Oh well. C’est La Vie. My thinking in the new year and years to come is:

“Do unto others as they do unto you…”

Now don’t get me wrong…. It’s not any of this “an eye for an eye stuff”. It’s just that in my experiences with certain people, especially over the last couple of years, I’ve learnt that some people just don’t learn and understand how to treat others.  Whether they are family, friends, colleagues, etc.  Some people were just born to think about themselves and only for themselves.

It used to phase me a lot.  And I write this post now, not to have a moan or a go at anyone, but to enlighten other who may be in the same situation I’ve been in.

So listen in carefully… What they say is partially true…. Think about ‘Number One’ first.  In my mind, ‘Number One’ means not just me, but myself, the family that I know care about me and who have shown it, friends who are so close that they are practically family, and those individuals who have always shown the compassion and helpfulness towards others and to me and mine.

This new philosophy is not about making someone feel as bad as you did… but simply to think on their level when dealing with them.

All I’m going to do is to provide them with the same level of respect and courtesy as they have done to me.  Those who have treated me well have nothing to worry about. And those who don’t care how people act towards them, well good for them I say! That’s a whole other level to be thinking at but at least you don’t take on unnecessary stress.

Let me give you a hypothetical scenario… You’ve  been treating someone with great respect and love, only to find that they hide certain things from you, or tell you at the last minute about important issues.  You’ve felt a connection with them and opened up to them completely telling them lots of things, but they don’t return it to you, but do go ahead and tell other people certain items of theirs…  Wouldn’t this annoy the hell out of you??? Well it sure did to me!! (Hypothetically speaking of course…)

So I’ve decided that instead of getting annoyed and pushing myself towards a heart attack, I’m going to remain calm, cool and collected.

Well that’s my rant… *cough, cough*… sorry… “educational talk”, over with.

Hopefully you can use this information with situations you’ve been in and I’m always happy to talk and let you know how I’ve dealt with other issues.

Don’t worry about things… This is life… There’s always room for change and improvement.  If the little things don’t get to you, you’ll have an easier time with the big things.

So remember… Love, Enjoy, Stay Happy and Healthy, and remember those who are close to you every day.  From Love comes great Living.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My previous name was Sawan SHAH.  Shah is a general community name for a collection of surnames.  My family surname (the one my grandfather and those before him used) is GOSRANI.

I’ve been debating about it for a while and I finally did it.  I finally locked into my heritage.

Sometimes you don’t realise how much value there is to a family name.  The name “Gosrani” for me signifies all the hard work and dedication my ancestors put in to building the family and supporting the family.  It signifies to me a lineage which is defined compared to using a  surname.   It tells me that my children will carry on the family name and it means that I need to set a good example for them to follow so that people everywhere can say “Those are Sawan Gosrani’s children.  Look at how polite, smart, and caring they are.”

I know how happy my parents used to get when someone commented positively about myself or my brother Suraj.  This is how I want to feel with my children.

It’s funny but since I commited to changing my name, my whole outlook in life has changed.  I will now do whatever it takes to sustain my family’s needs.  I now feel like I have a greater sense of responsibility because it’s now not just my name on the line, but the family’s name.  And I know I will uphold the good name of my family.

I’ve met many people who knew my grandfather and he was such an amazing man.  Everyone, even to this day, still say “Oh yes. I remember your Grandfather. Jethalal Gosrani, what a great guy.  So smart and he did so much for others.”  This is the name I want to carry on.

It’s very easy to change your name by Deed Poll.  You go to a number of official websites, get the forms sent to you, fill them out, and send them back. Simple!  I would say however, do it if you’re truly sure.  Your name is your identity and people will surely recognise you by it. If you choose to change your name for good reasons and if you think it will make a positive change then I highly suggest it.  You will have to send a letter to all the different organisations who hold details about you like the UKPA and DVLA, etc, but it’s worth it.

I’d also suggest doing it while you’re young (before you sign up for bank details, or anything else which will need changing) and I’d definetely suggest doing it before you get married (if you’re male, or a female who won’t be changing her name after marriage).  It’s cheaper to change one person’s name by Deed Poll rather than 2.  After marriage, if the lady (or the gent) changes their name to their partner’s name, documents will still need to be changed. If the name is taken upon marriage then it’s an automatic change and no Deed Poll is required, just a notification to the authorities.

Right. I’m off to write all my letters.

See you all soon!

Yup. Before anyone says it, I know… It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. There is absolutely no excuse for this so I’m not going to try and make one up. I noticed, the last post was in early September. CRAZY!!!

Well let me tell you what I’ve been up to. From the 15th of September I was in Kenya for a whole month, which means I got back last Monday. (Yup. Today is Saturday, nearly 2 weeks later). I’ve just been catching up with work and working on a video for the Machakos Water Project.

Oh that’s right! I didn’t tell you guys and girls about it.

Well as you may have read in some previous posts, my mum, Shilpa Dinesh Shah, passed away last year on 26th September. Towards the end of her life here on Earth, she was Nil-By-Mouth because the valve which regulates air flow to the lungs and food and drink to the stomach stayed open so everything she drank or ate would trickle into her lungs. So being Nil-By-Mouth, and on an oxygen mask, she was constantly thirsty, and she would constantly ask for water, but we were not allowed to give her any.

When she passed over, we decided that we were going to build a water well in her name, in Kenya. So this was the main reason that we went to kenya. I’ll be posting about it soon as well. There is a trailer of the video on YouTube but watch this space and I’ll have it up here in a couple of days.

Around that, we went to see family everywhere like Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, etc. All we did, the majority of the time we were in Kenya, was eat and drink. (No wonder I feel like I’ve gained a couple of pounds!)

We went to the shopping malls, we went to visit family and have dinner and lunch and breakfast, etc, etc. We went to Masai Mara (What an experience. I’ll post pictures later.), We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Mombasa South Coast called Southern Palms. (I would strongly urge a lot of people to go and stay there. The customer service alone was absolutely amazing!!)

The sun was so hot in Mombasa that I actually burnt my shoulders. I’ve never ever burnt any skin before with the sun!! Maybe it was because I was in the pool the whole time playing water polo and water volleyball… Hmmm… Oh well. There’ll be another post about my experience in Mombasa soon as well… You can hear ALL about my trip in the next couple of posts.

When we left the UK, it was still pretty warm. When we got back.. Boy was I in for a chill shock! Seriously cold. Oh well. That’s the highs and highers of a holiday.

Well I best get back to work.

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays if you went somewhere or if you didn’t I hope you enjoyed the weather in your part of the world!

Why not drop me a quick comment about where you’ve been and the highlights of your trip.

Waiting to hear from you all soon!