In the midst of movement and chaos, becoming the new me!

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.
– Deepak Chopra

Oh my goodness, where has the time gone? I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post. Every week I start writing an idea for my next post and before I know it a new week has started and that’s how it’s been for the last few weeks. Needless to say I have a number of blog posts started but not completed.

Let me share my last few weeks – don’t worry . . . I’ll make it brief . . .

Easter was a rather emotional time for me being my first without my mom. The Monday after Easter (referred to as Easter Monday here in South Africa), my best friend’s dad passed away (stomach Cancer). She lost her mom last year towards the end of April as well. Sympathising with my friend for her loss was difficult seeing as I am still dealing with my own loss right now so I kept my visit very brief.

After Easter, I attended two workshops in an effort to find out more about how I can increase my wealth by working smarter and not harder. The workshops were run by two financial guru’s (individually) well known in financial circles who are both millionaires in their own right. The workshops were about them sharing their knowledge and experience on how they created their own empires and how we (the little man/woman in the street can do the same). Both workshops were very inspiring and thought provoking. Building financial independence takes a lot of hard work initially but good for long term financial independence.

I also have a wonderful book I am dying to digest called The Wealth Chef written by Ann Wilson which contains recipes to make your money work hard so you don’t have to. Find it here. Written in large print, in plain, easy to understand English makes the concepts easy to digest. The book contains practical exercises which I am dying to try but my time is just so pressured right now.

Oh my word, there’s actually another book I have on Kindle which I’m trying to read too called: Just One Percent Changes for Success written by Fiona Juan available on Amazon.com – Find it here. Also written in very plain, easy to understand English about how making one percent changes in your life over one hundred days, you can turn your entire life around. I’ve read little pieces of this book – that’s the other nice thing about this book, you don’t have to read it from cover to cover all at once, you can read bite-sized chunks as time allows and you can always refer back to it, like I do.

The last week in April we had another two public holidays and on one of them, I visited my friend and ex colleague Simone at her new house in a little town called Wellington, such a beautiful scenic little town.

My friend is originally from Wellington but is currently living in Switzerland with her husband. They decided to buy a house in Wellington for when they eventually retire from full time employment and are ready to put their feet up and sip cocktails on the porch.

The other reason Simone came “home” was to launch her first book called Kaalvoet Klimeid so praat ekke. The book is a collection of poems written by Simone over a period of time and written in easy to understand Afrikaans, written the way some of our local people speak the Afrikaans language. The collection was inspired by the generosity of a friend who understands her love for people, the environment, the worlds’ socio-political contexts and rich cultures.

I was not able to make it to the book launch due to a prior commitment but managed to spend the day with her in Wellington at her new home. She is always so uplifting and empowering I love spending time with her. While in Switzerland we keep in touch via e-mail but it’s just not the same as being in the same room with her. I’m really looking forward to her next visit which will hopefully be soon.

So, my dear friends, that is . . . in a nutshell what the last few weeks have been like for me.

Now for this past weekend . . .

Saturday started with me collecting some jewellery from the jeweller. Let me explain . . . I had some jewellery I don’t really wear anymore so I took it to one of our local jewellers and asked them to melt it down and use the gold to make me a brand new (wrist) bangle.

When collecting the bangle yesterday I decided (very spontaneously) to buy myself a pair of earrings seeing as I had not bought myself a birthday or Christmas gift this past year.

For those who don’t know me personally, let me explain to help you understand the context . . . a few years after I started working for the first time, I decided that I would spoil myself by buying a birthday and Christmas present for myself, in so doing, I would get exactly what I wanted.

I would buy the gift, wrap it and on the gift tag write “to me”, “from me”. On my birthday and on Christmas day I would put my gift with all my other gifts and open it after I’ve opened all the others. I would act surprised and go “Wow! It’s just what I’ve always wanted” (crazy, huh?)

After collecting my jewellery I headed off to a place called the Italian Kitchen in Newlands, Cape Town for my first #CTMeetUp with a group of bloggers. Being my first time, it was a rather daunting experience – you know, that feeling of butterflies in your tummy when you’re about to enter a venue where you don’t know anyone? Doesn’t this scare you too?

