Well, it’s that time of year again. I’m not sure whether it’s the planetary alignment or if it’s because I’m on the cusp of another birthday, but it feels like it’s time to reassess and re-evaluate life and the direction to take on the next leg of the journey. Although this time, it seems as if I’m not alone in this life re-evaluation.

After talking to many friends and some of my students, it seems re-evaluation is on the cards for many. Have we all suddenly arrived at a crossroad and are not sure which way to turn? Unfortunately, I don’t hold all of the answers, however I believe that we are each on a pathway of discovery.

Each time we stop and re-evaluate our lives, it seems a bit like looking at the map. We look back to see where we’ve been, and we are pleased to have travelled so far. Then we look forward on the map and see many roads before us offering so many choices to help us reach our destination. Which road do we take? Which road to choose?

It’s a difficult decision, but to remain standing in the same place leads to nowhere, stagnation. We become disenchanted, disillusioned with life, confused, and at times downright miserable. Sometimes it takes a lot of soul searching in order to get back on track and know the right path to take. That said, who is to say that any of the roads that lie before us are wrong? We will eventually end up at the right destination, but perhaps by a different route than the one we first imagined.

It doesn’t matter which road we choose to take, there will no doubt be trials and tribulations, hurdles, hills and valleys. The important thing is what we learn from the journey. If we continue to learn and to grow, we move forward. If we keep repeating the same old habits, then we keep chasing our own tail, getting nowhere fast.

The next question might be, how do I stop the merry-go-round and get back on the rollercoaster? Sometimes it takes many failed attempts and much falling flat our face before we can land gracefully on our and feet and hence back on the journey trail. The only things we can do are to dust ourselves off and try again. Seize every opportunity and make the most of it.

If it doesn’t work out, try Plan B. There’s always a Plan B, right? Perhaps not everyone has a Plan B, because we all want to strive for the best. That’s not to say that Plan B is not as good as Plan A. It might well be equally as good and it may turn out to be the better way to continue the journey, despite what our long cherished illusions might have led us to believe.

Things don’t always go to plan. Yet everything happens for a reason. All we can do, in reality, is plan to make the best out of the cards we’ve been dealt. Believe. Stay strong, Love and respect yourself. Enjoy the little things. Celebrate your achievements, no matter how small. Don’t give up…

Happy New Year! Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Well it's been a while since I wrote on this blog. It's funny how time just gets away from us when we get caught up in life. The past 6 months has been an incredible journey of self-discovery. I have been in hospital, several times for various reasons. I have had to change my diet and lifestyle quite dramatically in order to better deal with my Crohn's Disease. So far it's working, most of the time, which is an incredible bonus.

I made the decision to get my motor scooter licence so I can have more independence in my life. I passed the test with flying colours, a brand new motor scooter presented itself with such brilliant timing. Now that I have the Scooter, at my home, in my city, I am scared to ride after falling off an hour after I had registered and insured it. I am grateful that people were kind enough to help me, I was not injured and my bike has only minimal damage as far as I know. Luckily my parents were still in town and able to help me fix some of the damage immediately. I now just need to have it checked by a mechanic to rule out any more serious damage, then I need to keep practicing, become more confident in my ability to ride, and take an advanced riding course to improve my skills. It will happen when it is meant to.

Late last year I had become very disillusioned and confused with my life and where things were at. I was scared about work, lack of income and everything that stems from that. I was also very over my chosen city. I decided to take some time out. To get reacquainted with myself. I temporarily worked and lived in a city where I have lived before. It was like taking a step back in time. I thought that I could just fit back in to where I left it and I didn't. I couldn't. I realised I have changed and my life has progressed. I enjoyed spending time with some amazing friends, who once again, opened their hearts and their homes to me, let me into their lives, and helped me on my journey of healing. I realised that not everything is what it seems, and sometimes going back to the past can help you to understand how good the present really is. My time away was bittersweet. I had to sort the shit from the sugar on many levels.

Some of the lessons I learned were difficult. I had to relearn how to love myself. How to like myself, and how to respect myself in order to accept who I am. Learning to stand up for myself and what I believe in. Learning that Karma works.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination. This is a very profound quote. Having been away for over 2 months, I have reminded myself that joy can be found in the simplest of things, from the setting of the sun, a swim in the ocean, and the innocent songs of my 2 year old nephew who is obsessed with his aunt's motorscooter (or Auntie C's mo-no bike as he says). Happiness can also be found within, just that sometimes you need to push past the clouds of negativity that stop you from seeing and feeling it.

