WTF - Daniel Coetzee

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I read your piece on the UFO and "aliens" as most people call them. I found it funny and informative.   Did you know the word alien actually just means something/someone you don't know.  Many people connect the word "alien" to some weird-looking life form.  I'm fascinated to find somebody who agrees with me in regards to "alien" life.  I too believe they will look very much like us but would me so much more advanced in intelligence as well as spirit.  Please keep up the good work, I kept on reading after your UFO article and I liked what I read.

Larelle Foord

Always drink upstream from the herd. It’s easy to see why. The herd urinates and defecates in the stream and then that waste just goes with the flow. How will you know how contaminated your stream is if it’s all you’ve had from birth and never bothered to check if things are okay upstream?

So often we have been told not to question, or rock the boat, or make waves, but all that this means is that we could be chin deep in sewage, genealogical sewage. Every person born on this planet has parents who guide them and raise them according to their interpretation of what’s right and wrong, what to believe and who to believe in. Strange how geographical location also has a lot to do with these interpretations. Why are certain things so easy to follow and yet, so hard to question?

We believe everything we were taught as children and very seldom deviate from this. That is how certain movements or organizations or religions keep their memberships up. It’s more a generational movement than anything else.

Vladimir Lenin once said: “Give me any child for the first five years of his life, and he will be mine forever.”

Have you ever thought to challenge your ideas or beliefs? If not, why not? “It’s the Truth”? Okay, but that’s what all believers in any given group says. “What we have is better than what you have. Our deity is the only true deity.”

As a family, we were always searching for more, for the bigger picture.

Growing up I was a “special” child (I’m being dead serious here). I had certain premonitions, but due to a fear of the unknown, what I was experiencing was frowned upon in religious circles and deemed as being “evil”. Anything that could not be explained by the clergy was to be avoided at all costs. So, therefore, I suppressed my intuition and actually feared it.

Then I grew up and pushed those thoughts and fears aside. I did, however, have very profound dreams. I used to write down my dreams so that I could later share them with Tanja. Most of them are in my book A Man and His God. Sadly, due to the medication which I now need to take at night for my mechanical heart valve, I seldom remember them once I wake up.

I would like to share one of these profound dreams with you.

“’I was trudging through a dry, barren desert. My tongue was swollen from thirst and my strength was almost gone. At first, I thought I was alone but soon noticed others trudging along as well in search of something – water. Mothers with children, old people and youth - all searching for water.

Suddenly we all became aware of a voice calling out to us. We couldn’t quite make out what the man was trying to say but as we drew closer, we heard the word of life: “Water!”

My strength was instantly renewed and we all ran towards the man. Great was my disappointment when I reached him and witnessed him scooping water out of an old sewage drain with a rusted old tin cup and handing it to the people to drink. The people grabbed the cup and drank, but when offered to me I turned away. “You call that water? No thank you. You can keep it.” The strange thing is that many of the people stayed and gathered around this man, satisfied with what they were being offered.

I had hardly left this group when I heard another voice calling out: “Water! I have the living water!” Again, I ran. Maybe this man had what I was longing for, but my optimism soon vanished because there, standing beside an old waterhole, stood a man with a smug look on his face. Inside this waterhole was a dead hippopotamus teeming with maggots. He simply pushed the slimy surface back and dipped his cup into the stinking brown water and gave it to the people to drink. I voiced my utter disgust and turned away. But once again many of the people stayed, too happy to have something to drink.

Another voice: “Water! Come all who are thirsty!” This time I didn’t run. I was suspicious as I approached the man. Just as I thought. Only this time it was worse than all the others. This man, dressed in a long white robe with a holier-than-thou demeanor, which made me nauseous, simply turned his back on the people and urinated into a cup. Turning back again he gave his ‘water’ to the thirsty, unsuspecting crowd.

“No!” I shouted. “This is not water! You’re deceiving the people!” But he simply gathered his little group together and ignored me.

With my dying strength I moved on and decided that I would climb over the next sand dune and die on the other side. Half way up the dune I sat down to gain some strength and turned to look at what I had left behind me. Everywhere, groups were gathered together, big and small, all gathered around some person offering them ‘water’. Every now and then someone dared to venture over to another group, but everyone just took what was handed to them.

I stood up to continue with my final climb. On reaching the top of the dune I squinted my eyes to focus on the sight ahead. Was I seeing right? Maybe it was a mirage. No, it wasn’t my imagination. Just a short distance away a stream of water shot up out of the parched ground. Cool, clear, clean, bubbling water. I ran, I stumbled, I rolled and landed in the water below. I drank and drank and drank. I absorbed the water through my entire body until I lay completely satisfied on the ground.

