Sweet Desire…

I know I’ve been slacking of late in my blogging and I humbly apologise. If I thought 2015 was an insane year, 2016 took off with a bang and I’m still trying to find myself!

The Wilderness

My day job has been keeping me quite busy and I’m incredibly grateful having employment that pays the bills, however it makes it so much harder trying to squeeze in time for writing. I recently got the opportunity to travel to the Wilderness for a short stint as part of a strategic planning session and it felt like a sin to be working in a slice of paradise and not having time to explore its beauty. On a free moment, I took a leisurely walk along the shore and I was in awe of the timeless splendour of the Southern Cape. I could see myself living there – in a cottage close to the beach, cuddling up on a swing chair with Neil, soaking up the surroundings, without a trace of stress on the horizon. Ah – if only my dreams could turn into reality, how tranquil life would be?

The garden route highway skirting the coastline

But alas here I am, still running like a hamster on a wheel, thinking I’m making progress, only to find I’ve stayed in the same place, dishevelled and utterly exhausted! I only got around to compiling my goals for the year towards the end of February instead of them being New Year’s resolutions! But no matter, promises made then tend to be too idealistic and fizzle out anyway.

The lagoon and sea intertwining

I recently came across an insightful post on the Change blog  on how to achieve what matters the most and why resolutions never pan out. Many of us tend to list too many goals to achieve, being brain-washed by society into thinking that we can have it all. The longer the list, the greater the failure as we’re too busy juggling them in the air, dropping one at a time. The post recommends focussing on one goal at a time, making it a priority, investing enough time and energy to ensure it materialises. This was an A-HA moment for me – one that has worked well in the past, but has been watered down due to a growing number of goals I want(ed) to achieve. I emphasise the word “want” because they’re nice to haves… I want to run a marathon, I want to lose weight, I want a six pack, you name it, I’ve wanted it all! These wants are great to envision, however none happen overnight, some taking months even years to take shape. Patience is not my friend and we’ve been having an on and off relationship for years now!

Malini and I 🙂

But the message sunk in. I needed to streamline my goals, I had to be real with myself and ask what held a burning desire for me to achieve. Last year carried a fair share of disappointment and made me realise that although it’s great to plan elaborate goals, life has a way of knocking the wind out of your sail and steering you on a course you had no intention of following. Instead of focussing on the same goals of yesteryear, I decided to attempt something I never thought I had the guts to commit to.

My number one priority this year isn’t running, nor is it shedding five kilograms… drum roll… it’s to write the first draft of a romance novel!!! The mere thought of it makes me feel like a public speaker about to address a roomful of people.

My fellow writers have enquired when I plan on joining them for NaNoWrimo (a month when they commit to writing a 50 000 word novel) and I’ve always evaded it, saying I needed more time to learn the craft and develop as a writer. However, I could procrastinate forever and may never be ready! But if I have the courage to take the first step towards making it a reality, then I would have learnt from trial and error.

It takes me back to a time six years ago when I knew I had to turn my life around and find help to overcome my alcoholism. I’d researched the AA for a while, stalking them via phone for advice, sought ways and means to curb my drinking, to no avail. Until I had the courage to face my fears, to step into a meeting with nobody holding my hand, uttering the words “I had a desire to stop drinking” and forced myself to sit it out without running away was the day my life changed!

For as long as I can remember I’ve always wanted to be a writer and now that I’ve been pursuing writing seriously for the past two years, I’ve finally reached the stage of taking the next step of penning a story from my soul. The past few months has seen me sitting around Meg van der Merwe’s table learning the art of creative writing. I could ask for no better mentor, she has opened my eyes to a world of possibilities, pulled me out of my comfort zone and pushes me to face my fears. I also form part of small writers’ review group who are happy to provide me with guidance as I take on this mammoth mission.

So what does this mean for my blogging? Sadly, fewer posts 😦 although I will fill you in from time to time on how the process is unfolding. I vow not to abandon my blog and humbly ask for your support as I have a “sweet baby” on the way. The time has arrived to nurture it, give it my undivided attention and fulfil my dream of writing fiction 🙂

Welcome to my Sweet Life…

Firstly, I would like to thank you for visiting my Blog. I know you could rather be surfing the internet on fascinating sites like Facebook for example, to get your daily fix on what your friends are up to and the mere fact that you’re reading my blog means I’ve stolen your attention, if only for a short while, and that for me is the cherry on a triple layer chocolate cake.

Well if you’ve read my about page you would’ve figured out the sort of person I am, my likes and interests, so I won’t bore you with that. The reason for this blog was to fulfil one of my writing goals on expressing my thoughts on various topics that holds appeal to me and to interact with like-minded people all over the world.

I somehow wished that I had started this blog sooner, for it feels surreal commencing it at a stage when I’m undertaking a major op and I’m in the prime of my life. You see, I’m a runner and undergoing a bilateral bunionectomy means I would have to completely forsake running until my feet are fully healed.

The whole saga started when I was deep in training for my very first marathon and one of my bunions became inflamed. And NO, it wasn’t the running that caused this flare up, but rather my fashionable boots that were the biggest instigators!!! My feet were screaming blue murder – begging me to take them off, but no I was rocking them with skinny jeans and there was no way I was going to ruin my outfit by changing to flats!!! When I eventually had the chance to rip them off, I was presented with an inflamed bunion!!! The pain was excruciating, it felt like someone was hammering my bone continuously. Conservative methods of reducing the pain didn’t dull the aching and I had to finally resort to a cortisone injection to numb the throbbing. However, the Orthopaedic Surgeon broke the news to me that I needed to undergo a bilateral bunionectomy sooner rather than later, for my condition would only deteriorate. When I enquired how long it would take to fully recover and return to running, he admonished “anywhere from six months to a year!!!”

To say I was devastated would be an understatement. Ask any runner how they would react to taking a week off running, let alone a month – it felt like a death sentence!!! But the more rationally I thought about it, the more I came to the realisation that I needed to get it done at some point. As fate would have it, I picked up a further ligament strain injury before the marathon and was forced to take time off and eventually had to forego the marathon altogether!!! As they say – the writing was on the wall and my running days were seriously numbered!!!

But the way I see it now, is that God has a bigger plan for me. You see my passion has always been writing, but ever since running took centre stage in my life, I’ve been feeling like I had to divide myself into tiny pieces balancing family life, running and writing. I couldn’t do it all… and now I’m compelled to put my running on hold to concentrate on sorting out my feet. Which means I finally have time to concentrate on writing:).

This blog, as the title depicts is my sweet life – even though I might be headed into surgery, a long recovery period and eventually back to running – I will attempt to keep my experiences truthful to what I am experiencing to anybody contemplating undergoing a similar operation.

My promise to you is to write about my life, my experiences, hopes and dreams and I will strive to keep it sweet at all times … follow me and you might be pleasantly surprised:).