Outback Journey: Part Two

You may recall reading a previous article I wrote about my intended journey of self discovery to the Red Centre at the heart of Australia to seek my own true, authentic self; to find my heart’s passion and purpose.

Well, here I am, eight months down the track, and I have found it. You are reading it. I discovered that one of my fundamental elements to living a fulfilling life is to express myself in written form.

When I wrote my first article, I was still in the mindset of wanting to do, be and have everything, and wanting it all NOW! But once I arrived at my destination of Glen Helen Homestead Lodge, 130 kilometres west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, to work as a housekeeper, three things occurred.

Time appeared to travel faster than ever before. I began work the day after I arrived. I’ve worked six days per week for eight months. Every day off I have, I go into Alice Springs or I visit spectacular scenic places along the Western MacDonnell Ranges.

One of the main reasons I decided to live and work at Glen Helen Homestead was to regain my health. I am still yet to recover completely from sympathetic dominance. It is a slow recovery process but I have advanced in leaps and bounds. This is due to the elimination of stress. Prior to my arrival at Glen Helen, I was leading an extremely stressful life, juggling three part time jobs, trying to find a way to hold my relationship together, trying to assist charities, planning adventure travel. I was juggling too many balls.

The irony is, I was self employed part time in the health, fitness and well being industry. The more I pushed myself, the more inauthentic I felt. I was not practicing what I was advising my clients. My stress levels were increasing and I was gaining weight. My adrenals were functioning in over-drive and the symptoms were becoming obvious. I had to make drastic changes to my lifestyle.

Hence, during my first two to three months at Glen Helen, I simply rested as much as I could to allow my body to reset itself. I knew my body could heal itself, if I gave it the opportunity to do so.

I monitored my weight and blood pressure daily until it appeared that my body had reached a balance. In my first three months, my body released six kilograms without me consciously making any effort, except to relax and be as calm as possible.

Just as well, I was able to calm my body down to reach an equilibrium because in the middle of August 2017, peak tourist season suddenly arrived and the pressure was on. I had to work fast and work to a deadline. There were days during this period of time that I felt so fatigued, I became concerned about my health again. I was always grateful for a few days that weren’t quite so busy which allowed me some recovery time.

These are the main reasons why I didn’t complete my intention to write on regular basis.

However, now that I’ve embraced my passion and purpose of writing about my life experiences, I have no more excuses. I’m so excited to share with you what I’ve learnt on my journey of self-discovery, personal challenges, awareness and learnings.

It’s been an amazing journey and I’m so grateful I made the decision to come here.

Do you have a story to share? Get in touch to contribute to The West End Magazine.