Relationships are limiting and other stuff

Somehow, in the age where for the first time in the humankind history people could finally live whatever life they wish for, we've globally decided to deprive ourselves of all the joys and excitment in exchange for a daily routine most of us despise. It keeps on astonishing me day in day out but there's only so many "But it's only up to you to change it!" I can offer.

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A couple of months back I met this incredibly positive girl Maggie, a Pole who's lived in Denmark for many years now, and she told me a very wise thing (well, she shared a lot of those, but that's the one I need today), which I'll paraphrase for you - Magda, when I was younger (and she is 3 or 4 years my junior... ekhm) I used to do that as well - use so much energy to try and convince people around me that they had to power to be happier. I'd talk, be excited, give them all the energy I could muster but you know what? Most of the time it would leave them stuck in the same old, whereas I'd be out of energy and would have none left for myself. Everyone's at a different stage and have their own pace, give them the time they need and let them come to you.

Already then I was planning to launch a couple of projects that would be about something more and bigger than myself, as it has mostly been till now. To tell you the truth, I think that's why I've been writing less and less, not publishing so many photos on the other blog - I've grown enough to realise that what I do is not all that meaningful to anybody else and even if it were, as I know people respond to me and my adventures, I don't reach out to as many as I think I could. Many factors contribute to the fact: I'm not "out there" in the virtual world, I do close to no publicity for my blogs, I don't write in Polish (and I think our market needs all the inspiration it can get, especially if one wants to get through to the average Joe, who won't necessarily speak English), the websites themselves are not too userfriendly or interesting yadda yadda yadda.

I didn't use to understand people who'd talk about how they truly want to help others change their lives, it sounded so cliche to me, but now I'm pretty much one of the bunch. These days, I see people look at me the way I used to look at others, whose ranks I trust I've now joined. To end this part of blabbing, let me just tell you that the blog and my writing will be moving onto a different virtual location in the following months and I wholeheartedly believe I'll be able to make better use of my time, energy, the amount of words typed and pictures published.

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However, going back to the title at hand, I wanted to share a reflection that's been coming back to me the last couple of years, whenever my relationship status was discussed. Namely, when I'd say I like being in a relationship more than being single, people would tell me something along the lines of: Well, but then you couldn't travel so much and you wouldn't be able to have all those experiences and adventures! I honesty never understood why anyone would believe that. 

When I was younger I had a long time boyfriend with whom we were planning some serious world travelling but somehow after a while all I'd hear from him in relation to those grant plans were excuses as to why we'd have to wait another year. At one point in time, we were about to break up the first day we meet personally anyways (I was living in Belgium and he was back in Poland), so one day I decided I'd had enough of waiting and booked my first solo flights, to Madrid and Mallorca. What followed later was a period of intense and, almost exclusively, solo travel. For a long time while in the relationship, I'd hold a grudge against my ex for leading me to believe we'd travel together and not following up on that promise. I used to tell him and myself alike that he was stopping me from setting off and I think it's safe to say it was one of the main reasons that we started drifting apart. Now that I'm smarter, I know he wasn't stopping me from doing anything, I was great at it all by myself. Now that I'm smarter, I know that I should have left on the trips I was dreaming about by myself and it did not in any way have to stay in contradiction to us being together. But back then, I wasn't that smart. So we drifted apart and eventually split up.

I know that for a lot of people coming out from a relatioship feels like regaining their freedom but then it just means that they weren't in a good relationship to begin with, doesn't it? Surely, you wouldn't want to tie yourself to a person who in return ties you down, would you? Or maybe it's not that that person ties us down as much as the neediness we've been taught comes with a relationship? The need to always be together, the need to share all hobbies, the need to do everything together. It's tiring to even think about all those "needs" we empose on those delicate human relations, let alone the process of executing them. 

So when you feel you're being limited by your relationship, stop. Look at yourself, at your partner, at how and what you communicate and re-evaluate. It's either your attitude or not the right partner at the time. We all grow and constantly change, even though we might not realize it. Every book you read, every person you meet, every meal you eat - all of them influence us in one way or another. Luckily, sometimes we manage to grow in the same direction our partners do, which makes for lasting relationships. Sometimes, we find each other only in a given place and for a given time to experience just a part of our life journeys together. Both cases will bring to our lives as much as we allow them to.

