Ready, set, achieve your Dreams.

Ready, set, achieve your Dreams.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

First step: Setting Goals

A prime example being my week that just passed. I set goals & almost all were achieved (one was partially, but I cannot in good faith count it, the perfectionist in me will not allow for it). Thriving under pressure, a short time span was set. Momentum is now needed to keep this progress going, but as I mentioned in my last post, you always know in your heart of hearts where the truth lies.And I got this.

This got me thinking. What are the ways in which are best to set goals for yourself and to achieve them and as such I came up with this.

How to achieve your dreams:

1.  Know yourself: Set goals, but personalize them so as to circumvent the bad habits that might cut you off at the knees (we all have them, just got to work with them).
2. Deadline: Make sure that your deadline is of importance or will motivate you, e.g. A holiday away
3. Baby Steps: Pace yourself in order to keep up momentum.  
4. Tell someone: This creates a sense of responsibility and will make it harder to drop the ball. (Maybe even grab a group of friends together and set goals and motivate it each other to achieve them)
5. Persistence: If you don't get it right the 1st time, try, try, again.

Rinse & repeat. 

Fear:
 
Now some of you that have read this may say, well, I don't know where to start. You, good sir/madam are lying. There is a dream inside of all of us (yes, I just quoted Mr Schuester in Glee). It may be daunting and scary or perhaps perceived to be unattainable. Or perhaps your parents/one of them are like mine: fear holds a tight grip, so tight they cannot nor do they want to, see passed their comfort zone & they keep telling you why it won't work. If you're anything like me though, you're an adventurer (albeit sometimes that fear grips you too). Push on. Climb those mountains. They are set for us to climb and it would be a waste if we didn't at least try.

Over & Out.

Mich

A Beautiful Conundrum

Life. It’s a beautiful and at times exasperating cycle that continues to ever evolve and back track until we have hit our stubborn heads against the metaphorical wall enough times to grow from the lessons that have been set out for us. 

Many a late night has been spent pondering these cycles, trying fervently to unravel them piece- by -piece. I want to understand the world, the psyche and everything in between. I am forever curious and like many, seek answers; solutions to the many conundrums life has presented me at various stages of my life.

However, one thing remains constant. A constant fear that lurks in the pit of my stomach. I feel a bit like what I imagine the crocs feel like when they swallow a stone (gastrolith) to aid digestion. Heavy. It is a question & a feeling that rings true to many. The fear that I have not, nor ever will have done everything I want to in my life. None of which defines me, but all of which makes up pieces of me.

Currently I reside in my comfort zone, but I once again have itchy feet. I seek new adventures, the wind in my hair, the ocean stretched out in all its grace & glory, new tastes, new sounds and more importantly more chances to grow. New challenges, new conundrums. They are in abundance, they surround me & set me free while suffocating me at the same time. As scary as these new adventures I seek are, as daunting as the probability of landing squarely where I am now, simply in a foreign country (for we carry ourselves with ourselves) I know that my next step is to venture once again beyond these walls of comfort. 

There are times like these that when they stand before us, we know what is written in our heart of hearts. We fear it. We want to ignore the reality. The question is, do we allow the fear of the unknown to cripple us or allow it to be the wind beneath our wings? So we may soar to heights previously unknown or unimaginable to us. This is the question that burns a whole in my head and my heart on so many occasions and forces me once again to take personal inventory. 

The time is now, time to get the fuck out of my comfort zone. I have already been here for too long this time round. And so the cycle continues. Life and her many questions and my quest to unravel at least a part of it. My truth. For after all, we live in a world created by our own perceptions and timing is everything.

Over & Out.

Mich

xoxo

Winter

And as he holds her still beating heart in his hands he knows what he has done. He has turned her fears into truth. 

And now it is time for her to heal. For her to gain closure on a book that has no ending. And hope that one day she will find what she thought she had found, true love. 