Politics. It's always an interesting topic for discussion. It often seems to be a love-hate relationship between the public and politicians. With the upcoming election, politics is a topic that I could hardly let slip by. The 2010 election is set to be one of the most interesting elections that I have been able to vote in. While the televised great debate between the two candidates was less than interesting, there have been other snippets which have attracted my attention. The debate on morning television, a few days ago, between the Australian Sex Party and Family First was possibly the most entertaining tidbit so far.

I have been doing my research on the policy content of all of the major parties in order to choose who best to allocate my vote. While my mind has already been made up for some time now, I am still interested to hear other views. Today whilst I was on my morning walk, I spoke to a man who was advocating in the local mall for his political party. It was a party I had never heard of. A minority party. I was hoping for some kind of intelligent discussion on the policy views of this particular party, but I was sadly disenchanted when given a handful of brochures (which I kindly gave back and asked them to be recycled) and given some hollow information about trains and farming practices with absolutely no substance or any reasoning to back up the opinions. I tried to prompt him on some more prominent policy that the majority would be interested in, such as health policy, and received a response that both scared and appalled me. I was further shocked when this guy became very defensive when asked about preferential voting. The response: Why should that even matter?

Well why indeed? When I first was given the chance to vote I was uninterested in voting at all and questioned the point of wasting a Saturday to stand in line for half a day in order to cast a vote for someone or something I could care less about. However over the years I have come to understand the importance of voting. While not all areas of policy have a direct impact on me personally, some policies can and do impact on me both directly or indirectly. If I can make an informed choice about who to vote for then I can choose what I feel is right. If I decide to vote for a political party other than the two major parties, I want to know how and why my vote will count. What will a minority party do to help inform the major parties when it comes to policy and decision making? I want to make sure that the party that I choose to vote for, adequately reflects my own values and beliefs so that when policy is legislated, all angles of the argument are accounted for. The "Two-party preferential system" can be difficult to understand, however it is better to know how the system works so that a vote is not blindly cast for a minority party without the knowledge of where that vote will end up.

I am glad that I have the opportunity to vote so that even in some small way my voice might be heard. I know that voting will determine the fate of the country for better or worse, however, may the best candidate win.

Isn't it funny how things change. Today, as I was soaking up the winter sun, I began to think about how quickly things change. The time. The seasons. People. Technology. It was this last point, technology, that got me thinking.

I began to think about how technology has changed and improved in my lifetime. How technology has evolved to become such a large part of our day to day living. We have become slaves to the SMS. I remember the time when life was so much simpler. We had a rotary phone and a black and white TV which was only capable of tuning in to two channels. I remember the excitement of getting an aerial installed on our roof so that we could pick up the "Sydney" channels with much more ease, instead of being restricted to ABC and one other local station.

The next big change in technology was the video recorder. We thought we were cool because we had a remote control. The remote control attached to the video recorder with a wire, which didn't even reach the couch in our small lounge room. But nevertheless it was exciting because we could tape programs off TV and watch them after school the next day.

Bit by bit, technology has crept into my life. Computers, CD players, mobile phones. The notable change in portable music devices - my radio was swapped for a walkman, then a discman, now an ipod - with each new device becoming noticeably smaller in size.

Technology has changed the way we interact with friends, community, society and the world. We no longer take the time to call our friends, instead we send them an email, or "talk" using a variety of instant messaging programs. We keep up to date with facebook, twitter, blogs and Vlogs. We no longer share our thoughts privately with one friend, we share our thoughts globally, with many acquaintances, some we know well enough to call friends, others we know only by association. We no longer need to step foot inside the local bank or the supermarket when most of our needs can be met through online services.

I often wonder, if postmen deliver less mail these days. I used to get so excited over the prospect of a letter in the mail, now I am satisfied with a funny email from friends. Gone are the days when we had pen pals. Letter writing, always seemed so much more than just writing a letter. It was an art form. A platform for expression. Nowadays many people don't know how to write a letter appropriately, let alone recognise the intricacy of the art and power a letter can possess.


I wonder where change will lead us next?