we are human. we can do anything.

30 km. the average distance i used to walk in a day when i was crossing british columbia. now its the average minimum distance i cover by running/walking in a full week. this thought crossed my mind today as i ran 6 km today. as i walked the 3 km to work. as i walked the 3 km back. i feel as though i have been doing so well in maintaining a good physical health routine and yet when my mind wanders back to those days of carrying everything on my back and hiking through the woods, over the woods and around the woods - well, what i am doing now does not quite compare. and yet i do not feel the drive and motivation to start walking my way across australia. yet.

as i let my mind wander with thoughts on my own physical activity today, i also found myself reflecting on what a friend had said after a workout a while back. we had just done and hour of hard activity. pushups. situps. burpees. wallsits. leglifts. jumping jacks. the whole bit. we did it all. we were tired. we were spent. we were sweating like crazy and after stretching we promptly laid back on the floor and just relaxed.

after a few minutes of silence, i asked my friend what he was thinking about. he immediately replied, "im thinking about having a good day."

when is the last time that any of us have done that? when is the last time that we faced a day and just thought about making it a good day? each day is anew with endless possibilities of what we can do, create, be and it is our choice of how we want our day to be. all too often we (myself included) look forward to our days, our work days, our tough days, our long days, our mondays and cross our fingers that we'll simply "survive" them. that we'll make it to the end of the day and be able to exhale that breathe we've been holding in for the last 12 hours. we wake up to our days with the perspective that there is nothing we can do about them - that we are simply little pawns in the game of life - there to play a part that is set out for us. now what would like look like should we wake up each day and just spend a minute or two simply thinking about how we are going to make THIS day a "good day?" what would our lives look like if we took control of what is about to be and, yes, handled the tough times with the good - but made a point to come out on top when the day is through? i wonder...

and yes - though i wonder lots, there has also been a lot of "doing" happening lately in my life. ive been steadily increasing my hours at work, learning to open shop so that i can have the maximum flexibility in my hours. with summer coming that means the waves of tourists will follow with the heat. and i have noticed that starting already. there are more bodies crammed on the coastal walk - all eyes with a dazed look as they admire the sculptures by the sea. there is more white skin - eager to be bronzed within a short time frame. there are more people who seem flabbergasted at the thought that they have to walk on the left side of the sidewalk. there are more bodies less concerned with the idea of doing bootcamp on the beach as i run past at 6 in the morning - they all look as though they are relieved to leave the pressures of work behind them. the pressures of life. now is their time to indulge. and indulge they do. they come to my work in big massive groups. some not able to speak english. some able to speak english, but do not apparently know how to read -- they constantly ask us for fish and chips when, clearly, the shop beside us with the massive sign out front advertising such items would be the ideal place to start looking.

but now there is more trash. more disregard for the environment of which these people are visiting. its not THEIR "home" so why should it matter if they leave their garbage on the beach while they pack up for the day? as i run in the morning i take note of all the rubbish people have left behind from the day before and its really sad. do these people not realize that overnight the wind will blow the trash into the ocean? the waves take it out, animals get caught up in it. it pollutes. it sickens our earth worse that what it already is. and yet, every morning - without fail, the workers are our there picking up other peoples garbage in order to make the beach like paradise once again. in order to attract the tourists to come. in order to continue the cycle for yet another day more.

and paradise it is. really. anika and i have made it our mission to try out as many beaches as we possibly can - and its astounding really how many beaches do surround the sydney area. they are all so similar and yet so different. some are better for sports. some for bbq's. some are perfect for swimming where as others are where the surfer's crowd the waves. some have rough, coarse sand and others feel like fine silt under my bare feet. even still, we've both contemplated the thought of zipping over to new zealand for a weekend or something. it's a wierd thought as new zealand always has been so far away, and yet people go back and forth from australia and NZ like people do going from canada to somewhere like las vegas for a few days. so who knows... maybe we will.

a friend back in canada commented to me recently upon hearing that i was still in sydney by saying "BORING!" -- and that one word - so simple, so raw - made me stop and think. is what i am really doing boring? am i really not making the most of what i am doing with my time here? and then i remembered - why the heck does it matter what this friend thinks of what i am doing? this is my life, my time, my journey, my adventure and it can be whatever i want it to be. i have dreamed of doing what i am doing right now and i am doing it. i am actually living the dream that i want - im doing it right now. what can be boring about that?

other than that, the sculptures by the sea is officially done after tomorrow and i have FINALLY posted up my pictures of it and the last couple weeks so enjoy!! you can find them at: - DOWN UNDER - SYDNEY (2)