and even some of the teen years, so I know what it's about. Sunday school was always fun! And these views of mine are not a recent development, I've felt this way for many years now.

No, I'm not telling anyone to be agnostic,
just saying I am.

I try my best to make a point of not criticising any person based on their religious views, just as I don't want it happening to me. You know, "Do unto others...". So how do I live my life without believing everything is run by a God? I am agnostic and I'm at peace with my current mindset of not knowing certain things for sure. Including what'll happen when I die. I know it's scary to think there will just be "Nothing". If there is an afterlife I'd be thrilled to find out when I die, that's a discovery I don't mind waiting to make. I'm in no rush to get there.

I love life, it's something you only get once and it is truly precious. YOLO! Be safe, live happily and make it count. Living life by principles is my answer to living happily! And I derive the majority of those principles from religion, lessons learnt from the bible. I do my best to be happy at no-one else's expense, I do what I enjoy and try not to hold back, and I derive joy from bringing happiness to others (especially family and my close friends). I'm a people-pleaser. I also deeply love my family and I know this will probably upset some of you, but I feel the need to finally open up about this. I know you'll still accept me as I am no matter what.

Lastly on the subject I'd like to ask that you kindly refrain from trying to get me to come around to your thinking, I am very happy where I am and I don't enjoy talking about religion. I try to avoid the subject - perhaps one day I'll join a church and be baptised, but that's not today. Thank you for understanding!

And now that that's over with!

I wish there were a few more hours in the day. 2 or 3 hours, I could sleep that little bit more and life would be perfect! But alas, time is limited and your impending doom draws nearer with each passing second... An hour gone, a portion of your day disappears and you're one step closer to the end of your life. That's what plays on my nerves whenever I procrastinate. It doesn't get me anywhere, I end up doing something even more meaningless like play a mindless internet game for 3 hours. I love being productive! I consider writing this blog as a productive activity, and so right now I'm quite chuffed with myself. This is the third day in a row that I'm posting, yay me!

Pay attention to me, I'm on a pedestal.
So important...

P.S. Sharing my soul is fun (by which I mean telling you stuff that wouldn't normally leave my lips).

I enjoy having my subjects FRIENDS AND FAMILY being able to read about me and my thoughts. Thanks for listening with your eyes O.O

Bye bye

Yours truly

Ben-jammin'