Sunday 13 January 2019

2019 - new beginnings and other excitement

2019 is a big year for me.  For the first time in probably 30 years I am not in a fixed Monday to Friday job.  This is huge.  I return from leave tomorrow and on Monday it will be a very weird feeling to not have my alarm go off and then get up and drive off to a place and slide in behind my desk.  I am sitting on the balcony right now, writing this as the waves crash onto the beach, just a short distance in front of me.  I am trying to think when last I never had a desk to arrive at.  I can’t .... it is thousands of days ago.  

It gave me an opportunity to look back at the many desks I have sat at - 6 years at a big Catholic Parish as the Parish Secretary, 3 years at Irene Homes for Mentally Disabled Adults, where I was the Corporate Fundraiser (what a completely different world ... heels every day and negotiations with donors for amounts in excess of R500 000 each time), 3 years before that working for all the Embassies in Pretoria as the liaison between their duty free fuel purchases, SARS and the service station they purchased from (I got to have a tea appointment one on one with 11 Ambassadors, which was great), a stint working for my husband in his consultancy, 12 years as a Director, along with my parents, of our two Shell Service Stations, 3 years as National Public Relations Manager of Vista University and so many little ones in between .... and before that my studies.  What a wonderfully rich life of learning to do all kinds of stuff.  But it has taught me that organizing, counselling, public speaking, writing and being in charge of a situation/job where I can use my initiative, is what I love.  I am the consummate all rounder. I love people, and I intensely love being involved in dealing with them.  I don’t do mousy and withdrawn, that I know more than ever.  I am out there and full of sparkle.  And I do not apologise for it.  

But I digress.  Monday, just so I don’t sleep in and get lazy, I have to take my folks to the airport at 7am.  Which means leaving my house at 615am (thanks mom and dad, so grateful that you chose this absurd time to fly, just to make me feel secure) whahahahahah.  They shall however reward me with an obscenely wonderful cappuccino at ORT (is there a wonderful cappuccino there?).

I do not let the grass grow under my feet.  I am already involved now in the Deanery MAP course, which is to be attended by all engaged couples of all parishes in the Deanery, busy with their marriage prep at their parish.  The course is run by Fr Peter Switala, who also never let the grass grow under his feet, to nab me to do the admin and organization for him.  I know church, and I know it and the priests in both our Deanery and Diocese, and other Diocese, very well.  And this works with all couples of all parishes, which widens my scope.  So I can really be of use here.  It is a part time thing as the course is for one day, every 3 months, in a venue at CBC Mount Edmund, but someone is definitely needed to cross the t’s and dot the i’s.  Ta da - good choice Fr P.  

This is a good start to the idea brewing in my head and I am taking this on as a service being delivered by me as a private admin/secretarial consultant.  Watch this space!

So we came on leave straight after New Year, and I kept wondering how I would feel when we went back, when the reality of been desk-less as such, sunk in.  How do I feel?  Challenged, invigorated, motivated, cautious, nervous, excited, curious and so much more.  I chose to be here, in this new space and I intend to make use of the lessons learnt to forge my way forward. 

Seize the day, cometh the hour - cometh the man (or woman), I am right where God intended me to be, and all those other quotes ..... watch out world, I am coming at you.  

Till soon, be good to yourselves
c’est la vie 


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