It’s 1st July today, and I am wondering where the year is going! Six months in to my 50 Shades of Brave challenge, and my total challenges met currently stands at 21. Which is OK… but not quite good enough!!
Since my escapades up Snowdon I haven’t made any further blog posts, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting idle… So, I thought I’d write a little update on challenges currently in progress, challenges on the horizon, and on life, the universe and everything…
Challenges in progress
Grow a sunflower – I took advice from my Facebook friends on this, and was advised that May was a good time to plant the seeds, with it in mind that by June the weather should be good enough for them to be planted out and grow well. Three seeds sprouted in their pots, and were duly planted out two weeks ago. Within 3 days I was down to one remaining plant as the others had been *completely* devoured by slugs. I am keeping an eye on number 3, but suspect I should plant a few more seeds just in case…
Read a classic – again I turned to the Facebook community for advice on this. I wanted to explore an author I hadn’t previously read. (There are many of them; I’m far better acquainted with nineteenth century French Lit than English!). I decided on Tess of the d’Urbervilles. I have read precisely 2 chapters… it’s not going well. I may give up and try something else… #help!
Paint a canvas – I have the tools… just waiting for inspiration to strike!!
Upcoming challenges
My actual 50th birthday turned out to be full of surprises, mainly linked to my 50 challenges. Thanks to my daughter, two weeks today I will be parasailing off the beach whilst we’re on holiday in Barcelona. Thanks to the friends who clubbed together to buy a raft of wonderful presents for my birthday I have a number of challenges and experiences to look forward to in the coming months… I won’t give them all away, but suffice to say there should be regular blogs in July and August 🙂
I’ve signed up for the Cancer Research ‘Walk All Over Cancer’ challenge for July – 10,000 steps a day. I have a just giving page if you fancy supporting me https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Justine-Swainson2016
I’m also hoping that a connection that I made at Ignite Cardiff will come good, and that I’ll be going off-roading in a LandRover sometime in the summer.
Life, the universe and everything
At the point at which I decided to embark on 50 Shades of Brave, I had not banked on going back to work full-time. (For me, that’s a challenge in itself!) However, life throws these things at you and ultimately divorce has led me to a different perspective on the need to work to keep my kids’ needs met and show them what it looks like to be strong and build a new life. It has taken a while to get used to it, and the school summer hols still look challenging from where I’m sitting, but on the whole it’s going okay and we as a family unit are adapting to the change.
I’m in a new relationship… with Ocado… which seems to be going well, and at least eliminates the need to spend my ‘free’ time at the supermarket!!
I also feel that I couldn’t not mention politics in this post, since I, like many of my friends, have been caught up in the whirlwind that has been British politics during this last week. IF there is a positive to ‘Brexit’, it may be that at least one aspect of politics has fired people to become engaged. I could not have predicted my reaction to the result last Friday. I have never before shed tears over anything related to politics, but I have cried over what I perceive to be the potential lost opportunities from this decision. I remain firmly European and have learned a little more about my values and humanitarian beliefs in the last seven days. I have even considered active political involvement… watch this space!
So, my friends… keep an eye on the blog, as I promise you a mighty good read later this month… Thank you for staying with me on this ride.
50shadesofbrave 