Living in the moment

NOW IS ALL WE HAVE

We are never promised that life will be easy or fair. We all experience trials and tribulations in life and they make us the wonderfully complex people we are. They are part of the rich tapestry of life. To use an illustration, when we look at the front of a tapestry what we see is a beautiful picture, while if we turn it over, on the back is a huge multitude of interwoven threads. Such is life.

We can contemplate the past with its complicated mix of sadness, disappointments and happy times; we can plan and anticipate for the future and look forward with excitement or at times apprehension. However, all we are promised is the present, so difficult as it may be, we need to learn to live in the moment and enjoy and appreciate the small, beautiful moments of happiness that are within our grasp.

Life is awesome, wonderful, sad, fulfilling, fearful, terrifying but absolutely amazing.

Enjoy the moment…

Serenity

Serenity

Once Paul had decided to settle down in Australia we visited him and his partner Aly several times. We had some amazing trips and saw quite a bit of Western Australia. One place in particular we loved was Monkey Mia - still one of my most favourite places.

Feeding the dolphins in Monkey Mia

Another place we loved was Kalbarri where a huge pelican would arrive on the beach every day to be fed.

Kalbarri

A huge pelican would arrive on the beach every morning for a feed of fish, much to the onlookers’ entertainment.

Then an absolute highlight and something I’ve always wanted to do was when Paul treated us to a hot air balloon experience followed by a champagne breakfast.

Our hot air balloon experience

Paul’s family grew with the addition of two gorgeous boys, Mitchell and then Fletcher two years later. I’ve included some photos of our visits below. We loved spending time with the boys.

Ten pin bowling

Monty and Paul always fitted in a game of ten pin bowling. They were very competitive!

And then in summer 2023 Paul and the boys made it to Da Rock for a holiday! That was very special as we were all together as a family, joined by Mark and his kids too. We even had a visit from Wendy and David Bourne, Mitchell and Fletcher’s Australian grandparents, which was a real treat.