Every journey has to begin somewhere. If it's an uphill struggle then the start is often the most difficult part of the whole journey - the decision that you ARE going to make the journey, you Are going to do it!
The new year is often a time for new resolutions - lose weight, get fit, get the finances in order, stop biting your nails!
Losing weight - now there's a subject I could write a book about, and getting fit! The thing is, I have managed both in the past. I have lost several stones and been fit enough to run half marathons (four, in fact, though you may not believe it if you saw me now!) So what happened? Life happened. I ate more than I used in my activities and I stored the excess as body fat. Not rocket science, just a simple equation - I did too much of one thing and not enough of the other and got the resultant imbalance. Then, taking exercise is harder; it hurts more the more body you have to move about so you are even less motivated to do it and the weight creeps up...creeps up...creeps up....
I got arthritis in my knee and my hip so that made exercise harder; harder but not impossible but it was another deterrent to getting fit and allowing the creep...
So you find yourself at the bottom of a very long uphill climb and actually beginning seems impossible so you don't! You make excuses and the creeping continues...and so it gets harder and harder....what a cycle of viciousness!
Looking at 'before' and 'after' photos can motivate you but then you look at your own 'before' and 'after' pictures and feel devastated that you let it all go!
Slump!
Creep...creep...creep...
You have "an enormous amount to lose" and to lose a couple of pounds a week seems like such a drop in the vast ocean that it hardly seems worth it...creep...creep...creep
So, I gave myself a hefty kick up the backside this week and decided that I have to DO something about it! No-one else can do anything but me! No amount of people telling you that you don't look fat...you are such a lovely bubbly person you wouldn't look good thin...Oh don't worry about your weight, life's too short BUT THAT'S JUST THE POINT!
I don't want to shorten my life, I'm enjoying it far too much. So, I have to take back control and stop the creep...creep...creeping!
I know it won't be easy and it IS an uphill climb, but like the climb in the photo, the view is so worth it. My 'view' will be comfort in my body and clothes, a better feeling about myself and so many clothes hidden away in the back of the wardrobe that I will be able to wear again!
So I'm starting the climb. I have not declared that I am going to give up anything but I am going to have less of the foods that I know don't do me and my climb any good. I am going to get this body moving more - I have had 3x30 minute stints on the exercise bike this week and have 'cycled' 39 kms! I have started and I do feel better.
So, if anyone out there reading this needs a bit of a kick, a motivator, a companion on the uphill climb I am very happy to 'compare notes'! I may be puffing and panting too much to chat as we go but having someone else on the journey is always good!
(I also should add that I will be praying for extra help to resist the tempting things and have less of them; cheating? Maybe, but allowed in this case I think! Available to all, no exclusions, so not cheating!)
Such a tragedy, made all the more so because this liner was so close to land yet people have died; been trapped and died.
All the obvious links to the Titanic disaster which happened 100 years ago this April, spring to mind. Apparently, according to some news reports, in one part of the stricken ship Celine Dion's voice was singing out the theme tune from the film as the ship went down.
I remember quite a lot of details about the tragedy of the Titanic from the many times I taught 'An Inspector Calls' for GCSE English Literature. But this morning I Googled it again and found an alphabetical list of all the people who were lost with the ship, nearly 100 years ago. Their names, occupations, cabin class and how much they had paid to be aboard on this fateful maiden voyage of the ship that 'couldn't sink', recorded in a long, long list. It took a long time to scroll through all the names!
So many farmers, grooms, maids......all perished because of human error; a fatal flaw in the ship's design and consequent response to the holing by the ice berg.
And now we see images of the Costa Concordia and read of lives lost, also because of human error. Human pride that made the decision to go off course in order to display the grandeur of this splendid ship at night to the nearby islanders.
And the captains? What of the captains of these vessels? Those charged with the responsibility for the lives of all aboard, both crew and passengers?
It's a fact isn't it, that the captain is the last man to leave a sinking ship? Everyone knows this don't they? I do, and have always understood that this is the way it should be. I grew up with this understanding gleaned from films, stories...it is just what happens. If a ship sinks then the captain has the responsibility to stay on board until the last...humbly saluting as he courageously disappears beneath the waves if Hollywood is to be believed. Captain Edward Smith went down with the Titanic.
Captain Francesco Shettino apparently 'fell into' a life boat and then spent many minutes arguing with the coast guard who was so incensed at his dereliction of duty that he threatened to do him a damage!