Coming back to the "you couldn't travel part" - why the heck not?

Here, to back up my words in the most valid way I could find, I would cordially invite you to visit this website and read all about how a relationship can be the base for a most rewarding and aventurous life.

Running away to the Vikings

You know what they say - if you wanna feel young again, roll with the Vikings!

(Ok, admittedly - I might have made that one up.)

However, that's still what I'm doing this birthday weekend. In order to embrace my age more gracefully (a quarter of a century already!), I've decided to make myself feel younger by spending my d-day (b-day) in a beautiful settings with a looong history. Thus, Oslo - beware!

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In the beginning it was supposed to be just me, then Ewa & me, then like 7 people & me, suddenly 12 people & me. Now, as everyone's been cancelling, up until the very end, it will most probably be 4 people & me. Plus our hosts. Plus their surfers and maybe other CSer. So still quite a party. And yes, I'm counting on being the youngest of the bunch! ;)

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See you from Norway!

I'm not the only one who loves to be right, right?

Not so long ago I shared with you a strong feeling I had, namely that the better and more exciting part of the year was just around the corner. And I was so right.

Still can't come out with everything, as some projects are not finalised yet, but let me tell you - it's gonna be awsome.

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Tonight starts the craziness of the better part of 2012. 

Let me explain how so:

Sat, 08.09 

8:30 am meeting 

10 am a shopping spree 

4 pm a wedding and a reception

Sun, 09.09 

8 am bus to Poznan, 

2 pm have lunch in Poznan

3-3:30 pm back on the highway to hitch hike to Frankfurt an Oder 

6-6:30 pm (hopefully) get picked up by Paula somewhere in her town :)

Mon, 10.09

5 pm leave Frankfurt for Poznan

7:30-8 pm arrive in Poznan for the night

Tue, 11.09

8 am bus to Warsaw

2:00 pm arrive in Warsaw, eat lunch, grab Zumba gear

4:45 pm give a Zumba class

6 pm tutor English

7:30 pm dinner with a French friend

Wed, 12.09

leave Warsaw in the morning and head for the lake region to work at a corporate event

Thu, 13.09

work at the event

Fri, 14.09

2 pm come back to Warsaw

6 pm catch a train to Wolomin (a town outside of Warsaw)

7 pm give a Zumba class

Sat, 15.09

8:30 am - 3 pm attend Kongres Kobiet, a national event focusing on women

4 pm co-host a Zumba marathon

7 pm arrive at WITC end of the season BBQ

Sun, 16.09

10 am - 3:30 pm massage course, this time using coconut bowls

You get the picture or should I go on?

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By the way - a curious thing. 

One of my friend's fb update said something along the lines of "Only 3,5 months and the new year is here:)!", which got me really surprised. In the comments she said that this year has disappointed her and she can't wait for it to be over. So I write her "well, you've 3,5 months to make this year amazing. Ready, set, go!" but I guess she didn't share my enthusiasm. 

Man, why do people prefer to count down till the end of the year already deciding that it's not gonna bring anything good, instead of working at making the remaining time so amazing that it will feel as if the whole year's been superb? I know that it's gonna be the case with me (you'll see just how much so once I get one more set of plain tickets...) and I believe those upcoming 15 weeks are enough for anyone to live some great adventures. 

So please people - ready, set, go!

 

Magu's Bucket List #18

Do you have a Bucket List?

I do! But somehow it seems that I always just partially get things done.

Like the "show and dinner at Moulin Rouge", which I did without dinner but was so disappointed with the show that I don't wanna go back there again.

Or "learn to surf on a beach in US" whereas I did so on a beach in Indonesia.

Or "do an internship abroad" which I did in India, but it wasn't quite as valuable professionally as I would have thought, thus not really meeting my criteria for this BL point.

*     *      *      *      *

"Have my article published" is what it says at number 18, with a deadline for 2013.

"Your story has been chosen among the contest works and will be published in our travel journals ebook, to be released beginning of October." reads an email I got around an hour ago.

*     *     *      *      *

I must admit, I feel pretty damn' proud of myself. 

But then again, does a travel story qualify as an article when it comes to my Bucket List #18...? ;)

Discovering new potential

One of the jobs I have at the moment is organizing MICE movement (meetings, incentives, conferences, events) with a cool event company based in Warsaw. A couple of weeks back, I had an inquiry for 4 different types of courses, although the client had no idea what kind of courses they wanted. I went with massage as one of the options.

