If you ever want to feel what it really means to step out of your comfort zone, perhaps my latest story could assist you!
I have been in the same job, for 11 years, 1 month , and 2 weeks. Exactly. I have been working in a very demanding, fast paced and highly stressful role as a designer, but it always suited me, as with everything else in my life, I loved to see how fast I could go, how much more I could fit in, and how much further I could push myself until I reached burn-out.
Until I found Yoga. And surfing. Those of you who have read my previous blogs, will understand where I am coming from.
As my job got more frustrating, and I found I was questioning my purpose there, and literally not wanting to get up in the morning ( except to run/surf/yoga), but for the rest of the morning dragging my feet, all the way to work. It started to consume me, I dont work for a bad company at all, I have a really cushy job, I have a wonderful boss who doesn’t mind if I role in here at 7:50am, still dripping seawater, sand in the toes, and mermaid hair, mumbling something about how amazing the sea was for the morning, and how it was by far, the best surf I have ever had.. while I scurried into the shower. ( yeah, such a cushy job, that my office is even situated just behind the promenade, and we have a shower and bathroom to use)
I started to try and figure out what had changed, why was I suddenly hating this? I used to thrive on the rush, and the stress, and loved to sit and wallow in self-pity and glasses of wine, complaining about all the things that I could not control, but spent my life being anxious over. Until one day, the 500W light-bulb switched on, the one with big neon flashing lights above it : the job and work situation had not changed, but I had changed. My attitude towards it had started to change, and I was starting to feel “stale”, as if I had reached my expiry date as a designer.
I started to take my yoga more seriously, completed my Yoga Teachers Training, and that is where the magic started. Although I was still working the hectic job all day, and completely reliant on every little cent, I was starting to attract more and more yoga teaching opportunities, and growing even more fond of it, and the reactions and feedback that I would get from my students, after a class. Which fueled my fire even more to take it more seriously.
Combining yoga with my passion for surfing, and ocean life in general, started to become my focus. I have also never had the funds to travel. So I started searching affordable ways to travel, whilst teaching yoga, which seemed like a dream. Something that you see people doing, but never actually believe that you could do one day. We get so blinded by the blinkers of the Rat Race, we fail to see the alternative opportunities out there, we fail to let go of the crutches we create for ourselves, that we need the stressful jobs to maintain. We are full of fear, we are too scared to try “what if?”
It is easier to sit and complain about how unhappy you are, than to actually do something about it. I have never been one of these types of people, thank goodness. So i started to search yoga + travel jobs, narrowed down a couple places that I would like to see, and go to, and all of a sudden, BABAM! I landed a job in the Maldives, one of my dream locations.
So to cut a very long story short, I am currently car-less, as my vehicle decided to collapse on me about 3 weeks ago. Just as I was trying to sell it so that I had some “safety” cash in the bank before I left. I have to be out of my flat this Sunday, so on top of finishing up 11 years of work, and trying to complete the next 2 months worth of work before I go, I have been trying to live around boxes, and absolute mess at home. Not the most ideal of situations for a Yogi who likes her calm, and space at home!
So I am busy packing up my entire life, and fitting it into a 20kg suitcase. On the 24th July, I step onto a plane, and for the first time in my life, I leave South African soil, and literally head off into the unkown, out into the middle of the Indian Ocean, and far away from life as I know it.
It is the most terrifying, but exciting thing that has ever happened to me. I feel like I am starting to live my dream life. I know that it is not going to be easy, I never wanted easy. I wanted a challenge. I want to grow.
To anybody out there who feels stale, just start with a small change, a small goal.. before you know it, you are literally shake, rattle and rolling, and once that momentum starts, it doesnt stop! It is a wild ride ( well Uber/ walk/ catch a lift in my case as I still have no vehicle!) , but I just know that it is going to be worth it in the end.
I challenge anyone who is afraid of change, who cant stand their current living situation.. to CHANGE it, and change it NOW! It is like taking the best breath of fresh air ever!
Watch this space….
runsurfyogagirl031 