Be There!

"Okay, this is where I am, right here, right now. And BE there. That's the big challenge in life." - Elle Macpherson.
I thought this quite an appropriate start to my first blog from New Zealand. To be completely honest while  writing this, I am still in transit from Sydney to Auckland but needed a distraction from the sadness of leaving family and loved ones behind. This move to New Zealand was a decision made with the belief that it is the best option for me, my wife and my two boys. I also believe that there is a greater purpose and a plan for this move. A purpose far beyond escaping the chaos that South Africa finds itself in. There has been an inexplicable deep rooted pull to this far off land. A pull that has been there for many years, lying dormant, waiting for the right time to emerge and become a reality. That time is now! As surreal as it feels to me, with every passing minute, I am literally hurtling towards my destiny. The frenetic activities of the last few weeks have kept my head so occupied, that I have had little time to realise I will soon be restarting not only my home but also my working career. With time on my hands sitting in airports and on the planes, that reality is making me a little nervous now. So many new things to learn about, new systems and procedures and the biggie for me, new people. There is so much comfort in the familiar. The new however is going to force me to grow and expand the limits I currently have. To use a catchphrase, "You grow when you go." It is corny but quite apt in my circumstance. Another appropriate quote, "If you don't change direction, you will end up where you are headed." I guess, I just made a major direction change...
My mind drifts to analogies of yachting and similarities of jibbing, trimming the sails to make direction change and to optimise the wind that is available but my nautical knowledge would probably embarrass me. Let me just echo Elle's sentiment to BE where you currently are. Make the most of the wind that is available to you. It is your yacht and you have control over the destination. Change your bearing if you don't like where you are heading. Maybe you don't need to change continents, perhaps it's just a small change now, that may be all that is needed to completely alter your long term destination.  

What's The Attraction?

This is the last time I'll be sitting behind my current company laptop writing my Friday morning blog as I am setting out on a new adventure and what expectations we have! More on that in future blogs and yes I do intend to continue blogging.

This week, I attended an Engineer In Training Conference and really admire the skills that these young people are already demonstrating. One presenter gave us an overview of a new mall being built in Nanyuki in Kenya and the design and construction of the building services he was involved with. A line of text in his presentation referred to the escalators that were being installed and resonated something in me. To most of us, we use escalators every time we go to the local mall or shopping centre. A pretty normal occurrence. In Kenya, the escalators being installed would be the first escalators in the country, so in the presenter's words, "would be an attraction in themselves". That sparked a spiral of thoughts of how differently we perceive and value things. If we visited that mall in Kenya, we probably wouldn't have even noticed the significance of the escalators, as they are such common-place items in our lives that we take for granted. Imagine those visitors, riding on them for the first time. How different would their experience be compared to ours? Imagine the excitement, the trepidation, the wonderment of how they work! You and I would just step onto it and think silently, "I hope the hand railing is clean".
To them, the novelty and uniqueness, is the attraction. To us the converse makes the escalators mundane.

What makes something attractive for you? I am not asking about the obvious physical attractiveness of someone. Rather, do you like the new and cutting-edge technology or do you prefer the classics? Are you drawn into the refined cultural activities or are you a bush loving survivor? My adventure is taking me to a place that has been wooing me for many years and it certainly has the natural aspects that are an attraction to me as opposed to any 'hoity-toity' cultural affairs. My take is that we all perceive beauty and are attracted in different manners. There may be some overlap and that's where the common interests lead to friendships, partnerships and marriage. Sharing those attractions is an essential part of forming a bond with someone else. Having a common passion makes it easy to relate to another individual. As a group of runner's we can talk about the pro's and con's of different socks for over an hour. I would never expect everyone to get excited over such things but we all have our specific "sock-conversations". Once again, we need to respect those differences and maybe even try to engage in something outside of our normal attraction-sphere. You may surprise yourself and discover a new passion, or at least learn something new about running socks...

Is It "Just" Friday?

Early alarm. Coffee is made and I'm at my desk getting my blog done before heading off to work. Just another Friday morning.
Work will be the usual rush of one activity to the next with a healthy portion of meetings thrown in for good measure. Then it will be slow trip home in the Friday afternoon traffic. Just another Friday.

What is going to make today stand apart from all the other Fridays? What am I going to do to make this day count or will I just allow it to be a "just day"?

With my future plans coming together as rapidly as they are, I can so easily get caught up in the busyness of ticking off activities that I forget to value my time too. Normal day-to-day living can get you into that same mode where your efforts are so focused on the to-dos that the really important living part is sacrificed.

What was the last great moment you can recall? If it was more than two days ago, you are living "just days" and need to reassess what is taking your focus. You also need to consider when did you last attempt to create a lasting moment for somebody else. These don't have to be elaborate plans but even giving a word of encouragement when you see someone needs it could be what transforms their day from "just" to "great".

We are not merely here to endure the daily grind; we are here to live and to have an abundance of life. I am not referring to wealth and possessions with the word abundance but rather to the life itself. It should be filled with great moments and memories. We are reminded so regularly these days, how quickly our candles can be snuffed out. We should really take a moment, right now, to check if it is going to be "just" Friday today?