Sometimes when I sit down to write this, I have too much to say, and I can hardly wait to pen all my thoughts. For the first time since starting my Cape Crawl, I found myself with nothing to say. I had a lot to complain about, but none of you are truly interested in my grumblings- admit it!

If I were to write to you about all my complaints, it would probably be to tell you how things are just not going as planned. You know, all those plans you make in your head at 02H00, when the cat wakes you up and he simply will not let you go back to sleep, because he needs rubs NOW. And then, a breakthrough came. A very good friend of mine sent me some photos of her weekend adventures, and I noticed on WhatsApp that she had a new profile status. This is what her status said:

Magic is when life didn’t go as planned but worked out better than you dreamt.

In this AHA moment, the penny dropped rather loudly. And indeed. There is magic all around me, but I was so fixated on my plans, that I failed to see the plan God has for me. Then the most amazing sequence of events just happened, and all our plans are falling into place, perfectly. Better than I could ever have planned. Not only are the plans coming together, but all the right people to make the plans happen, are now also crossing paths with us. It made me think: do we not simply plan so much that we remove the magic from our lives?  

And then I thought, while on the subject of magic, maybe I can wish for a few more things. Such as winning the lotto (If you want to win the lotto, you need to buy a Lotto ticket, somebody reminded me.) Or a way to shed 20kgs and 10 years? Instant fitness, a speedy metabolism and cute cheek dimples would also come in handy. Or what about my cellular service provider to finally get my name right on my billing. For 26 years I have tried (that is when I took out my contract), and for 26 years I have failed. My name is SJARlene, not STARlene. I have told them before: a STARlene is blond with big boobs, and I have neither (naturally). Now that would be magic, or am I asking too much?

I was also reminded: in a world where you can be anything, choose to be kind. In the past month, I decided to just be a little kinder to more people. Besides, I am on sabbatical, where I have nothing to do, and all day to do it in. And so, I have become kinder, and again opportunities are presenting as if by magic.

Have any of you ever seen the film: The Yes Man? I believe that companies would save themselves a lot of money if they ditched team building exercises, and rather showed this film to their employees. Even if the employees do not get the message, they will at least enjoy the movie, and not fall asleep during the keynote presentation. The story line is about a man who is challenged to say “yes” to every request that comes his way. What I took from this was: learn to say yes, and see what opportunities open to you. And so, I started saying yes to all sorts of people with all sorts of requests lately. I agree to do trips to Cape Town to help with your visa application, on condition, afterwards you show me one interesting place. Where before I was exploring the beaten track, I am now being shown the “behind the scenes” track. One of my neighbours is Cape Town born and bred and has been showing me things and places you will not find in a tour guide. All I had to do was say yes. I just had to set my plans aside and open my mind to the magic.

But anyway, back to our magic: our plans are all over the place, but the plan that God has for us, is coming together, better than expected. And we are so excited. But again, I had to stop, and listen to what the universe was saying to me, and I had to not only listen, but hear. I had to learn to be kind and say yes. Someone commented the other day: our greatest talent is to be kind. But, oh boy, that can be so difficult. Almost as difficult as saying yes.

Our Meraki Mountain is coming together, which is exciting for us, but what about poor Domino? He has only just settled in Botrivier, he has finally established a very narrow strip of territory with Tigger and Charlotte, and reached a truce with Chippie, and has been voted COC (Chief Operating Cat) of the Cat Convention, now his humans want to move him again? To a mountain, where he will have to deal with baboons? He also heard his human Mom tell his human Dad that she wants plenty more cats, once settled. And a dog! No one consulted him on this idea? Where is the democracy in this? Somebody asked his human: Are you making the area baboon proof, or baboon friendly? The answer is simple. Baboons have always been part of the Cape. You can try to be baboon proof, and fail where others fail daily, or you can hope for magic: make it baboon friendly – as in work with the enemy and see if you will have more success. If all else fails, we will try Magic Monkey Tricks. Besides, monkeys and baboons are related somehow. Domino seriously thinks that his humans should learn to say NO. No, to baboons, dogs and more cats.

Last year November we knocked the first domino (as in the game, not the cat), and the domino effect was set in motion, and things happened as if by magic. After a 4 month lull, I suspect somebody knocked a domino…..watch this space.