Through my eyes

I'm sure many of you have been wondering where we have been. It has been a long holiday but we feel that we have earned it. Anyone doing business in this day and age who is not taking regular time outs from the daily chaos is looking for trouble.

It has been a few days since we landed back in SA and the jetlag is slowing melting away. Our feet are firmly on the ground and our resolutions set for the year. Lets hope 2020 brings us closer to financial freedom and further from the political shenanigans we have witnessed in the last couple of years.

Cuba was such an important eye opener; in 51 days we have learned so much from the people of this nation. We have seen so much that we take for granted on a daily basis and we have woken up to the ideal that a simple life is a good life - living with less makes you appreciate so much more.

In the last couple of weeks we experienced generosity that was pure and genuine. We experienced the kindness and warmth of family unity. We recognised that possessions are meaningless if you don't have anyone to share them with.

Staying with Cuban families gave us a peak into their lives. Simple, uncomplicated and rich in support and sharing of their scarce resources. Even though they really had nothing, they were happy to share whatever they had and in turn we gave everything away, bringing back a few cigars and some Cuban coffee.

Its incredible how little we really need in life.

Imagine a life without shopping malls, or even supermarkets. Life, where each morning and evening you line up outside a milk and bread dispensary and for a couple of cents (or free if you don't have money) you get enough bread and milk to live.

Bananas, mangos, avocados, papaya, maringa and pumpkins grow wild on the side of the road, fruit and vegetables grow in abundance and are very cheap. Imagine living on $20 (R300) per month - average monthly salary of a Cuban government worker.

Through their adversities, Cubans have become very resourceful and it's that resourcefulness that I want to harness in my every day existence. My heart sang with joy when I saw washed plastic bags hanging on the washing line getting recycled, not because Cubans are so environmentally conscience but because the plastic bags are scarce and they don't dish them out as freely as we do here in Africa.

We have so much to be grateful for in this country, such abundance of stuff. Anyone who is complaining about South Africa needs to catch a wake up or just travel anywhere in the world, its amazing how a few weeks in a strange land makes you appreciate your homeland.

Here's to a blissful and austere 2020, may we all bask in our collective abundance.