Hello Friends, it’s almost time for the Rafiki Thabo FAMILY FUN DAY! Not long left, I hope you’ve bought your tickets and are getting excited to go, because I just can’t wait! I don’t know about you, but I love any reason to get out there and have a good time with amazing people, be a part of some incredible moments and of course, make beautiful memories. Especially when it’s all for such an amazing cause! Maybe I’ll see you there!
Anyway, we are at the end of June, and the longest day of the year has passed, which is just unbelievable. It genuinely feels like I have only just packed away my warm coat and scarf!
It’s crazy how time flies… But do you recall in last month’s blog, I mentioned a course that I completed? Well, I am pleased to announce that I have officially passed – YAY!!! I bring this up, because although I was super happy when I opened the email containing my result, I was actually struck with an even more powerful and unexpected realisation.
You see, having read that I’d passed, I just sighed and said, “thank goodness for that, no retakes!” Then, well… That was that. The flutter of happiness was a fleeting moment that left as quickly as it came, then it was onto the next emotion.
So, I turned to my husband and told him the good news, and he congratulated me and said it was amazing, but admitted that he had already thought I’d passed! After that, I realised something that I wanted to focus on in this blog… It wasn’t the pass that was the highlight of the course, it was the journey that will stick with me. It was the process of doing so and becoming who I am now with what I have learnt.
So today I wanted to delve into what has become one of my favourite sayings, but it’s one I also really hate – ‘TRUST THE PROCESS’
It truly was a ‘trusting the process’ sort of experience, in fact the entire last twelve months has required a lot of trust. I had no idea how it was going to end, not just the course, but everything else I did has truly tested my resolve… in a good way! But I do wish I could go back in time and tell myself to enjoy the process, stop flapping, stop crying, stop complaining and just trust the process is going to work and work itself out, so just enjoy it. Even while writing this blog, I am trying to harness the power of this mantra, and it is quite liberating when you do it right!
But what does ‘trust the process’ actually mean? Well to me, it means having faith that if you take the journey step by step, even if it is hard and the destination is unclear, you will get there in the end… Everything will be fine, even if we can’t see the result.
It isn’t always easy though. In fact, the hardest part about it for me, by a long way, is having patience. Trusting the process can often remove some control from you, including the speed at which things happen. Which for me, can feel a lot like time is slowing down or coming to a standstill… Ahh, patience… It’s my nemesis! Like many of us these days, I find myself needing instant gratification to avoid getting impatient! Trusting the process relies on having patience, or in other words, the ability to keep doing something despite difficulties or a clear finish line… It also helps if you can do without complaining, unlike me… and trust that, so long as you keep walking up the hill and don’t stop, you WILL definitely reach the top sooner or later. You could even put this to the test if you take on the Rafiki Thabo Snowdon for Sunrise hike later this year!
Which brings me to the Rafiki Thabo students. You see, I think many of you can relate to this. Education, although it is lovely to get that pass, the result in the end never really gets the limelight when you recap the experience. For example, when you apply for a job, it’s the person you have become that makes the difference. How you interact with people, how you overcame the challenges, how you learn, how you organise yourself and how you apply that knowledge to every aspect of life. Who you become is so often carved through your school years and that is fundamentally why it is a life changing experience and why it’s a very difficult process. So many students have to trust that the process of learning is not to torture them but to sculpt them into the adults they will become. Because with the right education, the right environment, the people that come out on the other end, could change the world. That is a journey every single child deserves to have.
When this charity was started, they themselves had no view of the journey they were embarking on, or the people they would meet, or crucially, of the hundreds and thousands of experiences they would give to young people and everyone who resonates with them, like me.
So, as I have said a million times during this blog, TRUST THE PROCESS, be patient and enjoy the journey, I hope to see you at the Family Fun Day, a process that I am sure was tough for the organisers, but the journey was likely fantastic and the day will be even more incredible because although that goal is so important, just like with my course, you will realise that hitting your target was great, but actually there is so much more. You will see that every single person that donated or learned about your goal, now knows about it, and can do their own bit too. So actually, the journey to your goal was the important bit, and that is what will stick.
See you very soon I hope, let’s continue to trust and be patient and raise more awareness for change and sun…please let there be sun.
