Posts with tag: motivation

South Africa By Candlelight

 

Africa, sometimes described as the "dark continent" was never darker than on the evening of 17 April 2012. More specifically at 7 PM at the Endless Horizons Hotel in Umhlanga.

The electricity went down about 3 PM that afternoon and as the minutes became hours the realisation began to dawn on me that there was a real possibility that as the hotel did not have a generator, I might not have electricity for the seminar that evening.

Notwithstanding the advice from the electricity company that it would only take a couple of hours for the fault to be remedied the electricity did not come on line and I had to present a seminar by candlelight. I have been to some remote places to present seminars [including Zimbabwe] but that was a first for me.

I found out subsequently that there was a fire in one of the transformers and a large swathe of northern suburbs Durban was without power.

The candlelight glow did add a nice ambience to the seminar. Little consolation for those seated in rows 2 onwards who had to view our dvd and PowerPoint presentation from my laptop. I think the audience’ sentiment could loosely be translated as “now you see what we have to put up with".

I don't need to travel abroad to do my job. I can effectively communicate with clients from within Australia by Skype and e-mail and I specifically travel to present seminars so that audience members can get an idea as to who I am. This irony wasn't lost on me as I had to shine a torch on my face so that the audience could see what I looked like.

I started every consultation in the days following the seminar by introducing myself as Myer Lipschitz, the guy who presented the seminar.

Thanks  to the HP Probook S Series laptop’s battery I managed to present the  DVD and PowerPoint presentation with about 60% of its battery life. Imagine what this kind of technology could do for South Africa?

For one person who attended the seminar and had a subsequent consultation with me the power cut presented some relief. At the consultation she confided to me that she attended the seminar with some trepidation and was fraught with anxiety as so many patriotic South Africans are who almost reluctantly attend these migration seminars.

She was praying for a sign that she was making the correct decision in considering immigration to Australia only to find that the seminar had to be held by candlelight. It was just fortunate that the sign was in the form of a power cut rather than hijacking!

I was touched by the spirit in which the audience embraced the concept of a seminar by candlelight and accepted the experience as part of life in Africa. This generosity of spirit is part of the reason why I enjoy my trips to South Africa.

I’m just about to return to Melbourne after a two week trip to South Africa and although I miss my wife on these trips if she does have any notions of a candlelit dinner on my return she can forget it!

As South Africans are fond of saying “tot later” (until later), more precisely 14 June when I will be back in South Africa for another round of seminars, this time with torch in hand.

Who Moved My Cheese?

I wonder how many migrants read "Who Moved my Cheese?" by Dr Spencer Johnson.

The book is a very short story about change that takes place in a maze where 4 amusing characters look for "Cheese" -- cheese being a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace, or even just a better quality of life.

The Story

The story describes 4 mice running around in a maze and looking for cheese.  They happen to come across a wonderful supply of cheese and live in close proximity to that source.  When the cheese begins to run out, 2 of the 4 go off looking for more.  They can tell that the cheese won’t be there for much longer and that it’s getting old and mouldy.  So they adapt to the situation and forge ahead, ultimately finding more cheese.  The 2 other mice, however, get too comfortable when they find the cheese and don’t believe it will ever disappear.  When the cheese runs out, they stay put, waiting for more cheese to appear.  They think everything will be fine.  They didn’t smell the rotten cheese.

The cheese runs out and they begin to starve.  They’re scared to move.  They don’t adapt and resist change.  Eventually, one of those 2 mice leaves and finds more cheese and brings the other one over the ‘good side’.

The Moral

The moral of the story is that we need to adapt to the changing circumstances around us and that our cheese (whatever it is) may not always be there and we need to recognize that the supply of "cheese" should not be taken for granted.

Immigration Context

We can tell from the number of the people finding our website and attending one of our free seminars that there are many people out there that recognize that the supply of cheese in their home country might be running low or else becoming decidedly "gamey".

It's easy to look back in history and wonder why certain populations didn't see the writing on the wall or recognize that the cheese might be diminishing. In the South African context this writing may take the form of increased violence, crime, lack of opportunities in workplace and education because of affirmative action programs, increased corruption, declining educational standards and general degeneration of the moral fabric of society.

In a Singaporean context the writing may take the form of long working hours, comparatively low wages, and too much pressure on children to achieve academically, high youth suicide rate, overpopulation, lack of recreational facilities and generally dissatisfaction with quality of life.

People resist change because let's face it change is difficult and stressful. This is never truer than in an immigration context when one is going to leave one's friends, family members and comfort zone and move to a new country to improve the quality of one's life.

I hope that I am not stretching the analogy too far but many may be thinking that the cheese supply might be diminishing but how do we know that by immigrating to Australia we are guaranteed a better cheese supply?

I'm not advocating that people should without any preparation or planning move countries at the slightest hint that there are concerning signs however I think every responsible individual owes it to themselves and their families to at least read the writing when it does appear on the wall and investigate opportunities to improve one's lot. One doesn't necessarily need to sever one's ties with one's home country at the slightest hint that there may be writing that appears on the wall but one should recognize that writing for what it is and investigate opportunities to improve one's life.

Attending our FREE australian immigration seminars and contacting us to arrage an immigration consultation for a nominal fee are just 2 small steps that one can take to investigate whether there might be more/better cheese in Australia.