Done and dusted

There was once this really selfish woman who had a plan to ruin all of her family's lives by moving to the other side of the world. For some inexplicable reason, she had this feeling that this place on the other side of the world, the one with the clean, green reputation would be a better place for them all to live. Her family however, (bar one), had other ideas. Despite her best efforts to persuade them, which in itself was like wading through mud, they remained impassive about the whole idea. She did not give up however and even when her oldest daughter accused her of 'enjoying seeing her world collapse around her' and her partner accused her of 'relentlessly ignoring his anxieties and fears, his wants and needs' she still believed that they should all go. She still believed that they were supposed to go even though she couldn't explain or justify it herself. In fact, she saw no need for either explanation or justification. She just firmly believed that if you really want to something you should do.

'We're not going Dawn!' 'I'm not going mum!' 'What is there there that's not here?' 'What's so good about NZ?' 'What's so wrong with England?' 'Where are going to live?' 'We can't afford it.' 'It won't be as nice as you think you know.' 'The grass is always greener.' 'What about family?' 'What about jobs?' 'Why do you want to upset everything?' 'Why do you want to mess everything up?' 'Why can't things just stay the way they are?' 'Why are you doing this to us?'

I'll bet a few of those sound familiar eh? And the woman couldn't answer them, not all of them anyway. She gave up trying but she didn't give up believing.

Then, out of the blue........it may have been when she said that she was going whether anyone else did or not and started making plans.........something shifted and the two main aggressors, her partner and oldest daughter began to take her a little more seriously.

Well eventually, they came round to my way of thinking coz they always had a choice eh?

You know the rest guys and I can't believe it's been a year. We got the residency stickers in the passports 10 days ago and it all seemed like a bit of an anti-climax to tell the truth. That's why I didn't make a fuss. I know there are so many of you that are going through the process and would give anything to be out the other side and I don't mean to sound ungrateful or unappreciative of our position. We are overwhelmed to be given this wonderful opportunity. We've found many things here in NZ. The journey we've all been on has taught us many things about ourselves and I think that's what I mean when I say it feels like an anti-climax - it's that compared with everything else, the result, the sticking of the stickers, seems insignificant when compared with everything involved in achieving them. Someone, anyone, just doing their 9-5, peeled off some pre-printed stickers and stuck said stickers into 5 passports belonging to 5 people that could be and really are just anyone. And so it goes, and so it goes.

I was going to write a big blog about what our first year's been like blah blah blah. But you know, it would have been just blah blah blah. I'd rather look forwards and put my energy and focus into making this next year happen because this last year has enabled me to do that.

I am about to launch a new business. I introduce a brand new dance fitness programme to New Zealand in two and a half weeks time. I'm literally one of 3 teachers here and one of them is working with me. Take a look at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5JmPXvdCuA and you'll get an idea

I'll keep you posted about how it goes and I'll post piccies of WG getting down and dirty with the routines She's gonna love me eh?

Good luck to everyone going through whatever official process they're going through to enable them to live their dream. Whatever you do, even when things seem as though they're stacked against you, keep on keeping on. Always believe that you can have what you want to have and be who you want to be. Don't let anyone dampen your aspiration, those that try to stand in your way are beholden to their own limitations and you threaten their perception of reality. Stay true to yourselves and your cause, be courageous, gracious and humble and remember not to lose sight of what you already have. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we want that we forget to say thank you for what we've already got