Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Sights, The Smells and the New Culture of 2011

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Today’s Blog Post
The Sights, The Smells and the New Culture of 2011

Can you remember that year you took the vacation to “????” and how exciting it was to be getting ready? The weeks ahead of buying the tickets, clothing, everything you might need and then booking the air flights and getting the visas that you needed?? Remember how you could hardly wait?

If you have that “????” fixed in your thoughts now… you will remember the take off, the long flight and the first smells and sights of the new place you arrived at. You will remember the traffic, the new but very old buildings… and all the very different people in that place. The excitement has built to a high pitch at that stage. You could hardly believe that you were there.

Have you got that feeling fixed in your mind? Now savour it for a while… roll it over again and again as you remember what it was all about.

For me that is the entrance this day to the year 2011. I have prepared for 66 years and about 8 months of hard work to come to this place of stepping into 2011. I stepped off the Airplane this morning at 5 AM… and am I ever ready!

As I stop to think of all that has happened even in the past 2010, air tickets, visas, packing my bags for last nights journey… I can hardly believe it! We have arrived! We are here! There could be nothing more exciting than this moment.

No… No… I am not on a far away beach somewhere.. I am still at home. I awoke this morning in my very own bed… but in a New Year!

What would happen if everything I did this year was treated like the greatest adventure that I have ever take? What if everything that I did was something to be savoured? What if I looked forward to getting up each day to meet new people each hour?

For me life is new every morning. Nothing can stop that from happening. It just happens.

Now I can make a choice as to how I live that next 18 hours of being awake… ready for great possibilities … or for not so great.

When I wake up and say… “Good morning Lord..!” I anticipate the wonder of what is about to happen in this next 365 days. If I wake and state, “Good Lord it is morning…” I am set up for some sad stuff.

In April 2007 Alida and headed to Kenya for the first time. It was a very long day before we crawled into a lumpy bed in a far away guest house. Flying all night, sitting in the huge airport and then many long hours in a tight little airplane seat… left me exhausted. That old bed felt so good!

Walking up that next day was amazing. There were birds already calling each other… flying from tree top to tree top. There were people already working in the yard next door. The trees were entirely different, the smell was so different, and I was blown away!

Now I should mentioned that all happened before I was dressed to go out that day… we hadn’t even left the room yet… I had just been looking out the windows!

The next two and a half weeks seemed like a year. The overwhelming feelings with the great cultural shocks to our Canadian minds was way too much! Back home the people we knew were not even out of bed yet. When they did get up their day would have the same old, same old in it. They would have no cultural shocks… while we were being stretched to the max every moment.

What a trip that was!

Now if each day that I live now… were to be that kind of day filed with expectations and new things… 2011 and will be the greatest one that I have ever lived.

And I am just crazy enough to think that might happen.

My Mom will hit 90 years old in 27 days. It is only 92 days until I hit the 67th mile post! This year will be amazing!

This year will have a few bumps in it as well. Not everything will be a positive experience. I will meet some people that I wished I hadn’t – just like the Africa trip … I will be discouraged sometimes when the people that promised me they would do something – didn’t do it… just like the Africa trip…

But accepting the few bumps… and then looking over the shoulder of the bumps… there is another fantastic opportunity just ready to happen for me! Can you believe it!

I better close for now. Today is waiting. Opportunity is just about knocking down my door. It is banging so loudly now… that I can’t wait!

Gotta run… I have only 365 days to take this all in! Wahoo!
(So what has the two legged horse have to do with this posting?  Nothing really.. except riding it would be an adventure wouldn't you think? And it did get you to read all of this.. ;-)
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

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