{"id":46210,"date":"2022-11-24T11:31:41","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T09:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/udexpress\/forgiveness-is-the-attribute-of-strong-people-20221123\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T13:03:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:03:27","slug":"forgiveness-is-the-attribute-of-strong-people-20221123","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/udexpress\/forgiveness-is-the-attribute-of-strong-people-20221123\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Forgiveness is the attribute of strong people\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhy should I feel insecure about my past? My experiences are my testimony, and my testimony might help someone else. The negativity in my early age evolved to positivity in my later years.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is according to Adriaan Wagener, founder of Nexgen Training Academy, who will be releasing his first book called The Life of a Self-made Hard Worker on Saturday, 26 November at 13:00 at Agape Coffee Shop, 82 Caledon Street, Kariega. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a 36-page soft cover book, telling the story of a boy born in Kariega during 1992, who went through seemingly insurmountable challenges of life, including sexual abuse at an early age, but he never lost hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a child I did not understand what sexual abuse was. It was introduced to me by a man at a corner shop in Thomas Gamble as \u2018love and care\u2019 and something not to tell anyone about, otherwise I won\u2019t have a happy family. My wish at that stage, at the age of six, was to have a happy family, so I never told anyone and continued allowing the abuse,\u201d said Wagener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wagener writes about his experiences in life with his dysfunctional parents, the days spent at Liebenhause Children\u2019s House, substance abuse, life with his foster parents, working as a domestic worker, completing his studies, his failed marriage, being a father and starting his own business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll your trauma and experiences in life is life teaching you to become a teacher of life. And I think my gift is to be such a teacher of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhenever I feel sad or question what happened to me, I write. Your hurt is your greatest strength and it inspired me to write this little book which is just an introduction to the story of my life. My novel, in which I will release more detail, will be released during 2023 and I am planning a documentary as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About his childhood molester Wagener said, \u201cI will never confront him, because he will not understand. The universe has its own way to deal with people like him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am not a victim. Being a victim will let you stagnate. You must move forward, away from the negative it happened, deal with it, mourn it out, and build with it to become successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am at peace. I\u2019ve dealt with my past. If I go for him (molester) now, it will be like fighting with my past and it will break me down. But I am planning a documentary and would then like to make him part of it. I want to ask him whether he went through the same in his life and if that is why he sexually abused me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe greatest characters and strongest persons are those allowing themselves to mourn and to feel. To forgive is to stop blaming. The weak cannot forgive; forgiveness is the attribute of strong people,\u201d said Wagener. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets to hear Wagener\u2019s full story are R250 and include a cheese platter, wine, and a copy of his book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n