My life: The Woody Allen movie

And here I sit, perched on the edge of my pillows like a yoga block, happy. Shallow glass of wine to my right, and loving pug to my left. Feeling so inspired, I groove, no - revel, in the beauty of life. Tonight I spent a bit of time with Kim after work, then ate some ice cream. Tsk tsk, naughty Nicola. But I come home and get to dance it off and feel so lucky to be in such a happy space right now. It is said you learn the most during the hard times, but these good times are so precious too. They allow you to see why it's all so worth while, where sometimes the hard times make you question WHY? I have turned out to be fairly realistic (with bouts of extreme optimism), logical, analytical, persistant, and open minded. So with this said, I have found myself thinking of the future and all the sadness, heartache, trauma, and pain ahead of me - or us. No one gets a free happy-ride on this chance planet; we all get dealt grief and pain at one time or another. However, as daunting as this may sound and make you want to recede back into your turtle shell, it requires bravery to get through. And bravery is a very special characteristic to carry. Be brave... Leave nothing to regret. Be brave in love, in following your heart, in listening to your soul. Be brave when it comes to fighting the negative influences in your life, and in turn nourturing the needy. Use compassion to solve your issues and deal with others. Compassion is a pillar of Buddhism, and you will find that once you start to consciously incorporate being compassionate towards others in your life, your life will become more peaceful. Know that the one thing every human being has in common is that we all want to be happy. One common goal. By doing this, you will change your own world and therefore change the world of every person you touch.

I realized today that my life is like a Woody Allen movie. Then I realized that most people's lives are like Woody Allen movies - perhaps that's why I enjoy his work so much. He is relateable, hilarious, philisophical, and brilliant. Most of Woody's movies all revolve around human interaction - more specifically, interactions between men and woman, and sex. Such a beautifully complex realm this topic of love, lust, (mis)communication, primal instincts and sociological influences, all we can hope for that is our hearts will lead us in the right direction. However, lest we forget his deliberance on God, family, Karma, magic and the Marx Brothers - but that's for another day.

I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on the last 8 years of my life. What I've done, who I've met, what I've learned and didn't learn, and how my series of choices have led me to this moment. This moment being 51 days away from Australia. I've dreamed of traveling for many years - had pictures of Australia and Spain and fancy luggage tags on my vision board (yah remember those?), felt concerned when my sales career with Audi was booming that it would push back my travel plans indefinately, and then being broke with a lot of consumer debt I thought I'd never make it to this point. But alas, good friends, family, patience, hard work, determination, bravery, and the faith that everything will work out great gets you where you need to be. I've had all this so far, and hope it will carry on with me over the next couple years of my life while I go in search of my next step in life.... Often coming up are questions like: "With who?" "Where?" "For how long?" "Doing what exactly?" "When will I come home again?" "When will I see Jasmine again?" "What if I don't have a plan in the next 18mths?" This list goes on... I never did like surprises.

So, in a quest for the holy grail of happiness, serenity, peace, love, and acceptance, I bumble along like a bozo on the bus and just do my best. For better or worse, we're all just bozos on the life-bus. And right now, I think some bed time snuggles with Jasmine is my best bet to an awesome next 24hrs! I say goodnight to one, goodnight to all, and Namaste.