Author: Lungisa Joctrey

Lungisa Joctrey is the founder of The SpokesDude Network, the host of The SpokesDude Podcast and The Lungisa Joctrey Show.

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We are indeed under difficult times in the world. There is fear and uncertainty in every country. While we have to deal with the ever growing pressure cause by the rapid spread of the #COVID-19, the depraved human nature shows itself off in the fake news and in the useless conspiracy theories that are being circulated in internet. Such things continue to worsen the situation and instigate unnecessary panic.

I have been hearing reports of people who were out in numbers, queueing at Supermarkets, getting ready to selfishly stockpile goods, despite the reassuring words from the president that production and supply of goods will continue during the lockdown. People will be allowed to go and buy food, medicine and other basic necessities in a controlled fashion. There is absolutely no need for panic buying. Buy what is enough for you and your family to use for a few days and watch for expiry dates on certain items. Give others a chance to find food when they come to the shops.

By all means people should stay at home. The key part for the National Lockdown is to stay at home. This forbids even visits to friends. Stay at home with your own family.

MY CONCERNS REGARDING THE NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

Stray Kids

I am very concerned with my neighbourhood. There are lots of kids that are roaming the streets and their parents do not know where they are. With such poor parenting, the chances for the virus to spread through kids is very high. I do not know if parents fully understand the meaning of the lockdown and its purpose.

The purpose of the lockdown is to limit the transmission of COVID-19. The authorities are hoping that through these security measures the virus might stop spreading. Now with so many parents who have no control over their kids and who fail to lock the gates to make sure their kids do not leave and their friends do not come over, the purpose of the lockdown will be a total failure and we would have suffered in vain.

Soldiers

We understand that the Lockdown will be facilitated and enforced by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) by the way of assisting our incompetent, corrupt and equally overwhelmed South African Police Service (SAPS). My concern is, we have not been told exactly how the soldiers will handle the violators during the Lockdown. Will they be arresting and detaining offenders or will they be using threats and physical force to persuade people to stay at home?

While we are told that we would be allowed to buy food, medicine and also to seek medical assistance, it is not clear if public transport will be available for us to get to those places where we might get food, medicine and other basic. If the public transport is available we do not know how long in the course of the day is it available and how many public transport vehicles will be available.

Will the soldiers be patrolling the streets of our townships and suburbs? or they will close off the exit points form these areas? How will they be able to identify those who are offending from those who are going to get the basic necessities as stipulated in the terms of the National Lockdown.

The Street Vendors

Photo by Patrick Cristobal on Pexels.com

With the Lockdown imposed, I am not clear as to how those who support their families through selling fruits and other goods in the streets are they to be assisted so that their lives and immune systems are not compromised through hunger and malnutrition. (Honestly they should have consulted me: I am good at finding problems for every solution.)

Will those who have enough be allowed to assist them in donating some food parcels, during the 21- Day Lockdown? How can we identify them, if at all we are allowed to donate food parcels to them?

WHAT CAN WE DO NOW?

The best thing we can do is to stay at home. While we remain in our comfortable houses, we must remember those families whose economy would be hit hard by the Lockdown and whose lives are at far more risk than ours. Pray for them. When the world is in such a turmoil and is covered with so much fear. There is only one ROCK that is higher than us. The only place of refuge. His name is JESUS CHRIST the Son of God.

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It was at the beginning of this month when we heard a promising “prophecy” from TB Joshua of Nigeria. He told his followers that the fears surrounding the new strain of coronaviruses known as COVID-19 will be over by March 27, as the virus will go away the way it came.

2020-03-27T00:00:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

TB Joshua’s Prophecy date

We look at the watches and hope that he was right because if at any rate he gets this wrong not only will he be labelled a false prophet but He will also be liable for people who will die due to their complacency caused by the hopes that the virus will be gone by March 27, 2020.

While we have less than four days to see the outcome of this prophecy, Italian mortality rate on the account of COVID-19 is climbing and has far more exceeded that of China. In my country, South Africa, the infection rate based on known cases is climbing greatly.

I do not take pleasure in writing this post at all. I am very concerned with people who come out as mouth pieces for God but then make God look like a douche bag, when the supposed divine promises are not fulfilled. I pray and hope that this pandemic be defeated as soon as possible.

Take caution each time you listen to prophets. One day you will bank your life on a wrong man and you will pay dearly for that.

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That time has come again. Despite the fears and hopelessness that fills the world today, owing to the new strain of the coronavirus COVID-19, The Spokesdude Podcast, is bringing its second season and there is no going back.

As from the 26th of March 2020. You will hear the brand new season of The Spokesdude Podcast. Hang in there and stay tuned.

