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WRITTEN BY: Christophe Bongo, Performance Coach

Sunflowers turn their heads to face the Sun during the day, in other words, they are chasing the light, you probably knew that already.

What do you think sunflowers do on rainy days, when the skies are grey, and the Sun is nowhere to be found?

The logical thinking would be that the golden gaudy flower species would turn to the ground and wait on brighter days, as there is no visible Sun to follow around, right?

If this is your thinking, I can tell you, you are not alone. The truth however is something far more fascinating.

When there’s no visible Sun, they sunflowers actually turn their heads towards each other, sharing their own energy to keep one another alive.

If we were to take time to observe nature, we would be amazed at the infinite wisdom inherent in all living things.

Most people aren’t truly aware that humans are also a part of that same nature and we do possess the same wisdom.

What do you do, when someone else is feeling weak, or having a “rainy day”?

Chances is, that you turn to them too, trying to share your energy with them and brighten their day.

Others who are too busy to even to notice, or have their own “rainy life” already, cannot really be blamed for not jumping to aid open-heartedly.

But the built-in wisdom is there, in all of us.

We are social creatures, and we tend to need one another for all sorts of things, including emotional, financial, intellectual and other support.

So many people say, we need more love and compassion.

It is true, that sounds beautiful, but for me, I would say, we need togetherness.

When we stick together as one people, one family, one life… then we have access to that inner wisdom, and intelligence, which includes love and compassion, just like the sunflowers do.

This is why, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the world felt unnatural. Social distancing is super unnatural for us human-social-beings, even though it is a responsible thing to do for the obvious reason.

To conclude, the wisdom of Sunflower is that we stay together and be there for one another, in any way that we can.

That is what our fellow human beings need from us right now.

Unless of course, you know what they need, and you can do it for them.

Use your energy and wisdom to help mankind, you can do that just by being who you are.

WRITTEN BY: OMEGA NGEMA

YOUNG entrepreneur Chane’ Meyer (26) founded her home made baby décor and accessories business HoneyBun Baby from her longstanding love for decorating events for friends and family. She and her partner in crime, her sister, always found themselves going the extra mile for baby showers and birthdays for their loved ones and one day a friend suggested that they turn their talent into a business.

The pair’s enthusiasm got escalated into a fully-fledged business when Chane received a sewing machine for her birthday in 2020 and ventured out into sewing custom made baby accessories for her clientele.

Chane was already running her own tutoring business which, like most business was abruptly brought to a standstill during the Covid-19 pandemic induced lockdown. So HoneyBun Baby was also born at a time when an alternate stream of income was most welcome.   

During challenging times as was the first Covid-19 lockdown period, Chane says her parents, whom she described as her pillars of strength, have always inspired her to work hard and persevere.  

“Growing up, my family went through a few challenging times but it was important that we went through those trials as a family as it has taught me so many valuable life lessons. It has taught me to always work hard to achieve something and to never give up even when plans may not be working out too great. That perseverance and determination has always been a personal foundation of who I am,” said Chane.

She said she enjoys the independence that being entrepreneur gives her however she was under no illusions with regards to the hard work that goes into running your own business.

“I would’ve loved to have started sewing earlier on in life and to have trained as a seamstress or have done courses in sewing – life would’ve been so much easier if I had more of a direction as to what I wanted to do when I finished school. However I am grateful for the various jobs I did after school and all the challenges I have faced and overcome as they have prepared me for the hard work that is ahead of me in making HoneyBun Baby a success,” said Chane.

The businesswoman’s definition of success is happiness and sustenance as she said chasing a life of luxury could easily lead to a constant chase that neglects precious times of celebration in between.

“It is so important that we continue to celebrate the small successes in life – but it is also important to have a goal to work towards and to aim for greater things.

She encouraged those aspiring to start their own businesses to not let their anxieties about the possibility of failure to deter them from pursuing their goals.

For Chane, the world would be a better place if we could do away with discrimination, poverty and crime.

“I wish we could all just be nicer and not judge people or be bias based on looks, educations, the colour of our skin or where we were born or how we grew up. And it is so horrible to hear of various criminal horror stories happening around the world. To live in fear of where we go or who we are with shouldn’t be how we live our lives,” said Chane.