How we are perceived

It's amazing how we are perceived 

In conversation with a friend recently, I realised in the small glib statement quickly proffered but seldom thought thru. People can lay bare your whole existence, your core without rhyme or reason. You see I have undergone a profound change in the manner by which I live my life. I had looked within and found my life lacked depth. However, unlike many who travel these same roads,... I made the adjustments I felt would make me a better person. Self awareness if you will.

Normally, it wouldn't matter to me too much what people thought as the only person that matters in my life is Allah. 

However, I was affected by the thoughts of this individual as I thought they would know better. As they had seen me fall and seen me rise. For a moment I was thrown. Now with my balance and equilibrium restored. I can see clearly now and I understand that sometimes its the people closest to us that judge us the harshest, but always they say from the intention of love.

I also learned in a contradictory manner from the same person that all that matters in life is how you see yourself. To be happy, being the most important thing in life. 

Lesson learned.

Remember: rh2O is a nutritious source of life. Live life without doubt, refuse to pander to the common theory, mad you may be thought. But sanity is a perception paper thin.

5th August, 2012@ 19.08

When is Corruption, Not Corruption?

Ans: Only when its in the West.
Bear with me. Over the last few months, we have listened mouth agape and in awe at the revelations of the * bankers fixing the lending rates( am not going to bore you with the small details of each issues) * The issue at Barclays where its been discovered they have been money laundering for known drug cartel, Al Queda etc * This follows fast on the heels of the telephone tapping at the news of the world * illegal payment to our metropolitan police * The cash for questions/ visits to downing street * The MP’s expense accounts * The Quango’s – this is where the old boy school tie network give jobs to friends on exorbitant salaries for attending only 3/5 times a year. * MP’s employing relatives * National Reality TV Shows fixing shows. Can I stress at this point that all these examples are just allegations. 
They are my observations.

I find it pretty rich that in the West, issues similar to these noted on the African continent and in South America are often frowned upon and unequivocally called CORRUPT. Why are these same principle not applied to what is essentially theft in the West. What’s more bewildering is that these bastions of investigative truth finding, Journalist are just as corrupted. Can we really expect them to expose the majority of the examples given above?
Over the last few weeks, each of the accused merely  responded by apologising and or resigning.

Yet, if I walked into a branch of Tesco’s and left without paying. Upon being accosted by the security guard, I merely apologised, not even offering to return the item. I think you and I know what would happen to me!

All my earlier examples have led to huge losses by those directly involved. Ordinary tax paying citizens. Yet, my examples simply say sorry! However, we are up in arms when we hear of the Nigerian 419 scams. We accuse the government of that country of being corrupt and unable to control these issues. Afterall, it’s a blight on our society.

Am I missing something?

My Bugs bears: 
When people talking about themselves use the phrase: “me, myself”
Oh really, guess what buddy, if you are talking about yourself, it’s quite obvious that I may have worked out you mean: YOU!!! Hence, you do not need to say, “me, myself” The second bug bear is when people say: I, personally work,… 
Haba!!!
Aaaarrrghhhrrr!!  Doesn’t this just get you hot??

Remember: Runningwater is multi use,..you wash with it, drink it and at birth are anointed with it.
Any observations made here are my own and only an attempt to understand the world in which I live.

So there I was

So there I was 
standing on the edge of despair 
Fluent in the language of failure 
Seemingly predictively unorganised
In the throws of human weakness and inanity 
Versed in the chapters of lust over life 
My very being rich in the transient pleasure of ignorance 
Like flat palm wine on a hot day 
No pleasure did I receive from drinking this cup
 So there I was,... 
Unbowed 
Unperturbed 
Unbending  
Inspite of Or despite? 
Words fail me, 
I lack composure  
Structure, lexis and tense 
I mix verbs and nouns  
Adjectives and whatever else!

