The Pursuit of Happiness~

No, I am not talking about the Will Smith movie.
Note the different spelling in my title & his movie title.
(His is 'The Pursuit of Happyness.')
What is it about humans that gives us a driving force to find happiness?
To keep searching & to keep pushing ourselves until we have a measure of it.
Are we depressed? Does our life suck? Stuck in a mind numbing, meaningless job perhaps?
 ***
Where do you look for happiness?
What do you look for?
Perhaps it's found in a new pair of expensive shoes, an overseas adventure, a new house, a new car.. you get my drift.
***
I was stuck in a mind numbing meaningless job where i worked in a white box aka office.
No stimulation. No fun. Laughs were few and far between and were often at someone else's downfall or expense. There was no appreciation. There were no perks. There was no commendation.
Oh and my boss liked to look at porn from his work computer.
Not the most ideal situation.
6 years i lasted there. 6 YEARS.
You want to know why i lasted that long?
I got comfortable. I was good at what i did & it came easily to me.
The hours were good & it was close to home.
Those were probably the only good things about my job.. and my boss used to buy me a coffee each morning. That was nice.
But that aside, I hated it.
My friends knew it, my family knew it, everyone knew it.
And then one day, something changed.
It was something internal & my life took an unexpected turn for good..
I decided to save up as much money as possible & go on an overseas adventure.
And i did it.
I quit my job.
And spent 4.5 months overseas on an amazing adventure.
You know what, quitting was one of the easiest things i have ever had the pleasure of doing.
The day i quit, i hadn't even planned to do it then.
Circumstance changed & my only option was to quit my job then & there.
***
Now that i have been home for a few months, i feel like the sun has started to shine on me once more.
It feels like i have escaped the depths of misery.
The longer i am away from my old job, the more i can see how much of a weight was lifted off me when i quit.
I knew i had made the right decision when my boss wasn't even sad to see me go. There was barely a reaction from him. That was the cherry on top which cemented the fact that getting out of there was the best option.
Recently, I have made some self discovery.
I am happy.
For the first time in as long as i can remember. I feel happy.
Happy. Content. Relaxed.
And i am petrified that it will all be snatched away from me.
xox

My Motorcycle Diaries:

Day 1:
Dear Diary,

My riding virginity got smashed yesterday.
And i loved every minute of it!
It was the BEST!
Why has it taken me this long to get on a motorbike?!
Argh!
It was seriously the most fun i have had in a very long time.
***
After an adventurous late night involving getting pushed up against a wall, going through road blocks, up & down dirt roads, getting slightly bogged, being lifted up onto a roadblock, hanging off a safety barrier, cliff edge, a shooting star across the bay, a 4am phone call, an impromptu overnight stay on the Mornington Peninsula & about 4 hours sleep, i put some leather on & got whisked away into the most glorious sunshine filled day.
(Or maybe that should be zoomed off into... ?!)
And yes, this was my first ever time on the back of a motorbike.
I was a bit scared before i got on but as soon as the engine started up, all of that fear just vanished & we were off!
I had complete trust in my companion.
It was the most perfect day for a ride.
Weaving in & out of traffic, cruising along the beach road & ending up at Portsea backbeach was spectacular.
*Aqua blue water, waves & sunshine.*
After a quick stop to check out the surf, we were off again.
Cruising along back roads on the Penny' we got up to a maximum speed of...

...I'll never tell!
This time we ended up in Flinders having a beer in the sunshine, just kicking back enjoying life & making the most of our day.
(Was this really the 'last ride?')
I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the entire day. It was so much fun!
If i said i didn't feel like the coolest cat around while rocking the leather & getting my biker-chick on.. it would be the biggest lie in the history of untruth.
Now i completely understand it when people want to get on their motorbikes & just ride.
It's exhilarating. You feel so unbelievably free.
It's the most amazing rush!
Rounding out the day was a stop at Safety Beach for another quickie beer & then meeting friends at a little bar in Rye.
So tops off an excellent, unforgettable day~
Thankyou.
xox
ps- I was wearing cowboy boots.
Cowboys wear boots on horses & i was riding a steel horse, so i figured it made sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvCvsRp5ho

Enjoy!

That Guy Who Gives Me Dirty Looks

So, there's this organic shop down the road from my work.

Wholefoods/organic goods- where everything for sale is twice the price of anything you'll find at Safeway.

It's the sort of pretentious little supermarket/cafe you would expect hipsters to shop in.. if they could afford it.

So pretty much the people you can expect to find here are health food nuts, gym junkies & ostentatious Brighton snobs with too much money.

They sell things like 'Organic artisan handcrafted sourdough (no, I'm not really sure what exactly that all means~ it was on a poster in the window. Why can't they just say 'We sell bread?'), Tahitian limes, organic bananas all the way through to Miranda Kerr's body lotions.

Are you getting a feel for the place yet?

If you are, you might be wondering why on earth I'm here.

No? You weren't? ...oh.

Anyway, it's simple really~ they do delicious toasted sandwiches. Easy.

Yes, that's right. The good ol' toasted sandwich is the drawcard.

And on a cool wintery day, that's just what i want.. or maybe the soup, which is also good here.

Every time i order a tomato, cheese &, dare i say it, ham toastie, the guy working behind the counter gives me the dirtiest, greasiest looks.
Every single time. I have come to expect it now.

It's almost like he's judging me & telling me with his eyes that i should be filling my body with healthy organic food- not with some dirty pig that one day used to roll around in the mire before finally making it's way into my sandwich.

I went there today for lunch.

They advised me they were 'Out of ham.'

Instantly I'm suspicious of such a claim!

He offers me some chicken instead. "Yeah, sure thing."

After paying, i find a seat in the sunshine, put my earphones in & get lost in my own little world.

'My Mate' comes over & informs me 'Yeah, we don't have much chicken today.. so here's a refund.'

I am now 100% convinced he's trying to turn me into a vegetarian.

Don't get me wrong i could easily be that & i am definitely overdue for a date at Vegie Bar, but i just like being a carnivore too much to give it up totally.

Rant over :)

I think I'll go back there tomorrow..

xox
ps- When you read the title of this post, were you expecting some "Ooh la la'esque" story? Shame on you! You should know by now that i don't splash my love life across my blog!
Or do i & it's all written in code...

*UPDATE!
I DID go back the following day.. and 'My Mate' redeemed himself & was nice to me.
He complimented me on my 'Cool triangle necklace.'
What a champ! ...if only he knew there was a ranting blog post about him.