THINKING IN DECADES INSTEAD OF YEARS

Time leaves its mark and so do we. 10 years on…

Last year I booked a spontaneous trip to South Africa to escape Christmas. For obvious reasons, this time of year has never felt particularly festive to me.

Looking back at the photos from that trip now, I can see how much has changed.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

About how we almost always overestimate what we can do in a single day. And how deeply we underestimate what we can do in a year.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.
𝗦𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲.
Ten years.

Pause for a moment and really imagine that.

𝗧𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘄 - 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲?

This year marks the tenth anniversary of my husband’s murder.
And I’ve just celebrated our daughter’s tenth birthday.

If you had told me back then where I would be standing now, physically, emotionally, in life, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Not because I would have thought it was impossible.
But because I couldn’t see that far ahead.

𝗦𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.
Zoom out.

You don’t build a life in a day.
You don’t even build it in a year.
You build it by showing up, again and again.
Making one choice at a time.

And then, one day, you look around.
And you realise: this is what ten years can do.