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!

Why isn't there ever an "enough"?

Do you ever feel satisfied nowadays?

I know plenty of people who make the best use of time they possibly could - working, having fun, doing hobbies, socialising, achieving - and yet they always feel they should be doing more. I'm one of those people. 

We feel we should learn more, do more, plan more, be more. 

More, more, more. 

Where does it stop, and does it ever?

*     *     *     *     *

I realise we all need progress and progress comes from wanting, needing or imagining something more than what already is but is it really necessary to always be in the pursuit of MORE?

Many folks who travel to the poorer regions of this world come back saying how incredible it is that people in there are happy in spite of not having a lot. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my opinion it's not in spite of, it's because - people are happy because they don't have a lot. 

They're happy if they have a place to sleep and live, something to eat and feed their loved ones with, relationships with friends and neighbours, all of which brings them a peacefulness that the 'Western' mind and soul rarely experience. 

Why? 

Because they have what they need and that's enough.

In our quest for more, have we maybe forgotten what enough feels like? 

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...

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver

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!