What to do?

As most people are probably aware, when I'm not being a geek in front of my computer typing up blog entries, or glued to Facebook, I like to be outside. It's definitely one of the best things about this country we live in - the accessibility of the outdoors.

But anyway, what are some of the things I've been doing the past few weeks?

Mountainbiking.

Woodhill is a cool place, I've still got a lot of exploring to do out there. I'm always keen to head out there with mates (or without if necessary). There's a whole bunch of these wooden obstacles. I can generally do everything up to 3 X's (they have difficult ratings from X to XXXXX aka 5 X's). I'm planning to enter some mountainbike orienteering events coming up, as well as enter some longer distance (e.g. 50km or so?) cross country races in the future.

Orienteering.

OK, so this is actually a photo of my sister on her first attempt (I thought she'd enjoy the exposure), but Orienteering is really cool. It's like running but a a lot more fun, and that's a good thing. Running is good for training, but it can be a bit boring sometimes, so Orienteering is a good way to jazz it up a bit. You have to engage muscles above your neck a lot more (ok so technically the brain isn't a muscle but you should know what I mean :P). Really glad I was introduced to this sport. It's also really cool just being out there in the forest, even if you are totally frustrated and a bit lost - you can always enjoy the scenery.

Other forest activities

This is me on one of the flying foxes at Tree Adventures out at Woodhill. First time I'd done that and wowwee it was damn freaky at times (I'm not the best with heights) but man is it fun. And I'm sure everyone else who came along agreed :)

Taking silly shadow photos while at Tree adventures.

I'm always keen for a shadow photo, usually I take them because its sometimes easier to take a photo of my shadow than it is to take one of myself (unless someone else is around). And even then, when you take a photo of yourself its usually only of your face, or of one of your limbs, unless you go to the effort of setting a tripod up, but that doesn't happen terribly regularly. If its a sunny day and your shadow is lookin' good, then a good shadow photo is the way to go.

Snowboarding.

Although I've done it for a couple years now, I'm actually really new to this sport in terms of the amount of time on the snow. I only got to the mountain once I think last year, and maybe 3 or 4 sessions at snow planet. But in that time I've managed to come a pretty long way. I can turn both ways fairly well (i.e. linking turns) and control my speed. And even going to the summit of Mt Hutt wasn't too freaky for me! :) Definitely keen to do this a bit more in the coming years.

Geocaching.

If my parents were religious, then they would worship the god of Geocaching! They are just, like, so, totally into it :P I'm only just beginning (since I recently acquired my own GPS) but I can see the attraction. Definitely a cool way to get out there and explore the world around you. There are literally, hundreds, of geocaches hidden in various places just within 10km or so of Auckland - it's quite daunting actually!!!

Also, I had my birthday this week. And I'm 26 now. So that's the latter half of the 20s then. Hmmmm.

A few thoughts...

I'm typing this entry on my NEW laptop. Its a sexy red thang! Perfecto for blogging ;)

Let's see.... something I've just happened to notice recently is that, well... long term relationship break ups majorly suck. OK, so maybe I already knew this, but luckily I've managed to go through most of my life so far happy at not having to deal with it.
That's not to say its a bad thing - because when I really think about it, it's actually a good thing. Greener pastures await.

Like death, it is simply a part of life, and I have come to accept that. As when someone close to you dies (which, funnily enough, is also true for me recently), you have to go through a grieving process. This is necessary, but its also really annoying and takes waaaay longer than you want it to.

In case you were wondering, here's the stages of the grieving process...

1. Shock
2. Denial
3. Guilt
4. Anger
5. Depression
6. Acceptance

You don't necessarily go through all these stages in the specified order, in fact most people flitter between multiple stages for a while. However to properly get on with life you do need to get to stage 6 (Acceptance), at some point.

Recently, when I've been reflecting and talking to people - I've noticed a lot of my thought patterns are now aligned to stage 6, and that's a very good thing.

You can't really speed up this grieving process (as much as I really wanted to). You do have to go through it properly - otherwise you're really just kidding yourself, and it will take longer to come out the other end in the long run.

Effective communication is pretty much impossible, but that doesn't stop people from trying - more likely doing more harm than good.

A good bunch of friends and family (I consider family as friends too by the way) is one of the best supplements in all of this. Thanks to all my friends out there, for well... being my friends :)
One of these friends pointed out to me recently that no matter how bad things get, I'm generally able to have a bit of a laugh. And overall, that's a good thing! Unfortunately, it has also managed to get me into trouble on occasions, but I shouldn't have to apologise for well... being me.

Sometimes life appears to come full circle... Tomorrow, I move back to the old office from 2 years ago! The irony of this situation is not lost on me.
And on a lighter note, for those of you who know me, my favourite song of all time is just oh so relevant right now :)

Also, cool photos next time. Promise!

But I will leave you with this: My awesome stack of chips at a recent Poker night. Unfortunately this is as big as it got, and I spent the next 3 hours dying a slow and painful death.... hmmm.