Before I left to travel, I claimed that I don’t do sports (cause I’m too cool for it…. lol) except for dancing. I’m now so surprised at all the different types of new sports I have recently picked up, thanks to my amazing couchsurfing hosts in Australia.
While I was in Sunshine Coast in November, we were bush hiking in this off beaten tracks trying to look for snakes and lizards! Yeah, we saw a couple of snakes but we also found a beautiful lake towards the end. It was such an experience to see my zoologist host move so fast, jump under a tree and catch the snake. He’s so proud about his work and talks so passionately of reptiles and animals that I start to see the beauty in lizards and snakes. Guess what, my lizard phobia is gone! Passionate people are beautiful souls who can change the thinking of others.
I was in Byron Bay for 4 days in December and my host taught me how to surf. Just a quick 10 minutes lesson and I managed to stand up, not fall and surf the wave~ The feeling was unbelievable! As soon as I stood up on the board, I just balanced my body to be in sync with the feeling of the wave on my feet and just relax. Everytime my senses didn’t connect with the wave, I fell! Powerful sport, I love it.
I learnt how to play cricket when I was in Central Victoria for 7 days during Christmas time. Ahh, it was an amazing week spent in the countryside with my hosts and other couchsurfers from Jersey, Germany and Belgium. Because the house was so far away from the town, we only stayed at the area the entire time unless Elaine and Lindsay went to town, that’s when we tagged along. But I never complained as their area is 10 acres big with beautiful landscapes, 2 horses, 2 chickens, lots of kangaroos, cherry trees, bee hives, a pond, Dex the dog and great company. It was my first ever Christmas and I couldn’t have chosen a better place to stay at. I experienced a lot of firsts there; singing Christmas carols, chopping down a Christmas tree, cherry picking, horse feeding, australian family dinners, playing fetch with dogs, making gingerbread house, exchanging Christmas gifts, Christmas breakfast lunch and playing cricket! Cricket is fun to play… But not when watching the games. Lol.
Learning a new sport is basically stepping out of your comfort zone and exploring the unknown. The reason why people stay in their comfort zone is mainly fear… Therefore they start procrastinating, making excuses, avoiding and running away. I would know! I lived in my comfort zone for almost 25 years but I slowly and gracefully knock the walls down one by one until all I now see are more possibilities, opportunities and… life! Most of the exciting experiences I have now are from doing things that are unfamiliar to me and I’m glad to say that I have faced most of my fears making me kind of addicted in facing the rest of them. lol. When your fears disappear, more opportunities will be attracted to your new energy and that’s when you’ll start to see things differently. Happy new day!
wanderingfin 