Newspaper and Wrapping Paper

When I think about some of the things I did when I was a child, and compare it to the stories my friends tell, or the things I see in movies, I realize that I was a very obedient child.  Of course, I’m telling you this with the appropriate amount of humility that is needed.

Let me explain:  Take Christmas presents for instance; I never used to treasure-hunt my way through the house to find the presents and then open, peak and re-wrap just to pretend that I’m surprised when I eventually receive my present from my parents.  Firstly, I could never understand why people would do that, and secondly, I’m not that good of an actor!

As usual, I have a point to make and this brings me to my fascination with packaging.  Mind you, I don’t have a constant fascination with packaging, but for this purpose, let’s say I do.

We all know that it doesn’t really matter if you use brown paper, newspaper or pretty paper to wrap a present; at the end of the day it’s about the gift inside, because most of us throw the wrapping away anyway.

And it’s exactly the same when we create an expectation for ourselves.  It doesn’t matter what you are expecting, it could be a specific career path, a life partner, a home you wish to purchase or a friendship you are busy cultivating – all of us have a natural expectation of what these things are supposed to be like and how they are supposed to be packaged.  But here’s a question:  Who decides what these things are supposed to look like?  You? Or someone else?

We are constantly influenced by so many outside factors that it sometimes keeps us from discovering the truly amazing gifts that are hidden under the “newspaper” wrapping, because we are sub-consciously programmed to find and want the “pretty paper”.

Maybe you have a few “newspaper” gifts in your life that you have ignored.  And I don’t mean to imply that anyone is shallow or materialistic, but when we focus on the supposed “pretty paper” (because we think that is what we need, or what is important), we don’t always see what we are meant to.

And just as with everything, “newspaper” and “pretty paper” is in the eye of the beholder.  I can honestly say that I have discovered so many hidden gems in places that I never thought to look, just because I realized that my perception needed to change.

It’s liberating!

You Have Reached Your Destination

The intelligent and respected people of our society constantly tell us that our life is a Journey and not a destination.  Personally, I would like to meet these so called “they” that people always reference when they are trying to sound as if they are in the know, but for this exercise, it is irrelevant.  I mostly agree with the statement that we should never see our life as a destination, because if we do, we might believe we have reached the end of our road and set up camp, but in actual fact there might still be so many more things that we needed to explore.

I do, however, believe that we also shouldn’t just treat life as a journey, constantly moving and passing important destinations by.  All of us have a destination, a place that we love, a place we go to when we need to re-calibrate, re-boot, re-fuel and re-focus.  And obviously I’m not just referring to a physical place.

I had the privilege of meeting an amazing family a few years ago and I believe that it was a God-appointment even before I realized what was going on.  The wife was my teacher when I was in Grade 3 and after I returned to South Africa from my stay in London, I started working with the husband, helping out at a camp-site in the mountains just outside of Franschhoek.  I remember looking forward to those camps as if they were the only oases in an otherwise really dry desert.  We would spend hours around the big kitchen table, solving the problems of the world, delving into deep and meaningful discussions, and laughing at the most ridiculous of jokes (these kitchen-table-chats would usually take place around midnight!).  And these moments would be incomplete without coffee and hot chocolate, obviously.

The family was given an opportunity at their dream job and about 18 months ago they moved to Beaufort West which is approximately 6 hours’ drive from where I live, and this weekend my sister and I took to the road for a long overdue visit.

From the moment we greeted each other with long hugs, I knew that I would return home rested and inspired.  And I was right.

I guess each and everyone of us know that you sometimes don’t have to say a word but you can still be inspired, or even inspire someone.  That is exactly what happened this weekend.  My spirit, my being and my deep self was completely stripped of all stress.  I felt relaxed.  We laughed, we slept, we ate, we talked, we explored.  And at the end of the day I returned home exactly the way I thought I would: rested and inspired.

See, sometimes a destination is the presence of people that constantly have a positive and healthy influence on their surroundings and the people they encounter.  They are people who don't judge, condemn or pressure you for the time you spend with them.  Thank you Blikkies, Ronel, Jannes, Rian and Juan for being a nurturing destination for me and so many others.

Now, go and make a date with your destination; I’m sure you could do with some re-fueling!