INSPIRING MOMENTS over the last 8 years...

In early 2010 I will be recalling the most memorable moments of my life over the last the last 8 years. Its going to be hard to pin point one exact time which I remember so clearly because there are so many. I will include a variety of photos as well.
2002 – Japan Holiday then SONZ trainee voyage,
2003 – America’s Cup and Outward Bound,
2004 – SONZ Cadetship,
2005 – Pacific Link in Fiji, Aratere Dry Docking in Australia,
2006 – Working for Inter Islander Ferries,
2007 – Pacific Link in Fiji, 2MFG ticket,
2008 – Travelling on Tankers overseas,
And that’s just the titles of each write up!

STICKING TO YOUR WORD!

In the Maritime Industry we are taught to be clear communicators. We have to prove what we say is actually what we do and also the visa versa.

“Say what you do, do what you say and prove it!”
This is something that they teach us at school when we are learning about International Safety Management. The same goes in everyday life.
“Let you ‘Yes’ be yes, and your ‘No’ be no!”
Saying what you mean is just the beginning though, meaning what you say is the next step. When you say something stick to your word! No one likes someone who says that will do something for them and then never gets around to doing it, as well as that Trust in friendships can not be built up if there either person can not be relied on. The spoken word is one of the most powerful things in the world. It can make and break things in an instance. So next time when you are thinking of meeting up with someone or doing something for a friend to help them out, think about it first. Can you actually commit to saying ‘Yes, I’ll do that for them’ without getting their hopes up and then letting them down?

BARRIERS ARE LIKE GLASS DOORS

You can put them up and keep them up your while life but people will still be able to see through them to who you really are. No one is able to hide themselves and protect themselves their entire lives, it’s just not possible if you are involved with human contact every day. Barriers in life can be good thing to protect yourself from being hurt emotionally, but later on down the track you will need to reconsider if its worth keeping them up and building a relationship or friendship on the other side of the wall. It may hurt at first, letting them down, but trust me once a friendship or relationship is established with you both on the same side its such an amazing feeling! Just takes time and a whole lot of trust.

P.S. “I Love You!”

This is one of my most favourite movies of 2009. It explains a lot about my life and friendship relationships. I have written about Love before on my last blogpage but I felt the need recently to touch base again on the topic. Love is the best feeling you could ever imagine to have in the whole wide world. As well as it being the best ever it can also have the opposite effect on people. Love can hurt people as well, so much as a death, heartbreak, break up or something which effects the way our heart sees and feels love. Broken love can then lead down the track to cutting themselves off from ever stepping forward to experiencing it again.
A great favourite song of mine which I listened to for most of 2007 was by a band called ‘Super Chicks’ it some lyrics which I still so clearly remember today which is so relevant for what I am trying to write about.
“We live, we love, we forgive and never give up, because the days we are given are gifts from above, and today we remember to live and to love!”

WHEN THE TIMING’S RIGHT – WRITE!

I can’t believe its Wednesday now, sign off day and I am still writing. Normally I spend my Wednesdays packing and getting ready for hand over when we arrive back into port. Not this time though. I joined the ship last Wednesday and was writing non-stop for 5 days until I came to a stop when I got writes blank for 2 days. No matter how hard I tried to think about what to write I just couldn’t bring myself to it, it just wasn’t there. This morning I am actually supposed to be sleep because I am working the night shift but I have woken up only 3 hours after getting to bed and have a head full of words, stories and ideas which I want to write about. Lucky it’s a beautiful morning outside and I’m writing sitting with the best view in the world gazing back at me. Now getting back to writing…

WHO AM I?

We all come to that stage in our lives in one way or another. Some ask themselves this question more often than others and most are never able to fully answer this by themselves. They seek others opinions on them to help them to determine who they are in life. I believe that this is one of the most important things in life because it contributes to just about everything that we do. “Knowing who we are in ourselves!”
A lot of people think that if you talk about yourself and what you think of who you are then you’re pretty bug headed. Well it’s the opposite really in life. If you can describe yourself to someone confidently then it shows you have self-confidence in yourself and if you have this then happiness will be on your side forever. Loving yourself and being able to speak highly of who you are is the first step that you need to take before you can start to speak this of your partner or others.
For me I see and know myself as a strong, courageous, confident and beautiful young woman. If I am able to say this and acknowledge now, that what I know about myself is actually true then I am going to be a happy woman when I wake up each day, smiling and full of joy, with a lot of smiles and love to share with the people around me.

