You Shape Your Own Destiny

I often am struck with a writing urge at the most inopportune times. While I am running along the ocean, while I am trying to fall asleep, most times when I am not in front of a computer or near one at all. I guess if I did this for a living, I would stop running and write in the notebook I would likely carry with me at all times, or I would get out of bed and start typing right away. But for now I just try to remember what I wanted to say and even though I am relatively young and my memory should be good, it's tough to keep it all in mind! Usually I recall snippets of what I was thinking so I try to work from that.

One thing that I've been trying to remember has been whittled down to such a small snapshot that it's not really as interesting as it was in the train of thought but I'll mention it anyways. We introduced guacamole to people who have an avocado tree! The first place we stayed in town, we made dinner one night and of course it was Mexican because they kept bringing in these lovely avos from their orchard but guacamole was new to them! Kind of fun because we've been realizing a lot of the things we take for granted based on our previous experiences and how easy it is to stay in deeply-entrenched patterns in our lives. It's neat to be able to introduce something new to people, as small as it was.

There's so much value in challenging our thoughts but since it's usually a difficult thing to do, most of us don't do it very often. Sometimes it's as simple as looking at things from another angle or thinking the opposite of what you know or thought to be true. Even if it doesn't really sound right to you, at least you gave the thought a chance.

We were sent this orientation package from the organization that we got our visa through and in it was this chart about culture shock. Now, generally speaking, no there's not a huge culture shock between Canada and New Zealand but there are certainly differences that you have to wrap your head around. Even in the simple things like your day to day functions. This little chart showed that in the early days you just love it all because it's new, then you have a period of frustration and - by whatever data they were using - it wasn't until you've been somewhere about 6 months that you feel comfortable with it all. I think we've probably dipped into the frustration part but we're not recognizing that settling in somewhere takes time. That finding suitable jobs takes time. That we did plan for even a few months of not working. However, falling into our normal patterns, we don't want to take a few months to get work. We want it now because it feels weird to keep spending and not be earning. So I think now is a good time to challenge our thoughts and ask why we even came here in the first place. If it was to enjoy life more than getting frustrated sure isn't in line with that. It's easy to give up but it's harder to stay focused and positive - though that's usually what gives more rewards than giving up.

Today we have to think that there are some things that are out of our control but it's the actions we take that lead us to where we will end up. So we better make 'em good ones. It reminds me of this Will Rogers quote a co-worker had posted on her locker, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."