Can you really change? At almost 40, pretty set in your ways, done the same things the same way for forever, can you really hit the reset button on yourself and start over?  It appears so.

Since leaving the UK 6 weeks ago to start our new life in Australia, more than just my address has changed.  Life over here from day one made an impact and I noticed the change almost instantly.

We all know the Aussie way of living is pretty laid back, beach style ‘I don’t care’ hair, surf boards, life in a bikini, most of the reasons for wanting to come, but just how different it is to the UK is incredible!  We lived in a small valley in South Wales, albeit in a very busy little town where there were loads of people and you could vary rarely find a parking space, but life itself was just unreal.  Everyone rushing around, always somewhere to be, always a deadline to meet and yes, I was one of those people!

Living the corporate work life for 20 years, I guess I was accustomed to regime and military style operations of being organised and getting things done, circulated by to-do lists and timetables but it got to the point, certainly after some family European holidays this year, that I was just done with all that, I was done watching my life fly past me so quickly, the clock ticking faster than ever with just not enough time for anything bar work, one reason for quitting the job a few months back, while the visa’s were in motion.

Moving over here was a struggle!  Not just the waiting almost 7 months for the official ticket in, but the packing up of our lives and shipping them on a boat to the other side of the world, handing over the keys for our first family home, and saying all our goodbyes to family and friends, it was rough, and I admit, it broke me.  I cried for 3 weeks, lost half a stone and was physically, mentally and emotionally drained.

But landing in Australia at 5:35am on November 14^thmeant that one of our dreams, our biggest dream had come true.  We had said for so long, for almost two decades that this was what we wanted to do with our lives, for us and our children and we worked damn hard to make this happen, and there we were, feet touching Australian soil.  We’d made it.

On the plane ride on the way over, which wasn’t too bad, broken up nicely with a fun filled 4-day holiday in LA, Hubby and I spent time talking about what we were going to do over here, what the plan was, and what we wanted to achieve, what was the next dream.  For me it was easy.  If I was moving to the other side of the world, I wanted a complete change.  I wanted to be happier, healthier, less stressed and more fun!   I wanted to spend more time with the kids, more time outdoors in the fresh air, be the goofy me and I wanted to make more memories of our new life here in the sun. I wanted to continue doing freelance work and grow my business into other areas.   I wanted to design more, to write more, to read more, to think more, all the creative things I loved doing that I had very little time to do back home for one reason or another.  I wanted a new dream, or three.

Having now been here 6 weeks, life is great, it really is.  The kids have been in school for 5 weeks and have made a ton of friends, the house we’ve found is just stunning with lots of our bits from the UK that we brought over on the plane to make it feel like home, plus it’s just 90-seconds from the white sand and the Pacific Ocean which helps.

Life is so much slower out here.  I’m not rushing around, no one is, it’s so laid back.  The kids are constantly playing outdoors, we’re down the beach, we’re in the ocean, we’re playing basketball, footie, frisbee, it’s just all so different, and so am I.

Meditation on the beach before a barefoot morning run on the sand is now my thing, which I do every day before the school run.  It really sets me up for the day, opens my mind and helps me to stay positive, and our gym is now set up in the garage which is great for a break from the home office desk mid-day.

I’m nowhere near as stressed over the house, the chores, the bills, and the kids and I’m not irritated that I missed something out of the weekly shop because now I can just take a stroll beachside to the local store.   But I have so many plans and there are so many things I want to achieve in this coming year, but I’m in no rush to tick them off the list just yet, I’m just enjoying living life right here right now, in the moment, in my present mind, and I’m not wasting a second.

Immediately on landing, I instantly felt this wave of clarity wash over me, I knew that I was about to embark on the most exciting piece of my life’s puzzle thus far and was so excited, we all were, and still are.  Life is good.

I’ll always be Welsh, of course I will.  I have so much passion for that place and it will live inside me always, as will all my amazing memories.  My family are there, my friends, my history but living here now in Australia is like a clean slate, like a second chance at life, another chance to be the person I want to be, and I’m grabbing it with both hands.

Rhian
xxx
#workkidssleep