Now, a massage course had been on my mind for a long time and I figured it might be interesting for the client to have their attendants participate in one. Never having done any and not knowing about it all too much, I started my online research to find reliable partners (i.e. massage academies). There are many, just as there are many types of massage. Yet again, I was a bit unfamiliar with the matter at hand. Long story short, I called a couple of venues up and got their offers, asked them what they'd recommend for my specific client profile and never thought of it much. Until a week later, when I got a phone call from one of the academies I hadn't been able to reach.

I was surprised to get a phone call after a couple of days saying: We just heard the message you left us (in which I stated how urgent of a matter it was) and are getting back to you with our offer. At first, I admit, I kind of wanted to laugh at their service, but then thought - hey, maybe they've something interesting to offer. The lady I was on the phone with started telling me about a trizillion of different massage types they were teaching, all of which had mysterious names such as "bamboo sticks massage", "a burning candle massage", "Thai stamps massage" etc. I started feeling I'd need a head massage soon, if I were to remember the specifics of all she was listing, so instead I just said I'd have to come by when they had one of their future courses, so I could meet their training specialist and see how the whole thing looks like. And then, to my surprise (a very pleasant one), the lady said: We'd love to have you over for a course then. I'd love to have them have me over for a course, I thought to myself, and asked her to send me the dates of whatever they had scheduled for the coming weeks. A couple of days go by and I receive an email with 4 different courses, saying: Please let us know which courses you would like to attend.

So I go - 'courses'? Wow, I can take more than one? That is so cool!

However, not wanting to overdo it, I signed up for just two - the bamboo sticks and a chocolate one.

*     *     *     *      *

Let's just say a couple of words of introduction to each other. First of all, it will be nicer to work together. Second of all, I'd like to know how long you've been in the massage business for, or in the cosmetics/beautician business. It'll make my job easier to know how much each of you knows about how the body is built etc. says the trainer and I begin to feel a bit out of place.

Somehow, I'd assumed that as it was a short, 6 hour long course, it was mostly attended by amateurs like myself. Wrong. I was in a group with a girl holding a master's in physical therapy, two owners of massage parlours wanting to introduce new products and a masseuse working for the venue the training was taking place in. Yikes!

Umm or if someone's not from any of the above? I suggest shyly. The surprised trainer asks what I mean and as soon as I follow it up with the The only thing I've in common with massage is that I've been given one twice. answer, I see consternation and dismay on his face. Oops.

*     *     *     *     *

To get the most of such a course, you work in pairs. While the first person is receiving a massage, which the other person is learning to give, they have a great opportunity to soak in whatever movement their partner is doing and at the same time listen to the trainer's instructions. They say it's a lot more beneficial, if you're the first to lay down (no pun intended, guys). Seeing how I was way behind with any knowledge that might be expected of you at a massage course, I secured the better spot. Knowing that I was kind of out of place, I did my best to remember as much theory  as I could and pair it up with the movements I could feel being practiced on my body. By the time it was my turn to start giving the massage, that's pretty much what I did - I just started performing it. 

Regardless of the bamboo sticks that come into the picture later during the massage, you have to warm up the body first and in this case, the warm up was to be ended with a short shoulders and neck massage.

Why did you lie? I hear the trainer, who suddenly appeared to my right, ask. 

Eeee? I answer brightly.

Why did you lie you never did a massage course before? He insists.

Eeee... because I never have? Yet again, those brains of mine!

And then it turns out that apparently he could never tell and that I've just the hand movement needed to be a good masseuse.

You've got talent for it, Magda! He says and leaves puzzled to see to the other pair. Not as puzzled as I am, I can tell you!

*     *     *     *      *

The course was a lot of fun but it is indeed good that I got to chance to take part in it for professional reasons as well - now I know that it's definitely not the type of a thing I would suggest to a corporate client. It also gave me a chance to pick the instructor's brain about what would be good, and he mentioned the burning candle massage. It so happens that he's giving that course tomorrow and I got invited to participate in it as well. It will be followed by the Sunday chocolate massage course, which I'd been already signed up for. Am really curious to see what those two are all about! 

Plus, the fact that by being invited to participate in those 3 trainings I'm saving almost 500$, and still getting the diplomas, makes it all the more exciting!

