Procrastination will lead to disappointment I fear and that has been brought home recently due to Covid 19. How many folk were gonna do something, go somewhere, try something new and now can’t. We never know what is around the corner and this has been driven home to all of us with a huge dose of virus. It could of course be a lot worse, most of us are just merely inconvenienced and will make it through this, but many will die and end their days.
For me I tried to shake myself out of this behaviour a few years ago and it’s really because two very good friends died within a very short space of time and they had the money to do lots of things but instead always put things off until tomorrow and as we know tomorrow never comes.
Jan died on the 21st Feb 2013 on the way to work, she skidded broadside into a truck and that was it. I’d know her since I was about 20 years old. It was such a shock and incredibly sad for those she had left behind. She was only 48 years old………her husband Greg died of Leukaemia the following year.
I miss Jan a lot, she had been my one true friend here in Australia that I could talk to about anything, even those dark secrets you keep hidden from most. The loss I felt was palpable and it threw me off kilter for some time but it also set into motion a series of events that allowed me to face some of my fears.
I was not working and I didn’t really care all that much, I had a few bob in the bank and I was happy to sit on the dole and just chill for a bit. I then thought that this would be better done overseas and I headed off to Malaysia where I sampled some of the best food ever. I jumped on buses to get from A to B and it was great. I reached Penang in the north and then I jumped on a short flight to Guilin in China, the beginning of a month long adventure which was to wet my appetite for more. After China I went to Cambodia to meet my friend Pete and then we both headed to Singapore for a few days before returning to Australia.
I got back around July I think, I’d been away for a few months. Judy sent me a Facebook link for Teach In China, advertised as a cultural exchange agency where they would introduce you to a school in China, organise the accommodation and it was all free………….all you had to do was get to Shenzhen and Isabelle would meet you and look after you.
I called Kevin on Skype for an Interview. Kevin was not what I expected, he was this wiry, nervous drug dealer kind of guy and he had a generous glass of red in his hand when he came into view………it was only 10 am UK time when I called. I knew there and then that this was a dodgy scheme but if Kevin could get me a visa to China and give me the opportunity to see somewhere new I was up for it.
We chatted for at least two large glasses of red and then said our goodbyes. I got my letter of introduction within a few days and sent off for my visa and before you know it I was jumping on a plane heading to Shenzhen where I met Isabelle, who was also a dodgy individual. From the start I knew I had to be on guard with this lot but it was an experience that I was up for.
I was going to a city in the north of China, I can’t remember the name, but guess what? Change of plan and instead of heading north I’m heading east to Chenghai which is a district of Shantou, near the Tropic of Cancer. This was not what I was expecting, instead of a nice new metropolis I had ended up in a backwater with filthy chaotic streets running with people and rats.
I was well out my comfort zone, I have never been a fan of kids and here’s me now working is an English Teacher for bed and board in a place that is well off the tourist trail, mind you it is the toy capital of China. I met a few other foreigners there, Angelika who was working there was a breathe of fresh air. I stayed for 6 months, the length of my visa and headed to India before returning to Australia.
In 2015 around May I got a call from an old friend asking me if I wanted a job for a year with Bondor, I said yes and then started to plan for my next trip which was for July 2016 when I gave up work, rented out the house and went for a wander and once again I ended up in China where I have been for the last three years.
I would have still been there if it had not been for this bloody virus, I was planning to go to the west of China this month and I’m kicking myself because I didn’t go last year…………………and why was that? Procrastination……………..I rest my case and now I’m back in Australia stuck in lock-down.
Lock-down is not all that bad, it can give you an opportunity to break routines and do something new or if you think it about it, bring to the fore the thought of what happens to your choices if you don’t take the chance when you can. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today, money is not the be all and end all in life and experience can stay with you longer and can be more refreshing and rejuvenating. Start planning today for your freedom and take a step out of your comfort zone for a change, go somewhere new, push yourself and live a little………
