Over the holidays, Rob and I have enjoyed spending some time in beautiful Port Macquarie on the North Coast. The stunning pristine beaches and beautiful rainforests have given us an incredible track to continue our training for our upcoming trip to Milford Sound which is in just a few weeks time now. I can hardly believe how quickly our trip has come around.

We decided on the spur of the moment to take a ten day holiday before we start another very full and exciting year. I have to say anyone who thinks life gets slower and boring as you get older is being influenced by people who live very different lives to us. We are both very excited about the year ahead. We have big dreams and a lot of life to live with our family, business and friends.

As I spend time reflecting on life, I’ve come to believe that one of the primary reasons Rob and I remain fulfilling living lives is because of our outlook on life. Through a positive outlook, life has presented new doors of opportunity to walk through. I look to the future with excitement and anticipation and wonder what will come our way. Whatever the case may be, we will rise early and train and look at the day with gratitude.

During our time away and as we’ve been training, we discovered a beautiful but very challenging track that took us through the bush alongside a stunning beach. This particular walk/hike proved a perfect way to start a day. And, each day, we returned from our walk with bright red faces covered in perspiration puffing and panting and a dive into the cold crystal clear blue ocean was required and always took our breath away but relaxed us completely. Some might say we are mad doing this in our late sixties, why not slow down and take it easy. Well, Rob and I are people who like to live life to the full and maximise our time here on earth.

The other day, while training I saw something that caught my attention and, in fact, taught me something. As we walk each day, we pass by a local dog park. This particular dog park is set right near the beautiful beach we walk on, and every morning there are lots of dogs enjoying the freedom the park allows. Owners were throwing balls and sticks for their pets to retrieve. Many of the dogs can be seen chasing the balls and sticks and running into the water and enjoying themselves immensely. One little dog caught my attention, and he seems to have a friend who is the same breed with the same markings. It would appear they belong to the same owner. The owner always has a stick that he throws for both dogs to chase and retrieve. One of the dogs never gets to retrieve the stick, and as I watched, I could see why. You might think at first glance it’s because the other little guy is quicker, however, at a closer look, I noticed this little fellow and his approach to the whole exercise. While his friend was paying attention to the stick (at all times) he never taking his eye off it and is always paying attention to where the stick is. When the stick leaves his master’s hands, he is attentive. On the contrary, the other dog (who caught my attention) was doing nothing but making a fuss barking his head off at his master almost telling him how unfair life is.

This dog reminded me of some people who desperately want to achieve in life and be the one who gets the stick so to speak, but they are hindered by all the noise they are making and all the complaining they do. This little dog was wearing himself out by barking at the top of his voice at the master, telling him he wanted the stick and wanting it all on his terms. The other little guy who kept getting the stick each time always had his eye on that stick, never complained but quietly focussed on what he wanted and went about his business with no fuss at all. His little legs would go a hundred miles an hour, and he put all his energy into the task in front of him and didn’t wear himself out barking and carrying on.

These two dogs have been a good reminder of life. As I observe people, I have noticed it’s those who focus on what they want to achieve in life seem to make it happen. They just get on with it, don’t complain when things don’t go their way but just wait patiently while staying focussed on the prize, running the race with consistency, without fuss. They seem to reach their goals and reap the rewards.

This leads me to ask myself and those reading, what are we going to do this 2017? Are we going to be that little guy who barks all the time wearing himself everyone else out? Or, are we going to stay focused on our target and achieve our dreams? It doesn’t matter what the dreams are, we all have different ideas. Rob and I will be so happy when we realise our dream of accomplishing our Milford Sound Trek. What is your vision for 2017?

We all just need to be focused and quietly achieve and avoiding complaining along the way.

As always, make sure you check out Little Miracles on Instagram and make sure you follow #littlemiraclescommunity.

Much love, Susanna

Susanna