But before spring comes winter. For without pain growth cannot take place. Buds of a renewed spirit can only be born from the ashes of a heart broken.

Once upon a time, a girl met a boy, a boy being the operative word, but a boy she loved nonetheless.

Summertime and the livin' is easy

It's been a while since I have written anything. Living life to the fullest is rather expensive and time consuming. But as the work year draws to an end, I'm making no plans to slow down, but rather plans to capture each of these moments. This December I plan to take more photos!

As the year rolls to an end I realise how few of these the moments I have captured in a forever-sense. Photo's being the one way I like to capture a moment for a lifetime. The other tattoos. The latter slightly more expensive, and a little more of a faux pas in the eyes of my parents since I am Jewish by birth (although admittedly terrible at following the rules). 

I'm dying to get more ink nonetheless. Some inspiration for these can be found all over my 'I <3 ink' board on Pinterest. There are so many beautiful images out there, obviously the next one I plan to ink on my body will have a deeper meaning since I believe that, for me at least, tattoos must have a story behind them. Tattoos tell stories about their owners. They read like a picture book for adults, telling stories of heartbreak, triumph and everything in between.

December time is around the corner, time for family, friends and adventures.

Just last night I was discussing with my parents how the sea brings great joy to me and how much of this December holiday (the first one since highschool that I will not be working) will be spent in my favourite seaside destination Onrus with many of my favourite people!

Each time I drive into this generally sleepy town  my heart glows and a grin that can not be wiped off appears on my face. Friends, sea, sun and crazy adventures! All round winning in my books! December time here is where some of my all time favourite memories have been made.

This year I plan on catching more on camera, while also for the first time maybe attempting a surf with my boys. In all the years I have been coming here (and there have been around 23), each December I have vowed to learn to surf. Over the course of this last year I have started living that dream (although still a total novice, and with being petite a smaller board was in order, increasing difficulty and laughs). I might just start out with paddling to the backline (if I can make it, haha) and chilling with the boys, fingers crossed some whales come to visit (there have been stories of this of late, and boy would that make my day).

While taking this much deserved break I will be traveling around our beautiful coastline to visit other friends as well, from closer destinations such as Pearly Beach and Betty's Bay to slightly further places like Mosselbay to visit the Mbay crew and go on all kinds of crazy adventures and see some faces I haven't seen in far to long (Synergy this weekend is going to be off the walls mad and filled with jumping on friends out of glee, like a mini-reunion it will be)!

Summer time, my favourite time of the year! I can't wait till the 14th, the end of my working year and the beginning of an entire month off work! Just in time to get to Onrus and enjoy watching some prime boarding and start my December holiday the right way with the Onrus Classic (15 -17 December). Things couldn't have worked out more perfect!

Over and out.

Mich

xoxo

You mean I am a mistake?

This morning I opened up Facebook only to have my eyes assaulted by some religious banter. Now don't get me wrong, religion is a topic of conversation I rarely get into because of the fact that I believe that everyone is welcome to their points of view, it's our human right after all to have the freedom to say what we think and to believe in whatever we like. However, when I (in the broader sense of the term) am told that because I do not believe in G-d (call him by which ever name you please) and rather in evolution that I am a mistake and therefore have no purpose, I'm going to open my big fat trap (as my mom so lovingly calls it) and speak up.

Now bare with me, this is only my opinion, but I prefer to live life based on facts and formulate my opinions based on those facts. Are you telling me because I choose to not believe in a Higher Power within your perimeters that I am a mistake? Who are you to make that call? Would your all loving G-d approve of such comments?

Your religious views are yours to have, and I respect you for them. However, my opinions although very different from yours, hold as much value.

Over and Out.

Mich

xoxo

Moods that fluctuate like the tides

It's kind of funny how the one simile that describes moods best is that which refers to tides. The ocean being one of the few things (other than driving my car real fast) can make the adrenaline pump and wash away all my fears.