I stood up from where I had been lying, full of strength and vigor. I had this compelling need within me to go and share this new, liberating discovery with those I had left behind in the desert. But would they listen?’”

I like looking up the dictionary definitions of words for clarity. According to the dictionary, here are the definitions of two words: Faith and Trust.

Faith - complete trust or confidence in someone or something. A strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.

Trust - your belief that someone is honest and sincere and will not deliberately do anything to harm or trick you.

After many years of deliberate searching for- and testing of- the water being offered to people, I came to the conclusion that all water is contaminated. So, until I find an uncontaminated, pure alternative, I will be content living without it and stop wasting precious time. People who know me, know that I don't do things in half measures. I will put all my remaining strength, thoughts, energy and time into finding a way to reunite with our children in Europe. That’s all we can focus on right now. So don’t give up on us, judge us, condemn us or try to convert us. Instead, support us in our quest of all quests! This is our story. This is our journey.

Follow PegLegs and Me

We decided to start another Blog that's more "kosher" than this one - less swearing, less political, more inspiring, etc.

Definitely not as explosive as this blog, but WTF

PegLegs and Me, check it out.

JOKE: One day, while waiting for Tanja in the car in a disabled parking, an elderly man walked up to me and pointed out that the parking was for disabled people. My response was …. I .. I .. I .. I .. know, I .. I .. I .. stutter 😊

Have you ever attended or listened to a motivational speaker or read their books? Of course, so have I.

So, tell me, how long did the hype of the moment last? A few days? A week? A month? How long before you found yourself back where you were before, if not worse than before, because of your high expectations in yourself and the words of someone else?

Well, I don’t see myself as a motivational speaker. I am an ENERGIZER promoter!!

I’m here to help you and show you how reload your battery.

When I was 10 years old, I was sentenced to a life of ailments and a very predictable future regarding my health. Professor van Rooyen was the medical doctor at HF Verwoerd Hospital in Pretoria when I was diagnosed. He said the following to me: (remember I am 10 years old)

You have type 1 diabetes and will need to inject yourself a few times every day for the rest of your life (75 000 injections so far)

You will not grow old or die naturally

You will probably end up with either heart failure or kidney failure or both.

You will most likely lose a limb or two.

One morning you might wake up and be blind.

Wow, that’s a lot for a 10-year-old to digest.

Well, it’s been 48 years since then and here’s my list so far:

Quadruple heart bypass surgery, including a metallic heart valve fitment (side effect – insomnia and a handful of pills)

7 amputations – starting with toes and ending in legs.

Celiac’s Disease

Loss of sight in my left eye

Diabetic neuropathy and muscle loss in my hands

And last but not least, my recent catastrophe: Major femur break and pelvic fracture

Not a very encouraging picture ☹

BUT ... I have an ENERGIZER!!! And I can’t keep this to myself.

(Before I explain what I mean by an Energizer, let me point out that I have suffered with chronic depression all my life. I wanted to commit suicide a few times, but thankfully didn’t succeed. I often hear people say that it’s a coward that takes his life, but it’s not and I’m angered by this stupid statement. It takes a lot of guts to commit to this decision)

Getting back to the Energizer:

So, what is an Energizer?

Dictionary: Someone who imparts energy and vitality and spirit to other people

Let me explain: We are living beings, running on energy like batteries. Our batteries run flat from time to time. Some people have the ability to bounce back without too much fuss. Some people struggle to re-energize themselves; some never recover. I have seen this especially with fellow amputees.

The solution to a flat, rundown battery is to find a recharging point and this is what I have come to share with you today.

You do not possess a recharging point within yourself; you need to find it.

In the 17th century John Donne said: No man is an island, and it’s exactly that. We cannot thrive or grow alone. We recharge each other on a daily basis. Whether it’s your spouse, your friend, your pet or a LIFE coach. Find the person that helps you to recharge, that helps you find your strength, that helps you re-energize.

You might say: “I find my strength in a higher power.” Great for you, but here’s where I need MORE than faith. I need my 5 physical senses. If religion is important to you, do it. I’m not here to discredit what you believe in.

What I am trying to say is that you need to connect with someone physically. Someone you can touch, hear and converse with. I found that connection in my wife. She is my Energizer. She’s the one who never gives up on me, encourages me, feels my anguish, ignores my cursing. She allows me to express myself, reminding me constantly that I’m not alone.

My Energizer is a beautiful, real, loving, caring human being.

