Another weekend is behind us and as I sit here reflecting back of the wonderful two days that we have spent with the family I am reminded about the lessons that I have learnt.

1. Take time to have Heart to Heart conversations. Tania and I practice this on a daily basis and we consciously make time for intimate communication with each other. As I have matured and grown within myself I have come to realize that I am having these heart to heart conversations with many more people within my close circle. The children and I share in these deep one on one conversation. This morning my son and I went and spent some time on the beach just speaking about matters of the heart. I make time for having these chats with those that are close to me and my life is much richer as a result.

2. I have had to heal my family issues. The past few years have been quite a journey for me, more specifically the last two and a half years. In this time I have dealt with much hurt, depression and blame on myself. However, I have faced these challenges head on. My relationship with my family is far stronger as a result of the effort I have put into accepting who I am and allowing others to be who they are. I have no judgment and I am learning to accept people for who they are. I am getting to the point where I don’t have to be right about things and accept that what I choose may be vastly different from what someone else may choose.

3. Forgiveness. This is a tough one and I am sure it is something that I may continue working on for my entire life. I do find it easy to forgive people that have wronged me personally. I find it harder to forgive those that have hurt people close to me. The most difficult of all though is learning to forgive myself. I find that I am hard on myself for things that I have had little or no control over and I often beat myself up for nothing. This is a work in progress and something that I found going to therapy really helped me get a solid grip on.

4. The children. A constant joy in our lives. I learn more from the kids than I do from all my books and adults combined. The joyful enthusiasm that they tackle life with inspires me. The innocence of youth gives me hope. The directness in the questions they ask makes me envious. The never ending love, cuddles, kisses and hugs keeps me fuelled. All the children show us respect, and they give Tania and I time to meet each other’s needs when they are around. They allow us to fulfill our roles as parents whilst still being our friends and little helpers.

5. I have learnt to stay optimistic about my love life. At the very beginning of my separation I was fearful that I would never meet the woman who would be able to awaken my heart. How wrong I turned out to be. By staying optimistic I set myself up to move forward and experience the most wonderful relationship with Tania.

6. This brings me to my next lesson. The importance of flirting. Just because I am no longer a teenager does not mean I have to give up flirting. In fact, I enjoy flirting and I flirt with Tania daily. I have met my soul mate, and I am re-energized. I enjoy flirting with the lady I love and I plan to continue to do so forever.

7. True Love is real. I know because I have found it.

My life is good; I am surrounded by wonderful people. I have the time and space to reflect on all the blessings that I have. Life carries on and we get to choose our experience of it. I choose to learn at every opportunity, and this in turn has made me far happier within myself.

As I get ready for bed tonight I am secure in knowing that I have my partner right next to me, a good job waiting for me tomorrow and children that are happy and fast asleep after a wonderful weekend. Life is good.