Author Archive | Rian Truter

You can beat Djokovic!

By Rian Truter on July, Tuesday 5 2011 in 2011, Life 2

We are the champions my friend …

While watching the epic Wimbledon men’s final yesterday these words of Queen’s iconic song echoed through my head.

At the end of the match there could only be one champion and that was Novak Djokovic. But the way Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played and conducted them selves showed that you can be a champion even if you lose.

During the match both players illustrated that the game, and becoming a champion, was much more than just physical. Becoming a champion also depends a lot on mental fitness.

Even Rafael admitted that the mental part is a little dangerous for me. (The Telegraph 4/7/2011)

Its not just athletes that have to act like a champion. At some or other stage of our lives there will come a moment that we will have to be the champion. Even if we never see or touch the grass of Wimbledon.

For just that moment I have compiled the following thoughts to help you collect your trophy, promotion, prize or what ever it may be:

1. The first and great command is, don’t let them scare you. – Elmer Davis.

2. The minute you start talking about what you are going to do if you lose, you have lost. – George Schultz

3. The desire to win is born in most of us. The will to win is a matter of training. The manner of winning is a matter of honour. – Margaret Thatcher

4. Always imitate the behaviour of the winners when you lose. – George Meredith

5. A winner makes commitments. A loser makes promises. – Unknown

6. Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. – George E. Woodberry

7. The difference between losing and winning is usually the difference between doing little things nearly right and doing them exactly right. – Edward Simmons.

8. A winner focus; a loser sprays. – Sydney Harris

9. You only get one chance. – William Wallace

Game, set and match!

Image: nixxphotograpy

Ek het genoeg …

By Rian Truter on July, Saturday 2 2011 in 2011, Life 0

Het jy al in die middel van die nag wakker geword en besef hoe geseënd jy regtig is?

Nou die oggend vroeg was dit weer my beurt.

Ek word so drieuur se kant wakker met die reën en noordewind wat teen die kamervenster stoei. Skielik kom daar ’n onbeskryflike dankbaarheid in my hart vir my warm bed, die dak oor my kop en die ruit wat die wind en reën van my lyf hou.

Tog is die Kaap nie eenhonderd persent Hollands nie. ’n Onverklaarbare ysigheid kom kruip tussen my en die komberse in. Eintlik moet ek sê, in my kop in.

Want ek onthou skielik dat daar iewers buite mense is wat nie so bevoorreg soos ek is nie. Wat net ’n stuk karton of plastiek het om die wind en reën buite te hou. Wat nie net kan omdraai en verder slaap nie, want ’n mens slaap nie lekker as jy nat is nie.

Dit is dan wat ek skaam word dat ek kla en nog wil hê, want het ek dan nie reeds genoeg nie?

Dit is ook dan dat ek die antwoord van die tuinwerker aan die miljoenêr onthou …

Miljoenêr: Ek verstaan nie hoekom jy nie ook so baie geld en besittings soos ek wil hê nie?

Werker: Want ek het genoeg …

In die vroegoggendure rol ek rond en wonder oor wanneer genoeg dan genóég is?

Ek slaap nou glad nie en dit voel of die wind en reën net met my praat.

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. – Oprah Winfrey

Persons who have been homeless carry within them a certain philosophy of life which makes them apprehensive about ownership – Jerzy Kosinski

Image: Maggie Smith

Legends

By Rian Truter on June, Tuesday 28 2011 in 2011, Leadership 0

Die polemiek woed weer in die pers oor wie die beste is of was. Wie gee wie die reg om hom of haar as die beste ooit te klassifiseer? Amper tot legendestatus te verhef …

Tydens ’n besoek aan die KKNK het ek ontdek dat sommige mense soos oom Gert van Tonder skielik ‘n legend geword het, want al die jonges wat saam met die oom gesing het, het hom ‘n legend genoem. Is dit dalk omdat hulle hom van hulle doek- en Wielie-Walie-dae onthou, want oor sy sang kan dit nie wees nie.

Hierdie kwistige gebruik van legend voor en agter het my laat wonder oor wie en wat nou eintlik ‘n legend is.

Volgens my beskeie mening is Staal Burger, tannie Evita Bezuidenhout en die Toyota-bakkie ‘n legend. Maar om sommer links-regs enige iemand met die titel legend te bekroon, wil vir my ‘n bietjie goedkoop voorkom.

