I own the moment!

“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.” ~Oprah Winfrey

Yes! I own the moment! 

This is how I feel now. The results are in and I have passed all my subjects of my Bachelor of Education Honours degree for Teaching and Learning. Believe me, this feeling is extremely good! 

Needless to say, this is not how I felt in October 2013 when I started this long journey to self-discovery. 

It was on this specific journey where I discovered how I felt about accumulating knowledge. I discovered that under pressure, I could stretch my levels of endurance to new boundaries. I also discovered that studying again for the first time in 26 years was a daunting task. Life around me continued normally and it was expected of me to be normal and stay the same.

Nothing stayed the same.

Relationships became tentered like milled cloth on a wooden frame. Time was personified in all my experiences, inflicting pressure for me to perform at my best as a wife, mother, daughter, teacher, friend, colleague ... Even my emotions were shape-shifting into different creatures inside me. I was constantly dueling for dominance trying to triumph over every single one of them: fear, anger, self-pity, jealousy, hatred, joy (the list goes on). Yes, even the positive emotions at times seemed to be my worst adversaries.

The most important thing that I learned on this journey is that I have changed. My perspectives have changed. I see life and teaching and education differently now.

Here, at last, I stand with the Bachelor of Education Honours degree for Teaching and Learning. It was a three-year course that I completed in two years, not by choice; I was never informed that I could complete it in three years. Nevertheless, it's done. 

I own the moment!

The saying that we reap what we sow is true. Hard work and commitment do pay off. But, to be fair, in the future, if I have to choose between writing a novel and studying for a degree, I will choose writing a novel. 

Let that be the next challenge!

Let your light shine

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Let your light shine!

This is what many of us were taught by our parents and teachers. At Sunday school, many of us had the opportunity to sing the song:

This little light of mine,

I'm gonna let it shine ...

Let it shine,

Let it shine,

Let it shine.

As 2015, the International Year of Light, draws to an end, we may find - in full retrospect of the year - that we didn't "shine" as much as we initially wanted to. Then again, maybe we did. Maybe we excelled in doing so. Whatever the case may be, whether we're living the annual theme or striving to "shine" as Christians, it's not about what we did or how we did it. It's more about how much we grew in process. It's all about improvement.

I found this picture and just loved the message. 

Everything has a crack in it. That's how the light gets in.

Had we been perfect, there would be no cracks. And that's just it. We're not perfect. Our imperfection has made us weak. Our minds are filled with ego, fear and desire. In this state, we need His light for strength to carry on with purpose.

We don't have to be perfect to walk in His light.

It's a choice really! We choose to shine and we choose to allow His light in. It's all about moving forward and becoming better (change, growth, development)!

Everything is transfixed, only the light moves. ~ Leonora Carrington