Happy to help

I feel like I have the words ‘fragile pregnant lady’ scrawled across my forehead and have come to accept that that’s not such a bad thing.   

Since my belly has ‘popped’ and it is obvious to everyone that I am expecting, I have had people falling over themselves to help me out.

Last week, I had the feral job of doing a mass office supplies shop at OfficeWorks. I had three bags and a box to wrangle to the car. Unfortunately one of the bags I had fell to the ground, the contents spilling out everywhere.

Immediately a helpful young lad who was walking into the store stopped and helped me pick up my wares and asked me if he could help take my bags to the car for me. I politely declined but thanked him very much for stopping and for the offer.

I don’t know why but even though I know I am pregnant and I know people want to help me, I feel bad accepting their offer.

So I decided to get over it and accept some kindness!

A few days after the OfficeWorks incident, I did some grocery shopping at Ferry Rd Markets. I had 4 bags and a carton of sparkling water and no trolley (because my baby brain forgot to get one as I walked in).

The check-out chick looked at me and said “I’ll get one of our guys to help take your bags to your car for you” and as much as I wanted to say “no, it’s okay” I told her thank you very much. Quick as a flash, she commissioned one of her male co-workers to be my pack-horse and we were on our way.

He even made small talk about when I was due and was I finding out the sex? He then told me about his nine-month old daughter who had changed his life and how he couldn’t remember anything about life before she was born. Very sweet!

This morning was another example – I had our refurbished nursery furniture delivered to our house. I would usually have helped unload the pieces out of the van, but I just sat back and watched as they were unloaded and taken into our house by the painter and her assistant.

So all in all, I have found that I am actually pretty happy to be ‘fragile pregnant lady’ and grateful for the assistance I’ve been given to date. I know I can only milk it for so long, so I may as well make the most of it hey!?

Dare to dream

As I have grown up, I’ve had to learn to accept that sometimes things don’t always work out just as you thought they would and that sometimes it’s for the best.

I am a pretty stubborn person by nature and tend to be idealistic; I grew up being told that I could be anything and do anything I wanted if I dreamed big enough. And I really did believe that.

Well to be honest, that’s both true and false. I believe you can do anything you want, but it’s not as simple as just believing it – you have to work your butt off to get what you want and that often means making sacrifices along the way.

I’ve learned that part now that I’m older, but despite what you might think, it’s not a negative thing. The sacrifices I have made in order to find happiness have been some of the best decisions I’ve made.

We set goals and standards in our lives to which we want to live. Whether it be a dream career, personal appearance, friendship circles, living situations, finances, accomplishments, relationships – we put a label on each of these and have certain expectations that go along with them. We write ourselves a list of what we want from each of these and then set out to achieve them.

I guess before you become an adult and see the world for what it really is; it’s easy to get lost in what your future could be when you start to dream.

When you’re little you’re allowed to say that you could be an astronaut, doctor, ballerina, or Olympic gold medallist – no one tells you how hard it actually is to be any of these…

Since I was little I always wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry as an actress. Growing up I really enjoyed participating in theatre and musicals, and I’ve appeared in television commercials and in print modelling advertorial campaigns. I still really enjoy entertaining that dream, but I recognise now that there are other things I want even more.

I know some people say they are scared to dream for fear of rejection or failure – but you shouldn’t sell yourself short. On my way to figuring out my goals, my life has taken a different track to what I thought it would, and even though the original things I set out to achieve fell by the wayside, I am glad for the diversion. The decisions I’ve made have helped me to find amazing love and led me to a place where I can be with the most incredible people – my family and friends.

I guess that I have come to a point in my life where I am ready to let some things go in order to move forward and have a truly amazing relationship with the life I have now. I will always be ambitious to achieve the things I want, but now the things I desire mean much more to me than being centre stage in the spotlight.

So I am still going to dream big, but I’m not going to let myself stray off the path and forget what is most important at the core of things. As Dr Wayne Dyer said “There is a voice in the Universe urging us to remember our purpose for being on this great Earth. This is the voice of inspiration, which is within each and every one of us.”
Find your own purpose for being here – remember we only live once, so make the most of it.