Time out

                                                      

Edition137 Monday 30th April 2012

Hi,wow its been a great week starting with two full-on days at work closing deals.Then Tuesday night was awesome as we watched the Breakers win back to back NBL titles with a nail biting yet clinical display against Perth, no show ponies just a team working hard together for a common goal….so refreshingly different to you know who! Then up at sparrows on Anzac Day and off to the dawn parade at Browns Bay on the trusty Retro Suzuki 750cc Probably not the best or most responsible mode for Mum and child but exhilirating all the same, lets face it ,soon all three of us will not be able to enjoy the ride. There is something special about attending a dawn parade on a beach, the sound of the waves lapping gently against the shore as the dawn and the sun pierce the sky just like they would have all those years ago as our troops approached the shore at Anzac cove…..freaky. It made us feel grateful and proud of all those returned and present services personnel and the many more who didn’t come home or who have since passed before. The turnout was huge , a cross section of all ages and cool to experience gratitude and thanks expressed on such a wide and human scale.

Then just like in basketball we called a ‘time out’ and headed off to our favourite spot on the Coromandel for a self made long weekend, made even more enjoyable and relaxing because it wasn’t a public long weekend. I have a confession….yes,I took my scooby doo coffee machine, beans, grinder,and milk frothy thingy! Crikey what a JAFA So what? I had a mate who towed his weights and bench away on a trailer on holiday so he could work out(great idea) although I thought I was doing pretty well with the coffee machine and that perhaps hitching the trailer up would be a bridge too far.

Fish and Chips on the wharf at Thames was a definite highlight as was the therapeutic beauty of the picturesque white sand and deep azure blue of the Pacific ocean lapping at our doorstep….life doesn’t get any better…..’time outs’ are essential and thoroughly recommended but up to you to call!

I hope you also had a relaxing weekend with family and friends… Cheers Jonesey!

Harry and the Hendersons are on the mend & happy dad followed a team that won for once

“Its not about the bike” Lance Armstrong

Another great thing about taking ‘time out’ is that you get to do just what I talked to you about in last weeks sizzzzzzle piece. You get to take a step back and to think about where you are at , where you are headed and what you have to do in order to get there…just like in a tight basketball game!

To assist with this process time outs give you plenty of time to think, reflect and rest…….a lot.

Our long weekend spot is a place purposely chosen because we cant get cell phone or internet coverage, there is no TV so it is peacful and a definite ‘time out’ from our normal world. We also left the dogs at home so it was just us, our surrounds and the tranquil seclusion of a special piece of unspoilt New Zealand. Crikey how could we do anything but recharge our batteries with 10-12 hours sleep per night. Perfect as we enjoyed planning the next chapter of what is becoming an intriquing life story for us both ! What will the next chapter hold for us as we plan and prepare for a child !!!

Speaking of intriquing stories I did my bit and read a blokes book on pregnancy (lots of pictures and not many words) and then I picked up the book entitled ‘Its not about the bike’ by Lance Armstrong. I couldn’t put it down as I was taken on a roller coaster ride through the mid nineties where he was diagnosed and treated for testicular cancer!. Just as I alluded to last week in this column if you want to be truly motivated, inspired and stimulated then you need to allow yourself the time to read stuff like this and other books. When someone says life is tough then you need to ask then ‘compared to what?’….reading a book like this sure does make you realise all your so called problems together don’t add up to anything near what some others have to endure,and overcome. This is a book about belief and courage and I am glad I took ‘time out’ and had the privelege to read it, you should too!

“You have all the time there is…no one can give you any more, use it wisely.” Gallileo