I'm back!!

To follow is a summary of my January newsletter.

Thank goodness the ‘festive’ season is behind me!! I have found very little to be festive about in the past month. As a matter of fact, I have worked myself to the bone. Everyday I would weigh up my choices - to sit around and relax with friends and family or to get my house in order. The calendar’s New Year has always been a good time for me to transform my external environment while my personal New Year (birthday) has been the time to do so internally. In my case it happens to be almost 6 months apart, which means that I at least get a break during the months in between.

While observing the world, from the top of my stepladder and covered in paint, I realized a few things. The most important one was that the right time is now!! Perhaps I should first mention that I have never been big on New Years Resolutions – before end January they are already history and definitely not because of a lack of willpower. My strength of will has pulled me through some scary moments and my determination is alive and well when it matters.

Let me get back to my point – or was that my perch? Most of us wait for the right time, the right person and/or the right situation before we risk getting ‘our hands dirty’. Naturally, when we then find ourselves in a situation that feels right, we immediately assume that the time as well as the person is right. Big mistake!!! Time is never right and can therefore never be wrong. Situations have at least 32 different angles and I bet you that 16 of these will feel right while the balance will feel very wrong. People’s rightness cannot be measure by anybody else but themselves. What a dilemma!!!!

My little pearl of wisdom today simply suggests that when you are ready (ready sounds better than right), the opportunity will present itself in the form of a situation and/or a person that will assist you in your process. It is not a cliché by accident (did you know a cliché is a hackneyed phrase?). You probably wonder if I have smoked my socks while on the stepladder – Duh, you think, its sooo obvious. I don’t think it is as apparent. My realization would have felt very different if it was: the time is right now or perhaps: the time is now right. The deduction that I have made is that the moment must be seized, the opportunity created and the action must be taken. Try it for yourself by tackling a task that has been staring you in the eye; an unpleasant task that you have avoided. For me it was painting and it was liberating!

The result of all this is that I am seizing my moment this year by putting myself out there as a Travelling Companion. It so happens that my sister and I have shared this dream to travel while caring for others. The manner in which we demonstrate this caring varies – she is much more hands on and me more mindful – and together we form a strong support system. The idea is to find a group (at least more than one person) that wish to explore and/or expand themselves while being assisted, protected, nurtured and cared for, by the two of us. We have started the process by putting together a blog (http://www.travelcarepair.blogspot.com).

I will therefore have to be more organized with my time and far more structured in my approach to my other, ‘real’ work. Exactly how I will manage both is uncertain at this stage. However, I can promise you that the classes will continue, the readings will never stop, the endless cups of coffee and chats will be ongoing until the day I expire.