But it's still kind of mundane and boring in that I have to wake up each day and go to work as opposed to really living life.
Where did this feeling come from all of a sudden? How about this email that I got from an old friend from what would be called middle school here in the states (I went to school with her back in the UK). Anyway here's the email let me know how you'd feel after reading it!!! I really am happy for her though.
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Hi XXX,
thanks for the contact. This is my new email address - I only checked in the old one by chance and saw your message. Well better late than never! I'm not teaching any more, I left England last April and went to India for a friend's wedding and stayed out there, got a job in a school for about a month, then got offered a job to work with a spa company - I trained as a massage therapist a few years ago and have been studying spa management. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I went back to UK for a few months, then was posted to the Maldives where I've been since September.
I'm running a small spa on an island resort where the temperature is 28-30 degrees (that's like 80 degrees Fahrenheit) constant. It's a beautiful place, I've been doing lots of diving, qualified as an open water diver out here etc. Single (again) and making the most of it. My last relationship ended when I came out here after 3 years....still haven't met the right one.
So, you've got a little girl! How wonderful, I remember reading your blog site when you found out you were 3 months pregnant or something!
My blog site is:
www.xxxxxxx.co.uk
I try to keep it updated, but not much to report when living on an island 200x600m! I will be leaving here in one month to work in the capital and will be travelling round all the spas as ops manager. I'm also looking out for other opportunities as it took me so long to leave England, I want to see more of the world.
So write back soon (before another 2 years!) and tell me all your news - C A got married - really! So I guess you hear about the old gang more than me, any other news about them - weddings, babies......
Bye for now...xxxxx
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HA! Just so you know...she's not the norm! MOST people aren't spa managers on exotic islands. :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny that most people I know, want the lives we have. Married with kids, a house, a car. I want their lives, freedom, no husband, no kids. I guess it's that whole, "Grass is always greener..." thing.
People seem to think my life is cool, and it is. The travelling is awesome, seeing new places is cool, but they don't stop and consider the loneliness, the fact that I have my children 24/7 with nary a break.
Anyways, the daily grind of life is pretty boring, you gotta mix it up a bit. Go on a date. Go on a day trip. Just GO!
Hope you have an exciting weekend!
Chrissy
Yes, life can be pretty mundane. I think of that daily as my alarm goes off at 5 am. The same thing in and out each day.
ReplyDeleteBut, I love it.
I love that Tanner can make me laugh in one minute and be frustrated the next. It's the joy of motherhood, right?
And, there is always a job that someone has to do. (Even if it is a spa director on an exotic island!) I always think about what my life would be if I was a model or a movie start or something glamorous. But, it's not my calling...and I am ok with that.
Wow, not sure what to say on this one. But I will say this, everyone has their own "perfectness".
ReplyDeleteNot saying that her life is "perfect"...albeit not bad..lol. But seriously, would you really WANT that if you could have it? The trick to that question is, would you give up what you DO have to live her life?
Of course, I can only speak for myself. But I wouldn't. As "mundane", ordinary, simple and boring as my life may seem at times...I LOVE IT!!! I totally adore my husband...I adore my kids...I adore my LIFE! Sure, I'd love to have more "Dawn" time...but who wouldn't?
I will also say that it sounds a little like a horn is being tooted by your friend. Not necessarily a bad thing...just an observation.
Lastly, I agree with Chrissy...you gotta have variety in your life to make it exciting and "perfect" for YOU! Just GO!!!
Have a great weekend! Love ya!
Maybe I should have titled this post something different.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that I'd want to give up my current life for hers but I wish I had done what she is doing before I settled down into my current life.
I mean I travelled but no where near to the extent she is...and I never just lived my life I always planned and followed my plans.
I wish I had thrown caution to the wind and done exciting jobs as opposed to focusing on jobs in my intended career.
I think we all know someone like her...maybe more than one like her. Their lives seem more exciting at the time but you know? I am 50 now and I swear...more of them now say they envy people like us.
ReplyDeleteBut you know? I did not always do the most exciting thing but I still think my choices were good.
I don't regret them. I am still learning and traveling and changing. You can still do so many things and have so much ahead of you. (See? I talk like the old broad that I am!)
But you have a great man and glorious daughter. No one's life is perfect...even when they try to make it sound like it is. I learned that many years ago when I envied a few women. I late found out there were huge chinks in that perfect facade. I quite envying at that moment.
Okay, I am old so no one has to listen to me at all...so I will put on mt shawl and head back to my rocker. : )
Have a sweet weekend dear Muffin.
Hugs,
Sue
Yeah, travel is hard once you've got kids. I don't have to worry about boring myself though. Preschool is NEVER boring! :-) :-) :-)
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, It’s the lady running the spa on the tropical island here.
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to say to the lady in her rocker - (not off her rocker) that age and experience counts for a lot in life (even though - come on 50's not that old!). I totally agree with you, that it's a waste of time to envy what someone else has, as no one's life is perfect and we never really know what is going on behind the scenes.