Ek vermoed die mense probeer eintlik sê die betrokke persoon is ‘n held. Maar in hierdie tyd waar alles cool is, het held ook seker êrens in die stof gebyt? Legend is nou die woord op die tong.

Nou hoe lyk ‘n legend dan nou eintlik?

Om as ‘n legend geklassifiseer te word, voel ek, moet die persoon as eerste vereiste darem sy/haar eie leeftyd kan oorleef. Daarmee bedoel ek, jy moet darem lank na jy die tydelike met die ewige verruil het, nog altyd oor gepraat of onthou word.

Legends moet ook ‘n bietjie opgeoffer het vir ‘n saak groter as hulself. Om net op ‘n KKNK-verhoog te verskyn en liedjies met drie versreëls te sing, plaas jou nie summier in dié klas nie. Nostalgie of te not!

Legends moet ook guts hê. Soos ‘n Wolraad Woltemade wat ten koste van homself sy perd die branders inry om absolute vreemdelinge te red. Om net Kaptein span die seile te sing, laat jou nog nie eens uit die hawe kom nie! Sarah Palin het die eienskap netjies raakgevat toe sy die volgende opmerking gemaak het: “…the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mum; it’s only the lipstick.”

Wat vir my egter die belangrikste aspek rondom ‘n legend is, is die stories wat hy/sy vertel. En ook die stories wat van hom/haar vertel word.

Suid-Afrika het vandag genuine legends nodig. Nie kunstefees- legends nie. Legends wat ook leiers is. Mense wat bereid is om stories, wat as ‘n morele barometer sal dien, vir die kinders en mense van Suid-Afrika, te vertel. Mense wat ons onvoorwaardelik as morele voorbeelde aan die wêreld kan voorhou.

Fred Harburg meen as leiers die krag van ‘n storie verstaan, maak hulle ‘n blywende verandering. Hy verwys in dié aanhaling na ‘n maatskappy, maar ek dink dis net so van toepassing op enige land in die wêreld. When a company is blessed with leaders who express compelling stories about things that matter — grounded in fact and reason, tied to values that are widely embraced, constructed with logic and expressed in positive, emotionally passionate terms — people not only listen, but are moved to action.

As ons leiers hierdie tipe stories begin vertel, kan ons almal lustig saam sing met al ons helde op die verhoë dwarsdeur Suid-Afrika. Ek sal dan weet dat die legends van hierdie land se stories ‘n verskil gaan maak wat langer as die 90 minute van die vertoning sal duur.

There used to be a time when the idea of heroes was important. People grew up sharing those myths and legends and ideals. Now they grow up sharing McDonalds and Disneyland. (New York, 1989) – Bob Dylan

True Legends never die. – Unknown

Image: mieliestronk

Recycling in Cape Town

By Rian Truter on June, Sunday 26 2011 in 2011, Environment 1

It is just when I thought that there is nothing that a politician or bureaucrat can do that would surprise me that they manage to pull another rabbit from their hat.

Big was my surprise when I opened my mail and received a notice from the City of Cape Town that they are going to provide me with a recycle bin.

Can you believe this?

Not a new tax, but indeed an initiative to start recycling! At last!

Did you know, according to the pamphlet, that on a year average, every person living in Cape Town throws away about 1, 5 kilograms of waste every day? This totals a massive 2, 3 million tons a year.

At first I thought the 2, 3 million tons was per citizen, but after quick revision of my grade 7 mathematics I realized it was impossible. It was the whole city of Cape Town that roughly wasted the weight of half a million African Elephants!

Can we wait any longer? Can yóú wait a day more?

Start recycling now. This may be our last chance to save our city, and country, from becoming a huge landfill.

And when a species doesn’t learn to fit in with Mother Nature, it gets kicked out. Every day you look in the mirror now, you’re seeing an endangered species. – Rob Watson

It’s not easy being green. – Kermit the Frog

Franciscan Benediction

By Rian Truter on June, Thursday 23 2011 in 2011, Life, Presentations 0

I have used this prayer in a few presentations and always people ask for a copy. Maybe its the unconventional requests in the prayer that speak to them? I first read it a book by Philip Yancey called Prayer. Does it make any Difference?

May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep in your heart.

May God bless you with anger

At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears

To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

Turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

To believe that you can make a difference in the world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done

To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen

Oranjerivierkool

By Rian Truter on June, Monday 20 2011 in 2011, Culinary 0

My friends, Martina and Leon, on the Orange.

