So… Where Was I?

Right! Regular readers out there will know I’m well past due an updated on my life changing plans and blah blah blah. Well, let’s see shall we?

As I think I mentioned previously work have decided to turn down my sabbatical request. It seems that spiritual development, charity work, and visiting family overseas is insufficient reason to give someone time off. That, or they think I do a shit job and will be glad to see the back of me. Either way, see the back of me they will. If they don’t give enough of a damn to want to retain me services I’d be a damn fool to stay there, wouldn’t I.

So I’m gonna book the yoga teacher training course in Austria in September, which will cost about £2000. Quite a hunk of dough, but I can afford it. For one thing, I’ll be moving out of my flat at the end of August, and putting all my stuff into storage, so that’ll save me £5-600 quid.

It’s been a cosy place to live, cheap, warm, free from aggro, and it’s meant I could save a lot of money up to go do stuff with. But it’s also quite small, and a bit damp, and it needs decorating, and there’s crazy neighbours, and mice, and all that kind of things. So I may as well take the opportunity of being away for a month to make a move, and hopefully end up with something better (with more than one room, lol).

Basically, though a big part of me feels sad at having to say goodbye, this place has been good to me, it’s time to move on I reckon. Otherwise I’ll turn round one day to find myself a forty-something bachelor living in rented accommodation with no view and a kitchen where half your stuff ends up on the floor coz there’s nowhere to put it all.

And that’s the other reason I’ve got to jack in the job and get out in the world again too, wimmin! Shift work is not conducive to finding, starting, or having a relationship. You’re off when everyone else is working, asleep when everyone else is awake, and even your friends don’t call as much as they used to because you’ve had to say no one too many times.

So for my own sanity, my own future, and for the warmth of my own bed, I need to make a change.

Hmm… kind of feels like I’ve gone a bit off topic there, so let’s recap.

Jack in the job end of August. Go do TTC in Austria. October/November I want to spend in an ashram practicing yoga/meditation/etc. Then off to Oz for a month or so in December, to just travel and have a bit of a holiday. And then after that, who knows?

I have got this idea brewing that I’ll spend a year writing. I’m not sure where yet, but it’d be between my 39th and 40th birthdays (8th of February 2013/2014 respectively). I’d bookend it with riding an elephant and seeing the northern lights, the two things I want to do most in the world. I just think that, if I really want to write, I should have a good go at it, see if I’ve got what it takes. I mean, I know I can write! But can I get published?

So that’s where we are at the moment. Still a little vague I know, but there should be some clarification in the coming weeks. A friend of mine is a life coach, and we’re going to do a little exchange of services. In return for my teaching her some Tai Chi she’s going to do some exercises with me to help me understand what I do and don’t want to do. Hopefully once that’s happened I’ll have some more news for y’awl.

It’s all very exciting, and a little nerve wracking too. But aren’t the best things always that way a little? Butterflies in your stomach as you approach the girl at the bar. Packing your things to move somewhere new, not knowing how things will be when you get there. It can be difficult stepping out of your comfort zone, giving up the apparent safety you’ve built up around yourself. But if you only do what you’ve always done, you’ll only have what you’ve already got; and I don’t know about the rest of you, but there’s only so many nights I can sit at home eating chips and watching DVDs before I start to wonder if I’m wasting my life? (top tip: the answer is… yes!)

A steep learning curve

Ok, so here’s what I’ve learnt from my first week of blogging:

1. Don’t make proclamations you want to be true but which never will be.

ie: I ain’t giving up booze. I could barely last a week without a drink. First thing I did when I got home yesterday was go out and buy some beer. Much as I would like to not need the odd drink now and then it just ain’t gonna happen, so let’s just deal with that fact and move on. Maybe one day, when I’m more spiritually enlightened I’ll pack in drinking, but not today.

The point is to not get bogged down in this stuff. Things like drinking, or listening to your iPod, are just tools for separating yourself from the world. Cocoons to hide in that keep you ‘safe’. That’s what I want to do less; less hibernation. I want to deal with the world more, not hide away. So that’s what I’m going to do, not a blanket ban on things, but just less, with more of other more constructive things taking their place. That should prove more effective than what I’ve been doing so far.

2. Don’t be a slave to your blog.

As the strangely rambling post below about Buddhism shows (now deleted because it was complete gibberish), whilst it’s ok to want to write something every day, some days you’re better off just leaving it ’til tomorrow, when you’ve got something to say. Or when you’re not on dial up. Or when you’re not getting interrupted every five minutes. Your blog deserves your full attention, but only when it’s convenient to you.

3. Focus, damn it; focus!

Your blog needs a goal. It’s no good to ramble on about whatever’s in your head, you need to have a clear purpose, otherwise why would people read it. So, with that in mind, here are the new blog/challenge rules, as of now:

First, this blog will last a year, starting January 1st 2010. By the end of it I will have

a, a home (bought, or rented, but out of town and with a decent view of some sort)

b, a new revenue stream (so I don’t have to spend my days broadcasting second rate porn to lonely Norwegians)

c, a missus (kids optional)

d, a car, and a dog (non-essential)

Since pretty much everything in life centres around money I’m going to focus a bit on that. I’m going to work on my script writing, the simplest way I have of making a lot of money quickly without major effort on my part. If I work every day I’m not working at my ‘real’ job, I should be able to do one every two months fairly easily, giving me 6 complete scripts in 12 months to approach agents/producers with.

I’m also going to work on veganising my favourite recipes, two a week, so by the end of the year I’ll have a fairly decent cook book of over a hundred recipes. Another possible money maker.

As well as these two ideas I’m also going to continue doing something new every week, as well as the odd random weekly/monthly challenge I’ll set myself just to spice things up a little and thereby increase my chances of meeting Miss Right. The results of all this I’ll be putting in my weekly report, published every Sunday, summarising the results of my actions.

I think that’ll do for a start. I’ve got the rest of the month to mess around with the format, fine tune it a bit, but come January we are good to go.