It’s Not Only Words

I have a colleague who is a stern and strict woman. Quite a few people have commented of her curt, cutting and hurtful remarks and I myself have been a recipient of her aggression. Many have complained of the way she refuses to listen to others’ views and dismisses feedback and some have just refused to offer their opinion for they feel that it’s just pointless. She would either just ignore them or cut them off in mid-sentence. To be tactless is one thing but to ignore and interrupt others is quite another thing. I myself have been a recipient of her tactless remarks.

Now, I have reached that stage where I don’t want to waste any more time beating around the bush trying not to offend people. Life’s too short to beat around the bush and besides, you waste too much time trying to be sensitive to other people’s feelings when they may not even bother with your feelings. But I can still be polite, tactful and diplomatic and at the same time, still be honest and speak my mind directly to the person I have issues with. There’s no need to antagonise another person just because you’re trying to be frank with your thoughts and this applies to both offline and online conversations.

Blogging, tweeting and maintaining a FB account can be likened to hosting an open house. Anyone can read the host’s blog posts, tweets or FB status updates. If you like and agree with what the host says or thinks, you can stay/RT (even favourite) the tweet(s)/like the status. The host will share things on his mind; he may be full of praises of someone one day and full of veiled criticisms the next. You don’t have to agree with what the host opines and if you think it’s too much, you can leave. But it doesn’t mean that the host can be irresponsible and posts whatever he likes. He has to be responsible for his views and opinions and he must be prepared to accept comments; after all, if one is prepared to share his opinions online, he must also be prepared to accept any disagreement to his views. Just because the host thinks he’s an anonymous member of a social medium doesn’t absolve him of his responsibility to his audience.

Because words can hurt and when they do, they aren’t only just words but can be painful stabbing criticisms that result in resentment and long-lasting emotional and mental scars.

Losing My Religion

I used to be very invested in Arsenal, so much so my mood would swing to mirror the result. I used to be very affected and would get depressed for days following a loss. If, on the other hand, we enjoyed a run of wins, I’d be happy and would peruse the online articles tirelessly. Mummy used to tease me by asking what was in it for me whatever result Arsenal posted. And yes, she had a point, for win, lose or draw, I don’t get anything from it. Not a penny from the club or the players for the time I invested watching them. Anyway, I don’t expect anything out of my support. A run of wins is enough for me and of course I would so love it if they could finally get the monkey off their back and kill it once and for all.

I have, over time, learnt to handle the defeats. I still don’t find them acceptable but I no longer sulk or be in the doldrums for days as I used to. And I can understand that there are days when the team plays badly because we are all affected by moods and other factors (confidence or lack of, opportunities, fit players etc).

But my. March 2014 was a horrible month. We kicked off with a defeat to the despicable Orcs and it didn’t improve save for the win over Everton in the FA Cup quarter-final and over our bitter rivals, and draws against Bayern Munich, Swansea and Citeh. But the pasting we received was enough to make me feel utterly numb. So numb that I wonder how much further we have to fall (how many goals we have to lose by) and I was slowly losing my religion. And April didn’t start any better either with the away defeat to Everton.

And as only Arsenal are capable of being, we played poorly against Wigan. But at least we rallied and worked hard to press for an equaliser. And as we know, we are now going to Wem-ber-ley!

♪♫ ♫ Que sera sera

Whatever will be, will be

We’re going to Wem-ber-ley

Que sera sera

What will be, will be ♪♫ ♫

*Losing My Religion, as you may well know, is a hit song for R.E.M. It is about someone who pines for another. It’s unrequited love, what have you. Just like my unrequited love for Arsenal so I think the title of this post is rather apt.

Abu Simble Temples of Ramses II and Nefertari

We set off in that January pre-dawn to the Abu Simbel temples of Ramses II and Nefertari. Nefertari was Ramses II’s most beloved of many wives hence why there’s a temple especially built for her. The twin temples were relocated in 1968 to avoid being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser which was formed following the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile. January 2013.

 Temple of Ramses II

 Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

 Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

 Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

 Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

 Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

 Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

Back to Temple of Ramses II

Temple of Ramses II 

 Temple of Ramses II

Temple of Ramses II

Temple of Ramses II