Have you heard of the Groot Gariep River?

No. Not yet. Nada. Non comprende.

Maybe it is better known to you as the Orange River? The mighty one that rises in the Drakenberg in Lesotho and after 2 200 km flows into the Atlantic Ocean at Alexander Bay.

The Orange is also well known for the river rafting trips as it flows down to the sea. Let me urge you; if you have not done such a river rafting experience; don’t wait. Go for it! Do it sooner than later.

It was on one of these trips that a guide called Pieter showed me how to make Oranjerivierkool (Orange River Cabbage). This recipe has been a favourite with our family and I would like to share it with all the enthusiastic outdoor cooks. This is more or less how it’s done:

Ingredients: 1 big Cabbage

1 packet of White Onion Soup

1 packet of Brown Mushroom Soup

½ a brick of butter

1 packet of bacon

Heavy duty tinfoil

Method: First fry the bacon in a pan and keep separate. (Use diced bacon or cut it into smaller pieces after it’s done.) Then shred the cabbage. Take a fairly large piece of the foil and place the shredded cabbage in the centre. Remember that you are going to wrap the cabbage into a packet/parcel made from the foil. Put blobs of butter on top of the shredded cabbage. Then sprinkle the two packets of soup over. Spread the bacon pieces evenly on top of the cabbage. Fold and seal the parcel tightly. If the parcel is not sturdy enough, wrap some more foil around your parcel or use a double layer of foil.

Put the parcel into the coals next to your braai. Heap a few coals on top and remove it from the coals after 45 minutes. Do not use too hot coals because the cabbage will burn. Let it rather steam slowly in its foil bag. To serve, place the bag next to the other food, open it up and let the campers help themselves to Oranjerivierkool.

But be warned! Too much of a good thing may turn your canoe into a sail boat. Wind power all the way …

• Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. – Mark Twain

• Having a good wife and rich cabbage soup, seek not other things. – Russian Proverb

Sunset at Felix Unite

Missie of Visie?

By Rian Truter on June, Sunday 19 2011 in 2011, Education, Leadership, Life 2

Foto: Graur Codrin

Al gewonder oor wat is missie en wat is visie? Klink dan amper dieselfde!

Dalk gevoel jy moet onnosel wees omdat dit voel of net jy nie verstaan nie. Dit lyk dan, as jy na al die instemmende kopknikke om jou kyk, of almal op dieselfde bladsy is. Net jy nie …

Wees verseker jy is nie alleen nie. Baie van die kopknikke is soos die hondjie in die Cortina se agterruit. Dit knik maar onwillekeurig kop. Verstaan of te not.

Dewald de Kock van die Stellenbosch Gemeente het in sy aanbieding by ‘n onlangse onderwyskongres, KDA Great Escape, hul visie met die afgevaardigdes gedeel. Ek dink dit is so relevant en toepaslik, dat ek dit graag hier aanhaal:

Haal diep asem.
Beleef ‘n groter storie.
Skep luistertyd.
Leef omgekrap.

Hierdie is mos nou iets waarvoor ek ook my kop kan knik!

Om oor na te dink:

Make your life a mission – not an intermission. – Arnold Glasgow
The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. – Helen Keller

Harde Werk

By Rian Truter on June, Friday 17 2011 in 2011, Education 0

Dit is eksamentyd en ek glo baie onderwysers het die afgelope weke aan sy/haar leerders gesê dat as hulle deur die kwartaal hard gewerk het, behoort hulle die eksamen te slaag.

Maar dit wil vir my al meer lyk of kinders dink hulle móét slaag. Sonder om te veel moeite van hul kant te doen. Asof dit iemand anders se verantwoordelikheid is om sukses te waarborg.

Dit het tyd geword dat ons opnuut ons kinders leer dat harde werk nog nooit iemand skade gedoen het nie. As harde werk nie weer ’n aanvaarde norm gaan word nie, wag daar vorentoe donker en droewe tye vir hulle! En vir ons!

Linda Darling-Hammond skryf in haar boek, The Flat World and Education, die volgende: Some states predict the number of prison beds they will need in a decade based on 3rd grade reading scores.

Skokkend! Lees weer wat sy sê sodat die volle waarheid van hierdie feit kan insink.

Darling-Hammond verwys uit die aard van die saak natuurlik na die VSA! Maar wat dan van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika? As die TIMSS–verslae ’n rigtingwyser is, wil ek voorspel dat ons die titel van bandietland binnekort by Australië gaan oorneem. Of het ons al?

