Another Chapter

I believe that the discovery of who you are is a journey not a destination. 

It's a puzzle and with each new chapter in life, each challenge each success, each relationship creates a new piece to the puzzle. The thing about puzzles is that as much as pieces can be put in, they can also be taken out, perhaps moved around and replaced, and you can probably expect that at the end you won't have all the pieces you started with, but unlike jigsaw puzzles the end consequence of the lost pieces might not be so catastrophic.

But, we must take care about who and what we let define us, because if we're defined wrongly it would be like having the piece of the jigsaw facing down blocking the true picture from view.

Today I'm leaving London, I'm turning the page, closing this new chapter of my life. It's been a year of discovery, a time to grow, to strengthen and to learn.

And now it's time to move on, to move forward, this isn't the end, but neither is it the beginning, it's quite simply another New Chapter.

Londoners

One of the things I discovered within my very first weeks of being in London (which now feels like such a long time ago) is that Londoners are thoroughly misjudged.

There is this stereotypical perception up North (by that I mean anywhere above Watford of course) that the further south you go the more reserved, cold and unhelpful the people are. However, in my year here I have found very little evidence to support that claim. True, when you go into a shop you don't get the shop assistants entire life story as you might expect to in somewhere in Yorkshire, but that doesn't say that people in the Capital are so inward thinking that they don't talk to each other. 

I can't deny that life certainly moves at a speedier pace in the Big City and there are definitely certain social protocols applied when on public transport, however, I have found many Londoners who are incredibly caring, helpful, approachable and nonjudgmental! The way someone would offer a tissue to a crying person on the bus, or call after them if they've dropped something, or help parents with a carrying a pushchair, or simply remembering you. These may seem like common courtesy to some of you but you 'd be a amazed at how little you spot them nowadays, the attitude in our culture too often seems to be, if it's not essential, I won't do it, but when that personal connection is made, that support is offered, the change in mood is so rewarding.

The other fantastic, thing about London is the Weird and the Wonderful, one thing that cannot escape anyone's notice if they spend time in this city is how accepting London is of who you are and whatever you want to be or do, whether this is juggling or doing yoga alone in the park, or doing the conga through the tube station, or walking round in onesies, or your determination to make it in the world, the attitude seems to be be exactly who you are, the crazier the better! 

This is just my observation from being a Londoner, and yes, I do consider myself a Londoner as I believe the term describes, not where you were born or where you have lived for a substantial amount of time, but all of us who have found a place where we can be who we truly are, a place to belong, in London.

Do You Give Up when the Doors are Closing and the Bus is Driving off?

After nearly a year of being dependent on Transport for London alongside the many million other Londoners I've have definitely noticed   the absolute  determination to catch the bus or the train, because waiting up to 10 minutes for the next one just simply isn't an option (and I say that only half sarcastically - but the fast-paced lifestyle here isn't my point).

I've observed different people at different times judging at what point they realise they are not going to get on that bus/train:

Situation 1. You see it pull up to the stop and you're still a good distance away, you could run and maybe catch it but it's probable that you would still miss it and then you would have looked like a fool in front of everyone, so you give up and accept that you're not going to make it...the problem with that is that it might then spend a long time at the stop, causing you to regret your decision because if you'd run you definitely would have made it!

Situation  2: You arrive at the stop just as the doors are closing and it's about to drive off...

    a) do you accept that you've missed it?

OR

    b) do you try to jump through the doors just in time, or chase after the bus and bang on the door pleading with the driver to let you on?

At what point do you give up? I've discovered that the key is confidence in any eventuality; confidence to believe in your decision to wait, confidence to run like a fool in front of everyone, confidence that you're not going to get crushed by the closing doors, confidence that the driver will let you on and above all confidence to hold you head up high even though despite your best efforts you failed. 

I'm confident that those of you reading this will know that I'm 'metaphorically inclined' and will therefore understand that I am not merely commenting on the manner or means that Londoners catch public transport, but rather on the way that we ALL go through life when we face the decision of whether to give up or continue the fight or the race to the very end, and whatever our decision do we have the confidence to believe fully in our conviction?