Excellent year of 50 new experiences!

A special thanks goes to Simon. He was instrumental in helping with the organising, planning, booking, driving, encouraging and pushing to make this year possible. Our budget was blown pretty early, but we managed to find less expensive versions, and chose events that were local and at times free.

My friends and clients all helped by suggesting various challenges for me to ponder. Some folks even joined me on my adventures. I had low moments when I thought this year was too much, when my worlds collided and I had too many things to do all at once. Simon would help me out by pointing out that if all I have to bemoan is the fact that I have too many fun things to do, well I'm pretty lucky.

So here I am, 50 years old. There is a philosophy that holds that we renew ourselves every seven years. All our cells are new; our emotions evolve with each seven year cycle. So 49 is a special year as it clears our slate so to speak. We are completely new at 50, ready to begin once more. I am ready to begin again. What shall I carry forward? I have learnt new skills this past year that I will definitely carry on such as scuba diving and kayaking. I will continue with my passion for music, and hiking.

The strongest impression for my 49th year is that I can conquer my fears. They are there but I go move past them to learn new activities and challenges. I don't have to be stopped simply because I'm afraid of the outcome, or the fact that I might fail. Trying is the important thing, not being excellent at everything. I feel lighter having this understanding.

So, what does 2013 bring? I will be taking motorcycle riding lessons. As well, Simon and I have signed on to our first organised trip. We are going to Nepal with a tour guide. Looking forward to continued challenges, an discoveries.

Thanks for everything, love Julie C

Experience#50

Theme: spiritual-Sabbath

Simon had been joking that for my last experience I do absolutely nothing! Having done a lot this year, and holding to my normal busy schedule; this sounded kinda nice. Grant added complexity by suggesting I follow the Sabbath Orthodox rules during this day.

For the Orthodox Jew, the Sabbath is a day of rest and prayer. No work is to be performed. The term work relates to very ancient life giving activities such as burning, plowing, carrying, grinding... There are about 40 defined tasks that one avoids on the day of rest. These have been interpreted to fit our more modern lives. So an individual should not: work, wash, carry anything, cook, write, use electrical appliances...

So on my day of rest I had to refrain from helping my friends prep the meals. I had left-overs from the previous day.  I didn't pick-up, or make my bed, nor did I exercise. I sat and watched the tide roll in then out. I watched the wildlife do what nature does, out our window. I chatted with my lovely husband and good friends and rested.

It was hard not to get involved with the daily tasks of our household. It did show me how much I can make myself busy with shores. This day of rest was a reminder that in our culture being still is often seen as lazy. I am guilty of this. I tell myself I'll take it easy after everything is done, but there is always something that needs attention. So having this day of rest is a practise I recommend and promise to incorporate into my schedule.