The Balancing Act Called Life

To make some sort of life in this world all of us need to specialize in something. It used to be a University Degree, but now it can take the form of a Trade or specialized skill to become a professional in your field. Doing this can set you up in life.

However, we can be sucked into this and loose so many aspects of life. Recently I have been so caught up in running my gym, sorting out budgets, finances and Planning for the future. I have also been training really hard and making sure my rest and recover is on point. I would love to visit international Sanctioned CrossFit events and chasing something like that takes a lot of time. Yesterday though I got pretty shaken up.

I send my sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the family of the man who was shot and killed yesterday in Witbank. I didn't know any of you and don't pretend to, but just know that your story has shocked our town.

In order to save time, when I dropped my girlfriend off at work yesterday, I decided to take my running shoes with and go for a run when I got there. I had running intervals on the menu and it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to complete. Unbeknown to me. A block from where I was running a man was she and killed in his own house at 8:30 or there about in the morning.

I didn't know until later that day when everybody at the gym was telling me. It shocked me.

I started to think about the man, his family, his life his goals, and of that I know very little so the only logical similarities I could draw was with my own life.

Would I be content to walk out of this world now?

I must have stopped typing for at least 10 minutes thinking about that question and still I try to convince myself yes, but deep in my heart I still say, No.

The stress of your field of profession could have pulled you in so far that you have forgotten about the small things around you. The things that used to give you a sense of adventure and joy. I can feel it. And let me tell you, I am living my dream, I am in a job I am completely passionate about!

So how does this happen? if you figure it out, please tell me. But, I think, it starts in the future...the worry of it leads us so far into things we have control over. Much of our life is hard work yes, and it pays off, but much of it is half chance. Losing a contract, stock market crashes, government instability, death, so much can change over night, so much that can leave us at the will of outside circumstances. So we take out insurances and policies to hedge against it, spending money and energy on the unforeseen future. If you know me, you know I stress about the future, i am the first to try save and plan and as I get older i do it more.

But what if, we could take the foot off the gas once in a while. Take a weekend away. Plan a trip, do something you love, do something special with somebody you love? Will that destroy your whole world? On the contrary I think it may recover a sense of ourselves that we haven't seen in ages.

Today Im not giving you advise...I am rather giving myself advise, and if you would like to write some advise to your older self that you will be thankful for, well do that!
But here goes: To Myself:

Never forget that life can change instantly whether you think you are in control or not. Don't forget to use the 24 hours in your day to smile. Don't forget to look inside yourself for guidance, you know yourself the best, stop caring to much about other opinions of how you should run your life. Love yourself, look after yourself and then trust that the guidance you set yourself will lead to a thing of beauty! Take time out to review where you are going and if you are on the path you want to be. Find something in life you love and enjoy and never forget it, you owe yourself small pleasures because in these pleasure you can serve the world in your job even better than you already are, because you will be happier, you will know more and you will understand more.

I f you had x (years, days, months) to live, what would you change now...it may not even be an external change, it may be a way of thinking.

Peace.

7 days in Swaziland with R70

Two years back, I set out on a mission with a friend to try and explore as much of Swaziland as possible in 7 days with only R70, or R10 a day which is less than one US Dollar per day. WTF were we thinking?

Just take a look at the map so you can follow the journey with me as I write it:

It started on a Monday morning while everyone was rushing off to work, myself and Zakkie Odendaal were catching a lift to the Border Gate closest to Mbabane. We had one night planed out which was the first night. We would be staying at Legends Backpackers, kindly organized by our good friend and owner of Swazi Adventures. 

Although our means of transport worked out pretty well, we had by no means organized it. Besides our lack of form, holding our thumb to the sky directing the gestures at pretty much any vehicle we could find, the friendly drivers of Swaziland seemed more than willing to pick us up. The first time you catch a lift hitch hiking your short life flashes through your mind. Will my mom miss me, will my family find my body and have I lived a good life? The second time you are a little more comfortable and by the tenth or eleventh time the driver is probably a bit more nervous about picking you up than you are to be picked up. From all the places we had travelled we could have probably spoken a hole in most drivers ears by then. 

