Pushy.....

I'm not entirely comfortable with being pushy, I don't like the thought of people thinking "Oh geepers, here's that woman raising funds for Kenya again"  So it's a balancing act between enthusiastic and over bearing.  


A couple of weeks back one of my girls told me 

"Mum you're posting too much of FB about the Kenya stuff"  

 I took that as constructive criticism, and started posting less but then the HC tells me "Bollocks, I love reading that stuff" and to be honest I take his advice seriously because this guy knows his stuff.  


But right now, all I want is a definitive answer from a few people with regards to my Silent Auction.  "Yes" or "NO" is all I need to know.  Finding a venue is proving more difficult than I anticipated, and my guest speaker, I just need confirmation one way or the other if they are prepared to give their time, I appreciate peoples time is precious and these people have many commitments, so thats why I don't want to be pushy....


I'm one of those people that check their online banking everyday (I just love the ANZ iphone app), when I checked this morning, my eyes glanced down to the "Getting Jacqui to Kenya" account, I noticed another cash donation had been deposited overnight, and from a totally unexpected source, it was such a pleasant surprise to see support had come from a friend of a friend.  As I've said before thanks is all I can give, Thank you, asante.


A chat with the HC this morning, reminded me of the constant level of support I have. Support be it from my fantastic mudrunning buddies, the generosity that appears from an unexpected source to the every present voice of the HC, it just reconfirmed I'm a very fortunate person. :o)

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” 
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Today's focus is not going to be Kenya, I have another very important event looming on the not too distant horizon and I'm ashamed to say that I've done little (read no) planning towards it, so I have to pull finger and make that happen too.  


Asante
Jacq

Oh yeah, I'm just about to start reading The White Masai, by Corinne Hofmann.  

Harder Than I Thought

I decided today was the day I would start talking to local business',  I knew it wasn't going to be a 'Walk in the Park' and whilst it wasn't hard, I can see that after a while it could become soul destroying, I can kind of get a feel for what phone sales people and the religious door knockers of the world feel like.
  
First stop was going to by the vineyard wine shop on Lincoln Road, a great little shop with a wide selection of wines and a venue, my plan, ask them if they would like to donate a case or ten, and also discuss the possibility of using their venue for the auction (free of charge of course.)  Their carpark is usually pretty empty, but not today, cars everywhere and a wedding taking place in the gardens. There's no way I'm barging in and trying to get free stuff when they obviously have their hands full.   So onto my next stop.


A new tattoo place has opened on Lincoln Road.  They have transformed an existing property and made it look fabulous, I went in, it was a buzz with activity and tattoo guns.. it smelt as clean and sterile as a hospital, it looked like you could eat your food off the floor, it was a mix of high tech and art gallery, if I was after a tattoo this is where I would have been looking.  I spoke to a great guy, he gave me the owners name, he listened to my blurb, politely took my flyer and the letter I'm handing out business' and said to come back at 2:00pm when the owner had a free block of time... promising stuff I thought.  And went off with a spring in my step.


Stop number 3 the bike shop in the shopping area off Lincoln Road, nothing to exciting here, receptive, but not a definitive "yes" or "no."  
And so it went on in this vain, I went to an Automotive supplies shop, - Manager not in, the new gym, no entry without the swipe card to the gym, just a phone number on the window.  None of these things are hard to overcome, they just remind me, this is going to be hard work.  If I want items for my auction I'm going to have to work my ass off for them.  

“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier.” 
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

A Little Deflated

Just a couple of little setbacks today, nothing so big I can't cope, nothing so important that it will put me off my goal, just enough to make me feel bllllaaaaarrrgggghhhh.

I've mentioned before that self confidence isn't my strong point, and this is a major factor in my drive to achieve this twenty plus year dream, I want to prove to myself  that I can do this, that I can do something significant.  Foolishly I thought everybody would think this was the greatest idea I've ever had, WRONG, but I'm not doing this for anybody else, I'm doing this for me, and for the people I help along the way.

I want to do, what I want,
I want to live my life,
I want to live my dream....
I don't want to hurt people, I don't want to offend them, but I also don't want to be an old woman looking back on her life and resenting not following her heart.  

I think this is the reason I've tried so hard to fuel my own daughters dreams... I hope I never make them feel that something is too big to try, I hope they know that when they share a dream with me, that I will do everything in MY power to help them achieve it. 


And to top it all off, I got told that my first fundraising idea, was a "No go"I can't hold it where I planned, as the event is a Community event,... oh well onwards and upwards... it's no biggie.  

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” 
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Gripe over.... tomorrows a new one...

Asanti
Jacq
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