Dare to experience the unexperienced
I am so grateful to welcome you into 2023, feeling refreshed and optimistic for what the year holds. A new year often brings new beginnings, renewed hope and a fresh perspective. I hope that you enjoyed a restful holiday period and filled your memory jars with many joyful and loving moments with your family and friends.
My habit has always been to start my new year by creating a vision board, and this year, I added something completely different – new dreams. My wish for the year is to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new and different every month.
You may remember reading the article about Jeff Lawrence who took early retirement to turn his passion for baking and bread into a business. He and his wife Sue moved to Wakkerstroom, where Sue now owns the Village Bakery and coffee shop, and Jeff runs Country Bread, supplying bread to local businesses and offering workshops on artisan bread-making.
Jeff is a true example of Retiremeant™ – living his life on his terms and in his own time. Doing what he loves. Not only does Jeff love bread – and to be honest, I don’t know anyone who can resist the smell of freshly baked bread – his passion shines through in everything he does. I was so inspired by Jeff and Sue’s story, coupled with my dream to experience different adventures and learn something new, that I booked a bread-making workshop for my family.
It was an absolute treat! And I’m not just talking about the smells and tastes. Bread-making, as we discovered, is quite a scientific process, and we learnt both the theory and techniques to bake the perfect loaf. Jeff was a wonderful host and teacher and managed to turn a workshop into an intimate bonding and fun-filled experience for our family.
With Gabi, my daughter going into Matric this year and my son Josh entering his final year at university, my dream of trying out, learning and experiencing something new every month perfectly fits into our family dynamic. For me, it does not have to be a learning experience. It could be doing something completely different just for the fun of it. As long as it’s something fresh and different – something I’ve never done before.
Maybe you have new dreams for 2023 too? I know many clients, like me, spend time at the beginning of the year drawing up their wish lists and goals, and editing their Bucket Wheels®. Why not add something completely different? Something unfamiliar and unexperienced? It may just enrich your world and add a fresh spice to life.
We have made some changes to our Inflight newsletter this year. In keeping with the theme of trying new things, we are introducing a segment where we share new experiences to try or things to learn. We are kicking off with padel since it’s taken the country by storm. We are also introducing a segment on retirement villages, and we will interview clients living in retirement villages across the country. Our book of the month is back, and we will review a new book, available in our client library, each month.
Wishing you many new adventures, fun, learning and fresh experiences this year,
