2012 – the year that shaped my future, and who I am…Making it Happen!

Anything is Possible…in your own Way!

2012 – the year that shaped my future, and who I am…Making it Happen!

December 31, 2012

2012 – What an amazing year! A year of (continued) discovery which started on Aug 23, 2011 when I raced in that beautiful Supercar: discovery of who I am, what life is really about….and just how many beautiful opportunities there are out there, in this world. By continuing to honour the absolutely determined commitment I made to myself leading into 2012, that I was going to make the absolute MOST of my life, to chase my dreams and make them happen, no matter what – I had the most amazing year of my life! None of this “I want to do that ….one day”, and ‘one day’ never arriving because the thought of what I want to do, slipping from my mind – ideas and things I want to do now go straight on my bucketlist and I make them happen…or trust that they will happen one day – and they are! I will continue to commit to giving my life, and myself, the same energy and focus that I gave throughout 2012 – I stood up (literally! haha), and made it happen!

From being invited by Channel Ten to go down to Melbourne to appear on Neighbours, and The Circle, to creating my SBH Qld Fundraiser Event and achieving 3 huge Fitness Goals….from surfing, to modelling….from hugging a Policeman to attending a Hug Patrol…and many more experiences – 2012 has been a year to remember, for SO many reasons!

2012 – What a Year..Chasing my Dreams!
(click on the image below to access the video)

There were some ticks I experienced this year, that REALLY gave me the feeling of absolute passion, of ‘being right at home’, which gave me the ‘click’ deep inside of me similar to when I was in the V8 Supercar last year – of doing exactly what I know Im meant to be doing, at that moment. My whole journey, and each dream and experience I have is what I know Im meant to be doing….but when I experienced these particular dreams, I *knew* that they were part of who I am, of whats deep down in my heart and soul….and I am going to be exploring these further, in future…

Part of the trick for me, was to fully embrace the feeling of ‘this time of year’ (a new year in front of us), and dont just let the feelings and commitment fade, of making the changes to our lives that we want to make (like a lot of ‘Resolutions’ which are made, they sometimes fade and ‘fail’, once we get back into our day-to-day life, once the Christmas/silly season fades). Keep that commitment, whatever it is you made, to yourself, and your whole year is on its way to being amazing..thats how my entire 2012 unfolded, by keeping that commitment to myself, to embrace life with all Ive got…not just ’till the feeling faded a few days into January’ (like Resolutions normally do), but for the whole year…and the rest of my life. I also knew that the way that my mindset, and life was….something had to change..it was time for *me* to change it. Not to just ’let life happen’, but to Make it Happen! And in making it happen, magical things manifested in my life! Opportunities turned up everywhere, around every corner, it was…and is..amazing to experience!

Pre-2011/2012, my mindset (without even realising this was ‘what I did’, as I do have a very determined streak!) was to never 100% finish some things/commit to ‘hobbies/interests’ etc long term, because of me, or my life, getting in the way – or never finding that ‘thing’ that hooked me in – not living by my passion. Maybe it was the ‘fear of failure, so I may as well not finish it before I fail’. Maybe..just maybe..I didnt think I was ‘worth the effort’ to stick with something, especially when it was difficult, or stumbling blocks appeared in the way. My past year (2012) has brought a feeling of (for the most part) just flowing, and opportunities and ‘what I do’ just happening effortlessly. For the first time in a very long time, I now have that trust in life itself, that the path would lead me where it was meant to…not necessarily where I wanted to push it to go. And this feeling is absolutely invaluable to me – I recently found a ‘vision board’ which I had created a few years back, with the words ‘Trust in Life’ on it – for so long, I had lost trust in Life itself..I just kept getting ‘hit after hit’ of life stressors, and none of the ‘good stuff. Well now, I have the ‘good stuff’….and Bucketloads of it! Sure, I still have the ‘bad stuff’, as we all do…but living life the ‘bucket list’ way just seems to make life so much easier to deal with. This is, I believe, because I now am living life with absolute passion..living the life I know I am meant to lead, and following what is important to me, deep down inside.

For so many years I had wanted to release the sense of adventure, my spirit that I knew was inside of me..but I just didn’t know how to do it – especially with my health issues that I deal with every day of my life, I just didn’t know how *I* could live this life of adventure that I saw others living..and I found myself wanting this, so badly. But ultimately it was this simple. ‘Making it Happen’. Make it happen – if you want to do something…take the steps to make it happen – it just takes making that first step (writing it down – its that simple!) then the next…then the road towards the dream/goal just magically opens up in front of you. If youre unable to do something one way…think of another way that you are able to do it. A clear example of this was ‘Climbing my Mountain’, no I didn’t climb Mount Coolum itself….but I climbed MY Mountain – the Coolum Boardwalk. Since I achieved this, I no longer feel ‘envious’ when I see photos of people who have climbed it – just this morning on Facebook I saw a photo flash up of a friend who had climbed Mt Coolum – I smiled, and remembered my Climb…it wasnt feelings of envy at all!

