It suddenly dawned on me today that I am a procrastinating perfectionist... meaning the newsletter is almost always late and I am always never happy with the final product! I also am pretty sure that our interns sweat blood when they are in the Marketing phase of their program as there is just no way they can produce a newsletter that will make me happy, however if nothing at all they are learning how to be a perfectionist :)

  

Still early in the morning so I am not allowed wine (yet), to spice up this little introduction so bear with me... when I started writing this about two weeks ago... life just felt hard! Doom and Gloom all around you, sucking your soul like a hungry vacuum cleaner, till there is nothing left but skin... yeah I wish a fat busting vacuum now that I can deal with!

  

But its the truth! After a while of being exposed to continuous crappy news, crime on your door step, expenses just dropping from the sky, calls from that nasty SARS guy, and then the cherry on the top the absolute blandness en "vaalgeid" off winter, you just want to go stick your head somewhere where the sun don't shine!

  

Ok now that I have lost half my audience... today an old Afrikaans "gesegde" that my Dad always use came to mind. "Wat gaan van die arme patrysies word as die Hemel op ons val" Trying to translate this would not be easy but basically I think  it means that tomorrow the sky might fall on us, so you might as well worry about the poor birds in the air falling on your head, as worrying about your problems today would have as much effect!

  

Not sure I am getting my point across, but the point I really do want to make is this...

  

Last weekend we did what we have been doing for 20 years, we took 70 people who don't really know each other away from the doom and gloom of our daily existence. They joined us on the beach, in the sea, around a table for breakfast & supper. They met new friends, they smiled, they laughed, they did silly things, they celebrated and were merry and a the end of the weekend they all still had smiles on their faces, looked refreshed and happy. Colwin always says we have an unfair advantage, people think we make a difference where in actual fact all you need is the sea, a beach and a cooler box and half the work is done!

  

So, the mountain of doom and gloom will always be there, and it will always try to surround you, however sometimes, it is as simple as finding the closest beach, squishing the sand with your toes, and a couple of good people to lift you into the skies, allowing you to soar even if it is just for a short while! And we have got a beach here at Scubaversity (lol) - just saying.

  

Love you all long time

Mandy