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It stunned me
watching the new clips was an interview by Jeremy
Thompson to a hip young guy with a yellow shirt
and leather jacket this guy looked as if he
had just come out of a Snoop dog concert. while
commented on Barack Obama's stunning win he
said "all you brothers and sister out there,
this just shows you to stand up and be counted,
its time to take responsibility, pull up your
pants, pull up your pants."
So what does this
mean to you?
Just before Barack
Obamas' speech a client was telling me about
a Christmas party- having lots of toys left
over he did not know what to do. His friend
suggested he take them to an orphanage where
he knows the children are in desperate need
of love and toys. On a normal Christmas day
he and his wife would run a soup kitchen but
decided to visit the orphanage instead. As they
arrived 50 wide eyed forgotten orphans dashed
to greet them, with only one special teddy bear
they asked the “mother” who they
should give it to as they didn’t want
a riot on their hands. She pointed to a room
and said “there’s a little baby
in there who has just been brought in by the
police after being found abandoned in a field,
I think he needs something to cuddle tonight!”
Shocked and dismayed
by the malnourished baby his wife swept the
tiny frail body into her arms to hug him and
could not let go, a 15 minute deed of goodwill
turned into 3 hours, Christmas day turned to
a restless night as the abandoned gift of god
did not leave their thoughts. When they called
the next day to see how he was doing the “mother”
suggested they give him a name, St Nic of Santa
Claus fame came to mind – So Nicholas
it would be.
Nicholas really
needed love and help, after visiting the orphanage
a couple times they asked if they would be allowed
to look after Nicholas at weekends, to take
him out on trips and give him the love he so
desperately needed. After a few weekends it
was getting harder and harder to give Nicholas
back on Monday mornings he always became so
quiet when they had to say goodbye. The wife
asked her husband if they might consider adoption,
initially he was against it, because of responsibility,
financial ability and fear.
God and Nicholas
had chosen them, deep down he knew it was gods
miracle and will, they became his parents they
had fallen in love with him – so Nicholas
went home.
Nicholas is now
three years old, causes major feuds as all friends
and family stand in line to baby sit as much
as they possibly can - He touches the soul and
heart of everyone and fills their world with
delight.
The miracle doesn’t
end there…..
Nicholas was diagnosed
with Autism his parents had taken him to a specialist
who diagnosed him in about 30 seconds flat.
BS they thought - furiously they researched
all they could find about Autism believing Nicholas
could overcome this 30 second diagnosis. After
all the specialists believed he was not ‘off
the scale Autistic’. Eventually they came
across a society based in the U.S., with a representative
in Johannesburg, which does not believe Autism
exists, instead they believe it is to do with
the internal organs.
After numerous
tests they also found Nicholas had leaky gut
syndrome and Lymes disease (parasitic infectious
disease causing disability which is difficult
to treat) To repair leaky gut syndrome Nicholas
was prescribed various medication and vitamins
which takes half an hour every morning to swallow.
Wondering what all these pills taste like his
father swallowed a couple and promptly threw
up, yet Nicholas swallows them with minimal
fuss. To treat advanced lymes disease you use
a specialized machine which literally shakes
the parasite from your blood cells, this takes
2 hours every night, not easy with a 3 year
old.
Nicholas now sits
and does puzzles like every other 3 year old.
For his parents it’s like winning the
world cup, as lack of concentration is one of
his many “problems.”
Nicholas’ parents joined a group called
the smartie kids and found many people in this
land of beauty and splendour finding themselves
white parents to a black child in a country
that was torn apart by racism, hate and apartheid,
that is now been torn apart by politicians drunk
on power.
As you’d
imagine, the father tells the story much better
than I have here, requiring days, not a 1 page
brief. It is an adventure story, a miracle,
a gift, a story worth telling. Which is my point.
At the moment, we all confront incredible uncertainty,
even chaos in the world economy, in our own
markets, and by extension, in our lives and
minds. Everyone’s world is topsy turvy,
our political leaders continue to allow followers
their mindless hate rhetoric and the call to
“kill” of their political adversaries
– while they run the country like a bunch
of drunken pirates. You may be tempted to wish
for stability and security and predictability,
you may loathe the urgent need to creatively
reinvent, to zig, to zag you may resent recent
investment losses, a loved one or the turmoil
and chaos you think your life has become. All
that is natural, understandable and shared;
some minutes of most days I too indulge in such
thoughts, sometimes for way too long. But if
sailing was always smooth and a success status
quo could be arrived at, each trip boring, each
destination de-valued, there’d be a lot
fewer great stories. Ultimately, the living
of your own great adventure story is its own
achievement, success and reward. Enjoy every
triumph as you should.
If the youth of
today, if Julius Malema today, if Jacob Zuma
today called on the people of South Africa today
to looked for inspiration and leadership he
would do his people a greater service by saying
have a look at Barack Obama take a look at Oprah,
play golf like Tiger Woods what about Lewis
Hamilton? They would say "pull up your
pants, pull up your pants."
While representing
SA at the UN they wouldn't stand shoulder to
shoulder with Robert Mugabe they would say sorry
mate as in any democracy, in any united nation
the will of people have spoken and if a guy
called Barack Obama gets more votes than you
just because his name is Morgan you don't kill
your people or call your militia to arms.
While the world
now waits to see if president Barack Obama actually
delivers on his promises former president Nelson
Mandela joined thousands around the world in
extending his congratulations to Barack Obama
yesterday.
Mandela said Barack
Obama’s victory had demonstrated that
“no person anywhere in the world should
not dare to dream and want to change the world
for a better place”.
Mandela said he
supported Barack Obama’s commitment to
the cause of global peace and security. Viva
Barack Obama.
