Going back to Varsity, I didn’t have a plan of what I wanted to do with my life after I attended my degree. All I knew was I was going to be a scientist and get a job; that’s what was promised mos.
Category Archives: mental health
Let’s Talk About Currency
When we think about currency, we usually think about money. We think of it in Rand and cents. But what if there is more to currency than just money. What if there are many currencies that we are wasting because we haven’t learned to appreciate them, especially since they appear to have no material value. And that is what currency is; it is an exchange of value. Sometimes this value exchange is expected and not earned.
Normality and Post-Traumatic Stress – Part 2
The emotional trauma of Covid-19 is similar to what people are experiencing in conflict and war-torn areas. The trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic is now so pervasive, we now know someone who is affected by it, or we are personally affected by it. At this point, we have lost someone close to us, or someoneContinue reading “Normality and Post-Traumatic Stress – Part 2”
Normality and Post-Traumatic Stress – Part 1
I was deployed in 2004 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a South African peacekeeper. Several weeks before our deployment, we were “mobilised” at a military site somewhere in South Africa. During this “mobilising” period, we received several briefings by intelligence officers about the situation in Congo. We were taught about theContinue reading “Normality and Post-Traumatic Stress – Part 1”
My Escape from Poverty – Part 4
It was this kind of sleep where you do not dream about anything. When I woke up, it was completely dark. For a moment, I did not know where I was, and then reality hit me. I was running away from home. It was then that I realised that I was busy with something stupid.Continue reading “My Escape from Poverty – Part 4”
Grit: The Secret to Success
I think the best way to describe my mindset is “aanhouer wen” (perseverance pays off). It is a principle my Grandma taught me at a very young age. As a kid growing up on a farm, my job was to sometimes collect firewood and bring it home. Close to the farmhouse, I think about 500mContinue reading “Grit: The Secret to Success”
Pessimism
The world is filled with pessimistic people, and now they have phones in their hands to spread their negativity. This pessimism was so visible with the announcement of the Bill and Melinda Gates divorce. Social media was flooded with memes, and these memes focused on all the negative. They range from alimony settlement to workingContinue reading “Pessimism”
Fear
I recently registered Abrasive Media as a company. If I listened to all the negative statistics of how many companies failed within the first year, I most probably wouldn’t have done it. The odds were against me. If I listened to how many doctoral candidates do not finish their degrees or how long it tookContinue reading “Fear”
Dealing with a depressive low
I have hit several depressive lows throughout my life. There was a period in my life I felt that I was continuously getting dragged deeper and deeper into a pit of depression. Nobody around me was aware of it, but inside I was suffering. The problem with depression is that it starts feeling comfortable. ItContinue reading “Dealing with a depressive low”
My Escape from Poverty – Part 1
I think the worst part of growing up poor was called “arm” or poor. But then poverty always sounded better in Afrikaans. In English, poverty sounded terrible. It sounded like a disease, and it also felt that way. Society made sure they treated you that way. Growing up, I never thought that I would escapeContinue reading “My Escape from Poverty – Part 1”
JACOB CLOETE 