*     *     *     *     *

The truth is, before last Saturday's course I thought of it as an "only for fun one-time thingy" but now that I've done it, I figure - why not? Why not get myself a set of bamboo sticks and practice on my friends? I enjoyed doing it and maybe if I've the "talent" for it, as the instructor so graciously put it, one day I could use it to make some cash? I don't think I'd ever consider being a full-time masseuse but having one more skill that others will pay for cannot be overestimated.

*     *     *    *     *

So what thing have you randomly tried lately which helped you realise you had a talent for?

What do you do for fun?

So I was walking around the city center with those 2 American CSers tonight and at one point Chris asked me: "What do you do for fun?"

And you know what? 

I was actually left speechless for a second, because no clear answer came to mind. Instead, I could see the image of basically whole days of the last weeks and months come rushing.

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Up until not so long ago I'd always have problems to coherently answer another question: "What do you do (for living)?". It'd be difficult to choose the one thing to state first and it was physically impossible to name all four at once. 

*     *     *     *      *

Today made me realise that answers to these two questions have become entwined. 

Seemes like all I can answer to the first one is simply "I live my life", and to the other "A lot of fun things". 

That's a freaking awsome thing.

*     *     *     *     *

I mean, c'mon, today I had ice-cream that tasted like beetroot (surprisingly good), carrot (yummy!), dill (I know what you're thinking, but!, although I don't like the veggie, I loved the ice-cream), beer (I finally have found a type of beer I might learn to enjoy), oscypek (typical regional smoked cheese (!!!)), rosemary with sesame (not really my kind of taste) and basil with lemon (the basil was too strong for me). Oh, plus rum, pistachio and peanut (delicious) - but I guess they're to 'plain' to get overly excited about.

Does it get cooler and more fun than that?

So what fun things do you do in life?

Picturing a quote - the Bee style

I've recently gotten accepted to a photography course organised by ZPAF (Association of Polish Art Photographers) which is perfect, seeing how I want to be taking loads of good pictures in the upcoming years. A proper photography course has been on my mind for a long time and I figure this short series of weekly meetings will be the perfect first step in the right direction.

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"How can I start using all the pictures I have?" is one of the questions ever-present in my head recently.

I do like to read and share quotes, as well as pictures with quotes on them, so I thought - why not combine the quote sharing part with my pictures sharing part?

However, my graphic skills are less than null, so after getting depressed by trying to figure out a nice way of incorporating a quote I liked into a picture I liked in Paint (remember the null part, please), I asked a talented friend of a photographer, Weronika, to help me out. Thus, a new small "project thingy" was born and I hope Weronika won't hate me for asking for her help a few more times.

*     *     *     *      *

Here it is then, the first of a series of BAQ - Beecturing a Quote:

So ladies, what is a nice thing you did for yourself today?

New York, New York

I've had only one mental block in the last couple of years - going to NYC to learn dance.

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Over 5 years ago I found out about a summer dance program at BLADE - the 1st Hip Hop Conservatory in the world. It was dirty cheap at the time (USD was veeery low and the program was only about 750$ for 8 weeks of classes) but I was younger and scared I wouldn't be able to find a decent room to rent, that I wouldn't have enough cash, that I wouldn't make it. My mind wasn't as open and my heart wasn't as experienced. Or the other way around.

Both the mind and the heart started changing and yet still, I never went. After a while I abandoned the idea of BLADE and moved on to BDC - Broadway Dance Center - because of Luam and her choreos, which I used to watch like crazy about 3-4 years back. They run some short-term dance programs, which are unfortunately a lot more expensive than the BLADE one was, but I was still dreaming of going. Then I stopped dreaming and started gearing up (gearing up = saving every penny), so I could afford to go and learn there for 3 months.

*     *     *     *     *

It was a couple of months after a pretty serious knee injury I had that I went to see Step Up 2 with Paula. By that time I have already given up on dance as a career or anything I could be living off and was planning to visit Marianka, my best friend at the time, who was studying in Indonesia, possibly travel around SEA later . 

I exactly remember how we were in the middle of the movie and I found myself with tears in my eyes. 

Because the routines and dance skills were leaving me speachless.
Because I could only imagine how much hard work it took to get to where they were.

Because I never focused on dance and never really made it a priority.

