Building a Foundation

Yesterday was Nelson Mandela's 93rd Birthday. As I was driving to work, a national message was broadcast over the radio from our current president, Jacob Zuma, to honour this day of celebration and a call to action for us to give our time to help others.


One part of the speech really caught my attention: It was a section dedicated to building a foundation, Zuma said, "As the first President of a free and democratic South Africa, {Mandela} laid the foundation for a truly non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. He laid the foundation for a solid constitutional democracy where the rights of citizens are supreme and protected. He laid the foundation for all of us to work tirelessly to improve the quality of life of all our people."


When I heard this, I had to stifle a good laugh, what is that saying, out of the mouths of babes.....as far as I'm concerned every government since Nelson Mandela was in power has chosen to ignore such a solid foundation, every action they have taken has been a mockery of this foundation, a mockery of Nelson Mandela's legacy.


I acknowledge that each of us has made the same mistake. How often have we laid the foundation for ourselves to be greater human beings and failed? We have good intentions to no avail.


Often we don't scale the highest mountain because of fear. We are afraid, firstly of failing, then we are afraid of actually succeeding, because what would that mean?


Nelson Mandela has said, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

As a human being, we will always struggle and tussle with our fears, but I challenge all of us to continue to strive for greatness and to understand that once you have scaled the highest mountain you could possibly imagine, there will be another one. You have to keep going.......

Who are you?

There have been a few events recently which have got me asking philosophical questions galore. But one which constantly stands out is "Who am I?"

I've been told many times what I am: a girl, woman, daughter, sister, communications officer......When I was growing up, I was THE SWIMMER. "Hi, I'm Taryn"........."Oh, your the swimmer." How annoying, it was utterly annoying. So many times I just wanted to scream, I'm not just a swimmer...that's not who I am. What also amazed me was how, just because you were good at something, you automatically possessed certain characteristics like confidence, boastfulness, selfishness, a holier than though attitude. For those who truly know me, I hardly displayed any such characteristics, yet so many such attributes were accredited to me.

The many times I was accused, by adults, not even children, of doing things I could not even possibly dream of, still has negative connotations for me on this very day. The fact that when you are successful, there are so many who want nothing more than to destroy you. I think with regards my swimming career, that is what killed me...the people who didn't want to see me succeed. That is what caused me to throw in the towel, I was tired and just wanted to be normal. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for those who have true success, what amazingly strong individuals they are.

I did not possess that kind of strength at the time and when I did give up swimming, I confused Who I am with What I am. I kept thinking that without swimming I was not worth anything of true value, I had nothing to give or offer my family, friends or society. I still struggle with this concept today, 7 years after my very last training session and last competitive race. Can I be someone other than THE SWIMMER, can I have different dreams and aspirations and can I find success and happiness?

On the weekend I took one giant step in a positive direction. It's time to throw away the cloak of doubt, lack of confidence and knowledge and dream big. It's about asking for what you want, being open to receiving it and being grateful for all that you have. There are many who are skeptics about asking for things and truly believing that they deserve it. If you don't believe you are worthy, you will not acheive your dreams.

I know who I am now and I know who I want to be in the future. My dream is to be the best possible me I can be and not worry about what others think and say, not worry about their desire to see me fail. I want to be a great writer, one who is trustworthy, decisive, open-minded, generous, easygoing, fun and loyal. 

What's your dream?