Partners in life!

When I choose people I want to spend time with, my Dad's words always resonate. He used to say one cannot choose your family, but your friends are something else... They show up parts of you - the ones you acknowledge or the parts you deny.

This certainly makes sense when you talk about your life partner, or friends, but when it comes to business partners, it is clear that other rules apply. Here, we look for abilities you do no have, but require for the business to succeed....and I have already said that I believe and invest in diversity!

I have however always chosen business partners whose company I enjoy and can call friends. I choose not to spend too much time in the presence of people who I do not respect or whose energy is negative, regardless of their abilities and professional skills.

I have been truly blessed to have worked with my life partner, and the partner we chose for a business venture, I have been calling a friend for a long time. The wonderful thing is that he is very different technically to both of us, so there you have your diversity! I have also hooked up with an ex-Absa friend and we have been doing some work together...bliss.

I think life is too short to spend it with people you do not love! After 20 years in Corporates, it is my privilege to choose partners in business and in life, who I can also call friends for life. I cannot wait to start ventures with Venita and Caroline and.....and....................

A swell life....

 

I love learning about people who do not talk about adventure, but live it every day. Bumfuzzle.com is a favorite blog about a couple who decided over beers one night to buy a sailboat and sail around the world. They did it and have subsequently toured Europe in a vintage VW, had 2 children and are still living on their mono haul :)

I recently came across www.swellvoyage.com - A blog depicting the true life adventure of Liz Clark, a champion surfer and captain of a sailboat named SWELL...she is in her 20's and have been sailing the oceans for 6 years now. What an amazing woman! I love her philosophy on life, her love of nature and how softly she treads on this earth. A beautiful women with a beautiful spirit.

These words from her blog just made so much sense, especially this week after witnessing many friends going through hardship.

 “Difficult people and situations should be considered our most precious jewels. They give us a chance to practice our virtues, and become a better person. Each of us are born into uniquely challenging circumstances, but if we choose to use them positively, they can become our vehicle to transformation.”

An adventure....Part 1

So we left rainy Cape Town early on a Saturday morning...hopped onto the Premiere Classe train. Then, with a flamboyant "Bon Appetit" (huh - what happened to Bon Voyage!?) from our local train conductor, we rocked out of the station. We love taking off like this, it just sets the pace for a relaxing holiday....mmmmmm, OK, usually it does.

The food and the service (thanks Milly!) was very good, the coffee not the real deal and the wine selection limited to something in the region of Tassenberg (pity, as I was ready to let the goddess out, but I find that she appears more willingly with a little wine, champers, sushi and some sunshine!).

My only phobia...the communal bathrooms. As far as this goes, it was very clean and we never had to queue for anything.

If you are not in a hurry, want a nice middle-of-the-road, stress-free option for getting to JHB, this is a definite option. We arrived in freeeeeezzzzing JHB around noon on Sunday, took the Gautrain (what a pleasure!!!) to OR Tambo and JC promptly booked us into the Intercontinental for 8 hours of R&R before our flight at 23h45. Pure indulgence...I love this man!

Next time - Touching down in Nairobi :)