My bucket list

I knew from a very young age that I would want to live life to the fullest. At the age of 10 when asked to make a list of 5 things we wanted to do when we were grown ups I wrote “get married, have kids, become a doctor, own 10 dogs and go white river rafting in Zimbabwe”. That was the sum of my life’s ambition. As I matured I made a few other lists, though I kept these lists in my head. That is the worst place for a list …

A few years back I put pen to paper. As I aged, as I was exposed to various experiences, the more I experimented, the more of an identity I formed. My list still contained “get married”… but this time it had a name attached to it. Looking at that list now I am shocked how many items relate to my ex. Funny thing is - I achieved more on that list that improved his life than my own. 

I crossed off the items in blocks. I 'censored' my ex's name. Those that I blocked out... We shall not mention those.

So, in light of being single and fiercely independent, I decided to make a new list. This is my list.

I have been extremely lucky in that I have been able to tick off a few items already and once I achieve something new I will be writing about the experience. Yeah!

What an incredible experience compiling this list was in developing the clichéd “attitude of gratitude”. I am truly blessed.

Here goes!

Finding a new church or a new love: same difference!

When I moved to Pretoria earlier this year I knew that I had to find a new church. To me this was a process similar to dating. Many of the same rules apply when you are looking for the church that you can call ‘Yours’.

I started off attending what you could call a mega church (for South African standards). Let’s call her Number 1… Ha! I wanted to get involved as soon as possible and had even started following some of the ministers on Twitter and liked the group page on Facebook that catered for people between 20 and 30.

I was put in a small group which consisted only of 7 girls. 7 single girls. Apparently the bigger Young Adults group only met 4 times a year. So, somewhat impressed by die incredible display of cheese we spent our first evening watching a Louie Giglio DVD. I had not dropped the T-bomb (the ‘I-study-theology’ bomb) and received some weird glances when I didn’t proceed to make detailed notes in a notepad. Afterwards the girls discussed how they thought the parable of the 10 golden coins applied to dating… Now, I have a pretty active imagination but I could simply not see this.

What had I gotten myself into?

Ek lewe nog!

Ek lewe nog! En ek het weer ‘n ou skootrekenaartjie… Maar laat ek myself nou nie vooruit hardloop nie.

Ek was vir so paar weke op vakansie en ek moet erken, tot en met die laaste week, was ongelooflik. Ek het soveel waaroor ek wil skryf en belowe om binnekort meer van my en my sussie se roadtrip Kaap toe en die ski in Lesotho te skryf. Vandag gaan ek egter net fokus op die laaste drie weke…

Na twee weke se vakansie saam die familie was dit tyd om bietjie met die vriendinne op te vang die laaste week – of dit was die plan. Die Vrydagaand is ek saam ‘n vriendin uit, maar sy het my net na 10uur gaan aflaai sodat ek nog pynpille kon drink (jip, ek kan toe nie so goed snowboard soos ek aanvanklik gedink het nie). Die Saterdagoggend lekker laat gelê en toe is dit Kempton Park toe om met my beste vriendin op hoërskool op te vang en die rugby saam ‘n ander vriendin te kyk. Die Blou Bulle het verloor en ek moes dit tien teen een as ‘n teken vat van slegte dinge om te kom…