Home and Away (Not the Lame TV Show)

Table View, South Africa (day 7)

Today marks the end of my first week. It feels like I have been gone for so much longer and my home in Australia feels like a lifetime ago. My journey so far has been a torrent of  contrasting emotions. There are hours of excitement and pleasure as I bask in the beauty of Africa.

There are other times that I feel a little blue. Those hours that I crave my own bed and things Australian like Vegemite. Moments that I miss my friends, family and my beloved dogs Fudge and Benji. Fleeting thoughts of those in my home land as I wonder how their day is 10 000 miles away. I think about the things I am missing; Samuel moving to a new house, Aimee starting year 12 and Nathaniel recording his first live album and I long to be there with them. Then a dark skinned toddler smiles and leaps into my arms and I remember why I am here.

I realise that I need to relish and savour these moments or they will pass me by.

So I vow to talk less and listen more, I tell myself to be spontaneous and daring and I scold myself for sleeping in till 8am. I want to come home in four months time and be able to proudly say I made the most of every possible opportunity.

My goals for this week include listening to what people say (not just hearing) which will consequently result in me talking less; I believe this is an important skill for me to learn. To stay in the moment and savour every experience (this means not revisiting my past or formulating plans for the future) and thirdly I am going skydiving

that's right SKYDIVING. I do not want fear to control me or prevent me from living; so the only sensible solution is to go skydiving.

So cheers to a new week