GOLDFISH MEMORIES

They say a goldfish only has the memory capacity of 5 seconds...I honestly hope no one get's caught in the crossfire of me and my forgetfulness, because it's a real thing. I forget things so easily and I am not even sure why. Someone will remind me of something I did or something I said and I will straight up have no recollection of it. I have had to re-download Facebook just so that I can be reminded of when it is people's birthdays. I've done memory games to help stimulate my brain, those haven't worked. I wonder why I can't remember things. So here's an apology to all the people whose names I've forgotten, for all the birthdays I've missed, for all the memories I've lost... please don't take it personally. It's not you, it's me. I'll remember things randomly and out of context, but naturally only the embarrassing things I did, and only at 2am. It is unfortunately something that I cannot change, but the memories and experiences I can remember are enough for me.

I want to prove to you that it's not always about what you know, but about who you know. One-in-a-million opportunities happen when you don't expect them to. When I was in matric I was so lucky to have traveled to Mauritius with my entire family on my dad's side. I am talking Grumps, aunties, uncles, cousins, mother, father and sister... EVERYONE. I think there were 28 of us in total, it was insane. But wherever I go I have learnt to make friends, in fact I have mastered this being somewhat of the black sheep within the circle of my sister and cousin, which is not an issue at all. I always find good company.

On this particular holiday I invited myself to sit at a table of random guys that looked my age, while talking with them I saw a few other kids around my age and invited them to sit with us. Within an hour there were over 20 of us getting to know each other. It was amazing. The first evening started off with us all going clubbing on the beach. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to have met so many people on the first night. Our ages ranged from 15 to 23, I was of course 17 turning 18. I planned with the whole group to meet at a specific point the next morning after we had had breakfast with our families. We did this daily. Every day we would have breakfast with our families then we would meet up and do different activities such as; going on a glass-bottom boat, skiing and wake boarding, snorkeling, yoga and so many other activities. Then we would all have lunch together and then more activities. At night we would have dinner with our families again and then meet back up, we organized speakers on the beach to play music, one guy had a guitar and we sang while he played, and then one evening we even had a soap bubble jam session. It was mind-blowing.

Getting to know these people from all over changed my perspective on networking completely and really... I have been telling this story for years. I remember the one day I wanted to just relax in my room, alone with the air-con, just having some me time. It wasn't long before I heard knocks on my door and in walk the bunch of them. There were 20 of us in my bedroom. They didn't know what to do without me planning activities for us to do... I was thereby named the mother of the group. I was younger than some of these people, but okay? I don't know, I had never felt leadership until this trip. I could walk in a snake pattern to get ice cream and they would do the same. It was amazing haha. After a week of knowing each other, saying goodbye was the hardest thing to do, because well we never thought we would see each other again. Little did I know what was coming...

About 3 weeks after getting back from Mauritius I got an invitation on Facebook to one of the girl's 18th birthday parties. It was great and all, but it was all the way in Austria, and well transport was a bit of an issue. So I kindly declined because as a 17-year-old I did not have that kind of money lying around...(what am I saying, I still don't). She responds telling me that her family will be paying for everything. WHAT? Apparently her great grandfather was the founder of Porsche. She invited me and a plus one for an entire week in Austria, food, flights and accommodation sorted. Not only me, but she also invited a few others that were on the trip with us... It was a reunion of note. Like yeah, why don't we all just meet up in Austria. I, naturally, took my partner at the time. Our trip had a rough start. I got stuck in Dubai airport with the guy I was with and arrived 13 hours later than we were supposed to. Nonetheless, we still had the most amazing time ever. We went in summer so it was extremely hot, but still so magical.

How something so small and seemingly insignificant could turn into one of the greatest adventures I've had so far, never ceases to blow my mind. So here is some food for thought, never pass up an opportunity to meet new people, always be friendly, genuine and kind, and always be positive, because you never know who you're going to meet.