Just before Christmas, as I officially finished the shopping, I patted myself on the back and decided to finally sit down. The Irish Times magazine is required reading for me every week, and I was drawn to a picture of one of my favourite writers, Catherine Cleary, who is also the restaurant critic for the newspaper. Catherine was requesting her readers to think about a habit they would like to put into daily life, a personal goal for January, a long thought about aspiration, or something they’d been putting off. She wanted to hear from us, with an offer of mentoring us for 30 days to help us achieve our wishes.
So I sent a quick email about myself, my capabilities, my future plans – and my guilty secret, which is that at age 40 I don’t drive. I learned to drive a few years ago when we were living in rural Ireland, sat my first driving test, didn’t pass and since then I haven’t gotten back on the horse. I’ve happily avoided it since, as it wasn’t something I enjoyed, but now I know its time to start again.
This time last year I fulfilled another ambition by getting involved in politics without any background in the political field, and with positivity and resolve I have been making headway on that road. I have just been selected by Fine Gael as a Local Area Representative for our area, with an eye on the local elections in 2014. So I am a doer, as opposed to a talker. I think that if I put my mind to driving I can do it too, but up to now I haven’t wanted to.
So myself and 9 other Somedayers are currently being mentored brilliantly by Catherine, and supporting each other by email. I won’t tell you all about their stories, as they will appear soon in The Irish Times Magazine. What I can tell you is that they are a bunch of diverse, warm, innovative and determined men and women from all walks of life and all corners of Ireland.
This is just the beginning of something great….I’ll keep you posted frequently
Catherine Cleary’s book which has inspired this project is A Month of Somedays – How One Woman Made The Most Of Now. Available in bookshops or on londubh.ie
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2012/1020/1224325434610.html
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Catherine Cleary, Irish Times Magazine, New Skills
I have no doubt that whatever you set your mind to you will achieve Sam, a little help will take the sting out though. It’s a great idea, who wouldn’t want some support in the things we need to do (or not do) in the new year. Now if you could just drive that bike…….