Life Stylin’ – because life’s not a dress rehearsal!
Are you living your best life? A cliché? Or a chance for honest reflection on where we’re at?
I didn’t like my answer. That was what feels like moons ago now, when I used to look out of my office window at the beach vista in the distance, and wish with all my heart that I was down on a beach. Exploring, body surfing in the waves and just generally not-having-to-work!
I felt so trapped.
Then that all changed when I got hit by a car whilst crossing on a green man light on a pedestrian crossing. I couldn’t work for 6 months whilst my body recovered from multiple complicated fractures and surgery. Not being there to oversee my integrated Health Centre was affecting the bottom line….
Fi’s World – CONTD
….and so even though I felt a big loss – after all this business was my ‘baby’! my pride and joy for the last eight years!, it made sense to let it go.
Silver lining
‘Painful’ is on the light side. Excrutiating is more appropriate. The surprising part was the silver lining. You see I had several months of not being able to work or move about much, and this meant self-reflection time.
I read a book that essentially asked me if I was spending my time doing what I’d dreamed of doing when I was a kid. I didn’t like my answer! And I realized this could be good timing to rethink the bigger picture.
In fact it’s a great chance to ask yourself the same question I asked myself back in 2002. Having just sold my business, I actually felt relieved in some ways, although my income stream had gone with it! So what would I be doing now, if I had the money and the time thing sorted? What would I do even if I didn’t get paid to do it?
Cutting to the chase
My answers to these questions planted the seeds for my lifestyle today. It prompted me to ponder my values and what’s really important to me.
Fast forward to today, and I’m on that journey towards the life I love. I’ve figured out a way to build one of my top values; ‘making a difference’ into what I do every day.
From cycling the length of the UK for a local charity in my late teens, to doing the same here in New Zealand only this time on a tandem bike with a blind cycling companion to raise funds for a NZ not-for-profit organization…to swimming 100km to feed kids in need…
…to walking crazy distances in the UK, and more recently in NZ, including 100km non-stop to help build wells for water in Africa
…to founding my own non-profit organization The 2Gether Foundation, to provide micro finance loans for New Zealand women to begin their own business, who otherwise may not be able to secure a loan.
And you know the thing that really spins my wheels? I get to help many people like you and me, to take the next steps. That may be with your health-style goals – to have more energy without relying on caffeine, reach your ideal weight without dieting, or maybe even look your best without it costing you the earth. Or to have more life-style balance in your life.
If you think that life’s more fun when you have the wind in your hair, and more spin in your wheels, sign up now for your weekly inspiration with Fi!