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Hello all…. I’m back!!!

It has been a very long absence I know, so please allow me to explain……..

As some of you may already know, in April 2012 we made the BIG move (in so many ways) from Pretoria, South Africa to Montreal, Quebec in Canada! There have been so many things to arrange and organise and I allowed them to take priority over my blog.  We are all settled in now and I have finally established a new routine.

Our move has provided me with the perfect subject to resume my blog, and to quote Osho – “Life begins where fear ends”.

My husband has always wanted to live and work abroad and because of my fear of change, I blocked him all the way. I was in a comfort zone, surrounded by family and friends and everything that was important to me. That is until I became involved with my life coaching and realised just how much I was limiting myself and my family.

Once he got the go ahead from me, he managed to secure a transfer with the company he works for, and we started the process of applying for work visas. The planning and organising it took to get us here required a lot of energy and persistence, and we learned so many lessons along the way. The biggest one being patience (especially for me). Our visas, which should have taken about 3 months to come through, actually took nearly 8 months! That was another lesson we learned –  NEVER give up and keep focusing on the end goal, and it all paid off in the end! We finally left SA on 28 April 2012 which, interestingly was also Freedom Day….. Some people might call it a coincidence, but I don’t believe in coincidence. I totally believe it was significant in that I was freeing myself from my own prison of the fear of change that I had created.

We have experienced all 4 seasons now and I have loved every one of them. They each hold their own beauty! We arrived at the beginning of Spring – there was still a definite nip in the air. We were early enough to witness the budding of the flowers and the new shoots of leaves on the trees, and then the burst of beauty with the new growth and rebirth happening all around us. Another significant time for me. I felt the universe was celebrating my new growth with me, using Mother Nature as an example!

Summer arrived and we moved into our new home as temperatures reached the mid 30 degree C range. We used Summer as an opportunity to start exploring the new world we found ourselves in, and it was spectacular. Montreal is surrounded by a lot of water and the locals celebrate the long Summer holidays by taking to the water and “beaches” in droves.

Then came Autumn….. a truly spectacular tapestry of colours surrounded us everywhere! The beauty is hard to describe, even a photograph doesn’t really do it justice. You have to be here to see and really appreciate the beauty of nature in all her glory, and how she works .

Winter has now arrived!! I don’t know who was more excited when we experienced our first snow fall, my 10 year son or I! I was watching him through the window as he got off the school bus, and saw him looking skyward and holding out his hand to catch the snowflakes as they were falling. I realised what was happening and ran outside, and the 2 of us were laughing and giggling and jumping around at the prospect of experiencing our first snowfall. The temperature has already dropped to -28 degrees & I’m told can go as low as -40! Fortunately, the houses are heated and there is a huge choice of Winter clothing to choose from to keep warm. The low temperatures do nothing to keep people indoors. There is so much to do and so many Winter activities to choose from that no one can complain of boredom. The next lesson here is attitude! Having the right attitude makes the long, cold Winter something to look forward to! Instead of complaining about the cold, embrace it and see it as an opportunity to ski, skate, toboggan, snow board, and play or watch ice hockey. The St Lawrence River, which is used in the Summer months for sailing and swimming, is dotted with vehicles and ice huts, and used for ice fishing in Winter. That huge expanse of water freezes to a depth of 4 feet, and is solid enough to take the weight of vehicles and is a sight to behold!

I am so grateful to have this opportunity of experiencing this new life that I am creating – I’ve seen Niagara Falls in Winter and it is stunning, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it in Summer. I’m also looking forward to seeing more of the beauty that Canada has to offer, to embracing more change, because change also brings with it an enormous opportunity to grow and move forward, to learn even more lessons, and to share this insight to all who will listen!

None of this would have happened if I hadn’t taken the huge step to overcome my fear of change. I stepped out of my comfort zone and straight into the magic!

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Until next time……………

With much love and light,

Doris