Anyway, walking in I was immediately ushered into the courtyard where a few other bloggers were already waiting so I wasn’t the first to arrive. Our hostess had arranged for a few beauty therapists from a company called Rain Africa – you can find them here: http://rainafrica.com to be at hand to give us each a massage. We could choose whether to have a hand, foot or neck and shoulder massage. I opted for a neck and shoulder massage as I badly needed one. For the time I was with the therapist, I ignored everyone around me, closed my eyes and just enjoyed the experience. Wow! What bliss! I felt rejuvenated and on cloud nine after that.

Then it was time to network and mingle which was a rather daunting experience seeing as everyone seemed to know everyone and quickly gravitated towards those they knew. Fortunately I was not the only newbie – there were two others who were also new so I gravitated towards them. One was Liezel who has a blog called Baked in the Cape – you can find it here: https://bakedinthecape.wordpress.com and Talana from who has a blog called T with Miss B – you can find it here: https://teawithmissb.wordpress.com. Our personalities are so similar and we have so much in common that we just clicked immediately. I am so happy to have met them.

I now have two more brand new friends to talk to – even if we only speak in virtual space until the next time we meet. Later we were joined by another blogger who has been to previous meet up events, her name is Mandy who calls her blog Pregnant in Cape Town – you can find it here: http://pregnantincapetown.co.za. What a lovely person she is too. Such fun to be around – brought some more sunshine to our little group, so now I have three new friends.

We were eventually ushered into the venue for the rest of the programme to continue. On each chair was a goodie bag sponsored by Gum Tree South Africa http://www.gumtree.co.za/s-cape-town/v1l3100006p1 filled with an enormous amount of useful practical items. We were all amazed at the number of wonderful sponsors who showered us with not only items in the goodie bags but also with spot prizes handed out during the course of the event.

While indulging in yummy food and drinks we heard from guest speakers: Ronel from Rain Africa who told us all about their products and services. Through education and training they empower local people who have not been able to complete their formal education by training them to become beauty therapists. The Rain product range is totally environment friendly. Find them at http://rainafrica.com.

Our other speaker was Melissa Louise from a company called Zana South Africa – an interior decorating/lifestyle company. You can find them here: http://zanaproducts.co.za. One of the most useful gifts received was a pencil bag from Zana Products which I am using to hold all my USB sticks and my portable hard drive. Thank you Zana Products.

The event was superbly organised and hosted by Cindy Alfino (http://alfinos.wordpress.com). I cannot wait for the next event.

On Sunday, in South Africa, we celebrated Mother’s Day. Needless to say it’s been a rather sombre and sad day for me having said goodbye to my mother six months ago.

As long as I can remember, I have always tried to make Mother’s Day a memorable one for my mom. As a child it was attempting to give her breakfast in bed which never worked because by the time I got to her bedroom with breakfast, she was always on her way to the kitchen already – no matter how early I got up, she never waited for me to bring her breakfast to her so I never had the honour of serving my mom breakfast in bed.

When I started working, I gave up on the breakfast in bed idea and always treated my mom to lunch somewhere. I made the effort to always find a new and different experience every year so we never went to the same place twice. This worked a lot better for me too because eating out always saves having to wash the dishes afterwards (laughing).

Last year my sister and I took mom to a restaurant called Rhebokskloof for lunch- a great place to go if you have little people (children). Lots of place for them to run around, pony rides and a play gym for them to play on while you enjoy your meal. You can find them here: http://www.rhebokskloof.co.za. Here’s a photo of mom at Rhebokskloof taken on Mother’s Day 2014.

Mother’s Day 2014 Rhebokskloof

This week is going to be another busy one for me. I have my voice exercises to practice (homework), and lots to do with regard to my home based business which I am hoping to have up and running by 1 June 2015. I’m looking forward to a workshop on Thursday for Entrepreneurs called Home Based Business Professionals Workshop. Can’t wait to hear what they have to say and what I can learn about running a home based business.

What are your plans for the week?

Do you have a busy week ahead?

What will you be doing this week?