Almost exactly one year ago I sold my car, got rid of my apartment and just gave away a lot of what I couldn't take with me on a plane.

This journey had actually begun around two years before, where I began questioning the meaning of it all after and during my mom's battle with cancer (which she ultimately won - its a happy story :)). At the time I was trapped by the things I thought were what life was all about - I had a mortgage, an expensive car, nice furniture, that latest phone, and was to be honest, drowning in debt. But it was all about putting on a good show, appearing successful seemed even more important than actually being successful.

I was facing an existential crisis. No longer satisfied with just existing, being a slave to the things "I owned" that were actually owning me. We can't take any of it with us when we die (though the Egyptians tried), and I had just spent a lot of time facing the very reality of my mortality. It was at that stage it became clear that things are just things, they are not important. I began a journey of self discovery. I realized that I was not myself, I was an actor - an imposter pretending to be me. I said yes when I meant no and cared more about what you thought of me than what I thought of myself. Saying it now like this sounds like it just happened, but it took a while to come these realizations, they didn't happen overnight and came with great challenges. In fact it was the dark nights of the soul where things seemed most hopeless, that inspired the greatest growth.

In A Course in Miracles I learned the beautiful saying Nothing real is threatened. Nothing unreal exists. It resonated with me deeply. One morning on my way to drop off some washing and get some things at the store, I saw this little boy begging in the parking lot, he couldn't have been more than 8 years old. He said he was hungry and asked for some money, I asked him where his parents were, he said at home. It was common for some of these parents to send their kids out to ask for money and bring it back to them for alcohol and drugs. Worried that he wouldn't actually eat anything I invited him to come shopping with me. I told him to choose whatever he wanted at the local cafe - he picked a cool drink and some chocolate. Then I took him next door to a restaurant and again asked him to choose some real food and keep the sweets for later. We sat down and he ate. His name was Semakaleng.

On my way home in the car I suddenly began sobbing. I saw what it was to give. What was nothing for me meant so much to this little boy. How much I had taken for granted. How many opportunities had I missed to be kind, to help someone in need - I was always too wrapped up in my own self pity and perceived difficulties to see just how fortunate I actually was.

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It wasn't long after that day, just a little over a year ago that I got rid of my car, apartment and my stuff and booked a flight to Sydney to go and see my sister who had just given birth to my niece Lily. I was going for a month, then onto New York.
I ended up staying there for 6 months - I had absolutely fallen in love with this little helpless thing and she was the reason I got up every morning with a bounce in my step.

That was around 6 months ago now, and since then I have been to New York, Los Angeles, Thailand, Turkey and Israel. I own nothing that I can't pack up and take with me in ten minutes, and I couldn't be happier. I am grateful more often, I complain less. When I'm feeling sorry for myself I remember that little boy Semakaleng. I also write down ten things I'm grateful for today and always feel better for doing it. Its the little kindnesses we do for each other that ultimately matter most in this life. Because in the end, I am you and you are me. How I treat you is a reflection of my inner world. Today my world is beautiful, and so are all of you.

Thank you for sharing this journey with me if you made to the end :)