But lets rewind. We got to the border and hitched our first ride into the capital. From the lifts we caught on the first day to the back packers, I was most impressed with the young Swazi's  men ambition to make money, do business and change the world. Quite embarrassing actually as I was now for a week, choosing to go into poverty to see life from a different perspective. It was very difficult for them to understand how I would choose something like this. 

We stayed one night in Mbabane and then hitched a ride South through Manzini and then towards Big  Bend where we found a friend of a friend (thats how it goes when you are meeting so many people catching lifts) who offered us a place to stay with him and his wife. They stayed next to a game reserve where Tal (the husband) was a manager on a private reserve. It was a lovely little place, peaceful and full of hospitality. We even got to experience a Sugar Cane Fire Harvest, this was spectacular. Watching the fire lit from all sides of the field and then seeing the flames roar into action creating a thermal spiral sucking air into its core and feeding the beast was simply breathtaking. 

The next day we were in search of a road North to where we heard about a place where we could sit on top of a mountain and have our one foot in Swaziland, or other leg in Mozambique and our back in South Africa. Everywhere we looked online couldn't tell us if this place existed, even locals thought we were crazy and had never heard of it. So we went in search of it ourselves, which is something we hardly do anymore in this online internet driven world. We hitched possibly 4 rides before eventually heading off the main road, tracking our gps up the closest mountain we could see that hinted at these border points. We climbed and carved new tracks up the rocky hills and tall grass until we eventually got to the top...and there it was. We were now looking into all three of these countries. Something I will never forget. 

Back home at Tal's place we sat around a fire having dinner while sharing stories of a truly amazing day. Then, we were off the next day in search of the Northern farm lands, waterfalls and luxury resorts. Of course we couldn't really visit any of these with our R10 a day. Budget check so far, we had spent hardly anything over the first three days and had R60 still left, the help and support of strangers was seeing us through 

On My Bicycle: Cairo to Cape Town in a Podcast

I cannot believe how freaking long it has taken to get all this posted but finally the full audio series/podcast is out on sound cloud and iTunes.

So why has it taken so long? Well that could take a book in itself to explain. I think after cycling the 10 526kms across Africa I was on this high. I was going from radio interview to radio interview, speaking engagement to the next and being the scenes my life was kind of falling apart. Everything around me was changing. When the dust finally settled I felt so unsure of myself, so beat down by life that I felt like complete shit. I suddenly wasn't proud of anything in my life.

Find your way again, it will be the greatest thing you ever decide

And then you grow up. Time does that and Im grateful that I had it, many peoples lives end long before they find any clarity or meaning. I was fortunate enough to have that time to wrestle with ideas I had harbored for way to long.

Some Advise: If this is you, if you are in the biggest hole you of your life perhaps try some of the following

1) Cut off the dead branches: 
Don't get me wrong, you are not cutting people out of your life because you think you are better than them or because you don't need them. You are doing it for other reason. You need to hear your own voice again. Dive deep into your thoughts, your passions and who you are. So slowly withdraw from the people you need to

2) Find Help: 
Do not find a spiritual leader for help when you need help with psychological things, it will only confuse you more. Go to a professional who can guide you in the right direction.

3) Time: 
Don't make to many decisions all at once. Take your time, grow in stature in your new role in life. Learn to trust the person you are becoming, I understand that is hard, but if you have taken a step back and decided to start making conscious decision to improve life and the things around you then its time to trust the new you.

Just some tips and thoughts on that, theres many different ways to skin a cat, perhaps find something that helps for you.

So here it is, the podcast finally! Go enjoy it and let me know what you think. If you want any questions answered email them to me, will be happy to address them in the next podcast keeganlongueira@yahoo.com

Listen to the Podcast here: Cairo to Cape Town  (sound cloud) or follow the "Podcast Link" on apple

This is what the podcast will look like on Sound cloud