"This is your captain speaking..." the voice you hear when you're 35,000 feet up and excitedly on your way to Cape Town! He tells you about your progress, the weather in Cape Town and invites you to relax and enjoy the journey. HE is responsible. He has trained for it, is paid for it and IS responsible for getting us up there, getting us over there and landing us safely there. Just so the captain of the ship! Captain - 'chief or leader' as the dictionary simply states. With the title comes much responsibility.
So what can be said in Captain Shettino's favour? Is there anything?
It is one thing to make an error of judgement, to be prideful and to suffer the consequent fall, but not to own up to that responsibility? To lie, to leave those who you are responsible for to sort themselves out, survive or perish without your help!
It is not for us to pass judgement but it does lead me to wonder...who is the captain of your ship? Who is steering your course and can he/she be relied upon not to 'go off course' into imminent danger? When you have faith in God, a real relationship with God, you have the assurance that God will NEVER go off course. He will never lead you astray. He will always have your best interests at heart as long as you listen to Him and obey what He says. Yes, He does speak to those who have ears to hear and He promises that He is the same today, yesterday and for ever. He is I Am - but that is a whole other blog!
This weather is lovely at the moment! Cold and crisp and bright in the daytime and clear skies at night where we can gaze and appreciate the wonder of the planet and our minuteness in the face of it all! Duncan often disappears to the end of the terrace and stares for ages when we have the sort of clear nights we are having at the moment! He'll go out with the rubbish to the bin and disappear until he has a crick in his neck!
Wonderful! So I was dismayed to see an article on the news last night about all the detritus that is going around our planet in space. Rubbish that's been spinning around for years - since man began exploring outer space. Furthermore, a damaged piece of Russian junk is on its way back to earth and will 'most likely crash into the Indian Ocean' on impact! Not very comforting news!
Mankind does have such an ability to spoil stuff, due to negligence, carelessness or just plain ignorance. Litter dropping has always been something that pushes my buttons. There is simply no need as we have so many bins we can always find one but too often I see people mindlessly unwrapping their cigs/sweets/crisps and just dropping the wrapper without a second thought. I remember sitting in the car with someone and we were at a red light when the driver of the car in front wound down his window and tossed out the outer wrappings of a cigarette packet onto the road. Without a second thought, my driver jumped out of the car, ran to the car in front and tapped on the driver's window. A startled driver wound down his window and asked what he wanted and was presented with his litter with a "You dropped this" and then the lights changed and everyone drove off! I was, and still am impressed at such quick thinking.
We live in a beautiful part of the country which is very well provided for with tips and refuse and recycling plants so there really is no need for folk to dump their old settees and mattresses in the middle of beautiful countryside.
I am also impressed to learn that one of my Facebook 'friends' regularly goes out litter picking in her neighbourhood! Well done, Barbara, you are an inspiration.
So we can all do something about keeping our earth litter free but what of the situation in space? In this case I do believe that perhaps ignorance is bliss.
We joined with Birmingham Harvester Church for New Year's Eve this year. We are the only Harvester Churches in the UK and we are very excited at how God is moving and teaching us how He wants to reform His church in these days.
So, seven members of the Birmingham church travelled up and arrived just after 6pm on Saturday. We shared food and had a good catch up. Werner, a member of the Cape Town Harvester Church is over here for 2 weeks to see Katie and our country in that order!
The Glow Sticks I'd purchased were fantastic and we were amazed at the inventiveness everyone displayed and we were soon covered with 100 glow sticks between us, all merrily glowing away in the dark!
Our proceedings got off to a wonderful start when Werner announced that he had asked Katie to marry him and that she had accepted!
So we started our evening on a high note indeed. Here they are performing a rap for us later in the evening!
Our church building is small so we were located in another unit in the business park for our meetings so we walked over, glowing all over with our glow sticks, and began the evening with a 'cabaret' time where we each did a 'turn' to entertain the rest. Songs, poems, both serious and funny, a story from Werner, a rap...but the grand finale was Annie, Mary and Dinah performing "The opening round of the 2012 synchronised swimming competition!" Hilarious! I have never seen a dark blue table cloth and a couple of clothes pegs put to such good use before!
So, as midnight approached we were in the middle of a wonderful worship time and it was so right and fitting that we journey into 2012 in silence. No Big Ben, no Aulde Lang Syne, no hysteria...just quiet...our own thoughts, our own prayers just for a few precious moments. It was wonderful; so complete. The old has gone, the new is here.
We wished each other 'Happy New Year' and then set about preparing the Chinese Lanterns for launch...forgetting about the howling gale outside!
So, many spent matches and torn lanterns later, we gave up and came inside. It had been fun sussing them out and we will know what to do next time! When it isn't blowing a gale!
