Because I will be carrying all my stuff on my back for 7 weeks, I have become incredibly conscious of how much things weigh. When I am looking for T shirts I get quite annoyed when the label doesn't tell me what the weight of the garment is. I have managed to replace my daily vitamin pill intake with one pill a day that offers what the current 2 do. Tiny saving I know….it all counts. My back pack weighs 1.73 kg and I think I can go to a max of 6 kg for the rest of my stuff.
Every time I think of the weight issue I am reminded of how I actually got to this point – Walking the Spanish Camino!
In early March this year I was watching one of Lisa’s FEAT (Cape Town show) presenters on uTube. Allyson is a young woman who set off to climb the highest volcano in the Atacama Desert – I think her journey to get there and back was about 7,000 kilometers on a bike. I was incredibly impressed with her. I liked her talk but mostly, she just inspired me. When I had finished watching her I said to Lisa “I can do that”. But here’s the thing – I just knew there and then that I could do an adventure – not necessarily the exact same thing Allyson had done, but an adventure none the less. And 48 hours later I had my very own one…..
There was something that Allyson said though, that has stuck with me – I find it so funny that every time I think about it I laugh, chuckle and chortle. But: it is also a big fat wake up call and kick in the ‘you know what’. I think of her words almost daily. Allyson said something along the lines of: “I had to get my life in order. I started going to gym and lost a great deal of weight – 80kgs of which was my husband”.
De-cluttering is not just about cleaning out the cupboards and giving the extra cups to charity. It is about getting rid of the dreadful boss, the unhappy and unsatisfying relationship, and the toxic people who sap our energy and strength; the people in our lives who make us feel kak (good Afrikaans word!) and don’t treat us how we deserve to be treated (and loved) You also have to get rid of the heavy memories – pack them away where they aren't constantly bringing you down and inhibiting your happiness. Memories are of things that have happened – and there is not too much you can do about it now – except of course, if you keep repeating the same behavior, same kak relationships and so on… the best thing you can do in this case is go see a counselor.
We all learn, I hope, as we go along on our adventures….and perhaps the biggest lesson is to keep it light.
The link to Allyson’s talk is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbKB507UwTo
No comments:
Post a Comment