Alistair Shaw, Author at 1Africa

Guilty By Association

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June 8, 2015

What’s the first thing anyone does when a new face enters the room? Come on now, don’t shy away from the question, you know what I’m talking about. We all do it, on a daily basis, and it’s almost involuntary – a knee jerk reaction.

We’re assessing people all the time, sadly it’s become our second nature. We’re comparing them to ourselves and others we know, and we’re judging them on a very long list of criteria which we’ve compiled in our heads according to our personal likes and dislikes…

Your hair might be long, curly and bushy, you’re wearing a tracksuit and sneakers. By all external appearances you seem untidy, unorganized and possibly even scruffy looking. Apart from your obvious external appearances, you’re actually a well-grounded person, very smart and definitely CEO potential.

Consider a well-groomed man. Armani suit, short and neatly styled hair, handsome looking and drives the latest Mercedes, all thanks to Daddy’s money. This young man has no vision for his life, no dreams and aspirations; just living the grand life, appears to be very well educated and driven, simply just living under his father’s shadow.

You’re a well behaved child, excelling in your academics and you’ve got a bright future ahead of you. You’re friends with the naughtiest kid in school who has a terrible reputation because of his naughtiness and bad habits.

In these examples above, it’s clear who these people are, but the misconception is that they’re guilty by association. Just because they don’t conform to a specific model, just because they’re associated with the wrong person, or just because they don’t meet all your standards, they just don’t make the cut.

The Bible speaks about doing unto others as you’d like them to do unto you, perhaps its time we stop judging, criticizing and categorizing people, just to make us feel better about who we are. Remember, as much as you’re categorizing people and criticizing them, guess what? They’re doing the exact same to you.

Let’s search our hearts today and accept the fact that every other person on this planet looks different to the image in the mirror. Accept the fact that you have certain abilities, talents and gifts that the next person might not have; but in the same breath, remember, the next person has abilities and talents that you simply don’t possess. That makes everyone special and unique.

Instead of criticizing, judging and forming opinions of people, why not adopt a new approach to the new people you meet today, and give them the benefit of the doubt, realize that they too are human and will be very different from you.

When Words Aren’t Enough

Alistair Shaw

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June 8, 2015

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“Tick tock, tick tock”. The clock is running wild, pressure building. Your deadline is creeping ever closer with each heartbeat. You can only work as fast as your circumstances allow. You’re confident you’ll make the deadline, your fellow colleagues, not so much.

In the panic and the chaos you reassure them, you appease them, you make plenty of promises – and valid ones, no exaggerations.

There comes a time when words aren’t enough. Sometimes we find ourselves in difficult situations in life and no matter how much talking we do, the people around us don’t always seem to ‘listen’, they hear, but they don’t grasp.

When words aren’t enough, you just need to DO! Sometimes we can’t even find the right words to settle the heated moment – that’s when it is time to just stop talking and take action.

I’ve often heard it said – “Don’t follow what I say, follow what I do”. Now while I don’t fully agree with that statement (as I believe we should be practicing what we preach), I do realize that people will follow what they see you doing before they follow what you say.

When it comes to God, I have made many promises, as I’m sure you have too. Now, God delights in us being honest with Him, making commitments to Him and acknowledging that we place our trust and our hope in Him.

But as humans, that’s often all we are. We make promises, we commit to things, but sadly, our actions don’t support our lip service.

I think it’s time we started taking responsibility for what we commit to and start doing the things we need to in order to fulfill our commitments.

Perhaps you’ve asked God for help in a certain area and have entrusted certain things into His care, but then by your actions and in your own strength you’re still trying to do them without Him. Why don’t you take that step of faith and truly entrust your concerns and problems into God’s very capable hands?!

Click the link below and watch this encouraging video which will help you in this process.

How Are You

Culture

Alistair Shaw

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June 5, 2015

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How often would you get a response like this via instant messaging or even face to face? Not often I’d think. Irrespective of how we feel, we typically just give a generic “I’m fine, how are you” kind of response. There are a ton of reasons for this ranging from our own insecurities , the fact that it’s easier to say I’m fine, rather than unpacking and telling the other person truly how we feel, to our upbringing, the culture’s we adopt and our behavioural training.

So, how are you truly doing today? Are you truly okay or are you in fact not 100% okay, perhaps in need of some help, a shoulder to lean on?

The point I’m driving home is that we aren’t very honest when it comes to our feelings. Of course it’s easier to ignore the problem, ’cause it might just disappear. The problem with that kind of thinking, is that the problem will only escalate and will never disappear.

