The End - 22nd Dec 2012

So very true!

WOW, what a year! Today marks the last day of my 12 month 'Perspective Project'. A year ago I set myself a challenge to get happy and start appreciating my brilliant life. I was missing London, struggling to settle back into Australia, and spending my time wishing I was somewhere else. Then I had a little chat to myself that went something like this: "Get over yourself you whinging bitch. You have a great life that other people would die for. Learn to appreciate it, and if you can't, change it. You're being painful". 
So there it was, a personal ultimatum. I gave myself one year to get happy in my Sydney life. If I was still feeling like a fish out of water after 12 months, I could go back to London. 
So the action plan went like this (I'm always better with a plan) - find one thing every day that makes me appreciate my life or that makes me laugh. Take a photo of it and blog about it. I honestly cannot believe it has been a year. So what is the outcome I hear you ask? 

It's been a year filled with belly laughs courtesy of the small things I was previously missing. I've also slowed down, made a few big changes in my life to 'get happy' and found some longed for perspective. I wouldn't say I've reached Nivarna, but I'm a whole lot closer. Most importantly, I no longer need to buy a ticket to London. 
Here is a snapshot of the highs, the lows and the big lessons:

• Funniest moment = Being sprayed with Lynx deoderant by a cab driver who, god love him, was trying to remove the smell of smoke in his car for me 
• Unexpected insight = The unconditional love that pets give you, right when you need it. There were a few occasions when I was sad, scared and just needed hug. At that very moment a fluffy puppy appeared for a cuddle. Their timing was impeccable
• Toughest moment = The moment my mum told me she had cancer. The air around me disappeared. I couldn't breath, I couldn't think, and panic raced though my entire body. There in that very second I found perspective in the hardest of ways 
• The best moment = In direct contrast to the above, it was the day Mum got the all clear. We were lucky. Our cancer limbo only lasted eight months. Other families live with it for years. Appreciating the luck you get in this life is the biggest lesson I've taken from this project. I will be eternally grateful for our luck. I've won my Lotto

The Perspective Project has achieved exactly what I hoped it would when I started this journey. I'm happier in all aspects of my life, I've found the direction I'd lost and I now know what I want the next chapter of my life to look like. Even better, I've now got a plan to make it happen. Not a bad result! 

My next project is to turn the lessons from The Perspective Project into a book. So what are my top five tips for kicking the London (or anything) hangover and making the most of the life you have?

1. Looking for the positives in your life actually does make you happier, especially on those shitty days when you need to search really hard!
2. If your job is a key source of stress or unhappiness in your life, QUIT. It's the best decision I made all year
3. Your world can change in an instant, so get over your first world problems and make a concerted effort to enjoy what you've got. My greatest fear has always been losing someone in my immediate family. That phone call from Mum was the kick up the arse I needed
4. Have genuine conversations with your genuine friends. Their support and lack of judgement will shock you. I now pick up the phone instead of feeling I need to solve everything myself  
5. Laugh, laugh hard and laugh a lot. There is no situation that doesn't improve with a little humour, even if just for a minute. 

Thanks for reading and sharing the laughs along the way.

The End (for now)