Where did January go? How can a month be at the same time the longest month ever, and over in a flash?
As during most Januarys, I spent some of my time wishing my life away and longing for lighter, sunnier, longer days and some of my time planning and visioning what I wanted life to look like in this years of two-thousand and twenty-five. I have created a vision board, to help me to see what I want for my future long and short term, and a bingo sheet to help me to do what want to do in the coming year. Both of these stimuli feature a mixture of what might be termed ‘mundane’ but important goals (like getting fitter / slimmer and managing my money better, for example), and some more aspirational goals around travel, love and relationships, and spiritual development.
As we tiptoe into February, one of my aspirational goals around travel is on the horizon. In just a few days, I fly to Thailand. Regular visitors to this blog will know that I have departed solo to Morocco, Spain and Jordan over the past couple of years, but the difference between those trips and this, is that on each previous occasion I was either joining a group, or staying with friends. This time, over 60% of my trip is entirely solo and self-organised, and I join friends for just the last 6 days. I have to tell you, this feels big. I feel nervous and excited in equal measure! And I know that I will have to manage my emotions from the time I leave the security of my house, until somewhere around 24 hours after arrival… once I have allowed myself to relax in to the experience.
This is not the first time I will have felt like this, and it has prompted me to come up with a little mantra to keep my head level… It is this:
ACCEPT BRAVADO UNTIL BRAVE SHOWS UP
It’s a twist on ‘fake it ’til you make it’ … but this one really speaks to me because in my alter ego of ’50shadesofbrave’, sometimes I am aware that there is a very fine line (and only a few letters) between bravado and brave. And I know from experience that when I forge through the bravado, rather than buckle under the strain, I have pretty much always been very glad that I did! So, I shall summon up my deepest reserves of bravado as I fly solo across the world, and look forward to getting my teeth into the trip and having an amazing time as that bravado melts into brave.
Keep your eyes peeled for some fabulous photos and travel blog posts over the coming weeks!
50shadesofbrave 