On the farm where I grew up the pace of life was dictated to by the change of the seasons. Later I moved to the city. As our children grew I found there were just not enough hours in the day to get through all that needed to be done and to meet the demands on my life.

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It has been race that has divided us and defined our lives in every detail. It has poisoned our blood. If we have such great people as I meet every day, we can step beyond prejudice, beyond “I am black and you are white”.

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Candice Smith and Avril Kidd are hosting the Six Seconds Certification Course in Durban in May 2012.

I was thrilled to learn that my daughter, Candice, who trained in Emotional Intelligence in Singapore last year, has been instrumental in bringing this global organisation called Six Seconds to Africa for the first time.

I was even more delighted to find out that the training will be held in Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal from the 21st to the 25th May this year.

South Africa Needs to Change

It is self evident to most South Africans that this country needs to change. When I talk of South Africans, I speak inclusively of government, business and civil society. After all who are the people of this country if it is not the people in government, business and civil society? We continually hear the call for better performance and service delivery in government, for private sector managers and entrepreneurs’ to invest in new enterprises to create jobs, for organised labour to embrace productivity growth and a strong work ethic. But how do we create this change?

No amount of legislation can control the corruption and non-delivery of service; this can only change through the change of the mind-set of our people.

There are of course solutions to South Africa’s economic and social problems.  I believe that the training of Emotional Intelligence offers powerful tools to facilitate the change that is necessary for the developmental success of South Africa as we move into the future.

Six Seconds recently announced that the Emotional Intelligence Certification Course to be held in Africa for the first time will be held in Durban in May.  Already bookings from abroad have been secured. What a pity it would be if this course becomes fully booked with people from abroad and South Africans will consequently be unable to utilise this world recognised  training right on our doorstep.

Freedman et al.: “Emotional Intelligence is a way of recognizing, understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It defines how and what we learn; it allows us to set priorities; it determines the majority of our daily actions. Research suggests it is responsible for as much as 80% of the “success” in our lives.”  From Handle With Care: Emotional Intelligence Activity Book.

For further information on the certification course being run by Six Seconds in Durban contact Avril on sa@6seconds-mea.com  or SMS 082 779 629

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By Guest Blogger Siya Khumalo

Do we want to see change?  We protest, sing, weep, and march for it; we Tweet and ‘like’ by the millions.  We seem to want change, badly.

Is it possible that the missing link isn’t a change in government, or commerce, or sports coaches – in ‘them’ and their behaviour – but a change in you and me and the way we live our lives?

Power to Change the Country

In You’re Awesome: Living a fulfilled life, writer Di Smith answers these fundamental questions.  With unparalleled clarity, she shows that South Africans do have the power to change the country and lead the world to a more meaningful future by practicing Ubuntu.

Her logic is irresistibly simple; the sequence of its implementation almost foolproof.  The wistful insight with which she paints the history of Africa reveals passion for this continent as well as a tremendous, almost palpable desire for change.  Near the end of the book, Smith reiterates her dream that Africa could lead the world to an awesome future.

But we cannot achieve so great a destiny unless we allow ourselves to be taught how.

Smith draws upon the oldest wisdom, as well as examples of our latest achievements, to show how a peaceful blend of that wisdom and our wacky originality could unleash an Africa that the world cannot imagine – and cannot do without. In doing so she gives us reason to seriously consider her as one such teacher.  Her passion is legitimate; her sincerity, undeniable.

Photography by Terrence Mtola

The foreword of You’re Awesome is by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.  The photography is by Eastern Cape photographer Terrence Mtola.  Both, at the risk of using a trite term, are breathtaking.

Throughout the book, the rhythm is engaging without being aggressive.  Visually and textually, this is one of the highest-quality products that South Africa has produced in recent times.

How urgent is it that we begin to absorb wisdom as is in You’re Awesome?  That depends on one thing.  How badly do we want to see change?

Siya Khumalo

24-year-old aspiring writer Siya Khumalo hails from a microscopic “S”-section in the township of Umlazi, right on the edge of Durban and possibly of obscurity.  But he has big dreams – of writing commentaries that rock boats, question the status quo and unnerve the powers-that-be.  He considers himself fortunate to have an opportunity to write in the 21st century.

If he’d written 1000 years ago, he’d been burned at the stake as a heretic; 100 years ago, institutionalized as a madman; 10 years ago, banned from so much as holding a pen in his hand.  Watch this space.

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