My husband Yvan and I have been enjoying beautiful Australia since January 15th as we visit our son Jesse, who now lives in Sydney.
You know, sometimes we take our children for granted. I never in a million years would have thought that Jesse would move across the world and end up “down under,” as they say. I have to admit, our son, who is now 25, had a huge impact on our lives. This kid knows how to enjoy life without fear! I remember a conversation we had about two and a half years ago.
Jesse had moved out of the house to go to school in Toronto. In addition to studying, he was working part-time, but he wasn’t feeling fulfilled or content with his life. So one day he came home and announced to us that he was going to travel to Australia for six months, just to find out what else is out there. Wow! Two years later, he’s still there, enjoying his full-time job and everything Australia has to offer. Our son’s travel adventures made me realize that what he’s found is available to all of us. Don’t we all have opportunities in life? Of course we do!
The difference is that some of us might choose not to experience life the way we want to. Instead, we live to other people’s expectations. Why is that? Jesse has taught us a very valuable lesson these last couple of years. He’s taught us that one is not supposed to wait until it’s too late to start living, or to do whatever you feel like doing. No matter what! Forget the fear.
For many of us, the older we get, the more we get caught up in more things, more stress, more obligations, or worse! Not even enjoying our life and work anymore, just dragging ourselves from one day to the next. This is not living! The other day we watched the movie Into The Wild (www.intothewild.com), a true story about the “search for happiness.” And yet, happiness is not a destination. It is a journey. The film is about a young adult who lives just that. He lived all the chapters in a bold way that very few people do. Check out the film for yourself.
Back to our trip … we still have another week to go. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Our journey began five weeks ago in Sydney where we spent several days touring. Then on to Melbourne for a few days, followed by a flight to Cairns in the northern part of the country, in the heart of the rainforest. We rented a camper van and drove more than 2,000 km along the scenic coast, exploring pristine rainforests and isolated beaches. Our route took us through Port Douglas, Mission Beach, Magnetic Island, Airlie Beach, Fraser Island, Brisbane, and our final stop, Byron Bay.
I have to tell you, Byron Bay is my kind of town! It’s a happy, friendly, green, hippie place. They’re not allowed to open any type of fast-food place around here, isn’t that something? They’ve got everything you could dream of! A fabulous JUICE BAR for my daily shot of wheat grass, and delicious, organic foods everywhere. People are absolutely stunning here. They look and feel healthy, from the inside out. Yoga studios everywhere, amazing healthy restaurants, spas, spiritual retreats, all the alternative services you can think of.
This is really THE place to feel beautiful, healthy, pampered, calm, and relaxed. Of course, the perfect weather helps, too, averaging 28 C by day, and an average low of 20 C. It’s not hard to adjust to that. I was reading an interesting article the other day in one of the health magazines here in Australia, and what it said didn’t surprise me. The article pointed out that people in North America don’t take enough time off! And when they do, they don’t even know how to enjoy it. They kind of feel lost when they have any time off.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of society we are building and the legacy we are passing on to our kids: Go to work, get a demanding job, get lots of things, work more to acquire more, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to enjoy some of it at the end. Why not take mini retirements here and there instead of working super hard and hoping we’ll get to enjoy the golden years? You can make these your golden years NOW by learning how to bring more balance, fun, and enjoyment into your life. We are at the end of our trip and our last week will be spent in Fiji. Yvan has always wanted to visit Fiji, so I guess this is one more thing he can check off his list! Today we are flying to the main Island of Fiji where we’ll meet Jesse and his friend Shane and spend the week with them.
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Oliver Guttorm
When your emotions are down, savor a cup of this sweet, uplifting, aromatic herbal tea. It’s caffeine-free and easy to make, and you can buy ingredients in bulk at health food stores.
Rooibos tea is high in an array of different antioxidants that may slow aging and help prevent disease. It also contains nine essential minerals, which can help optimize body function during detoxification. 
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