Relationships and friendships have been my greatest CHALLENGE of 2009.

Where does one sign up to take classes to learn to “endure the betrayal of false friends” ?

No one means all they say and yet very few say all they mean.

I cannot help but acknowledge the rift that 2009 has birthed, between myself and world.

Not so much friends turning into foes, but rather, the tangible absence of sync; as watersheds transform each one of us on a rollercoaster called growth.

Growth, like truth, ALWAYS lags last, limping along on the arm of Time.

When I started on my YAMBUKA journey, 8 months ago, I was forced to identify my FEARS:

1) Competition

The unknown abyss

2) Failure

The parental voice.

3) Criticism

The peer voice.

4) Rejection

The male ego.

5) Conflict

Friends become Foes.

6) Intimacy

Fuck’en Blogs.

Honestly identifying ones weaknesses is inherently challenging because of the introspective nature of self evaluation, particularly when the project is based on a BRAND whose revealing engine is “image”; whose exposing fuel is ‘character’.

A lot of people are shackled by the possible stew of embarrassment associated with fear and the puddle of emotions, sharing ones’ fears may cause.

I’ve gone through a crash course in vulnerability, BUT… I’ve OVERCOME…. I’ve seen the ‘promised land’:

to laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of the old and the young; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better by the redeemed ‘OVERCOME’ social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because I have lived.

There is a paranormal element to reacting to the betrayal of false friends: you know it’s going to happen, and you understand why it’s going to… but still…you HOPE (the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness (The Architect)).

Farai, the perennial optimist, will end this at this: character assassination is always inversely related to the ‘Law of Solid Ground’. Character speaks for itself, fabrication only sparks temporary attention from ill-developed ego interests.

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander. As uncertain as life is, one thing that people can be certain of is TRUTH: it cannot be buried, it cannot be burnt, it cannot be ignored, it’s universal inherent nature is transparent. The truth is always simple, always clear. The truth is cruel, but it can be loved and it makes free those who have loved it.

As I turn up Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”, I realize my mind state: Bring on the pain, (pile it on).

Onwards. Upwards .Always !
Fa