Let’s forget about an honest response to the person asking “how are you?” How about we first become honest with ourselves and acknowledge where we’re at, to ourselves!

Life coaches and counselors teach a technique whereby at the end of each day you take 5 minutes to asses your day.

Draw a dividing line down the center of an A4 page
On the top of the page write positive and negative
List all the highlights of your day in either of the columns. Be honest

This process helps you in ‘wrapping up’ your thoughts and thought processes of the day and brings them to a conclusion. One of the biggest problems we have is that we don’t think our thoughts through, we just go day in and day out with open ended thoughts without any closure. It is important to bring our thought processes to a conclusion.

The next time someone asks you “how are you?”, hopefully your response will be an honest one, and not just the ‘expected’ one.

It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

Alistair Shaw

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June 5, 2015

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One hour left. You’re writing your final exams and two hours have already passed, but you’re only half way through the test! Panic, urgency and the already existing knot in your stomach tightens!!

No matter how you approach the ticking hands of the clock, they will always remain the same. A moment in time that will always remain 60 minutes, no more, and no less.

Imagine for a moment that you are tired, so tired that the remaining hour of your working day just seems to tarry for too long!! You check the clock, and it reads 15:05. You work a little more, and you feel the need to glance over at the clock in the corner of your PC monitor, because it does in fact feel like a substantial amount of time has passed since the last time you checked, and you at this stage need to confirm what you feel, that it is indeed, at least 15:30.

To your absolute horror you discover that it is indeed only 15:15, what a disappointment!

On the flip side. You might be working really hard and things are going well for you on one particular day. You cast your eye at the clock and it reads 15:00. What feels like a short lapse in time turns out to be an hour gone, and to your absolute amazement, its 16:00.

Same amount of time, just different circumstances causing a different ‘feeling’ towards time. There are some real truths about time that we can’t escape, no matter how hard we try:

The time you’re given on earth is all the time you have, there is no time extension. When your time comes to die, you are at the end of the line, and time’s up.
The past remains in the past. There is no time machine, no device which would allow you to relive the ‘wrongs’ and make them ‘rights’.
Live in the here and now!

Sometimes we get so caught up living in the past, pondering on our mistakes, or good days gone by, but forget to live in the moment, the here and now! To be relevant to our present instead of being absent in our responsibilities simply because we’re living in the past, or even dreaming about our future.

I think just about every human being during the course of their lives has had the thought “If I only had one hour left to live, what would I do?”

I remember as a child thinking along those lines and imagining what I’d do with my hour. I remember thinking that I would gather all my friends and family and tell them all what they mean to me and that I’d miss them very much. I also imagined that I’d speak to as many people as I could about Jesus and His amazing love.

If you knew you only had one hour left to live, what would you do in your final hour of life, how would you spend the time? Whatever we go through, we must never forget that it’s not over until it’s over.

More importantly, where will you spend eternity once you die? Will you enter into eternal life with Jesus or do the flames of hell seem like a better fit?

If you have questions about God, faith and eternity, please click on the banner below.

When You Feel Uninspired

Culture

Alistair Shaw

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June 4, 2015

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Every so often it hits you. Like a brick in the face or a boot to the head. It’s obvious and unapologetic, that dreaded feeling of being uninspired! Is it possible that people procrastinate because they haven’t formally figured out a working process to see the task to completion or could it be a lack of inspiration? I personally think both are very real reasons for not getting the job done, but let’s focus on when you feel uninspired.

Let’s be honest here, you and I will not always feel excited about every task placed in our care, not every single one of them is going to cause us to break out in song! So, what do we do when that awkward feeling comes over us, that feeling of like “can I delegate this task to someone else please?”

For me, it begins with my attitude.

If I feel bleak about the task at hand, I know that I urgently need to snap out of it and get interested and excited about it. Once my attitude is in check, I then move to project planning. This enables me to see the end from the beginning, the various processes along the way and this also gives me the opportunity to possibly get other people involved and excited.

The environment I find myself in also plays a huge role in the creative process involved. If you are expected to be highly creative and you are working in a very corporate environment, chances are you will be very clinical and rigid in your thinking. If however, you work with colour, with music or any other stimulating factors, your creation will be exciting and adventurous! Don’t shun your imagination, it’s your imagination that you want stimulated! Let the creativity flow!

Are you feeling uninspired today? It’s actually okay! You certainly are not alone in your experience. Even an overcast sky could influence your levels of inspiration, so don’t stress too much about it! Remember that there is a big difference between being uninspired and having writer’s block, designer’s block, or any other block. My advice to any and all who are feeling uninspired: Find an article, a video, a song or a person to spark some excitement, some inspiration. Even a quick and casual walk in the street could inspire you and spark a creative idea!