Because Poland has close to no streetdance culture and I was thousands of miles away from where it was all hapenning.

Because I would never learn from those dancers.

And at that moment I had made up my mind - if I could afford to go bum around SEA, I could definitely afford to go make my dream come true in NYC. I was going to be waiting tables if I had to, but I'd make it. That was in July 2010.

*     *     *     *     *

In August, I had a crazy week during which I alowed myself to be crazy in ways I never had, which in turn saw me deciding on flying to Indonesia anyways (I figured I'd come back after a couple of weeks and work my ass off in Warsaw making up for the money I'd spend) and doing so later in September. On the very same day I came back on my flight from London (was flying thru Kuala Lumpur into London and then to Łódź), so the last day of October, I was reassuring my parents that I'd be staying in Warsaw till April '11, as that's when I was planning on starting my program. And I kept reassuring them and all my friends until exactly a week later, when on a random Sunday evening I met NJ. NJ, my future boss in India.

Going to India didn't have to mean I had to cancel NYC. Actually, ever since it felt as if India was really going to happen (so I guess 3 hours into the 4 hour conversation we had on the night we met), I kept on saying how I had to be free by April. And so it was agreed - I go to intern till March, come back home to repack and set off to Danceland.

Somehow though my plans have changed and already on my flight back to Vienna (was flying Bombay - Vienna and then taking a train to Warsaw) I knew where I had to go next - I was physically missing the South of Spain. BDC programs start every quarter, so it didn't actually have to be April (although I wanted to go there at that specific time, so I would experience the annual NYC dance parade they hold in May). Thus, I decided I could do it after I come back from Spain. That was March 2011.

*     *     *     *     *

Upon coming back from Spain I got offered a job, which seemed like a huge opportunity, so I decided to take it. As you can probably imagine: a) things weren't as peachy b) dancing in NYC kinda got lost along the way.

Ever since those 5 years ago NYC has somehow grown into this huge block in my head. I'll have you know I don't consider myself a coward but the truth is, every time I was ready to go there, I'd chicken out. Of course, I wouldn't call it chickening out, as I always had some "excuse" to postpone the trip but that's what it comes down to.

Not any more.

*     *     *     *     *

Olgierd happened and then "enough is enough" happened.

"I can do it" also happened.

And then, within two weeks of making up my mind I had managed to arrange for a place to stay, find a source of funding and book a cheap flight.

Two weeks was all it took to conquer what I had been running away from for 5 years.

Scary isn't it?

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Get ready New York City and its dance schools - I'm coming to get you!

Tatras calling!

Finally!

I've been so looking for today to arrive - I have been missing the mountains, trekking, nature and a backpack on by back (where it's supposed to be, not in the closet) for a long while now. And so finally Friday, August 10th is here and I'm off to Slovakia for a weekend of trekking with some cool friends from WITC.

OK, so I did imagine doing it in shorts and getting tanned whereas the reality is closer to long pants, gloves and a raincoat but still - I don't mind one bit! 

A little sweat and a little rain ain't never hurt nobody, as Beyonce would put it in one of her songs.

Also, will somehow have to wash my raincoat tonight, as suddenly the water got turned off in my flat and was unable to do so.

*     *     *     *      *

It is true that the last time I was on Slovakia it looked more like this but this weekend is gonna be so much more fun!

Ok, off to pack.

Have an awsome end of the week dears!

Flight tickets rampage

"So where are you going on holiday this year?"

"Oh, no - I'm not going anywhere. You see, I want to work and be serious in Warsaw."

That's the kind of a conversation I was having those past couple of weeks with some of the people I know.

And then last night I realised the job I had to be in Warsaw for, I do it two days a week. My dance and Zumba classes - Tue & Wed nights. Everything else I do is pretty much via Internet or over the phone. So, unlike most of the people I know - I have to work on the spot for 2 days and I can have a longer weekend. A 5-day weekend. Every week.

That's quite a game changer right there, huh?

Well, I do believe I'm action-oriented so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that flights were bought today. 

16 flights. 

Now that might be a bit of a surprise.

*     *     *     *     *

It just so happens that Ryanair had a two day sale, ending tonight.

It just so happens that a friend posted a link about a start up weekend in London taking place in the middle of Sept. I was sure the flight would be expensive, as London usually is, but decided to check anyways. 

The exact dates I wanted (13-17 Sept)? 

