Chasing my Dreams!

On Monday, June 4th 2012, I woke up with a feeling of excitement…I was about to achieve not one, but two magic events this day – I was to walk on the beach for the first time in over 18 years with my Trainer, in my fitness training for my SBH Qld Fundraising Event – ticking off my Fitness Goals – and I was about to tick a special item off of my List – Go on a Moon Walk!  No, I wasnt channelling into Michael Jackson (although his ‘moon walk’ is a feat which I love watching others do, it looks awesome, especially when they do it so smooooth as he did!) – but I was going to be gathering with a group of walkers from the Heart Foundation, and go for a stroll that evening, under the Full Moon.  This particular Full Moon was going to be something special, it was a partial Lunar Eclipse!  Wow…

I had been trying to ‘tick’ this off of my List since last year….but because of illness, bad weather, or a (to be honest!) case of the ‘cant be bothered’s some evenings, or just missed opportunity because of being busy elsewhere, I hadn’t been able to achieve it – so to finally have this day arrive, it really did feel magic.  It was finally happening, I was finally able to bring this magic into my reality…..I never gave up on believing that this was going to happen one day for me – I never let it slip ‘to the back of my mind, to do one day’ (but that ‘one day’ never arriving)..awesome!

As the day was coming to a close, the energy seemed to really pick up inside of me…earlier that day I had been exhausted from my walk (a small walk, but a walk nevertheless!) down on the beach for that first time – but, as dusk fell, I could feel the magic starting to well up inside of me – sure, it was a cool evening, being the first weekend of winter…but somehow, it felt ‘balmy’, it felt perfect – you know those evenings where you just want to go out and experience it, be out in it, rather than just be at home?…it felt as if the energy was drawing me towards going for that walk, that evening. 

Then the time came to experience the magic, and as I pulled up in Cotton Tree, I could see a group of people starting to gather – I was not the least bit nervous, even though I was stepping into a group of people I had never met before.   Some ‘ticks’ make me nervous, which I love, purely because of what the experience is (something confronting)….some ticks, like tonight, make me feel like I am ‘home’, I am completely calm.  But they both have a common theme – they all make me feel like I am exactly where I know I am meant to be, in that moment.  Because I have chosen to put myself in that moment..in that experience.

After introductions were made, and a photograph was taken (a photographer was there, to take a picture of us, to submit to Council, to promote ‘healthy living’), next thing we were off!  Oh yes…we were OFF…I had no idea the group were such a brisk, fast group of walkers!  I thought this was just going to be a slow, wandering stroll under the moonlight…I was about to find out that I thought very wrong!  Most of the group raced ahead of us…but a few of the walkers stayed back with me, to walk with me..which was nice of them!  I was feeling guilty at this point…they may have wanted to go on a faster walk with the others, but they chose to stay back with me.  

I had taken my camera along, but I was fast discovering that there was no time for photos…we were all too busy walking and chatting away, to capture our surroundings (and the Moon) with anything other than our sight.  After initially being disappointed that I wouldnt get to capture this ‘tick’ (and the breathtaking sight of the Full Moon in partial Lunar Eclipse) in photos, while in the midst of it…I quickly decided that I would stay back afterwards and take photos later, when the walk was over. 

As we continued on the walk, I glanced up, and what I saw, and felt, took my breath away….

Full Moon, in partial Eclipse

  …I HAD to stop and take a photo of this, the energy I felt was just AMAZING….THIS was what I wanted to experience when I first thought of this ‘tick’…to experience being totally ‘present’ in nature…..and that is what I felt, in this moment…

I dont know whether it was because it was a partial Eclipse, whether it was because I was out there near the ocean which I love, experiencing it (not just at home, looking out from the back yard), whether it was because I had waited so long, so many months to experience this particular moment….or whether it was because we were very near where I had gone on my walk on the beach that morning for the first time (Maroochy beach)….but, I felt TOTALLY alive, and so serene, in that moment.  Incredible.  And again, the feeling of ‘this is what life is ALL about’, came over me. 

We finally arrived back at our starting point…I had gotten used to the fast pace of the walk, it was a long way, at that constant fast pace for me (but Ive committed myself to going again next month, next Full Moon, as this will be great for my overall fitness levels, and personal energy).

Maroochy Beach at night…the venue for my Beach Walk in October. Bliss…

As the group left and went our seperate ways, I found myself not wanting to go home….so I went back to Maroochy beach and just sat there, contemplating life, taking in the peaceful surroundings around me, with no one else around, nothing but nature – the magnificent ocean in front of me, the glorious full moon above me –  to capture my attention…next thing I knew, it was a couple of hours later, I had no idea I had sat there for so long!  

This is a night that I know I will never forget…

Anything is possible..under the moonlight!