Hello 2012

I have been so busy this year and didn’t post any new year compliments. Two weeks late, but there is lots of time in Africa. Jokes. Happy New Year to you. Thank you all for reading last year and thank you for your continual readership.

Another year has come and gone and today we are now in 2012, a year full of promise. Each year is always so promising. Like the sunrise, ushering in a new day, so a new year, ushers in new opportunities. It is time to rethink and start anew. If anything didn’t go too well in 2011, 2012 carries with it the promise of hope. Most people make new resolutions and revive old dreams. This is the time to do this  because each new year has new possibilities. Its up to you, what you determine to do in 2012, but remember whatever the mind can conceive the mind can accomplish. Past  victories and glories are trophies along the way, but we should now look forward towards greater victories. Past losses were painful, but are a reminder that we cannot have everything our way and if we get up and try again, we will recover that which was lost. Past  failures are lessons, teaching us that the human will is resilient and will get on even in the face of distress. A righteous man will fall seven times, but will get back up again.

2011 is gone. A great friend of mine said, Elvis is gone, many can try and impersonate him, but he is gone, he will never be back. So is 2011, it is gone, it will never be back again. 2012 is right now, grab it and go. Grab the promise and do that which you desire.

Here are a few quotations from my 2012 diary

1. 1.     “”Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen, even so does inaction sap the vigour of the mind.” Leonardo Da Vinci
2. 2.     “Life is like a ten- speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use” Charles Schultx
3. 3.     “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist or accept the responsibility for changing them” Dennis Waitlye
4. 4.     “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination” Jimmy Dean
5. 5.     “Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together yield themselves when taken little by little.”
6. 6.     “People become really remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe they have the first secret to success.” Norman Peale
7. 7.     “Good manners will often take people where money nor education will take them.” Fanny Jackson Coppin Dreams are but thoughts until their effects are tried.” Shakespear
8. 8.     “Optimism. The doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly.” Ambrose Bierse
9. 9.     “Our Attitude towards life determines life’s attitude towards us.” Earl Nightingale
10. 10.   “You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” Rosalynn Carter
11. 11.   “A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success. “ anonymous
12. 12.   “Any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day.” Booker T Washington
13. 13.   We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves and let the beautiful stuff out.” Ray Bradbruy

These are inspiring words and I am quite encouraged myself. I spent the last weeks of 2011 in South Africa and vowed not to go back to Zimbabwe. I felt deflated, unappreciated, stagnant and just altogether done for. I thought, hey what if I get a job in Dubai or Ausy, I could easily forget Zimbabwe, but I dragged myself back to Zimbabwe. I’m a sucker for punishment. I myself can become remarkable if I believe that I can contribute towards development in Zimbabwe. “I have to have confidence in my ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.”  It is a mammoth task, but with the new year, I have revived that dream to do my bit for my beloved nation and continent. “Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together yield themselves when taken little by little.”  2012 holds the promise, that we will reach the marginalized, we will get the resources we need will become available to us and in the mean time, we will use our five loaves and two fish to change our communities.

If you are like me and didn’t see the things you wanted to see happening last year, keep the faith alive, don’t give up. Keep on pressing on. As I was writing this I thought, I should read the footnote in my diary every day. Have a great 2012.