my inevitable demise 
When we sleep, do we sleep?  Or are we merely transposed ? 
When we are awake, are we awake ? or are we asleep in ignorant bliss? 
Yet I fail to react 
I fail to break ground, to find definition 
Like flat palm wine on a hot day
No pleasure did I receive from drinking this cup 
Who wants to know? ,...only those who care to ask 
So there I was 
,.... this is for you 
Today you entered my thoughts
Grabbed me by my proverbial and made me realise that we all face daily challenges 
And are often judged by our peers who have no right to make such judgements
You gathered me in like a gardener clearing the first offerings of autumn 
You offered me fresh perspective  
And inspired in me hope. 
I love you beyond mere words can tell 
Am inspired by your frailties and lifted by your innocence 
I love it that you are contrary to the given views 
And in standing alone, you are never alone 
So there I was 
Seemingly on the edge of despair 
Fluent in the language of failure 
Like flat palm wine on a hot day 
No pleasure have I derived from drinking this cup 
I was running on empty
But then you came 
Offered me the coolness of your gaze  
The deafening roar of your silence 
And like cool cold palm wine on a hot day  I am drunk with your love 
Shukran  
for fatema,...my inspiration
  
"Allahoma ini la asaloka radda al kada, walakini asaloka allotfa fih"

  Remember ~ runningwater never sleeps,..it runs wide, runs deep, it's a source of life. 01072012@ 07.18

Go Figure!

Amazing is the only words for it, and truss me, not in the positive sense. John "some of my best friends are black" Terry, will be permitted to lift the European cup if Chelsea wins. Even more amazing, he has been chosen on merit for the England football team. This was purely a footballing decision.
For those of you who do not know JT, he of the impeccable honour of sleeping with his best friends wife. He of the fame of cheating on his wife. Yes, that JT. He that has  been alleged to have racially abused Anton Ferdinand. Yes, that JT. A man of impeccable character. Former England football captain. The same JT, who thru his endeavours for Chelsea in the European cup competition against Barcelona, got sent off. The same JT that behaved as if he were the victim that night until the cameras revealed otherwise.
He that was spouting the usual diatribe of nonsense a  man of his limited intellect could only use. "most people who know me, know that I am not a cheat" If it wasn't beyond a joke I would have joined in the side sniggers. This is the same JT, who in July will face prosecution ( and i dont mean persecution as he might see it) for racial abuse. An allegation he strongly denies.
Confining ourselves to my initial amazement. this guy will be permitted to lift the champions league cup, should his team win it. Let us hope for all things decent that they do not win. In this same team we have players of the ilk of the Brilliant Brazillian Ramires. A Player who left nothing on the pitch in ensuring his TEAM made the final. A final he will  not be playing in because he received a yellow card. Also missing will be the immense defender, Branislav Ivanovic. A great player, a great defender who will miss the final not for doing something stupid but for commitment to the chelsea cause. I fail to understand how JT is so lauded as a player. For me, he is an ordinary player, playing with superb players who make an ordinary man as him seem more than he is.
But you know that after all is said and done, Chelsea may win that final in the end but only thru association in former Chelsea star Arjen Robben lifting the cup on behalf of Bayern.
Go figure!
But you know something,...we all pay for our deeds. Its called Nemesis, the law of retribution. In plain speak for the likes of JT,.." you gonna get served" I, for one will be looking on in sheer amazement.

Remember: runningwater is a life constant, we cannot live without it.
Bilbao - over Spain: onboard: Royal Air Maroc ~ 198052012@20.58

Get A Grip

Why do we always judge people by our own expectations? Why do we set limits to possible attainments? In the Yoruba language they have a saying: ika o dogba ( translated, it roughly means the digits of your hand aren't equal) by this we can see that the digits of the hand reside side by side in perfect harmony. Each contributing to the useful existence of the hand. None, more important than the other. We have some that are tall, slim, short etc,... But yet none holding more sway than the other. With this simplest example of God almighty's gift to us, it makes me ponder why as human beings we suffer issues of racism, prejudice, classism, religious and sexual intolerance and any of the other isisms. The list is endless.

 Ask yourself this simple question,...out of your 5 digits, which would you sacrifice if requested? Am figuring the answer would be none? Yes, atimes you get the prima donna, (the wedding ring finger) assuming diva status simply because it wears the band. But right next door is the f... U! Finger, internationally recognised. Go figure. I say get a grip!

