So, I’m going to take a break from the current series and am going to jump onto the ten year challenge band wagon, in my own special way. I needed to take a break from the depth of the current blog series and I’m sure you did too (did you notice the key word, ‘break’ – yes, that means that I’ll be back to the series I was previously writing on but that will be for another day). In the meantime, to kick start 2020 on this blog , let me begin by writing something slightly more light hearted and… well… I couldn’t help myself anyway, FOMO got to me. But… (it’s the 21st century Mum you can use that word to begin a sentence now, sorry), at the same time, the idea of posting a picture of me from 10 years ago was enough to spur me on to get thinking about how I could go about doing things slightly differently. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…and anyone who identifies in between… let me present…
Ten key things I’ve discovered over the past decade!
This will be in no particular order and ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. A random observation: judging on the basis that you learn something new every day, that would mean that I should have learnt at least 3650 things, over the course of this decade (that’s not including the 2 days gained because of 2 leap years in this decade). So, in bootcamp like fashion akin to the selection of the special few in X Factor and American idols finals – I’ve gone for the absolute minimal and condensed this apparently long list down to a mere ten things. Synthesis on steroids, I know. I think if I went for a smaller list, people who’ve supported me in different ways over the decade might begin to feel it was definitely a waste of their precious time. You’re probably feeling like that now, as I continue to waffle and you lose the will to live. So, anyway, let me press on.
Important disclaimer: Please don’t read too much into this list and take my selection of ten things learnt over the omission of other things as a sign of my need for desperate help. Although, I’ll give it to you, if you know me, you know that I don’t need to do much at all to show the heights of craziness and incompetence which I can reach, even on a good day. So, without further a do…what have I learnt over the past decade…
- As this decade has progressed, I think I’ve got more silly, not less…some may even dare to say more immature (I’ll let you make the call on that one)… Ranging from dressing up in wacky costumes to the humiliation of those around me, acting as a silly Brit whilst abroad and experimenting with ridiculous recipe combinations, as part of independent living.
- I can now say that I’ve lived in Johannesburg for the second longest period of time, in my whole life – even longer than Manchester and Southampton. Johannesburg does now really feel like a home from home and I look forward to continue working and exploring this side.
- I’m musical and know that I can utilise rhythmic abilities in certain settings but, interestingly enough, dancing has never been one of those. I foolishly tried at a birthday party a couple of years ago and the famous comment made was that I was doing this due to ‘liquid courage’! My response was that this was simply the typical behaviour of an unhinged children’s and youth worker.
- The people of the United States of America and the United Kingdom are capable of electing two buffoons that behave and look like each other…how frighteningly amusing (I say, writing from thousands of miles away from both of these places)
- Unity in diversity is incredibly important to pursue – in fact, it’s a Gospel issue. Gosh, I just realised that I originally mentioned, at the beginning of this post, that I was going to give you a break from all of this. You didn’t actually think I was going to do that, did you? However, to try to honour my commitment, I’ll only ask you to read my last few posts for context.
- My family are an inspiration to me (even though Mum critiques the grammar on my blog posts). I’ve grown to love them more and more over the last decade and also appreciate their advice, wisdom, time, love, humour and so much more which they have shared and poured out into me.
- I went from death to life! Yeah, really, I’m not kidding here. By a country mile, this is the best thing I discovered in this decade! Check out the bio of this blog to find out more…
- My head could quite easily feature on a ‘natural geographic’ show with all of the contours on it. The form of my head was revealed to me and it was the first time I saw it since I was last shown my baby photos (which was a while ago).
- I continued to remain bizarrely optimistic that England would win more world cups this decade and was proved wrong, more often than not. However, the women’s cricket team did come through to win the ODI Cricket World Cup in 2017 and the men’s cricket team then came through in the ODI Cricket World Cup, in 2019, hosted in England – there’s hope for British sport yet.
- Finally, there have been so many times when the plans that I’ve made haven’t worked out but in hindsight, it has been for the best. So many times, I believe God has taken my first major life plans, over this decade, and screwed them up and threw them out of the window. It is wasn’t for this happening, I almost certainly wouldn’t be writing on this blog now. God has demonstrated how he is in ultimate control, how I really am not and how I need to humbly depend on him. I need to depend on the one who wants the best for me and loves me more than I could ever imagine, despite my mess. He is faithful and just.
I like what Nicky Gumbel tweeted the other day:
‘Look back and thank God.
Look forward and trust God.
Look around and serve God.
Look up and seek God.
#HappyNewYear’
And if you skipped to the end because you did lose the will to live: Here’s a song I finished writing at the beginning of last year which I hope encourages you, going into 2020 – a song about God’s faithfulness:
God bless and many blessings for 2020 🙂
Adam
Another Brit Abroad 