F.I.F.O BUT B.U

Joe. Blogs #105 – Sunday 24 November 2024

F.I.F.O

Howzit guys!

It feels like I just sent the last blog! ??

This week was just as busy for me as I spent a lot of time in the shop. I am slowly starting to get a better feel for the business now and have lots of ideas that I want to try. We have some new promotions happening this week. We are introducing our new 0% alcohol bar for the summer allowing people to drink guilt free and feel healthy at the same time! We have a gin & tonic, mojito, Spritzer and Shandy alternatives mixed with sugar-free mixers, ice-teas, and juices. Non-alcoholic drinks are becoming very trendy with the younger generation and its amazing how these drinks taste so much like the real thing, without the buzz!

We think this new health bar will be the perfect addition to our health café! Guilt free eating and drinking!

I asked myself this question this week; how much have I changed since relocating to the Cape?

Maybe I should ask the people around me as I am sure they would notice a difference! I was a complete stress ball in JHB! Wound up so tight, I was ready to explode at any moment! Life was exhausting for me every single day! It was about surviving, not living. Just getting through the week was challenge and then on the weekends there was nothing left of me! The weekends were not long enough to rest properly, and I would hit the next week tired already and it just got worse and worse. The month-long break at the end of the year (builder’s break) was a God send and helped a little bit to recover but why spend your holiday recovering instead of enjoying?? It always felt reactive rather than productive…

I would be anxious all the time, stressing about everything I had to do and trying to please everyone around me! I hated this part. I am a soft-spoken person, passionate and creative but found it extremely hard to fit in and be understood. I was not hard enough or ruthless enough and refused to change who I was to be able to do business! My dad used to struggle as well and told me that he had to change who he was when he did business. Unfortunately, his business did change him and, in my opinion, took him away from us. The stress sucked him in. The huge expectations from the various clients killed him slowly. He was passionate about his work, and he was good at it. But he did not delegate properly and there was nobody else who could do what he did! The business world doesn’t care about what’s left in the end and we all think that its normal. We all live in survival mode, thinking we need to prove how strong we are!

In the end I am glad I did not fit in.

Relocating has been a different stress in itself but if I look at how I am now, I would not change it for anything!

I am far more relaxed; my mind is still busy BUT its at peace. Getting out of my comfort zone has been a huge challenge but I feel like I am living the life I deserve. I like the person I am and realise this is who I always was. The stress took this away from me and I lost sight of who I really was. Maybe not willingly but in survival mode, the softer more caring person in me disappeared.

Now, I have the fortunate opportunity to get this person back. I am a softy; I care deeply and love deeply! I feel everything around me deeply, but I am the best person to have on your side! I always want the best for everyone and live passionately through my artistic talents.

So, if you do not recognise me anymore then you were part of my old life. I do not have many friends yet here in the Cape but the ones that know me are seeing the real me and they do not know anything different! I feel free.

I feel like I do not owe anyone an explanation or a reason for being the way I am.

I am living honestly and truthfully, showing everyone my true self. The people I am attracting into my life are the real ones and they do not expect anything from me.

I am grateful for my wife and two kids and being able to spend so much more time with them. They are my world, and I count every day spent with them an absolute blessing!

Enjoy who you are and do not change for anyone or anything…I will see you on the other side!

Later,????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Joe.blogs