What I learned in Barbados?

If you felt like me at the end 2022 I was beside myself. The World was up and down and I felt like I was on a roller coaster. I was so run down that a couple of customer relations didn’t go as well as they should. One thing we have always done is book time away at the end of the year and usually by that point we need it. We take some time to party, relax, and reflect. I have always enjoyed this time as it brings us back to basics and why we are on this crazy journey.

We built our business to be flexible and started going away for a week at a time and have now built it up to months at a time. It’s been hard work but enjoyable. I take the reflection time seriously and over the years use it for goal planning and reorganizing.

Sometimes it’s the little lessons that I learn. You can learn a lot from the Rastafari culture and many of the locals are in that segment. On the island Bob Marley is a “God” and his freelance style of love and harmony are evident everywhere. So while watching locals may look like they don’t do much or are all about hanging out at the beach there is much more to it. Part of that being a love of life and nature.

This week we had a week of no waves at our favourite beach, it was like the ocean was a giant pool. Normally this is my body surfing beach where myself and a couple of locals battle for waves. As I mentioned to one of my wave buddies,”Not a wave in sight today!” He answered with, “Life is like that, sometimes it is in abundance and sometimes it’s gone!” Add your own Bajan accent on that last part to make it more authentic.

Recently I was watching the sunset, one of my favourite things to do. The waves were coming with the sun setting on each curl. A few locals were hanging out on the beach listening to music and fooling around in the nearby waves. One of the locals stood up, faced the beautiful sunset and said with his hands together, “Thank you God!”. He then went back to laying on the beach with his friends.

This made me realize the small things are what make this World great. A beautiful sunset, some nice music, or just time with your friends. For me it is the time to think, to reset, and get ready for another year. Good or bad I made some important decisions for the upcoming year in that sunset and will let you know how they work out. I hope you take some time to reset and enjoy the beautiful things in your life. All the best for 2023.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge has been drawing caricatures for over a decade professionally and specializes in gift caricatures and caricature event entertainment. Bruce Outridge Productions offers both traditional and digital caricature entertainment. You can learn more or book Bruce for your next event at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com