-> 100zł RT, that's like 25€. 

Than I checked flying out of Warsaw but into Łódź (a town 1,5h away from Warsaw). 

-> 18zł to go and 21zł to come back, so the total of less than 10€. 

Start up weekend in London - here I come!

Then, being high on the London deal, I checked other flights and found a trip to Oslo, Norway for 19zł RT, so less than 5€. Not much of a thought process there - I was sooo buying it! Of course, Norway is beyond expensive and so getting to Oslo from the cheap airline airport is about 10 times the flight but I don't see Norway being cheaper any time soon, so Sept is as good a time as any to go pay it a visit. At first I was thinking about going end Sept/beg Oct and alone. Then I thought of Ewa, a girl I run with in WITC and asked if she'd like to join. She liked the idea but couldn't do it that weekend. So I checked the price for an earlier weekend and it was just as cheap, Ewa said she was in and so I made the purchase. Thus realising I could add another country to the list of places I celebrated birthday in (it's Sept 22nd).

And then, wait a second, the guys from WITC like city breaks, why not ask them to join?

-> create an event on FB -> invite friends -> spend the next hour buying their flights

Thus, my solo trip to Oslo turned into a BirthDay Weekend Norwegian Style with some of the coolest people I know in Warsaw, almost all of them athletes, as we are called by our almighty President. So far we're 8, including Gaile flying down from London, but I'm secretly hoping at least one more person will join us. Coming from Denmark, it shouldn't be so difficult for her... (yes Maggie, I'm calling you out girl!)

Do you remember the feeling you had as a child -anticipating your birthday and planning out the party months beforehand? Well, I've been just taken back to my childhood. I did not expect such a trip, definitely did not expect such turn out. And now I simply can't wait for that weekend to arrive!

After all, what better place to celebrate than the one you can barely afford anything in, right? Surrounded by friends - makes no difference!

Also, I've realised how I love love WITC. Just in case anyone had doubts.

I've been craving, literally craving some trekking and been going around whining about it to some friends, saying how I wanted to get away, if only for three days some time in August. You don't always get what you want in life, but you always get what you need - that's what they say. It seems I not only wanted but needed it as well, as soon afterwards I got invited to an event organised by some other WITCers  - a long trekkingweekend in the Slovak Tatras. Finally, I'll get to wear my kick-ass trekking shoes again and soak in the beautiful scenery of a mountainous region. Just a week left to go!

*     *     *     *     *

So yeah, I'd call it a pretty productive day.

Where do you spend your holiday this time of year?

Failure now equals success later?

Up until not so long ago I used to think that everywhere around the world people were taught that failure was unacceptable and had to be avoided at all cost. Naturally then, I was pretty happy with myself for not having, basically ever, failed at anything remotely important.

But then, back in my AIESEC days, I went to a short lecture given by Noam Kostucki  entitled something along the lines of "The success of failure". 

It was an eye-opener.

The lecture itself was a lot of fun, very educative and entertaining, but at the same time the conclusion I arrived at by the end of it was not so much fun. I realised never having failed was nothing to be proud of because it simply meant that I had never pushed myself enough, always played it safe and adapted my goals in such a way, that I'd always stay in my comfort zone. Sometimes almost crossing that fine line between the comfort zone and the whole universe outside of it, but never quite making the jump.

Recently, I've been talking to a couple of my (oh, so amazing!) friends about success, career, drive and ambition. I was saying how I felt I was lazy and didn't have the drive to pursue 'the real thing', always staying back and thus feeling underchallenged. They were saying how they wouldn't use the word 'lazy' in the same sentence they'd form to describe me. And so it got me thinking, once again, where does this discrepancy come from? How come they seem to take me as a motivated and driven person, and I see myself as a bit of slacker?

During the last couple of years, there's been basically one big mental block I'd had in my head but I decided I've had enough and started working on removing it. I was astonished to see that within a week of making the decision, I was on the best way to actually conquering it, let alone tackling the issue at hand. Let's see how things shape up in the following months but one thing's for sure - I'll have removed it before the end of the world. Whether I find great opportunities or just an end of one of the roads on the other side of that block - it doesn't really matter much. I'll still be the winner for having taken a shot at it.

One who fears failure limits his activities.
Failure is only the opportunity to more
intelligently begin again.
Henry Ford 

Falling prey to the worst excuse out there.

