obtain more balance in my life and work purposefully and not obsessively

to be in the audience at the taping of a TV debate show on ‘transformation’.

The magnificent Mamphela Ramphele will be on the panel.

Shhould I take time out on Saturday to attend?

I woke early in my hotel room and have been working on the speech I have to deliver.

Then I shall make my way across London to meet daughter and spend some time with her. She is ‘puppy sitting’.

I will, of course, ask her to critique the speech.

and I still have quite a lot to do.

off!

(Didn’t stop me worrying about work, my business partner, tasks) but I did a lot of walking around the Cape Point N ature reserve and Kirstenbosch botanical gardens.

Now for a hectic week!

I am in the glorious, if egotistical city of Cape Town, wrapped around the mountain and lapped by the Indian AND the Atlantic oceans,surrounded by beaches, followed by endless vineyards in the soft, eroded mountain foothills.

What to do? Spoilt for choice.

DH wants to drive down to Cape Point Nature reserve which is within the city precints, but gloriously wild. I have vetoed a wine farm tour (it’s no fun drinking by yourself – he is a teetotaller, who somehow loves taking me to wine farms and buying wine).

I would like to visit a couple of the arty places CT has to offer, and I have requested a vigorous walk around Kirstenbosch botanical gardens tomorrow – oldest trees there planted by Dutch settlers in the mid17th C, I believe.

We are planning to take in a Shakespearian play at the Baxter theatre tonight.

But for now, it’s probably a meander down to Cape Point. We will stop at Boulders Beach, where there is a colony of resident penguins.

But now for the oh-so-self-aware-and laid-back-city.

but, the upside is as follows:

Next Friday afternoon (after a VERY important 3 days of meetings with government officials from 5 departments) I am flying to Cape Town to spend the weekend there. (DH there n business from Wednesday onwards)

I am planning some artistic pursuits there. Maybe we should include an excursion to a couple of favourite wine farms.

Suggestions called for re good weekend activities …

Renewalsh Hi, Have read your thread with a degree of discomfort … as something of a workaholic myself … And obtaining more balance in my life and work purposefully and not obsessively is a key goal for me too … and can so resonate with some of your experiences.

For me doing is largely a defence against being.

And focus is a paradox as the focus of doing and being are diametric aspects of infinity.

Whilst the focus of doing is getting to the point … with absolute precision … is closing in on …. is distilling … and refining … and the point is a point in time.

The focus of being is quite the converse … Is opening … expansive … boundless … absorbing … endless and timeless! You have all the time in the (inner) world!

There is a very interesting point at which I believe these worlds meet … And It is where you can safely allow an idea to incubate … and be born all of it’s own accord … just sleep on it!

And can even appeal to the workaholic in us … as we can claim that we work in our sleep!

With very best wishes!

from one of my businesses’ very first clients, now working for a very very large parastatal social responsibility programme.

A chance to do some real on the ground enterprise development work and skills development.

We could have fallen out with BS because they took a long time to pay. However, we chose to adopt a firm but unyielding approach to payment,neber backing down but never fighting either.

If we do this work now, we would insist on money up front and a monthly retainer.

(Learn from past mistakes.)

and a huge deadline met.

The rabbits? 4 modules of +- 100 pages each, written in draft form(admittedly very rough) and sent ON THE PROMISED DAY.

(I had a team of 7 plus myself though).

Yay!

off.

RWFL on Saturday – 6km in 55 mins;
Shopping;
Snooze;
Watched TV.

Sun: Slept late;
Had a short visit from sister;
Visited the Sandton Antiques fair with mother and niece;
Saw lots of lovely things but bought only one item – an art deco style enamel necklace that should look lovely with a dress that daughter bought in London recently (chartreuse chiffon silk 20’s style shift dress to be worn with a soft geranium pink leather belt tied at the hips);
Read papers in a leisurly way;
Surfed the net to find out about dress requirements etc in Malaysia.

Am only working this evening.