When Life Gives You Lemons

Alistair Shaw

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June 4, 2015

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So, you’ve had a bad day and nothing seems to be going right?! We all have rough days, and sometimes mistakes happen and life gives you lemons.

In primary school, I had an art teacher who always had a very strict rule. Under no circumstances are you ever to use an eraser in the art class. If you make a mistake, you turn it into a “happy mistake”. This challenged my thinking and, contrary to what you might believe, it’s harder than you think!

Imagine not having an eraser or tip-ex, imagine no backspace or delete key on your keyboard. Suddenly the pressure’s on and you have to focus that much harder to NOT make mistakes. This challenged my thinking and left me with two options:

I could strive for perfection and get it right every time, first time!
I could allow myself room for mistakes, and using those mistakes to form part of my art and in a very creative way, to correct them.

I learned the hard way that life is not about perfect living, but rather striving for excellence in everything that I do. I had to accept the fact that I WILL make mistakes along the way and I WILL get it wrong at times.

How am I going to deal with those wrong choices, how will I correct those mistakes? How will I turn the lemons of life into lemonade?

Now, you must remember, when it comes to art, I can’t even draw a reasonable stick man, let alone some amazing sketch. Imagine how difficult it was for me to pull off a specific picture as prescribed by the teacher, with as few mistakes as possible! And no eraser!! H-E-L-P!

I am not perfect, and never will be. While I know this is true, I don’t regard it as an excuse to live substandard, having no self-expectations or achievable goals. My limitations and hiccups enable me to work hard, strive towards better results, be cleverer in my approach etc.

When life gives you lemons, how will you react? Will you allow the sour flavour to stain your smile and frustrate your ability to function? Why not challenge yourself today to lick up the sour taste, add some honey to the mix, and even if you at first have to, fake it till you make it, then that’s what you’ll do.

Remember, you can only do so much in your own strength and ability, perhaps you need to place your ‘ability’ or lack thereof, in the ability of one who can do what you simply can’t do on your own! We want to introduce you to the faith we have in God to be that ‘one’ for us. Check out the video below and let us know how we can help you turn your lemons into lemonade!

Xenophobia

Culture

Alistair Shaw

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April 24, 2015

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The colour of your blood, the colour of your skin, true representation of what’s happening within?

I dare not try and judge nor hate nor fight and kill for mine, delighting in a foreign man’s struggle for his life?

What about equality, unity and loyalty? We’re acting just like animals, controlled like lifeless machinery.

But who put you up to this barbaric life, who said you have the final say on who lives or dies?

Who is to blame for your deep found rage, who flipped the switch on your will for change?

Apartheid governments, black regimes, statues, Xenophobia, too much violence has flooded the scene.

How many more will mourn in vain, for this stupid mediocrity – my final gain?

This life on Earth will never be perfect, but for goodness’ sake South Africa, rise again.

Your strength comes from unity, love for the brotherhood; not shedding endless blood because, you’re misunderstood.

We can play this game of blame and this game of misfortune, the loser of the day is not the victim or the culture.

The responsibility lies with each one of us, decide to make the right decision, and live your life for others.

Bridges have been burnt. Yes, people are concerned. Yes, our future can be bright. Yes, now I’ve seen the light.

Change begins inside, it begins with me. Me, understanding that there are right ways of doing things, murder was never on the cards!

South Africa, let’s join as one, rising above. Let’s show the world who we really are, how we really love; unconditionally!

Who Are You Truly?

Alistair Shaw

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April 8, 2015

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I was recently introduced to a TV series called Grimm. Boy, was I in for a few serious surprises.
From weird looking human/creature faces, to odd crimes and bizarre behavior, I got it all!

I’m still indecisive about whether or not I’m enjoying the series, I’ll make that decision once I’ve watched enough of it. Even though I haven’t seen too many episodes, the series did get me to thinking about human behavior.

Let’s backtrack slightly. Grimm is based on the concept that in this world there are people who have the ability to transform into animal like creatures and the Grimms are those who can see them for who they really are, even when they don’t want to be seen. On occasion, the Grimm is required to defeat the ‘Vessen’ (the name given to the creature) beast. Now, I don’t want to discuss in detail the story or concept of the series, I want to highlight something quite profound I thought of while watching.

What struck me is, as humans we all have secrets, some of us at times are monsters in our own way. We have nasty streaks in our hearts that manifest from time to time, in the way we speak, the way we conduct ourselves and our behavior, even in in our body language.