Came across this article a couple of days ago. 

Found some excuses I hear from people, which annoy the heck out of me at times, as well as some I tend to use myself. Can you find a bit of your attitude in it as well?

*     *     *     *     *

One of the excusses I hate most, is "I didn't have time/ I don't have time" 'cause it's a straight-out lie. We all have time, if it is possible to view it as something to be possesed, that is. However, these days I am tempted to speak those words in regard to posting anything, though I try to fight the urge as much as I can. Why would I ever not have time to write?

An example of a Magu's day

1:40    Come back home from a snack and a beer out with Nahum (who finally found his way back to Warsaw after 6 years of promising to do so!).

2:40     Manage to fall asleep (even though you had been dead tired for some time, somehow falling asleep poses a problem).

6:00      Wakey wakey - it's time to communte 45mins each way to my folks' place to feed the cat (no comment).

8:30       Meet up with Nahum at the train station and get a coffee before saying goodbye and his getting on a train to Berlin.

9:30      Go to an appointment at an aesthetic center.

10:00    At a big bookstore looking through magazines and creating a list needed for the PR agency I intern for.

11:00     An interview with a lovely Thai girl for my column.

12:10   A meeting with my editor about the possibility of my running another column.

13:00   Arrive at the PR agency and discuss a few projects.

14:45   A sandwich for lunch and a power nap of 30'.

17:00   Give the Caribbean Body Movement class (they used to call my class reggaeton but they were wrong to do so).

18:15   Walk towards the second dance school for the night while making business calls connected to the corporate events organising company I work for.

19:30   Leave myself (and a couple of students who happened to be there) breathless during a Zumba class.

20:30   More business talks and calls follow.

21:20   Bless Ania for bringing me delicious rice with home made pesto - at least I don't have to cook tonight!

22:00   Wish Ania a safe flight to Liverpool (where she'll charm some more people) and welcome Karolina and Adam.

22:30   Supposedly start translating a legal doc for the Australian company I work for, but just drop dead on the bed and not be able to move, instead.

So tempted to say I'm short of time...

Happy tears

You know those moments of bliss, serenity and sheer happiness that you don't care about where you're at, what's going on and what awaits, 'cause the whole world seems to have come together at the very same time to help you get whatever you need ?

New experiences just about to happen.

Most positive and hopeful messages from strangers and friends alike.

A cheerful, moving movie.

Prospects reaching out beyond what you thought tangible 3 days before.

A promise of Indian sweets in the mailbox.

That street guitar player killing one of your favourite songs, which you haven't heard in ages.

Bliss, serenity, hope, promise.

A tear.

Nothing to prove

Have you ever wondered what constitutes a 'good person'?

Ever thought about the mindset and qualities one needs to be a genuine, generous and helpful human being?

I know a couple of not only good, but actually great, amazing people and sometimes I wonder what gives them the strength and energy to have the attitude they have. Towards life, towards others.

What do you think?

One of the answers that came to me today was that they had nothing to prove to anyone, besides to themselves maybe. Makes sense?

A TV reporter star on the rise

I'm itching, seriously and literally itching, to write about certain chains of events that have been taking place the last week, but I can't until some things are written down, signed and sealed...

So, in the mean time, a cool thing I saw myself doing over the weekend (ha! you get the pun, right? :D).

A still from the evening news aired by the Malaysian TV3 channel on June 10th

To give you a summary, without going into the how's and why's of the story now - I've been assisting their TV crew in Warsaw since last Wednesday and Malaysia got a glimpse of me during the Sunday sports segment.

And there's more where that came from!

 

Polska gola!

My apologies, but this one just had to be in Polish...

Only yesterday did it dawn on me that it was the Euro 2012 eve and that I'd been living kind of on the side, as the whole country, and Warsaw especially, was getting all geared up. I didn't even know the dates of games, apart from the first one of course. How did I manage it, seeing that whatever magazine cover you look at, there's Euro, whatever tv channel you turn on, there' Euro, whichever street you walk, there's someone wearing a national jersey?

Last night they were opening the biggest Fanzone in Poland, from what I've heard even the biggest in Euro's history ever, so crowds and crowds of people were enjoying the concerts from the fanzone stage. Polish flags and national colours everywhere, people singing and proudly getting drunk, which led to a less proudly looking passing out in the fanzone's vicinity. I went there for a while and suddenly I wasn't on the side any more - I was so coming here to see the game!

