What stops you from living life to the full?

She was everybody’s mum at work. An elderly lady who was hanging in there at a stressful job, until she could finally retire. One day, she came in and proudly announced that she was heading to Cairns for a holiday. Since she had never left the state, this was her opportunity to see the “wet tropics.”

Since I had lived in Cairns and surrounding district for several years, I decided to give her some insider knowledge about the places she could visit. We discussed the fact that Melbournians head to Cairns, travel to Port Douglas and then fly back, without enjoying some of the hidden gems that Far North Queensland has to offer.

I remember getting caught up in her excitement and drawing maps on bits of paper of possible itineraries that she could follow. I created “day trips” and numbered them so she could have some full-on days of exploration followed by days of just relaxing by the pool in her hotel. We discussed waterfalls, lakes, streams, mountains, craters, tea and coffee plantations, the Atherton Tablelands, Kuranda, Sky Rail, Palm Cove, the Daintree and countless beaches with azure waters bordering some of the oldest rainforests in the world.

I told her about some secret fresh-water swimming holes, that only the locals know about, with no crocodiles and beautiful crystal clear waters. The delight in her eyes told me that she couldn’t wait!

The weeks passed and she was back. No tan, and a disappointed look on her face. I asked her how she went. She complained that she didn’t leave her hotel room. “Why!?” I asked. Well, it rained non-stop, and she didn’t want to catch a cold. “Was it cold?” I asked?  “No,  it was hot and humid, but I never go out in the rain, lest I catch a cold, or worse: pneumonia”

She had admitted that she saw many people out in the rain, but in her Melbourne-bred mind, rain equals pneumonia! You know, I forgot to mention the rain, but I guessed that the terms “wet tropics” and “rain forest” would have given it away! How do you think it gets so green up there?

She allowed her pre-conceived notion of rain stop her from enjoying herself. I wonder how many “myths” are swirling through our mind that stop us from enjoying life. You can’t have sunshine without the rain. You can’t have a lush life without some precipitation falling, sometimes in the most inopportune moments.