Murray swart Change yourself

It has been said that a change is as good as a holiday but I’m not completely sure I agree. For one thing, while something new, by definition, is always something different, that is not to say that “new” is always better.

Change also always means something different but not necessarily something “new” or better.

You can change your mind, your appearance, your circumstances, goals, dreams and aspirations.

You can change the company you keep, your location, your profession, your perspective, your beliefs and even your opinion, which is all fine and well but if you don’t change your actions and attitude, things will only be different, never better.

In a nutshell, you can change the world and your destiny, along with the lives of others and even the way society functions.

However, no matter how much you change public appearance and the way you appear to the public, unless you change your own, personal perception of the world around you, our very existence will appear very different but still remain the same.

You see, all of your relationships and pet peeves, all your guilty pleasures, your aggravations, agitations, adulations and aspirations have one thing in common that first needs to change before you will notice any results. That common denominator is you.

You have the lead role in your biography and in this story you are the antagonist, protagonist, hero, villain, and victim, all rolled into one.

We are all key characters, masters of our own domain, all seeing, all knowing, all powerful. In introspect, we all special, significant and sublime but somehow, just can’t seem to catch a break.

Sadly, no matter how great we know are, deep down inside, others don’t always see it.

It is these “others” that always keep us from reaching our full potential, ensuring that we have the terrible luck of finding ourselves in a terrible scenario, surrounded by terrible people.

These are but some of the factors beyond our control that leave us crippled, concerned and complaining.

These are some of the factors that inevitably prevent us from reaching our full potential. These are things we cannot change but should

Thanks to the media, both social and mass, we see the world we live in and are constantly reminded of constantly reminded of the need for change.

Story after story inspire calls for a shift in leadership, legislation, loyalties and liabilities, but these are so easily dismissed by the turn of the page, the click of the mouse or a flip of the channel.

It’s just more convenient than letting the facts discredit your opinion.

After all, you shouldn’t believe everything you read anyway. Only everything you say.

We find also find convenience and relief in little mantras like “actions speak louder than words” but when it comes to making an actual effort, we would rather increase our volume than our heart rate. We would sooner raise our voices than our argument.

We would sooner sacrifice discussions and our ability to communicate than take the silver spoon out of our mouths in pursuit of quick fixes, comfort without consequence and reward without risk.

We like to cut corners, in search of convenience, efficiency and idle moments, forgetting that shortcuts are usually challenging in their own right. If a shortcut were easy it wouldn’t be a shortcut. It would simply be the way.

A change may be as good as a holiday but a holiday is little more than an escape from reality. Instead of searching for temporary distractions, we should aspire for more.

If we change who were are and how we are we won’t need holidays. Reality will be blissful enough. AN EXHIBITION to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Square Hill and the role of the Cape Corps during World War I has been opened at the McGregor Museum in Kimberley, as part of the museum’s World War I centenary exhibition.

This month marks the end of the centenary commemorations for the First World War.

Men of the 1st Battalion Cape Corps, serving with General Allenby’s forces in Palestine, recorded a notable victory during the last months of the war when they fought the Turks to a standstill to take the tactically important Square Hill position in a battle that lasted from September 19 to 21, 1918.

During the action the Cape

Corps captured an enemy field gun, the first gun captured on the Palestine front during General Allenby’s offensive. This gun was brought back to South Africa where it became the focal point of the Square Hill Memorial in Kimberley.

According to Sunet Swanepoel from the McGregor Museum, such an exhibition comes in handy for tourists who are interested in the culture and heritage history that affect our society.

The launch of the Battle of the Square Hill exhibition comes at a time when South Africa is also celebrating the 100th year centenary of the late stalwarts Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu.

The Chairperson of the Northern Cape Tourism Authority, Colin Fortune, welcomed the launch of the exhibition.

The following exhibitions can also be viewed when visiting the museum in Atlas Street.

The Journey to Democracy –

1652 to 1994, with an emphasis on the role of the Northern Cape in the struggle for the liberation of South Africa, including the role of Robert Sobukwe. Currently it also features a temporary exhibition honouring the centenary of the birth of ANC stalwart, the late Albertina Sisulu.

The Nelson Mandela Centenary exhibition, titled Nelson Mandela’s footprints in the Northern Cape, which opened on August 1 2018.

– Norma Wildenboer