The ocean, she is vast, powerful, deserves respect and like most woman rather temperamental. She holds life within her, far beyond our wildest dreams considering we have yet to explore and discover half of what she has to offer. Like most women, she has held back, perhaps in fear.

Fear, it's a funny thing really. One simple emotion, yet it is able to hold us back from our true potential until we can learn that although afraid, that is no excuse not to try anyway. After all, the only things we ever truly regret is those things we never tried.

This week has got me thinking about this topic extensively. After all as someone once said 'life's not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain', and Spring has flown the coop here in SA so lets dance! Life's too short to sit and think about regrets and 'what if's', the only way to change it is by putting in some action to do just that, change it. This is why I set myself a challenge for this next month, time to stop letting fear hold the reins and take back the power.


If I died today, could I truly say I lived my life with no regrets and had lived life to the fullest? I'm not sure, and that's not good enough for me anymore.

Over and Out.

Mich

xoxo

Natural Vs Chemical, Nuture Vs Genetics

Something that keeps coming up in my life is trying to explain to people the concept that drugs are drugs, be they natural or chemical, neither being better/worse than the other.

This argument brought me great frustration a couple weekends back as hypocrites are my greatest pet peeve.

For years I sat silently fighting the good fight in order to retain my sanity in a household that was reined by illogical, emotionally driven antics. A household where to be heard I felt I needed to scream or else I was going to carry on going unheard. I dreamed of a day that everyone would be able to speak their minds, their opinions not being judged as wrong but rather as a different outlook on the situation at hand. I wanted a space to call safe, a home to be a home not a war zone. Hypocritical stand points with opposing behaviour being the order of the day, and everyone screaming, but never truly being heard left me confused and searching for ways to make things better.

After finally getting out of the house, I was a lil older, but no more wiser as to how to deal with life as those that should have been guiding me had had no guidance themselves in this regard. I am a firm believer that children are molded by a combination of genetics and their surroundings in their formative years. Granted I have little to no recollection of these years, but the memories I do have only make my belief in this stronger.

I was searching for years in all the wrong places, until someone suggested rehab. So I packed my shit up, asked for help (having to admit to one of the coping mechanisms and symptoms of much deeper issues in order for them to take me serious - drugs are bad kids, be they of the natural or chemical variant). Only problem is now that I am out, my family is stuck on the 'drugs are bad part' and not on the fact that it was a symptom, one that brought me to the point of asking for help as it was in my face, but a symptom nonetheless. I needed direction from some more well-rounded adults, and am now making healthier choices. Those choices I speak of, they are mine to make, and I will keep making those, even if that means hurting your feelings when I have to tell you that you are crossing boundaries when you leave your shit in my car and then harp on about my choices.

Sometimes I want to give them an inventory journal and be like 'I think we will get on better if you try work on yourself like I am and realise just because I acted out in a more obvious manner, you ain't perfect.'  Because neither of us is. Perfection is a lie we were taught growing up, it does not exist. We are constantly changing, evolving and learning. Maybe once this concept is grasped the hypocrisy will diminish.

Those mountains were set in my path for a reason, I was meant to climb over those mountains to get to where I am today. Only difference between us, is I can see that and all you can see are the mountains.

Give it a week of letting all involved simmer down and a discussion with the family member in question, we are now finally on the same page of understanding. But this is only due to my now well developed ability to communicate & to response instead of reacting - something my parents struggle to grasp at times. They are improving for the most part, and for this I am grateful, however on occasion they get a lil irrational and forget to listen to facts.

Only time will tell if my little (and by no means is that reflective of how dysfunctional) dysfunctional family will grow into a more peaceful and rational one. Here's to holding thumbs that at 30 I will have my shit together and my family theirs. I know I'm powerless over them, but hope is still alive and kicking, and with the progress over the last year and 3 months,things are looking good for the lil crazy clan of 4 and extended family.

Over and Out.

Mich

xoxo