“New Year, New You” and all that. Just before Christmas I put the shout out asking for people who were thinking of making resolutions for 2015. I got quite a response. In fact such a response that we have part one this week, and part two next Sunday. There are many schools of thought on New Year’s Resolutions: “Why bother, you’ll only let yourself down next week?” “Why wait until January 1st to change, you can change now!” But my favourite is: “New Year’s Day is like the first page in a new notebook so try to set out with good intentions and write neatly with your favourite pen”. Whatever your own opinion of making changes in your life, please wish our New Year’s Resolutioneers well as they embark on some ambitious plans.
Adam Grant
“I want to fight again”
It’s a beautiful sunny Saturday when I meet Adam for the first time. We instantly get on very well and talk a lot about our own personal histories and journeys in Majorca. He has three resolutions, 1) to fight again 2) to learn more about NLP and hypnosis and 3) to learn how to meditate and start a Tai Chi practice. The fighting sounds pretty amazing, he used to fight and is working on getting himself back into condition, and wants to concentrate on a martial arts/boxing practice. Neuro Linguistic Programming and hypnosis both sound like something that will take a great deal of work to get into, and I know that meditation and Tai Chi take decades to master, so he’s setting himself some very big goals this year.
After about an hour of chatting about his old life in Leicester and why he moved to Majorca: to give his kids a better life; about the band Madness; his kids who he loves and is extremely proud of; doing business in Majorca; his two beloved sons who are both promising footballers; Magalluf, politics and, did I mention his sons who he adores, we get around to the reason why he has decided on these resolutions. “I want to keep pushing myself and inspiring my sons to keep pushing themselves as well.” He’s already running daily and training physically; what he thinks is going to be the hardest is sitting still and meditating. Having met him and experienced his super quick mind and boundless energy, I am inclined to believe him. I’ve put him in touch with Kate Stephens, a meditation teacher, so his resolutions have started to take form.
Aimee Haak
“I want to stop multitasking”
I’ve known Aimee for quite a few years; she’s responsible for encouraging me to develop my photography career. She’s a pro photographer, specialising in weddings and portraits, and she’s very, very talented. She’s always busy with her photography and aside from that she’s got two other roles: as an English language teacher to two kids in Hong Kong where she used to live, and as a specialist in setting “high stakes” medical questions for midwifery exams (she’s also a medical professional). Aimee’s decided to stop working at 6pm every day, and not work on weekends, and as a fellow self-employed person this just seems to be impossible to me, but she disagrees. “At the end of the day it’s down to me. I want to make my clients happy; I want to do my job well and give them excellent quality. I love to work; it’s very rewarding for me. But I can see in the long run it could make me boring…” Aimee tells me about how she doesn’t feel that she’s ‘in the present’ and doesn’t pay enough attention to the people who are important to her, but she also wants to be the best that she can be. “It’s frustrating because only you will know your true potential, I have to learn how to discriminate and know when to let it go”. How will she know if she’s reached her resolution goal? “I am going to ask myself, When I am eating, how fast am I chewing? Do I feel comfortable to be in one place without the need to move on?” This could (subtly) be the hardest resolution of them all….
Diane Hughes
“I want to stop drinking”
Diane loves to cook; she’s very good at it as well. She’s also a great copywriter. I go to see her at her apartment, where she’s just had a brand new kitchen fitted, it looks great and I am very jealous. “I want to stop drinking wine Vic,” she tells me, “I feel like if I do then I will be taking control of my health. It’s just so cheap to buy wine in Majorca, not like in the UK”. I ask her what are her trigger points, when does she fancy a glass of wine? “When I’m cooking, I like to have a glass then”. Ah, I completely understand that, although neither of us are at the Keith Floyd level of cooking with wine, I can see that a new kitchen coupled with plonko cheapo are a tricky combination. Good luck Di!
Helen Pitt
“I want to learn how to take photographs”
Helen is a fundamental part of the Cancer Support Group. She started as a member and after being given the all clear from her own doctor has become a passionate and dedicated worker helping other people and their families to cope with cancer treatments and all the different practicalities and emotions that surround that. “I am one of the lucky ones, I feel like I am in control, and I want to share what I have learnt about cancer and illness with others”. Helen knows about the value and importance of promoting the Group’s events to spread the word and raise funds. “I want to be able to photograph the events that we do and I don’t want to have to rely on other people for that. I want to be able to do it myself.” Helen has booked to go on a course with Diana Hirsch who is a great photography teacher based here in Majorca. I’m fairly confident that once she’s been on Diana’s course Helen will be capable of taking some great pictures. “I also want to learn how to use Social Media to promote the Group”. It’s at this point I jump in and offer my help as her Social Media mentor as that’s what I do for a great part of my living, and we make a further date to meet up.
Yucca Stevens
“I want to drive my car again”
Yucca (pronounced Yoo-ka) is originally from Belgium but she’s lived in Majorca for quite a while. One day in 2012 she was suffering from cold feet and was wearing a pair of slippers in her apartment. Ironically she slipped and fell, breaking her right shinbone. Her story is quite incredible and very unlucky as following continual mistakes, a sloppy misdiagnosis from her doctor and after eight operations she eventually had to have her leg amputated above the knee. The operation happened in mid-2013 and she has been dealing with the loss of her limb, and acclimatising herself since then. When I meet Yucca I am very impressed with her matter of fact approach and her determination to make 2015 a much better year than 2014. “I love being out and about, before my accident I was very active. I am planning to start Hatha Yoga, I have met a teacher and I am hoping that she will be able to take me into her class. The big thing I want to do is drive my car again. It’s a Golf convertible and I love it. It hasn’t gone anywhere in so long! But it needs to be adapted for me to drive without my right leg and that’s going to cost a bit. I’m not sure how I am going to manage it, but I have to find a way”. Of all of the people that I have met so far Yucca has the most to gain from seeing out her resolutions, and you can tell that she is very serious about making them happen. “And I have to get a job. I used to run my own Real Estate agency so that’s my specialty; I speak English, French, Flemish and Spanish fluently.” We talk a bit more about her new situation and how she has to see things from a different perspective now, “There’s plenty of public places that aren’t all that accessible you know”. Finally she mentions the potential of her going swimming in sea in the summer, I can imagine that this could be even more challenging than driving, but Yucca is very determined to get herself back into the world and back on track. Watch out world, here she comes.
I’m going to chase up these intrepid “Resolutioneers” around Easter and see how they have got on so far. If you have anything you can offer them to help them on their way to achieving their goals then please get in touch.
Mallorca Stories 