2010
It’s the new year already – and I’m finally back at work – its a little bit weird to be back but good as well. Having a month off work to chill out and start to remember all the good things about life is great. I fully recommend taking 4 weeks leave in one go at least every two years so that you can reset your creativity and relearn all the good things about life – family, friends and fun.
It’s one of those things that while at school and possibly uni that you can take for granted – long holidays where you have time to go to the beach everyday, meet up with friends and chill out – and generally have fun to that degree – and when you start full-time work your 2-3 months worth of holidays each year is reduced to a measly 1 month! Which I find it’s really easy to use in little dribs and drabs in order to make the most of long weekends and short – 1 week – trips away here and there. But do you ever truly relax like you used to in those early years? I think not – I recommend the disconnect (electronic & work-wise) for a full month to really reconnect with you family and friends – and perhaps one of the most useful reasons – to reconsider why you are where you are. So many people get sucked into the vortex called work that they forget how to put work into a life perspective. Taking a full month (fully disconnected) from work means that you get pulled away from the vortex, and can re-evaluate your life, and your goals.
For me the last month on leave has been a fantastic time – I spent 10 days with family over Christmas, just chilling out and enjoying sharing time and company – reconnecting a lives for those 10 days at least – and it has made me reconsider why I moved away and whether I still want to be away. I haven’t come to a decision but I certainly didn’t feel or think this way before I took the break. In addition, as my last post states, I hadn’t considered fully going back to university, sort of but not really. I feel more certain now about going back to university in 2011. I had considered doing a Masters this year but the Masters I was looking at was not as in depth or detailed as I wanted to go, so I have considered and 99% decided 
that I will go back next year to do another Bachelor degree (God willing). This was definitely not something I was considering in any detail 4 weeks ago, but here I am, one step closer to changing careers. 
Nearing the end of 2009
I can’t really believe it (can you?). It’s nearly the end of 2009 – its amazing really, it wasn’t that long ago that I was writing my first posts of the year – specifically around my Plans for 2009 after returning from Europe. Okay so I haven’t really kept to the plan that I set out then but I have in a couple of areas – and I’m pretty stoked with that!
1a) Financial Responsibility – I’m still learning it, there is no way that a year attempting to save money got me into habits for the rest of my life, but I have saved money, and while it’s a small start
1b) Health-wise Responsibility – This was one of the areas that didn’t see much progression. While I did buy an exercise bike, I have not gotten into a rhythm of riding it. I haven’t improved my eating habits, in fact I think I’ve regressed. But I have no problems going to the doctor, dentist and optometrist to get some assistance. I even got contacts at the beginning of the year – I now realise that contacts are more fiddly than they are worth (e.g. a lens popping out of your eye while you’re sitting down is not going to increase your confidence in them).
2) Energy/Positivity – I feel like I’ve been pretty positive this year, for the most part, maybe a little, sometimes. LOL. Maybe not the greatest of endorsements for success in this area, but I guess learning to laugh at life’s little foibles is just as good as feeling buoyant, and maybe a better long term skill.
3) Relaxing – This is pretty important to me, I find I need to take the time to relax for a part of the day in order to appropriately regroup before coming back the next day – especially when I’m locked into something – that might be work (Mon-Fri) or locked into organising music for a Sunday morning at Church.
4) Gardening – I have no idea if I would want to pursue this as a career. But, I have had heaps of fun setting up a garden and growing different herbs and vegies. I’m currently growing pumpkins, spring onions, tomatoes, chilli, basil, parsley (curly & flat leaf), lavender, mint, oregano, and rosemary. I also keep a compost – and am attempting to get the grass to grow during our lovely drought conditions. It’s fun, uses some energy, and gets me outside in the warmth and sun! So I’m loving it (and I’m really loving the rain we’ve been having lately – it has been awesome!),
5) Art – I had decided to discard this item from my list earlier in the year, but recently I have gotten out the paints and have done one and a half paintings (the Face painting I mentioned in a previous post, is getting there but not yet complete). So its not yet dead – it probably helped going to an art gallery or two, they tend to inspire me to paint better than anything else.
6) Reading Non-Fiction – LOL – To be honest I have been fairly successfully in this endeavour to read a number of non-fiction books. I have started reading 5 or 6 books, the problem is that I haven’t finished any of them! But I plan to during my holidays so it should be alright still.
7) Go away/Explore Victoria – I should have, I haven’t, but I still hope to. It’s not a lost endeavour, I am taking a nice chunk of leave soon and most will be spent at home, so I should have plenty of time to go away for a couple of nights here and there.
Hopefully I’ll be able to post some photos of all of the above soon.
Painting
I started painting a picture on Friday night last week, I think I need to finish it soon, so that I can post a picture here. It’s nothing major, just a picture of a face, not spectacular, but colourful and fun. I hope you like it….when its done.
I think I need a new laptop
I bought a new laptop at the beginning of the year, but I bought an Asus eeePC, which while quite fun and awesome to play with and just jump on the net whenever I feel like it. It’s light, and just easy to take anywhere. The issue is that I think I need something that will actually be able to do some work – like blogging, and other documentation. The 10 inch screen of my E, is just too small for doing actual work. As such I have concluded that the E is a fun play computer, great for travelling, but not so great for actually work. (Its speed, graphics and cpu capacities are another factor.)
So that leads to my next step, finding a new laptop for work, work, and getting rid of the PC computer that is sitting in the lounge room. I’ll have to do some research
Hope
I’ve been thinking on hope for some time. Especially since Pastor Rod was diagnosed with cancer some months ago. While the illness has not been the best (is it ever?) – it has been a true blessing and ultimately a witness to see Rod’s hope. It surpassed the hope one might have in things that don’t last – like health, family, money etc.
Rod, and his wife Liz, recently decided to resign from the current church in light of his illness and the continuing growth of the church. It is with this (and his illness) in mind, that (I feel) he has begun a sermon series on HOPE. It’s been a good look into the history of Biblical hope, not just the hope given to Christians through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but throughout the Old Testament of the Bible as well.
Faith, Hope and Love – and the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13
The first week we looked at God’s promises to Abraham AKA Abram (Genesis 12). That he would give him a land, descendants and would bless him; and yesterday we looked at the hope of Joseph in Genesis 42-46 focusing on chapter 45, where Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. Though he had been sold to slave traders by his brothers, falsely accused and thrown into prison – and away from his family and home for some 20 years – he still had hope. Would you? Would I? Hope isn’t found in our current circumstances, in the life we have here, the things we own or even the friends or family we have. None of that lasts – hope of the eternal kind can only come from something or someone beyond the laws of our current world – in someone that surpasses time and decay – in God.
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