Most times, at surface level or first glance people might be fooled by our looks, our fake smile, and the facade we put on. But when the pressure comes and we reach break-point, when we explode and loose the firm grip we thought we had, what happens next? Do people see that ‘not so familiar monster ‘ (that’s actually quite familiar to us), or are you one of the fortunate ones who have worked really hard to rid yourself of that evil nature?

Believe it or not, there are those who can see right through the facade, the pretence, and identify the evil in our hearts.

I’m not saying at this stage weather or not I enjoy or condone this series, but what I will say is it’s time to take stock of my own heart and examine carefully my hearts condition, and once I’ve done that, to be honest with myself and work hard at ridding myself of the evil I might find and pursue a life of peace and harmony.

Do you find yourself trapped in a habit that you’re not proud of but are failing to break free from it? Here at 1Africa, we believe that it is possible to lead a truthful life and live in peace and harmony with yourself and with those around you. However, our own efforts are never enough to help us get rid of a bad habit or behavior we’ve struggled with. We believe in a God who strengthens us to overcome challenges when our human nature fails us. You don’t have to live with dark secrets haunting you. Click on the banner below and you will watch a video that will lead you to discovering freedom and peace.

I Am An Acquired Taste

Alistair Shaw

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March 10, 2015

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I have never been one to consume alcohol, for a number of reasons, but mostly because of the taste. I generally just don’t enjoy the taste of things like rum, vodka and other strong drinks. But there are those who absolutely love the flavour of a cider or a shot, or even a can of beer. I suppose alcoholic beverages could be likened to an acquired taste.

What works for one, certainly won’t work for another. We are so unique in our design, in our desires and aspirations. We have different approaches on how to deal with situations; we have unique gifts, talents and abilities. We look different and even smell different. Besides all of the obvious things that make you unique and make you ‘who you are’, what makes you that acquired taste?

If you haven’t noticed, you definitely are not everyone’s cup of tea! This might come as a slight shocker, but even the most good looking of men won’t attract all the ladies – sorry dude! The point is, there is something special about you and I that will either cause people to be attracted to us or absolutely repelled by us. Some call it the X-factor, some call it charm, or pizzazz. Whatever you call it, you have it, even if it’s hidden deep inside you, waiting to break out – you do have something very unique and special. And who knows, you might just be that very rare acquired taste that someone else needs to satisfy their tantalizing taste buds. This perhaps is a difficult thing for you to accept and believe, because in a world where beauty standards are set by the media and the modelling industry telling us that slim, tall and flat stomach is beauty, it’s easy to believe that if we don’t fit into this definition of beauty, we come in 2nd place especially when it comes to love and relationships. Even those who once told us we were their ‘type’, few years down the line began chasing after other types. Ever experienced that?

Human beings may have their own acquired tastes, which vary at times, but the One who created each one of us loves us as we are all the time. You were His ‘acquired taste’ long before you came into existence and you will always be His type. Here at 1Africa we’d like you to get to know more about this God who is never put off by anyone whom He took so much time and care to create. We’d like you to feel secure in His love and know that you will forever be a beauty in His eyes. But you need to start somewhere. One way is to click on the banner below as a beginning to that journey of discovery. You’ll check out a video that will explain more on how to know God.

Nike Just Do It

Lifestyle

Alistair Shaw

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March 5, 2015

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Nike! Probably one of biggest footwear brands in the history of the world. Well-known for its infamous tick/check – known officially as ‘The Swoosh’ – as an emblem and very comfortable experience. But today I don’t want to speak about the brand or the experience of the shoe, but rather about the slogan; Nike just do it!

As a creative person, and a dreamer, I often conceptualize great ideas, make great plans and even create inventions (in my mind). But sadly, that’s often where it stays, just a concept. Sometimes well thought through, but with little or no follow through. This poses a big problem. While the concepts are great, imagine what the end result could be? It’s kinda like an architect designing a beautiful house, but never submitting the plans to the municipality for approval, or commissioning a builder to turn his dream into a reality – a finished product.

Just think of the humble satisfaction of seeing your concept turn into reality, the excitement and joy it might bring to someone else, the financial benefit of an invention which could not only make your pocket happy, but impact the lives of many users!

So, whether you’d like to admit it or not, sometimes you just need a little Nike in your life and just do it! It’s as simple as those three words, just do it!

So, no more being lazy, or doubting yourself, or thinking this will never work! Get up, speak to the right people, and make it happen. The worst thing that could happen is that years later someone else comes along and shows you this amazing new concept or invention which is being mass produced – the very same concept you had years earlier.

My nugget of wisdom to you, let’s get our Nike on and JUST DO IT!

Alistair Shaw

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