PASSING ON YOUR PASSION TO OTHERS

“There is nothing more spectacular than waking up in the morning and wanting to go to work. 13 steps away from your bed is your office and workplace surrounded by an ocean and wonderful sea life.”
Does this sound to good to be true? Most people can only dream of living a life like this, the lucky few that get to do this for a living, approximately 60% take it for granted. But not me! I consider myself blessed to be in this job. It is my dream and my passion and one which I want to share with the world.
A 60 year old guy recently came and visited me on the bridge of the ship, his eyes were the size of gold balls and mouth was open wider than the entrance to the Amazon River. He was amazed! Stunned and lost for words. 45 years spent working as a Steward on a ship and not once has he been able to visit the heart of the ship.
The words which he spoke to me are still pictured so vividly in my memory that I recall them whenever I am having a bad day at work.
“I wish I had decided to do something like this before I got too old, it was always my dream to drive ships but never got the opportunity to do so like there is available to young people today!” He now visits the bridge on a regular basis. I give him the opportunity to have a go at hand steering the ship and altering course. He just thinks it amazing. This has been my mission lately. To offer the opportunity to people to come and experience what I do for a living and actually step into my shoes for 5 minutes of a day. Now I have one visitor who comes to the bridge during each shift, whether they are a steward, cabin attendant, caterer, passenger, friend or anyone else. I give others the chance to do something that they never ever thought they would be able to do.

--- TIME ---

The one thing that we can not control, can never get back, it eventually runs out and can seem endless yet at the same time so short… Where does it come from? Where does it go? You can chase it but you will never be able to catch it.
Time determines so much in our daily lives. Sometime we wish we had more of it and that it would never end and other times we wish that it would all just stop. Oh if we could just go back in time to change something we did in hope for a better outcome, but would we be where we are in life today without our past experiences?

What drives a ship I wonder?

A ship can’t clean itself. It relies on its crew to keep it in good clean shape.
The same goes with us and I am not talk about a physical cleaning. If we don’t make an effort to continually clean ourselves from the inside out we will eventually become clogged up and weighed down from everything we have let build up.
So how can we have an inner clean up? Dieticians recommend a detox but they only focus’s on your health and body. A full clean up from the inside out involves letting go and getting rid of all your emotional baggage. This is probably the hardest part of self cleansing. Letting go of the issues you have been carrying around your entire life, breaking down barriers and allowing yourself to love again, believing in yourself that you have a life which is worth living for. I could go on and on about this but basically at the end of the day it is up to each of us as individuals to look after and take care of ourselves. What we do, we have to face up to the consequences. If you don’t look after yourself it is not anyone else’s fault but yourselves! So take time to look at your life every now and then, start to unblock all the channels which have slowly started to get clogged up, remember to have not only a physical clean each day but also an emotional clean out every so often. In order to stay in shape we have to be willing to put in the hard work!

LEARNING FROM LIFE’S EXPERIENCES

A very good friend of mine from high school recently just reminded me about how we can move forward in life after we face bad experiences. How could this be possible though? I mean if you go through a heart break or break up how do you get back up on your feet again and move on? Or if you lose your job and don’t have an income for months on end how will you survive? There are so many questions that seem answerless, but the truth is that anything is possible, it just takes time! “We were each given a life to live, and one which we are to learn from our experiences to grow into a bigger and stronger person. Sometimes we stuff up and make wrong choices and bad decisions, but hey we are human aren’t we? Bad experiences only make us learn from them and make us look forward to the bigger and better experiences which are still yet to come.” At the end of the day we all know what we want in life and where we want to go. What we have been through and what we have experienced has all contributed to the person who we have grown to be today!

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU BELIEVE!

“FAITH – Is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not yet see!”

WRITING INFLUENCES

I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and now have finally come to the conclusion that it’s all about your frame of mind when it comes to writing.
When I am off the ship my days are so full on and packed full of tasks and errands as well as being surrounded by friends every day that I just don’t get the time to sit down and write. Therefore my time to myself on the ship is a perfect time for me to sit back and put pen to paper. On the ship I have the freedom to express myself and my opinions freely. It’s such a nice feeling, and this is when my true self is expressed.