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In 2018 my health took a serious turn for the worst. Things I had previously paid little attention to suddenly became a massive problem. During this time, I was still the owner of a mechanical workshop and the leading mechanic. Tanja was the administrator and organizer in the business and even did the diagnostics on the vehicles. I became listless and weak, lost my appetite and felt an overall unwellness. My GP referred me to a heart specialist who ran a series of tests and discovered that my aortic valve had packed up. I knew a lot about valves but this was a different ball game.

I was hospitalized and underwent a quadruple bypass as well as an aortic valve replacement – a metallic valve, to be specific. One which keeps me up at night unless I take serious sleeping tablets.

Following this, the amputations started. Toes, one by one; half a foot (which was the biggest and most painful mistake ever) and then the legs. Little by little, one at a time. Thankfully it wasn’t all at once, which allowed us to adjust slowly to the loss of limbs. It still wasn’t easy. Remember, I’m a driven, hard-working diesel mechanic, setting the pace in the workshop every day.

Before I had even lost my second leg, we decided to sell the workshop. The stress and anxiety were overwhelming. Not only could I not do what I had done before but the frustration of battling to do a job drove me bat-shit crazy.

We decided to start a niche, upmarket wine and gin bar. A classy but easy-going place. We put all our funds into the shop-fitting and stocking of our new enterprise. The idea was to get it up and running, build it up and sell it, then follow our children to Portugal.

Covid! Covid! Covid! What more can I say? Before even opening our doors, Covid hit us. To make a long, sad and desperate story short, we lost everything. We walked out of that place with the clothes on our backs and what was left after selling all our furniture. The bank repossessed our car and still hound us for money to this day.

Loss of material possessions. Loss of income. Loss of health. Loss of legs. Loss of our precious children, who had already left the country. We felt distraught, alone and afraid, to say the least.

You might think to yourself now: Wow! I’m sure things could not have gotten worse for these people? But wait, there’s more! My father-in-law used to have a saying: cheer up, things could get worse. So, I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse.

On the 29th of April 2023 I slipped on the garage floor after washing the car. I shattered my femur and fractured my pelvis. I wished to die. I wanted to end my life.

Tanja came to me with the following ENERGIZING words: It is not death that you crave. What you crave is more LIFE.

I had to learn to walk …  AGAIN!

It’s been 8 months since that disastrous day and here I am, walking again and not just that, I’m covering about 6 km per day!!!

Here are some valuable lessons I’ve learned while learning to walk with prosthetic legs:

•          Don’t look back, you’ll lose your balance

•          Keep your eyes on the road ahead of you to avoid the potholes

•          There are some things you can’t change, make peace with that.

****

The weight of financial responsibilities can be crushing, but it's crucial to remember that you are not alone in this struggle. Come. Come, let me share with you the lessons we've learned.

There were times when bills piled up, the banks phoned 10 times a day and the future seemed dismally uncertain. But with determination and creativity, we found various ways to try to make ends meet. With both of us being self-employed for the last 25 years, we found ourselves unemployable, so we had to embrace multiple income streams and turn various ideas into opportunities.

I am a diesel mechanic by trade and that is all I have ever known. Finding new ways to generate an income was as challenging as learning to walk again.

Remember, your potential is vast, and there are often undiscovered talents within you waiting to be uncovered.

Living with chronic health conditions is undoubtedly tough, but it's essential to focus on what you can control. Together, we adapt and find new ways to survive despite our limitations. I say OUR because my limitations become my wife’s limitations. We deal with issues together.

When we run out of options, which has happened a few times, we speak up and ask for support, while finding a way around the problem at hand. Not everyone knows how to speak up. They’re either too proud OR afraid of rejection OR they simply don’t feel worthy.

Well,

There have been times when we had no food – we spoke up!

No vehicle with which to do our job – we spoke up!

In need of prosthetic legs – we spoke up!

Medical assistance – we spoke up!

A place to live – we spoke up!

AND WE WERE HEARD!!

People helped us because they saw our determination, effort and the will to keep going. We were down, but we still tried our best.

Seek support, when necessary, stay proactive in managing your health, and remember that every small victory is a step forward.

In times of financial hardship, health crises, or relationship woes, it's easy to feel isolated. DON’T isolate yourself. Don’t try to climb out of the pit by yourself. Find your Energizer. Connect. Move.

****

I want to leave you with a TO DO LIST: (an Energizing TO DO LIST)

Eat healthier

Drink water

Breathe deeply (even if it’s a deep sigh). It helps to release negative energy.

Spend time in nature or taking in the wonder of every sunset

Smile (even if you don’t feel like it). A smile is contagious and is AS good for your battery as for the receiver

Walk every day (or whatever exercise works for you)

Greet people (as you walk). We pass people and never think to say Hi. We’ve made so many connections with so many amazing people on our daily walks because we greet every single person we pass.

