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The Winter of Life

HOPE IN WINTER SEASONS OF LIFE

A friend going through a life-changing time once told me “Never cut a tree down in the wintertime” & we had a good laugh about where we both were in our lives at the time (sitting in the sun sipping bubbles)

Reflecting on this quote has admitttedly made more & more sense as time passes; how many times have we been in a winter season in our lives & wanted to make rash decisions? Emotions have a way of making us act so irrationally in an attempt to bring on a magical, miracle, immediate fix.

Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come. – Robert H. Schuller

How much more covid are we going to face? How are we going to choose to move ahead? Has this made you feel like cutting a tree down?

This third wave business has done a real dirty on us hey? The fear & panic in our country has such an impact on business, the economy as a whole & our mental state! Adding winter to these factors, I feel, makes us hopeless & my aim is to just spread a little hope even though I’m in my winter too.

Let’s hold onto hope; every winter comes to an end & every spring never misses it’s turn.

I had a signifiant conversation with a very special client a few months ago & she reminded me that our hope, peace, joy & confidence comes from above & our job is to stay rooted… so as the winds of life blow, as we sit in the winter in our lives, let’s hold on & not be swayed.

“Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.”—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

This month, like many years before in June I forget all about Father’s Day🤦‍♀️

Coming from a family/generation of strong women & absent fathers has an impact on us weather good or bad & particularly over the last 2 or 3 years I’ve had to face the good & the bad through situations in my personal life. Some of us will make the choice to blame & continue a vicious cycle of hurt, others will do whatever we can to erase it & do better, & then there’s those of us who chose to ignore & pretend all is well; if you come from a home without the role of a good father; which road have you taken?

I’m a strong woman because I have been raised & taught by strong women. One in particular. I have a good image of a father because of My Father in heaven’s love, what about those of us who aren’t as fortunate? I’ve been blessed to know some great fathers who pour love into their kids & I witness it’s healing & necessity for these little souls. My hope & prayer this month, this Father’s Day, is for the women who still hurt to find peace, for the dads trying to be great fathers in difficult circumstances to continue loving & for the dads being great husbands & dads to press on! For the moms trying to be mom & dad to look up to renew your strength ❤

“The power of a dad in a child’s life is unmatched.” —Justin Ricklefs

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When Mother’s Day hurts

Each year my marketing in May, like most businesses, focusses on Mother’s Day- it’s important & we should but I thought I’d share some personal views this mother’s day.

When I was younger I totally believed I didn’t want kids & needless to say these days are very different. Failed relationships, almost marriages, realising what we want & don’t want takes alot longer than we generally think, right?

We all know the drill, the expectation of marriage & children by a certain age & the questions & comments that follow when “it’s your time”

We’ve been so programmed to hear the biological clock & some of us even start making the wrong choices to try fit the timeline. This year, can we commit to acceptance of God’s plan? Can we become a little more sensitive to other women who struggle in silence while wearing a smile? Can we celebrate us all?

This month we’re doing a “Mommy & Me” promo but I feel a nagging urge to dive deeper into what Mother’s Day may mean to different women.

One day I’ll know what the kicking in my belly feels like, but for now I’ve been blessed with having 2 of the most beautiful loving kids to shower with all my love & affection, I’m blessed to have them in my life 🙂

I had a conversation with my bestie (aka “my” kids’ dad) & he told me a story about a rabbit & an elephant, long story short, the rabbit’s pregnancy is around 31 days & the elephant is pregant for 22 months! Yep, that’s right, like 2 whole years! The story ends with the elephant saying “You have to understand,what’s inside me isn’t puppy or a bunny, when my baby hits the ground, the earth trembles it, what I’m carrying is mighty & great!”

I loved that story! Sometimes we don’t understand the wait & the why but we have greatness stored up & when your time really does come, it will be mighty & great! Worth waiting for.

I want to shout out to the infertile woman, the woman who’s marriage is in danger from the heaviness of fertility treatments, the single woman waiting for her Boaz, the woman who’s about to give up…

A shout out to the single mom trying to be both parents & doing her best, to the tired mom who isn’t coping, to the depressed mom who can’t ask for help, the mom who questions if she’s good enough…

The children who’ve lost their mothers & mothers who’ve lost their children. What could replace, make sense of, or validate this empty space nobody can fill?

So this Mother’s Day to all the sons, daughters, moms, moms to be, tired moms, struggling moms; we see you & we love you!

You are enough

You are worthy

You are strong

You are capable

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6 Years in & here’s the story

A few weeks ago I was chatting to my sales rep & she suggested I do a story about me (yikes!) & my staff 🙂 At first I was rather unsure since I quite like the “behind the scenes” vibe; well, apart from my Instagram appearance with my gorgeous lashes…

Then, the more I thought about it the more sense it made. The spa is now 6 years old & since it’s also my birthday month, is there ever going to be a more suitable time? So, here’s the whole story 🌍

I qualified as a therapist in 2002 from Hydro International in Edenvale, I have to admit, I wasn’t the best student & case studies made me want to cry, but I think I eventually turned out ok. My first therapy job was at Matis Eastgate (yep, there was one in Eastgate!) I fell in love with the brand immediately! I moved on to then work on cruise ships in the spa on board for 2 years, came back & was employed by Elani at Matis Rosebank 🙂 Moved to Cape Town, worked at a skincare college, did recruitment & training for beauty & spa, which I still do; then one day in the beginning of 2015 the owner of Matis Fourways told me she’s decided to sell.

I was helping her for a few weeks by then, assisting with business operations & trying to see where she could increase revenue & decrease expenses. She had already had 2 people who were keen to buy the shop but were declined by the mall. At that time I was self employed for just over 2 years & didn’t even imagine I could one day own the shop. After talking to my amazing mom & consulting with God, a desire set me on fire.

The banks don’t give loans to self employed people & not owning anything to put up as collateral had me in tears & questioning God’s plan for my life. I remember being so nervous at the meeting with the mall, I had no money & no idea how I was going to get it but as we sat down all they said was “would you like to start in March or April?” 🤯 My mother believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself & she made miracles happen. Nothing could compare to a mother’s love! A God fearing, prayer warrior kind at that!

On the 1st of April 2015, I took over! There’s never an April’s fool for me…There were highs & lows, way many more lows than highs to be honest. Construction for 4 years threatened my sanity (as my staff will tell you)

Fast forward to 2020, God made big changes to my businesses & my life & I can confidently say, we’re here to stay! Giving up isn’t an option but it’s easier with people on your team that push you & fiercly belive in you.

My 38th birthday is on the 17th of April & for the first time in many, many years I’m looking forward to celebrating it all! My wonderful staff, my support team & celebrating me! It’s still a hard lesson to learn but being proud of your accomplishments isn’t big-headed, it’s necessary!

Thank God for keeping me & my business ❤

Keep your eyes peeled for a write up on my fantastic staff soon…