'Looking Forward Looking Back'... Di Style.

 

 

Nooooooo, not Slim Dusty,. This is Slim Di's version minus the music. I Goggled the lyrics this morning...just to get the thinking juices flowing...

I know, I know... not exactly a dashing figure is she? 

Not quite full of sunshine Miss Di!  

I think it was one of my non compliant days...how is that for creative phrasing?

Now where was I? Oh yes lyrics....

  Looking forward, looking back
I’ve come a long way down the track
Got a long way left to go
Making songs, from what I know

Making sense of what I’ve seen
All the love we’ve had between
You and I, along the track
Looking forward, looking back

There are strange days
Full of change on the way
But we’ll be fine, unlike some
I’ll be leaning forward, to see what’s coming.

Now what got me going on this subject you may well be asking! 

 I was sitting at a cafe along the Esplanade at Cotton Tree yesterday morning having breakfast with a friend and I started reminiscing  ( a fancy way of saying looking back) about how Cotton Tree was 60 years ago. How the Sunshine Coast has altered in my 60 years...what wonderful memories for me, it may take you for a trip down memory lane also.  

Our world is changing so rapidly...I think the only constant we face is change!

For those readers who are not familiar with this area, Cotton Tree is a beautiful spot on the Sunshine Coast about 100 kms north of Brisbane. This is the area where I grew up, my grandmother used to live in Cornmeal Parade  about where the Court House now is.

Grandmother lived in this cottage, simple, clean and tidy. There were many just like it. 

We would walk along the Esplanade, the beach and waterfront alive with soldier crabs. I remember them tickling my toes as they scuttled away in haste and buried into the sand at great speed. My thrill was to collect them in my plastic bucket then release them back into shallow water. Such simple childhood pleasures.   

The main corner at Cotton Tree where the Coffee Club now is was an old double story Queenslander that had a skating rink and the movie theatre was  close by also.  A photo says a thousand words...here it says it all...then and now!

 

 

There were no formal parks or concrete walkways, no fancy restaurants, the swimming hole had this great wooden structure that did not seem all that safe even in those days, the photo shows children climbing up, slipping down jumping in...you can't hear them but they were squealing with pleasure. I know I was there! And...I don't remember anyone being hurt!

Before you got to the water, you got changed in the 'bathing shed', a ramshackle timber structure on the beach with a ramp up to it a wooden slat floor, obviously to let the sand fall through ...into your bathers, get your nose plastered with zinc cream, a hat rammed...yes rammed on, ears tucked in and off you went. Ohh no hang on... that was for playing in the sand...of course hat off in the water....or worse the dreaded bathing cap that squeezed your ears and cut off the circulation...and come to think about it they were not that attractive either.

 

 

 

 

The two photos tell their story, the first taken in the early 50's and the second the early 60's. How different today with the concrete paths, special playgrounds and equipment, gas BBQ's, shade sails for protection, a huge swimming complex. Grandmother would turn in her grave...

Would she? or would she have taken it in her stride...she faced incredible  challenges in her time...what would she think if she were to come  back today?...

I would probably be scolded for...... noooooooooooooooo not for not smiling...but for not wearing 'proper underwear'... i.e. corsets and not displaying perfect posture...and a bikini...from one who wore 'bombay bloomers'...she would be shocked and speechless.

Now having your photo taken was not an everyday occurrence. This day, I was obviously having a bad day, most likely got a spanking because I would not smile.  Mum seemed to think a whack on the bottom would magically produce a beaming smile

As I mentioned...I like to consider that I was having a non-compliant day. Have you ever had one of those? 

I had a wonderful breakfast, great company in a beautiful area...what more could I ask? It is exciting to consider what may happen next...yes. at Cotton Tree and in life.

Maybe my musings have taken you back in time, opening you to think about the changes that have taken place in your lifetime.

Are you 'leaning forward, to see what’s coming', as Slim says?

Sometimes that can be scary, sometimes we worry about it, sometimes life's experiences  give us a shake.

How can you 'make sense of what you've seen' and now  'lean forward' in your life...and not only see but embrace what's coming? 

I hope you enjoy learning more about what influences me, my life  and my coaching. Please leave a comment, I love to know you have been here and I am sure you have something to teach me also as we travel this incredible journey called 'life'. 

If you are struggling, feel frustrated or overwhelmed at the moment...maybe a Confidence session could be of benefit. If so check in at
http://www.diriddell.com/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 I would love you to share your experiences.