Protective Face Mask

Get yourself protected. Wash your hand regularly and avoid crowded places. Don’t gives hugs, handshakes and kisses.

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As we are preparing for the launch of season two of The Spokesdude Podcast on the 19th of March 2020 and the new Bible Study podcast in April, I have decided to put the Run Yourself Crazee Podcast on hold. The dates of the next-well structured Running podcast will be announced before June.

I would like to apologize to everyone who is affected by this change. We endeavour to bring to you high quality and engaging content. In the process of improving we are working on trial and error basis. We are slowly getting our game together. By God’s grace the best is yet to come.

Be on the look out for the Bible Study podcast called Bible Near You to be launched in April 2020. We shall go deep into the Bible and together learn it’s content. Not only will you be listening but you will also get a chance to ask questions, no matter how difficult they may be. We will get them answered for you. The Bible Near You podcast will have it’s sister called Bible Near You Q & A where we will be answering questions from you.

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Someone once said to me life is lived forward. This was a stabbing statement considering it came from my ex-girlfriend when she dumped me. For a year and seven months we were in a relationship and I was planning to marry her. She had met my mother. My pastor knew about her and even the principal of the bible college I went to knew about her. She was my first girlfriend from since I began to exist and I was 32 years then.

For some reason she said that she cannot marry a pastor. No amount of begging or argument could convince her. She wanted nothing to do with me. She told me to move on because “life is lived forward” and that she did not love me anymore. I was devastated but then by God’s grace I was able to move forward. With the support of my family and college friends I got to heal.

I took away a valuable lesson out of this situation. The lesson was that, it is for the best to accept things that cannot be changed and move on. Not knowing the difference between what we can change and what we cannot change can cause more harm in our well being. Most people get over stressed over things they cannot change and by refusing to acknowledge the immutable nature of a given situation they are driven a step further into depression.

1. Accept What You Can’t Change

When something terrible has happened and when you take a closer look at the facts you realize that there is nothing you can do to reverse it or make adjustments in order to improve the situation, the best thing you can do is accept it as it is. Acknowledge that indeed a tragedy has taken place and that nothing can be done to undo it.

A typical example of something that we cannot change is passing away of a loved one. No amount accusations or taking revenge will bring them back to life. They are gone. In order for us to move on we have to allow ourselves to grieve and deal with the fact that we will not see them again on this side of eternity.

Another example I can give you is when you fail an exam or some kind of a challenge. You just have to accept that you failed. You cannot change the fact that you failed BUT you can do something about. You can rewrite and in order to avoid failure again, you honestly revisit your test and learn from your past mistakes which have caused you to fail at the first place.

2. Figure Out What You Can Do

Calm down and look at your circumstance. Try to find something you can do. One of the things I did was getting into my running shoes and run anywhere my feet would take me. Try to get your mind away from the problem just for a while. Let your brain rest and then you will be able to think straight.

It also helps to talk to people. Sometimes when you talk to someone the load on your shoulders will get easier. It helps to talk to people.

As a Christian I have a strong source of comfort and strength and that is God. If I have never heard about the Lord Jesus Christ I would be dead today. I owe my life to Him. The people I have in my life all because of Him. I always run to Him in prayer. When I am done praying I get peace and confidence that everything will be alright in the end.

Learn to move on and learn to forgive other people that have wronged you. Life is too short for holding grudges. Look at the life that God has given you and focus on doing the best and hope for the best. Never give up and never resolve to take your own life. If you take your own life, you will end up multiplying your problem. I promise you, the problems that your facing now are temporary but hell-fire is permanent and there is no way you’d ever escape from that. Even death will abandon you in hell.

Remember, you must let go of the past and move forward because, “life is lived forward.”

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Image by Penstones from Pixabay

I still remember the days where I used to think that I will never be able to run ever. I always wonder at the way my body has improved and has adjusted itself to be able to endure not just a 5 km run but a 21.5 km run. Yes, yesterday I ran a total of 21.5 km.

As I began the time was 17:00 on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. After having ran 5.5 km, it began to rain. This was the best thing ever to happen to me during a run. The rain was keeping my body cool and functional. I ran a clean 19 km with my body feeling as if I am in a slow 3 km run. The pain began manifest when I was approaching the 20th kilometer. I endured and persisted until I had ran a half marathon (21.1 km) and 400 meters on top.

I can attest that it was the most enjoyable run ever. I was in charge of the pace, the breathing and I listened to my body. I was confident in my strides and I had a smile on my face, a thing I never do during any run. I am looking forward to having a go again on the same 21 km route.