So today I ran to a shopping mall to get myself a red jersey with our majestic white eagle on the chest and am getting ready to leave the house. Unfortunately, it started raining quite heavily about 15 minutes ago and it doesn't seem it's going to stop any time soon. Luckily, I've still about an hour till I have to leave the house. 

So, to keep it short - POLSKA, BIAŁO CZERWONI! 

Make us proud, boys!

It's not a crime to live a good life

What constitues a good life?

For me?

It's 1:48 pm and I've managed to spend a lovely morning conversing with the adorable Jim over freshly squeezed orange juice, a creme cheese and salmon bagel and a delicious latte, lunch over real good Belgian fries (!!! I've stopped eating fries ever since I moved out of Belgium, but Sketch has brought them back in my life for good!!!) and my favourite beer in the whole wide world, the African Mongozo Banana, all the while discussing some exciting exciting development in my future professional life. 

Am now chilling, waiting for news about a class I'm supposed to be giving at 3:30 (not sure there'll be enough people), finally about to put some of my thoughts from back in March in writing for the public to read and am sipping a refreshing freshly squeezed grapefruit&orange juice.

Oh, and between the two meetings I managed to buy one of my most beloved Escada scents 25% off.

It truly is a good life.

*      *      *      *      *

One of the issues that kind of clicked in my mind during the last trip is my attitude towards money. About three, four years ago I've started shifting towards not buying things and trying to own as little as possible, with the later-done travels only pushing me further and further in the direction of this new lifestyle. I've come to a point where I would barely go shopping, hate going to the mall (with the abundance of everything around and the amount of waste and useless material things we produce being, quite frankly, overwhelming), decided I didn't want to have a lot of money. Just enough to pay for my basic needs, thus I wasn't really looking forward to be making more than necessary. I've always been good with money management (not having much and wanting to do much teach you that in no time) but never really took the time to figure out how to become wealthy. I don't come from a rich family but somehow that's never been on my agenda. And then I spent a couple of days in Munich.

Munich is a beautiful city and unlike many other beautiful places, it has a completely distinct vibe - the vibe of money. I always say Munich is a place that breathes money. You can see it in the carefully restored buildings, in the fancy restaurants and not so fancy bars (still more expensive than everywhere else in the region), in the people's clothes, walk and brands of shopping bags they seem to always carry around with them, in the cars parked in the streets (a Porche parked on basically every corner of the city center, alongside the countless Audi, Mercedes and a Mini Cooper to break the pattern from time to time), in the shops luring you inside with all those countless gourmet goods displayed on the shelves. One of which was a spice store branded by a famous German chef, which Paula, her mom and I visited during our Saturday afternoon stroll around. I was looking at all the exoticly-sounding spices and dressings and their prices thinking to myself: "If I don't have enough cash, I will never be able to enjoy such things and will loose out on so many exciting tastes the world has to offer". So there I was, between the African vanilla pepper and the intriguing figue and chestnut mustard, realizing I did want to be rich. Not because money is important to me but because I want to be able to afford to discover what is out there. Be it unusual food, far-away locations, crazy sports or the best available education for my children if they should care to pursue that path, I want it. And without money, much will stay out of my reach. 

It's been a kind of a circle - coming from "I want money to have things, everyone wants money." as a child/teeneager, through "I don't want to be ruled by money, I want just enough, I don't care for it much." in the early twenties, to "I want to rule my world, certain things I want in it are expensive and there's nothing I can do to change it, but I can sure rule the money I'll have." after almost a quarter of a century in this crazy place we call Earth. And as Jim very wisely summed it up today - it's not a crime to live a good life. It's ok to be wealthy and comfortable, it's nothing to be ashamed of if you want to be able to afford the good stuff. But most of all, you have to consider who you are first - having money and owning things should never define you, that's not where your self-confidence and self-esteem should come from. Just understand why you want to have money, what motivates you to work for it and what paths you're willing to follow to get to where you aspire to, how they fit the image of the human being you want to be.

*     *     *     *      *

Oh, that 3:30 Zumba class? Cancelled! Which means I can enjoy my juice that much longer and have some free time, a concept I haven't been familiar with the last couple of days.

Ah, thanks God it's not a crime to live a good life!