As for the comment about blowing my horn! Well I think I just told it how it is really. If I wanted to I could have dressed it up a bit more, gone on about my sun tan and the free breakfast, lunch and three course dinner (including waiter service), no laundry to do, washing up or cleaning, free diving, endless snorkelling and swimming opportunities plus sexy pilots stopping over at the island every now and again! Ok, so it’s permanently hot here, but you’ve got to give me that, I’m from rainy cold grey England where the word summer is considered a joke.
It's interesting to see people's reactions though to my little bit of reality. When I left England for the Maldives, most people said, Wow, I am Soooo jealous - but most people didn't know some of the reasons why I left England, or indeed why I had to leave. I didn’t want to really put all that in an email to someone I haven’t spoken to for years, I just thought I would tell it like it is for the time being and perhaps when I’m in New York next, I can fill in the gaps properly! Also, yeah life isn’t perfect here (because life is never perfect right?), but how ungrateful would I have sounded by writing an email to an old friend saying blah blah I have this life that most people would only dream of, but really it’s quite shit, because of this, or that, or the other, and that’s even with the free breakfast, lunch, dinner, diving, etc etc.
It's not the easiest thing in the world to up sticks and leave your family, friends and partner as well, believe me. And as somebody else already said, travelling is a lonely business. I have total respect for all you guys out there who have found someone to make a committment to and are bringing up children. Something that of course I would love to have, but I realised a long time ago that you just have to let life happen and one day maybe I will be a mum hanging out at the school gates and getting dinner on the table every day. Not sure if I would iron the shirts though!
When XXX emailed me and told me she was going to post my email on her blog, and I saw how she framed it, I thought it would get some interesting comments – no one likes to think that their life is boring and I’m not sure if I really like to be held up as an example. But I think it was an interesting choice to make. But as XXX says and I think I got this from the beginning is, that when you have certain committments, like kids for example, then it’s difficult to do things like travel and have the kind of freedom you need to try out different jobs.
It’s one of the main reasons why I left UK at the age of 32 to seek my fortune or fame, (or both would be nice) – because I don’t have kids yet. And I really appreciate XXX for her support and for bigging up my world a bit because as somebody else said, and in fact I said exactly the same thing to XXX when I replied to her – The Grass is Always Greener!…Always.
Believe me I have thanked God countless times for sending me to this beautiful place, for getting me out of London, England (only took me 12 years!), for giving me a roof and food, for creating the underwater world all those millions of years ago – and I’m not even religious!
Anyway, I think it’s great that XXX has this blog site and people actually read her stuff and there’s this dialogue going on. I’m sitting here right now in the spa reception (it’s lunch time), listening to the waves lapping the beach, 30 degrees heat, sweating my ass off etc. I was saying to a friend last night, that being here for 8 months has been a very useful experience because I have learnt that the only real paradise is the one you create for yourself wherever it is you are and whatever it is you are doing.
Bye for now.
Yup it sure is! SSDD!
ReplyDeleteSame shit different Day!
There's always something or someone better or a better situation than we've got....guess we gotta just go with it, kwim?
Nope, I am far from old really...and I do seldom sit in my rocker. Although it is nice to rock a baby to sleep in every now and again. : )
ReplyDeleteI really wasn't addressing you particuarly (I hope you did not think that) when I said that the perfect facade often had rough chinks. Just that the very ones I envied years ago DID have those chinks. It was at that time I decided to quit envying anyone. It was a waste of my time and energy. I married young, at 21, just out of college. I would have done more with my career and such if I had not met my husband at that time but I would not trade him or our years together for anything.
I hope you love where you are and think you do. I wish you a wonderful experience and life there. As women, we should support one another in our decisions and in our circunstances. We all take different routes. I just never wish to see anyone question their own life or the choices the made.
I guess I have become very fond of our Muffin lady and would not have wished to see her doubt any aspect of her life. Perhaps I was over zealous but because I have been around a few years longer, I guess I just wanted to offer some advice. The bottom line is this, envy no one. No one's life is perfect. There are always sacrifices or problems. If they are not seen now, they will be. It comes with life...I have seen it over and over and over again. I have lived in 10 states, many cities and visited many countries and, thorugh the military, have been friends with people from so many walks of life. None of us get out of this world without a little heartache, dissappointment
and pain. I think that we should all learn to love where we are in our lives...literally and figuratively. Life is too short NOT to.
There is good and there is the not so good about every single place on Earth. Every single position a person can be in.
Paradise is different for each of us.
Let is all, as women, just respect one another...and love one another.
Hugs,
Sue
hey girl so sorry for not posting on your blog in a while. i am trying to catch up. you know your friend probably wishes she had your life. the grass IS always greener. I must say the maldives sound great, but i think i would miss city after about 1 month :)
ReplyDelete