I think what made me enjoy the run is that I was not focusing on the numbers. I did not care about the pace or the time it would take me to complete the run. I only focused on finishing the run and I took necessary steps to ensure that I complete it. Some of those steps are:

Backing off

There is always a temptation to run harder and faster when doing a longer run. The good practice one must subscribe to is to learn to back off. Do not rush things. Save the energy for the rest of the run. When you feel that you are running out of air and you are breathing heavily, it means you are running too hard. Back off until you are able to speak during the run. If you run hard you may find yourself getting tired to quickly. We should always run smarter not harder.

There was absolutely no need for me to run harder nor faster. I was not in a race. I was only running to build my endurance. I succeeded in my effort. I ran the whole predetermined distance and I could have gone even further had the time permitted me.

Correct Running Posture

It is important to maintain a correct running posture. This a relaxed posture. When running you should avoid pulling your arms to your chest and avoid making fists. You should run relaxed. Have your arms swing lower past your hips and with open hands. You are not in the fist fight, you are running. Relax the shoulders. If you run relaxed, you will enjoy the run and you will run longer.

Breathe

The body needs oxygen. The muscles need oxygen, especially when running. Breathe in and fill the belly will air and let the air out. If you cannot breathe, then slow down. In order to be able to control my breathing, I pay attention to it during the warm up process within the first 2 km of my 21 km run. I need to be able to develop a rhythm as I run and breath. If my body want to break that rhythm, I slow down and recover.

There are many tricks and hacks to get going in a long run and they vary from person to person. Over all, if you don’t enjoy the run then you are not doing it correctly. Keep working on it until you are able to run with a smile. Ensure that when you run a long distance, in the last few kilometers, you can pick the pace up and slow down at will.

You know that when you have finished your running session and you feel super exhausted, you’ve had a good work out. Go out there and RUN!!

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Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

INTRODUCTION

Our bodies are incredible machines. They can do stuff we never thought they can. With enough training they can survive the toughest tests life is determined to throw at them. When introduced to the small doses of certain viruses, our bodies are able to form antibodies that can fought off the intruders and also keep memory of them in case they attack again. Our bodies are machines that have learn capabilities and can be train to do many things within the limits of their physical design.

I say they can do many things within the limits of their physical design because we obviously do not our expect our bodies to fly like the birds do. Our physical design does not permit flight. We cannot flap our limbs and fly. we cannot breathe under water like fish do. We do not have physical organs to permit such an enterprise. We do not have mean to climb the walls like spiders and lizards. We cannot efficiently crawl on our bellies like snakes and we cannot gracefully float on water like swans. All these things we cannot do because they are beyond the limits of our physical design.

Having stated what we cannot do, I will move on to deal with what we can do. I will discuss what we can do and what we can improve upon. My aim is that is for us to learn to challenge and push our bodies their lawful limits and try to keep the doctor away in this age many illnesses.

WHAT OUR BODIES CAN DO

We often undermine our bodies and think that they can only perform up to a certain degree which we have prescribed in our minds. What many people do not know is that our bodies are very strong. They have an ability to adapt on order to survive. I have learned that when one is running for his life, he can scale a fence he wouldn’t be able to scale under normal circumstances. They can go through a small opening as though it was a wide open door. At that temporary state of survival our bodies are able to shut down the pain receptors to allow the body to find safety, after which pain will be allowed and let the body give status report on things that needs to be attended to after a given ordeal.

Our Bodies Can Walk

One of the obvious reason is that an average person can work. We can walk short distances and we can walk long distance. We can walk wearing shoes and we can walk on bare feet. We can walk slow and we can walk fast. We can willfully add style on our walk. We can walk and bounce at the same time. We can walk with a straight back and chin up. We can leaning forward, swing our arms or cross our arms behind our backs. What gives such confidence in walking to such an extent that we add some style to make our walk interesting is due to the fact that we have been walking since we were toddlers. Walking is part of us. It has been embed into our existence in such a way that we don’t even think about walking when we walk. We just do it.

Our Bodies Can Run

Just like walking, our bodies can run. Running is an upgraded form of walking. It requires more energy and oxygen to maintain. That is why when we run we breathe heavily and our heart rate increases. For someone who is not used to running, they will get tired quickly and feel some pain in the body after a very short distance. That is why many people make excuses when invited to run. Running terrifies them.

We need to understand that our bodies learn and improve in performance when force to do the same thing over and over again. That is action is called, “practice.” When we practice or train, we are actually teaching our bodies to get better at a given task. You will feel the pain in a short distance but if you repeat the same distance and add a few meters over it, you will find that your body will adapt. It will shape itself to withstand the new challenges posed to itself and thus become stronger and fitter.

My Exhortation to you at this is, go and try something and see if your body can manage. REMEMBER!! Safety first.

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