Spend time with positive people. It rubs off.

SHARE your energy. It’s not yours to keep. When you get it, share it. It’s that constant exchange that causes the Energizer experience to grow.

****

Now, Get ENERGIZED! You cannot jump-start someone when your battery is flat.

Find your Energizer!!

Here is my observation and opinion on the Covid-19 Flu (for what it’s worth)

We were all horrified with the initial news of this deadly worldwide virus. Fear of note was planted and germinated over the entire planet. For weeks on end, all we heard was how the numbers of infected were soaring and that we were all basically screwed. Chances of survival after contracting the virus was touch-and-go for most and the end-of-the-road for the medically challenged. 

The media gorged themselves and spread more fear and anxiety with photos and videos of the dying, the overflowing hospitals, the sleep-deprived medical staff, the body bags laid out in rows. The horror, the horror. The more people watched, the greater the panic became. Mandatory lockdowns, prisoners. Mandatory masks, isolation. Mandatory business closures, bankruptcy. Everybody dancing to the tune of the Pied Piper. 

Rules were enforced, often mercilessly on those who tried to maintain some form of normality. The rats were played a false tune and yet they danced. A hastily, whipped up vaccine would stop the virus in its tracks. La-la-la-la-la.

That was 2020. Now it’s 2022. And the dance continues. 

Millions have willingly surrendered and smilingly accepted the concocted bullshit. Some continue to think that the poison they’ve been given is the best thing since sliced bread. Dance, dance, dance. Roll up your sleeves once, twice ... but wait, there’s more! Yet, despite having received their “miraculous” potion, the virus is still contracted and still spreads. 

While travelling on one of our country’s beautiful rural roads, I saw a sign above the entrance to a very well-manicured farm: Faith, Hope, Love, Luck

Here is my interpretation:

Faith - Usually associated with the religious belief in an invisible entity, but also believing in the impossible becoming possible.

Hope - Faith and hope are like a married couple. Faith gives hope and hope reinforces faith. Not only for the religious however. For example, we hope for our poor circumstances to change for the better and have faith that it will happen. Hope can also be unrealistic, but without it one can feel ... well, hopeless.

Love - Everyone on this planet needs love. We can’t survive without it. Love is caring, sharing, giving, receiving. Love is the unending circle of wellness. It comes in many forms. It has no conditions attached and crosses all boundaries. 

Luck - The person who wrote these words on the sign was speaking from experience. Without a little bit of luck, the other three are constantly being challenged. Luck is the jam on the toast, the cherry on the cake. We all need a little bit of fucking luck every now and then.

The best thing about faith, hope, love and luck, is that it is not tied up in religion, it is tied up in being human. Just know this, you can make a difference! Be someone’s luck, share the love, light the flame of hope, reinforce faith in humanity.

At some time in your life you realize that life will end, hopefully in a well-spent body, in old age. But when lives are lost, and so many, in one moment in time, and the force behind it is madness, it becomes a crying shame. 

I was dumbfounded after hearing about the Paris killings. What a tragedy!! Is there no hope for mankind?  It is absolutely unacceptable what people will do to each other when filled with zealous hate. Will we never realize that we are all human beings living on the same planet with different cultures and different languages - the same race with beautiful differences. Homo-sapiens, one and the same species. 

We are very patriotic about the little patch of earth we live on. Very protective of our little space. Yet, all these places came about with bloodshed and the loss of many uncountable lives. The continent you live on is filled with blood. The driving force behind all this madness, the dividing line between us, is not about the way we look, or speak, or dress. It’s about ‘my’ god being better than your god. My god is the right god and everyone must follow him/her/it diligently, unquestioningly, doing all that is demanded. If the innocent suffer in this quest, then so be it.

We, as humans, are staring at the apocalypse of mankind - the end of civilization. We can’t see the future, yet we don’t learn from the past. We see ourselves as so special. We call ourselves Americans, Africans, Germans, Japanese. We classify ourselves as Christians, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus. We follow Allah, no Jesus, no Jehovah, no Buddha. This madness is the dividing line between us and always has been. 

When will we realize that the moment we created a god to do all our thinking and control our emotions and purpose in life, that we, as intelligent human beings, became the zombies of religion. Mindless masses unable to make decisions based on basic human empathy and a sense of mutual existence. 

I am truly sorry for the lives lost in this recent massacre. I am truly sorry for all the lives lost through the massacres fueled by religious fundamentalists. Mankind is engaged in a furious, unnecessary battle. This battle should not be between humans but rather within each individual. It is a personal battle to rid yourself of nonsense, to free yourself from deceitful control, to experience life as we were meant to.