The basis of my discourse is that I want to examine the ongoing issue of: inter racial relationships. Some liken it unfortunately to bovril. Yes, bovril! You either like it or you don't. In the media recently we have witnessed the vitriolic response to that rather quick footed Jamaican Usain Bolt and his choice of partner. 

The arguments are that most successful field niggers aspire to be household niggers. 

This coming essentially from the plantation period of America slaveploitation. In that period, dark skinned negros worked the fields and mated where and when it was decided by "massa"(old negro term for the slave master) whilst household negroes waited on the "massa" in the mansion. Sometimes at close quarters to the massa's alleged desirable white womenfolks. Whilst the massa made nightly visits to the most buxom and attractive of the field negresses, forcing, raping and violently abusing these women., whilst externally wearing the cloak of respectability. The massa's wife knew what her husband was doing. She wasn't blind!. She had desires the massa could not fulfil and desire for the strong field negro grew. So she indulged, she made nightly visits. She found the experience enthralling, carnal and without boundaries. The massa had been cuckolded! 

Some say, this mentality exist today and it's what draws most successive black men to desire a white woman. They say it's the reason why the UK is the most racially mixed nation in the world. But in my somewhat perverse example above,..do we not learn that the core of human existence is love and desire. You desire that which you cannot have, and have that which is readily available.

Get a grip!

Whilst I accept that to some, having a sexual experience or indeed a life experience with someone other than your identified skin colour may be seen as an issue of triumphant success. I completely disagree. I have walked both sides of this path and I know it takes a lot more than colour to determine who you will run life's endurance race with. 

It's too simple an argument, to say its all about colour preference. To say so would be an injustice to President Obama, Robert De Niro, General Colin Powell, Sir Trevor McDonald, The British Royal family. Othello & Desdemona( you see what i did there?) Please dont reply, am informed they are fictional characters.

My point here is simple. We all emanate from the same source, even though we may stand aback in awe of the stupidity of some people, the callousness and sheer hatred of others. But aren't those issues of character? nature over nurture??

The elephant in the room is this: if you were a self proclaimed racist, or Muslim extremist, and your child needed a blood transfusion or the doctor providing the medical care to your very loved one was from a background you despised,.. Would you accept their donation or help?
Now look at your fingers and tell me that despite their differences we are not all the same skin deep.
So, why do we judge people by our own expectation??
I say get a grip.

Londres mai 16,2012
Remember: running water ~exfoliates

So you thought you had broken me?

So you thought you had broken me?

So you thought you had broken me?

Thought you had me beat?

Thought I would wither and fade?

Thought I would just die?

But

How wrong you were!!!

I have seen harder times

And returned unscathed

I have been beyond

And seen

The awesome power of my God

I will survive

Not because you wished me ill

Nor because mine was yours to take

But because I love you

I love you beyond all reasonable doubt

I find in every step you take a yearning to be free

To learn how I still smile

Despite my pains and my travails

Despite pangs of love unrequited

Yet I survive

I wield the power

I hold sway

Am restrained in the face of provocation

I am noble, of noble stock and heritage

this is no happenstance

there are no precursors!

I remain

I remain calm

Despite or inspite?

Without or within?

I remain

Stoical

Strong

Engaged

In the face of provocation

I tolerate, and I am tolerant

Am inspired, I don’t conspire

Or perspire

Am unbowed

But,.. what?

You thought you had me beat?

You thought you had broken me?

But you never considered for a moment,…

That I knew,….

I knew where I was coming from

I knew where I had been

And now I know where I belong

R’h2o – the essence of life, a gift returned, only one question can you submit? where is your faith?

shared spirits

Am desperately looking for reasons not to love you

But with every day that passes by

Makes your love harder to escape

I try with all my might not to see you

                But with every quaking moment

                  I yearn and feel you

          In every whisper I hear your voice

            And the pangs of moments spent with you

                   disturbs my equilibrium

I look for balance in a shaky world

And your love lifts my spirits

                                                                       Am torn between loves desires

And desired love

Thwarted

By social stigma

And self-held dogma

Maycud your love resolve?

Remember: running water – flows thru every nook, finds its path and destiny