Tensy … ons mense opnuut die waarde van harde werk besef!

Seth Godin wrote in his blog (3/6/2011) that if you’re going to work … work hard.

That way, you’ll have something to show for it.

The biggest waste is to do that thing you call work, but to interrupt it, compromise it, cheat it and still call it work.

In the same amount of time you can expend twice the effort and get far more exchange.

The lyrics of the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, Teach your children, seem to pop involuntarily into my head:

Teach your children well…

And feed them on your dreams, the one they picked, the one you’re known by.

Ten slotte (‘n eksamenwysheid):

Beethoven het musiek geskryf al was hy doof. Hy was so doof dat hy harde musiek geskryf het. Hy het ver in die woude gaan loop selfs al het almal na hom geroep. Beethoven het in 1827 opgehou bestaan en dis hoekom hy later dood is. Hy het rooi hare by geboorte gehad toe noem sy ma hom Beethoven. Sy hare het egter na sy eerste bad heelwat verander.

Photo: Michal Marcol

Sometimes.

By Rian Truter on June, Thursday 16 2011 in 2011, Life 0

Baie jare gelede was daar ‘n foto van ‘n padwerker wat mismoedig met sy kop in sy hande in ‘n bushalte sit. Sy graaf so eenkant neergegooi.

Op die een paneel van die halte was daar ‘n advertensie vir Life-sigarette met die klinkreël, Life is great!

Wat my egter tot vandag toe dié foto laat onthou, is nie die foto self nie, maar die ironiese onderskrif: Sometimes …

Life is Great! Sometimes … Hierdie sometimes tref jou soms op die onverwagste oomblike van die lewe. Soos wanneer ‘n waterpyp laat in die nag in jou erf bars.

Dit is dán wat jy al jou positiewe versies en slagspreuke hardop moet sê, want die why me’s wil soos ’n tsunami oor jou spoel. Weg is die great lewe!

Maar as ek weer tot verhaal kom, onthou ek skielik ’n gedeelte uit Scott Peck se boek The Road Less Traveled.

Life is difficult.

This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.

Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult.

Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

As ’n mens hierdie waarheid regtig onder die knie het, dan is life nie meer net sometimes nice nie.

Life is great al bars die pyp, al is die battery net voor die lewensbelangrike vergadering pap, al is…

Al hierdie dinge is deel van die somtotaal van die avontuur van die lewe.

Geronimo!

Photo: Simon Howden

Ver in die Ou Kalahari

By Rian Truter on June, Monday 13 2011 in 2011, Life, Reis 2

Kalahari-rooi

Was jy al in die Kalahari?

Nog nie?

Pak dan onmiddellik jou kar en kry jou ry, want van uitstel, weet jy, kom afstel.

Stel nie belang nie, hoor ek jou sê. Dan sit ek jou dadelik op my gebedslys, want jy weet duidelik nie waarvan jy praat nie.

’n Groepie van ons het ’n paar weke terug in Namibië gaan jag. En ook na die hart van die Kalahari gaan soek.

Gaan soek na daar waar hy begin. Waar hy van sy ma af loskom en op eie bene staan.

En ons het dit gekry. Net so anderkant Koës. Daar begin die hart van die Kalahari.

Dit is daar waar die rooi duine soos golwe oor die see mekaar in ’n amper eentonige reëlmaat opvolg. Dit is daar waar die versamelvoëlneste die kameeldoringboom se takke laat afbreek, want te veel plakkers het kom intrek.

Dit is daar waar jou naaste buurman 20 kilometer van jou bly.

Die hart van die Kalahari lê vasgevang in oë van sy spring- en gemsbokke wat vroegoggend die son se strale teen die duin weerkaats. Jy voel sy hart klop as jy in die strate tussen die duine jou bakkie in die tweespoorpad probeer hou.

Maar dit is eers as dit donker word dat die Kalahari die binnekant van sy hart vir jou wys. Dit is dan wanneer jy in ’n grootse skepping kan opkyk en weet dis genade. Genade dat jy weer die hart van die Kalahari kon hoor klop, want jy is net nog ’n skepsel in hierdie wonderlike Skepping.

Kan sulke klein voeltjies sulke groot neste bou?

: Kameeldoringboom en sand…

Daar begin die Kalahari - volgens Hentie Gericke

Oor die duine!

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