Stepping Out

Hello High Heelers

You will all be very proud of me. I went to my first party as a single person this weekend (I believe I hear loud clapping and cheering – you better be!) And, as Murphy’s Law would have it, it was an engagement party. Sigh! As this public engagement (pardon the pun) was the first of my singledom I knew I was going to be asked firstly, where my fiancée was and then all the follow up questions about why we broke up. I had to be prepared in emotional war gear. So I went Natalie Maroun on myself again, I pulled on my newest, hottest heels, got my hair done, carefully applied the make-up and stepped up to the plate with confidence.

Bang! The challenges hit me way before chatting with my friends about my shattered dreams and all that soapie drama stuff. Strike one was getting to the actual venue! You see, when you’ve been in a long-term relationship with a guy who has a built-in GPS you never have to worry about finding your way to a new spot. With that in mind I found myself printing the map off the party invite and getting instructions off Google maps (just in case). With map and instructions in hand I was really impressed with my savvy navigation preparedness. I jumped into my (shiny, new fabulous Mini) and sped off into the night like a woman on a mission. Watch out world… here I come!

… and there I go. I soon found myself completely lost! I had turned the map in every direction. I then went back to the beginning of the ‘complicated part’ and followed the Google instructions. But I still just couldn’t find my way. I went up and down and in circles. I was looking for a road that, quite simply, did not seem to exist. To this day I do not believe that there is a road named Hume in Craighall, Johannesburg. I don’t! Anyway, as I was driving down the major feeder road searching for the elusive Hume bafoon baboon (on which I was to turn right!) I was so busy looking in every direction that I completely forgot to look straight and was startled by hooting and lights flicking at me. Oops!

I slammed on breaks, just before going through a red traffic light and slamming into a family in their big 4x4. I bet the family would have been fine, but that would have been the end of me and my Mini. I was further embarrassed, when the guy in the car opened his window and proceeded to use very colourful language in describing my driving skills. In all fairness, he was totally correct. In getting wrapped up in being frazzled, lost, alone, driving around and looking in every direction I had overlooked one of life’s most important rules. NEVER ignore what is right in front of you.

You know we often get distracted by all the little things around us that don’t really matter and we forget what’s big, important and right in front of us. If we do that we suffer the risk of slamming head first into life with possible earth-shattering results. We don’t always give attention to our admin tasks that keep us afloat, we forget to appreciate the person who’s always propelling us forward, we ignore the passion in us that drives everything else.

This week step out with my and walk forwards with focus. Get into the detail but keep your eye on the important stuff. Let’s stand tall together and know what deserves our attention and our time. Let’s shut out the noise and be true to ourselves. Have a wonderful week!

Cheers,
Jo