Welcome to 2005

So a new year is upon us, 2005. It feels like yesterday that I celebrated the Christmas of 2003, made my New Year's resolutions for 2004, and had all my Christmas parties. Like most people I cannot believe that the past year has gone past so quickly. I remember our office Christmas party (or End-of-Year party as we had some non-christians in the office) so vividly, and it was a great party, I remember spending Christmas with my parents. Yet here I am again, doing the exact same thing all over. Where did the year go?

My New Year's resolutions for 2004 were the same as always, get fit, and go to London. I've been saying those 2 things probably since I was 18 years old, but I finally did it in 2004 (even though the fitness thing only lasted till the middle of the year). I packed my bags, moved to London in May, cried my eyes out because I was so homesick, found a nice job, found a nice place to stay, made great friends, started to party a little, relaxed and over the course of a few month the homesickness passed (though man, did I cry a lot those first few months, haha).

Now I cannot believe how silly I was to feel homesick in the 1st place. I am enjoying myself tremendously. I have great friends, I have learned a lot about myself and about other people and other cultures.

In the process of moving to London, this website has unfortunately taken a backseat. I was simply to busy, did not have the resources or time to update my website, and to be honest, for me the whole spirituality thing has taken a bit of a backseat.

See I already knew 2004 was going to be a year like no other for me, I realised that while 2003 was spent looking at the more spiritual side of life, 2004 would be more physical, more demanding. And it was. It was a struggle for survival, getting through the day without getting on a plane back home, without crying too much, without quitting. But I followed my mom and my friends' advise, I stayed, I waited and waited for the homesickness to pass, and low and behold, it did. I survived.

I am now a completely different person to what I used to be. Cape Town, for me, was, and is, a lot closer to nature, it was easier to sit down and be still for a moment and take in the beauty of my surroundings, the mountain, the beaches. To stop and smell the roses! London for me is the complete opposite. It's not a matter of stopping to smell the roses, it's more that there are no roses to smell, and therefore, no real reason to stop at all, so I just keep going at that same frenetic pace that all Londoners maintain.

But I enjoy it. Though I must regretfully admit that I now drink about 10 times more than I used to back home. It's a London-let's-go-down-to-the-pub-after-work thing I guess!

London has taught me a lot. I used to think that I was a very open-minded person, I now realise I was kidding myself. I used to have an opinion about everything and everyone, and if you had a different opinion, I would argue with you until I could convince you of my point, that I was right. Now I just let things go! I don't tell everyone my opinion on the matter anymore, and I don't argue if I don't agree with you, I just let things go. I also try not to moan about everything when things don't go my way. I'm less likely to be judgemental about other people and situations now (unless I'm kidding myself again!)...

But as I always tell my friends, every year I become a little bit more mature. And every time I realise this, I think back on how naive and childish I used to be and think, wow, now I'm really grown up, only to go through the same process a few months later.

It's all part of growing up, of being human, changing to adapt to the environment around us. And it's a good thing. Emotional growth!

I've also noticed that the tougher life becomes, the faster I grow emotionally. 2004 was a tough year for me, for many different reasons, but I think it's made me stronger, I've come out the other end with so many good friends.

So even though I didn't spend any time on meditation or astral projection or anything that could remotely be classified as "spiritual", I think I am still a better person than I was going into 2004.

Trying to be spiritual only got me so far in 2003, trying to survive 2004 got me a lot further.

so I guess the moral of the story is to remember, no matter how tough life is, things will get better, and when they do, you'll be a better person for it. In other words, when something bad happens to you, find a way to turn it into your advantage, know that you will be stronger because of it.

Remember:

- What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

- Life is like a wheel, sometimes your at the top, and sometimes at the bottom, but the wheel is always turning.

Good luck in 2005.

Regards
Webmaster
Spiritual Paths
February 2005