The Stages of Sisterhood

Having two sisters, I believe I have come to know the different stages of sisterhood one passes through as the years go by. Each process is slightly different depending on the specific relationship and here I would like to share the one that my younger sister and I follow(ed).

Note: The following is from my point of view.


Stage one: Indifference

Mummy has given birth to a baby girl. Oh I'm sure it doesn't make a difference to me, anyway. Why should that new thing change the lifestyle I so enjoyed for the past 3 years? And most importantly, how could it? Ha! Its impossible of course.
Boy, was I wrong!

Stage two: Jealousy

Why does Mummy keep hovering around that thing? Hmm...let me take a look at what the fuss is all about. Oh, it does look kinda cute. Hmm, look at those pink cheeks. Let me just pinch them a little. Ooooh, soft like fresh playdough! Huh, why is it bawling? Uh oh, Mummy is here. I better get outta h---oh too late.
Why are you shouting at me Mummy? *sniff* *sniff*
Wait, wait, why are you giving her my toy? Look, if you're mad at me, keep on yelling. Just don't give her my stuff. Oh great, she destroyed it! Make her stop! Make her stopppp!

Stage three: War

I spend most of my play time devising new plans to get her in trouble but why do the parents always end up yelling at me? Oh yeah, I know why, she keeps crying when they are anywhere within ear shot, the sneaky little thing! And to add to that, she keeps imitating me. Why does she do that? Grrrr.
This means WAR, sister!

Stage four: Revelation

Is it possible that she imitates me because she actually admires me? No other explanation seems to satisfy my ego. And anyway, she couldn't possibly be as smart as me at making war plans. Everything's got to be luck with her.....surely?

Stage five: I Rule!

Ahhh, so much better. She actually listens to me! This is so cool! Now if only I can somehow refrain from conking her on the head with this or that, she won't cry her eyes out and I'll be fine.

Stage six: Becoming friends

Years go by and we talk like friends. We've got our own little world that includes our books, games and sneakily-yet-legally getting money from our parents. An exhibition with an entry charge, a magazine at a cost, top class beauty treatment for the wife as long as the husband pays the bill...yes, this is the life!

Stage seven: Staying friends (and a bit of role reversal)

Onto the present now, things have changed a little. She's the boss of course and I try to listen as obediently as I can. Its not easy. I have no idea how she made it seem so all those years ago. Talent I guess!
All I can say is, through these years, she has been one heck of a sister. I thought she came into this world with a secret agenda, which she probably did except I misinterpreted it completely. She came to make me a better person, I see that now. Its hard to admit for an egomaniac like me but I have learnt and continue to learn a lot from her. I can only hope to be just a little like her, opening her heart to one and all, as we were all meant to (ref: the Bible).

To JJC: Thank you for being you and for putting up with me all these years. I'm sorry for ever taking you for granted and for all those times I hurt you; please know that I didn't mean it.

I love you.

I pray to God that you will be happy and brave and that you will always be who you were meant to be: a kind, loving, generous angel. I know of no one else in this world who deserves to be called one and this is not my bias speaking! I'm sure your many, many friends will agree because they all see what I have been blessed to see through the years and even now.

Happy birthday!




Love,

me :)

Who wants to be a hero?

'I think one day you'll find that you're the hero you've been looking for.'

- Wylie Burp, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

A friend of mine used this quote as her Facebook status recently and I was completely struck by it. I'd never thought of such an idea before and perhaps if I had read it a few odd years ago, I might have dismissed it, refusing to take in the deeper meaning of such a simple statement.

However, times have changed and I'd like to think, so have I!

How many times have you (and I) complained about global warming and how they are set to destroy the Earth as we know it?

How many times have we muttered irately about the state of our country and how they know nothing of running a nation?

How many times have we ridiculed and derided world leaders because they are making world peace an impractical fantasy?

'Be the change you want to see in the world' said Mahatma Gandhi. You and I both know he was right, as was Wylie Burp.

We expect things to change. We expect someone else to take the blame and correct the situation for us. We expect so much of other people when really we are the ones who can (and should) make a difference.

Using a simple personality-revealing example: I love to plan. Even if I don't end up following the plans I make, its the actual process of writing down what, how and when I want something done that gives me a giddy rush of adrenaline. So if there is an event coming up and I'm part of a group planning it, if I want to see my ideas come to life, I am the only one who can accomplish that. Because: a) I am the only one who knows exactly what I want; and b) since I want it done so badly, I have that drive and enthusiasm to see it through.

A little change here and a little change there could make all the difference. We could pick up someone else's trash on the road or not waste water or even just smile at someone and wish them a good day.

You never know...you could be preventing someone from slipping on a banana peel and spraining their back or someone in a dry part of the world may be using that 'extra' volume of water you decided not to use or the person you smiled at may have been lonely and depressed but you may have made their day!

I don't expect to be rewarded everytime I do something 'heroic' and in fact there may be times when I will fail to see the point of it. But of course there must be a point or at least I could do it for selfish reasons: endorphins and happy feelings galore for each good deed!


Till next time,

Jo

All's Fair that ends Fair

Have you seen the new fairness cream advertisement on the telly? I won't go into specifics (so I don't inadvertently slander anybody) but the ad portrays the use of a fairness metre (*wink*) to help you determine what your current skin tone is and then monitor the changes as you use the product.

There are so many skin care products out there that guarantee you will be fair and beautiful after using them. Such marketing techniques simply play on the skewed mentality of the masses, that 'fair' and 'beautiful' are inseparable synonyms.
In India, for example, most men look for fairer women to marry. If you randomly picked a marriage ad from any popular matchmaking website, you'd most probably find that the groom-to-be is asking for someone 'fair and [insert any other positive adjective here]'

How fair is that? Not fair at all (sorry for the pun, but it is very much intended *snicker*).

Did you know that:

(a) your skin colour is predominantly dependent on your genes?
(b) your skin colour is not greatly determined by environmental factors?
(c) most fairness creams contain bleaching agents and so this is just a temporary, artificial way of looking fair?

When I go to the beach, I tan and then, admittedly, I complain. I don't like being tanned (mainly because I'm not naturally fair-skinned). But that doesn't mean that I want to be fairer than I was ever meant to be. I very much like my skin colour, thank you!

Of course, you may argue that just like I don't like to be tanned, there may be others who do not particularly enjoy being dark all the time. I ask you then: why change the skin colour that Nature has endowed you with?
There are many beautiful people out there who have dark skin. Just as there are many beautiful people out there who are fair skinned. And so many with skin tones in between!

We may look different from each other (except rare random people, identical twins, triplets, quadruplets...you get the drift) but in God's eyes, we are all the same...equal.

I don't want to preach but I sincerely believe that the world would be a better place if people just accepted their own uniqueness and that of others. If we do just this much, there will be no more racism, no more pining for a better skin colour, no more putting others down for their looks and accents. What a different, more beautiful world that would be!

Source: WareSeeker.com

Obviously, there are certain things we can and possibly should control: split ends (one might argue that Nature intended our hair to split at the ends), our health (I was destined to get Diabetes; its in my genes) and I-cannot-really-think-of-more-right-now-so-lets-just-end-the-list-and-perhaps-this-post-as-well =)


Excuse me as I try to get rid of some very unnatural blackheads.

Till next time,

Jo