50 THINGS I SEE IN A DAYS WORK ON THE SHIP

Alarm clock, Marmite on toast, Sunrise, Logbook, Handheld Radios, Trim Latte, Bridge/Wheelhouse, Captain in uniform, Camera, Calm Glassy seas, Pilot Boats, Diary, Stability Program, Cargo loading lists, Banana’s, Whales, Tory Channel Entrance, Dolphins, Trucks, AMOS (maintenance system) Fire extinguishers, Passengers, COLREG’s Blogpage write ups, Trestles, Sailing yachts, Ships wheel, Joy and Laughter, Navigation marks and lights, Shooting stars, Fire Hoses, Spag. Bol, Lifeboats, Fire and Boat drills, Sunset, Hot water bottle, The ceiling (deck head) My blanket, Cell phone, Railway wagons, Pen and paper, Scarf and Beanie, Smiles, Starlit nights, Marine farms, Bow doors, Mooring Ropes, Cruise Ships, Cup of tea and honey and last of all my mirror!

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

“Body image is what our eyes see when we look in the mirror and self-esteem is how we feel about what we see when we look in the mirror!”
Most people think of body image as the picture of the body in the mind’s eye. This is only one of four factors that determine our final body image. Body image is the sum total of the visual, emotional, physical and historical aspects of a person and is influenced by their own beliefs and attitudes as well as ideals in society. Body image not only affects our behaviour, it also influences our self-esteem and personal identity.
“Look in the mirror and smile at yourself, allow others to compliment and encourage you, believe you are valuable no matter what and always be glad that you are YOU!”
The honest thing is that a mirror will never lie to you. A mirror reflects back to you the exact same image which looks into it. Whether you like it or not that’s the honest truth. Nothing can truly show you who you are apart from a mirror. Spend time looking at yourself, identify the features which make you the unique person who you are and the parts of your body which you like. You will then start to notice a change in how you view yourself – happier, more confident, content and full of life again!

LIVING THE LIFE OF “MEGS” FOR A FORTNIGHT

The life of Megs is divided up into two parts. Part One is My Home and Love Life, followed by Part Two which is My Ship and Work Life. In order to be able to maintain both of these completely different life styles I have to be able to handle the transition period which takes place on Wednesdays. The hardest day of my week! (Sounds strange? I’ll explain)

THE CONFIDENT PRINCESS WITHIN

Confidence is attractive, beautiful and essential to maintaining a healthy self-esteem. We were all born with confidence, but sometimes life’s happenings can knock it out of us. 10 things that confidence is are: being sure of who you are, boldness, assurance, intimacy, openness, security, positive and accurate self-talk, friendliness, graciousness and purposefulness. Confidence enables YOU to decide for yourself! Woman are found to be a lot more sensitive to men. They take a lot to heart, are compassionate towards others and care a lot about their appearance. Woman can easily lose their confidence in themselves when someone criticizes the way they look or the way they do things. Self-esteem is fuelled by your own confidence and perception of yourself. Deep down all women are Princesses – we are all attractive and beautiful in our own unique way.

WORKING THE NIGHT SHIFT DURING DAYLIGHT SAVINGS

Now some would believe that working the night shift means that your work the period of darkness, right? Wrong! Not in New Zealand. Daylight savings means that we have more daylight time than darkness. So what does that mean for the night shift then? We start work at the normal time, 6pm, but this time we work while watching the sun go down. The night shift is full of sailings across the Cook Strait under the moon lit sky surrounded by thousands and thousands of stars! At the end of the shift we go to bed after watching the sun come up. Doesn’t that sound a little unusual to you? Yeah of course it does, but that’s part of my job and I love it!!! It reminds me of when I was working on the deep sea ships on the 4-8 watch. It’s the best possible shift work you could ever come across in your entire life. You work from 4am-8am and then again from 4pm-8pm. It was perfect. You get the twilight stars in the morning before the sunrise and in the evening you get the sunset followed by the evening twilight stars! It’s just truly magical!

Personal Satisfaction

One thing that I have realised since being at sea is that "Receiving recognition for doing well in your job is not as important as personal satisfaction and achievement."
It’s hard enough for a guy to ask a woman to do a job on a ship let alone thanking them and telling them they did well.
In my case when I prevent cargo spillage on a tanker or load a Rail Ferry to maximum capacity in record time, you would expect even just a little bit of thanks or praise for my work.
Some people need to be given thanks and praise in order to keep strong and feel good about themselves in what they do. The career path that I have chosen doesn’t offer praise to employees. For a woman that is hard since all woman like to be told when they do something well. So I have learnt to strive on personal satisfaction in my work. Doing what I do well, giving it 110% and looking back and thinking that I couldn’t have done what I did any better. That’s the sense of achievement that gives me courage to stick with what I do.

"Believe in yourself and you can achieve anything!"