Walaa's Weekly Wrap-Up ~ September 7, 2013

The week is full of goodies from the G20 turning from an economic summit into a war council and the dynamics between Russia, the U.S., France, Obama, Cameron and Hollande, to Falkirk, the unions, Labour and the TUC admitting austerity worked and the economy is moving in the right direction. Plus of course David Cameron’s “Let me be clear” moment…

"Britain may be a small island, but I challenge anyone to find a country w/a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience" #Cameron

— Walaa Idris (@WalaaIdris) September 6, 2013

But I don’t want to pick and chew some more on that. This morning I want to talk about my motto in life and my firm believe that “Life is what we make it” and hope maybe I can help others see that it is.

A few months ago I stepped in to help a friend at the New City Initiative (NCI). So my working pattern and to some extent my lifestyle changed, hence the blogging once a week. Pre NCI, besides spinning first thing in the morning to early morning news and Radio 4, I enjoyed reading and loved walking. Like many, I mostly read at night in bed just before I went to sleep and walked whenever possible since most things I needed to do were within walking distance. Also having a dog made it easy to just shout ‘walkies’ grab the lead and off we went. Of course, working from home and for myself helped a great deal in that.

With the job and the time it took from my day I had to do some changes and adjustments. It’s funny how; we fall into these rhythms and habits without even realising and they just become who we are. As a graduate of the ‘Glass is half full’ school, I am also a member of the ‘There are no problems just opportunities’ school of thought.

So when I realised I was spending a small fortune using public transport and getting stuck in tunnels or bottlenecks, plus the stress of getting to work on time. I decided to walk to work. Taking the tube although fast I had one change, and that made it risky. The bus once on it, can take 20 – 25 minutes depending on traffic, road works and delivery vans. However, walking across the always beautiful Hyde Park, it takes me 35 minutes door to door, with no bottle necks and no waiting time. I then remembered, a few month back Amazon invited me to try Audio books, so I did. It took a little time to get in the habit of walk but stop sorting stuff in my head and focus on the book I am audioreading, because walking for me was mostly my thinking, planning and unwinding time.

I am lucky because I can walk in the fresh air, across a landmark to do an important job that I love and enjoy; get there 30 – 40 minutes before the start of the working day and now I found audiobooks are as good as reading books, it’s a win, win situation. Mind you I still love the smell and feel of paper plus the excitement and anticipation of turning the pages and will still buy hardbacks for all my political and historical books, but novels and light reading are fantastic on audio. Because it feels like someone is telling you a story, also with all the time I spend using my eyes (PC, TV, and reading news) with audio books my precious eyes get a well-deserved and much needed rest from reading. Plus, I like the idea of combining different activities all in one time slot.

This morning I want to vocalise and share with you my gratitude for the gifts and blessings I have.

And remember, life is what we make it.