Some of the life lessons, and things I learnt about myself this year are:

– Commitment, seeing things through
–  trust in life itself
–  for the first time in my life I can feel pride for myself, and how resiliant I really am
–  I no longer feel the need to have to ‘fit in’….why try to fit in to other peoples lives?…you’re not living anyone elses life, you’re living YOUR life
– I now belong, I no longer feel ‘lost’ and just floating around in this thing called Life
–  to take opportunities – a simple email, phonecall, or conversation with someone can open up an opportunity which you never even thought existed for you
– never be afraid to ask for what you wish for, in life..whether that be actually asking people, or ‘putting it out there to the Universe’ (or whatever your belief happens to be).  If you dont ask, you dont receive…simple as that. The worst that someone can say is ‘No’, if its a no…search elsewhere for another way to make it happen! 🙂
– Making a dream/goal come true is as simple as identifying it, writing it down…and you’re on the way to making it happen! 🙂
– the people ive met, the support ive received, the lessons ive learnt (both good, and not so good), the human spirit ive discovered…so heartwarming, and so humbling.
–  I am worth the effort

Sometimes, yes it does take a lot of effort, dedication, and commitment to bring something into your life that you want to create…but, often times, it’s these things that are the most difficult, time consuming, or challenging, which brings the most rewards into your life. And the thing to remember is, you are worth the effort to go after what it is you want in your life…its YOUR life after all, no one elses….your life is here to be lived! We are so blessed to be gifted this life, for as long as we are here to live it. Bringing to life my SBH Qld ”I believe I can clmb’ Fundraiser Event, it was a long drawn-out 9 month journey to prepare for it…so it took up most of my energy for this year – but, the memories, the feelings, the sense of absolute fulfilment, peace, and pride I now have from achieving these goals, and this fundraising for SBH Qld, is worth every second of effort it took (especially when I got ill in the middle of preparing for it), absolutely. Every second.

Giving back to SBH Qld – this gives me such a sense of immense pride – giving back to the charity which has given me SO much invaluable support over the years, in my life. To be able to give back in a way that holds so much meaning for myself personally (through my Chasing my Dreams journey)…awesome…just awesome! I hope to continue connecting my Chasing my Dreams journey to ‘giving back’ to SBH Qld, in the future…

When I look back at photos of each experience I ticked off the list in 2012 (31 of them!) – theyre not just ‘a photo’, each photo represents a very cool, amazing experience in my life, either an experience that I created, or an opportunity that I grasped – none of these would have happened, if I hadnt have said ‘yes’ to the opportunity.

Puts Allan Moffats voice on “Wanna do it again!?”…haha…and the awesome thing is, I get to do it all over again, in 2013 – a whole new world of experiences are out there, ready to be revealed…Bring it on!

Thank YOU..

Thank you to everyone (people I know personally, and people Id never met) who have contacted me, telling me that ‘what I do’ has inspired them. Thank you to those who have allowed me to support them to achieve something in their own lives. As someone who needs support to get through my own life, due to my disabilities….to be in this position of supporting and/or inspiring others….it is such a rewarding feeling, which spurs me on even more – so, thank you, it means so much to me to have this, from others out there in this world.

Thank you to each and every one of you who helped me make 2012 happen, by way of support, encouragement, something you said (maybe simply a word, a sentence, or something meaningful when we crossed paths) or coming along for the ride with me…what a Ride, huh?! No words can express the absolute heartfelt gratitude I feel towards each and every one of you who helped make this one of the most magical, special, amazing life-changing years Ive had the chance to experience, in whatever way you have done so. Life is truely magical…and its thanks to YOU that I can very confidently now feel this way. I wont name names, as I know I will (unintentionally) miss someone out….but I hope you know who you are – never underestimate the value your words, your smile, your encouragement means to someone else, when theyre going along their path in life xx

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

My Commitment to myself for 2013: Quite simply – “Ditto!” – I commit to continue Chasing my Dreams (and inspiring more people along the way, to chase their own dreams!), living this magical life which I have created, and bringing to life more of my goals and dreams that Id love to experience/achieve. Looking through my list, there are so many more possibilities, to bring so many of these to life! 🙂

I am going to do a section of the Sunshine Coast Marathon (maybe walk the 2km, or push (in my chair), the 5-10km – this is in August 2013. I also commit to raising further funds for SBH Qld

New Years Day (or Jan 2, depending on energy after NY festivities!), I am going to be ticking something off of my List…something very meaningful to me 🙂 Ive also purchased my ticket for a Music Festival held in 2013, something Ive always wanted to do – this is happening 5 minutes from my home…awesome! I also have various other dreams on my List sitting there waiting to experience, contacts to make, plans to unravel….