New Year's Resolutions

At the beginning of this year, Facebook kindly reminded me (a hundred times) that it was time to make New Year’s Resolutions. So I did, but like a lot of you, I did not have very high expectations. I don’t think I have ever achieved my New Year’s resolutions and if I have, it was purely by mistake.

You see, I start every year full of positivity and good energy but before I know it I am trampled on the ground, with even bigger thighs, even more broke and it is Christmas time again. Life has this funny way of knocking you back down to size, very quickly, and usually quite harshly.

But this year, was going to be different. So I decided to minimize my list of resolutions. Instead of writing a whole page of resolutions (in the hopes of getting at least one done by pure coincidence), I decided to stick to just three. Short and simple: I will get fit, get healthy and get a kickass job.

New Year's Resolution

So there it was. I posted it to my timeline for all the world (okay, just my friends) to see and I hoped like hell that I was going to get around to doing at least one of them. Two weeks later and I started working on a wine farm in Stellenbosch called Dornier and as soon as I met my new colleagues I knew I could tick off one of my resolutions! I had found a kickass job.

Dornier Wine Farm

I spent a couple of months working as a Harvest Intern in their wine cellar and I think I learnt more in the first week then I did in my entire University career (the extended version) and I loved every second of it. From exploring the vineyards and tasting the wine to learning how to process grapes and make them into that heavenly nectar, I did it all and throughout this journey I had an incredible mentor and an even more wonderful partner in crime!

Shoveling Wine!

This also gave me the motivation to start being more healthy. Granted I was drinking a lot of wine, but other than that I was trying to stick to the good books and before I knew it the weight was just peeling off. I was doing the Stellenbosch Park Run (a five km run through the vinyards) on the weekends I had free and I was starting to feel good about this year’s resolutions. I was on track, and the fact that I had even started made me proud.

And just as things were starting to look good my internship came to an end and I was en route to Europe to find another yacht job. This meant living in cheap accommodation and eating really cheap (and processed food) and the job hunt was so demeaning. Dockwalking is a bit like sticking a fork in your eye: it hurts like hell and nothing good seems to come of it!

I knew I had reached a new all-time low when I found condensed milk in a tube, and to make matters worse, it was cheaper (per 100g) to buy the “maxi-format”, ultra huge tube, and so I did! I am embarrassed to say that I did it more than once and both times I sat in bed, watching series and didn’t share the tube with anyone! My resolutions were shot to hell and I could just see myself waking up on New Year’s Eve and realising that I had done it again.

Heaven in a Tube

And then, just when things were looking really bleak, I got a call about a job interview but I had to be willing to travel 2 hours each way on the French rail system which was (and always is) on strike. I was so negative that I nearly passed it up but I eventually pulled myself together and confirmed that I would be there.

The day after that interview, I was sitting in St Tropez waiting for the boat to arrive so that I could join it! And boy, oh boy was I excited! It was an exquisite looking vessel and the crew I had met thus far had all been incredible. I was back on track and on my way to completing my resolutions after all.

I am currently sitting on my bed in a five bedroom apartment on the 15^th floor of an incredible building with a magnificent view, in Vancouver, Canada!!! I ran my first 15km run last night and I am healthier than ever! And all of this, because I took that interview in La Ciotat.

The View

The year is not yet over and I have many exciting things planned for the rest of the year, but more on that later. All I want to say for now is that there is still time for you to complete your resolutions, and just remember that the only thing standing between you and your goals is yourself. If you put your mind to it, anything is possible.

So go ahead and scroll down your timeline all the way back to January and check out what your resolutions were. Start right now! And enjoy every second of it!