Turn 40 and help build a house in Mexico?

So, when I turned 30, I was working in Counselling at UNSW. I had a big party at Maroubra Beach to celebrate and lots of my friends came. They gave me presents. It was a wonderful day.

This year I turn 40. My birthday is on the Saturday of the long weekend. It's a perfect time to have a party.

But the thing is, since I turned 30, I've:

  1. Completed my Masters degree, graduating the top of the class and receiving an award
  2. Completed my Cert IV in Training and Assessment
  3. Coordinated the mentoring programs at UNSW for a year
  4. Completed two PTC subjects
  5. Got the most amazing job that I love
  6. Kept the most amazing job that I love
  7. Lived through the worst period in my adult life, and come out of it stronger than ever
  8. Received a UTS Citation, UTS Award, and National Australian Learning and Teaching Council citation for my program
  9. Taught intellectually disabled students swimming for 5 years
  10. Learnt to SCUBA dive and completed 100 dives, including about 8 night dives
  11. Got my first adult passport, and travelled to Tasmania, NZ, Vanuatu, Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and round the world with Dad via Singapore, Frankfurt, London, New York, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Chicago, St Louis, Reno, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco. 
  12. Jumped off 135m and swung, twice
  13. Went black water caving in New Zealand, through pitch black caves, jumping backwards off small cliffs
  14. Lost weight
  15. Got fitter
  16. Completed over 10 ocean swims, including 3 times around Cockatoo Island, 4 Malabar Ocean swims and 4 Opera House swims
  17. Moved out on my own
  18. Changed from one great church to another
  19. Started saving for my own place
  20. Made lots of amazing connections through my workplace - to the point where I can't walk anywhere without running into people or waving. My friend Mark called me the Facebook of our university
  21. Survived 4 different bosses in 5.5 years
  22. Moved offices 4 times in 5.5 years
  23. Completed CELTA, which someone in my 20's told me that I would not cope with doing.
  24. Successfully grown my program from 30 leaders to over 100, and from 6 subjects to 50. 
  25. Spent many hours in therapy working on my demons
  26. Sponsored my own Compassion little girl from Rwanda
  27. Raised almost $1600 for the Black Dog Institute
  28. Met Miranda in the most crazy way
  29. Completed 3 CCEF subjects
I don't need a party. I don't need a celebration. I don't need presents. The last 10 years have been the best years of my life.

So, I'm going to go to Mexico for my 40th birthday. I'm going to help build a house. I'm going to spend my 40th birthday being charitable and giving back.

It's going to cost a lot of money. It's going to be hard. But hey, I have so much.


Comments

  1. Fran22 February, 2014 20:57

    George - this is a wonderful list and surprising conclusion. If you are looking for sponsorship at some point, please let us know. Let's see if I can find my Mexican Spanish dictionary to send you too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Georgina22 February, 2014 21:14

    Thanks heaps! Not sure about sponsorship. I have the money it's just it's for a mortgage and I haven't told my parents yet! They'll be so angry because they want me to get into the housing market. But I want to do this. And I'm 40 soon! I should be able to live my life. Property isn't everything.

    ReplyDelete

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