Balaton – Spirit of Spitfire

Hello Guys,

I hope you enjoy the Summer just as much as I do. I didn’t plan to write to you today, however, I had a huge realisation about life and myself this morning because of the Blue Ribbon Regatta.

The Blue Ribbon Round the Lake Balaton is an international sports event, the most prestigious and oldest in Europe. It is a round-the-lake competition. Start and end in Balatonfüred. 50 boat classes, 155+km, 48 hours and around 500 boats. One of the most amazing views is when the lake is full of sailboats. This year’s Blue Ribbon started yesterday and since I can remember, I always wanted to see with my own eyes this event. Well, yesterday I had a chance.

I was super excited and didn’t want to miss a chance to see the boats sailing near my town’s beach. Thanks to the organisers and the technology everyone could track the boats’ ways (here you can see the last ones), I constantly looked at my phone. But Life happened. The start was amazing and they were quick, but the wind stopped and only a few lucky ones made it true to the strait, the rest were stuck. So when I went to see them, I could only see a few and the sunset was what I imagined in my head (full of sails) lost in the wind. However, the view was amazing with or without 500 boats.

Today I woke up, checked the tracker and saw the news. The winner is last year’s champion, who was only the 10th during almost the entire race and on the Keszthely’s turning point this boat had a 1 hour and 48 minutes backlog from the first 3 boats, but the MLS Raiffeisen Fifty-Fifty (congratulations to the team) won again with only one minute after a 12 hours and 24 minutes race. And that made me think and realise two things.

Life is like a boat trip or even a regatta. You only need one good wind and you can do the impossible. With a bit of luck, the 2 hours backlog became nothing. What is this if not the best example of Life/God?! We start good, happy, everything is fine… then Life happens and all of a sudden, the wind stops and we are stuck and our hands are tight. We accept the facts and move forward. One step at a time or one meter at a time. Using the tiniest wind we have and hoping, praying for more. We just keep going and keeping our faith. And when we accept our situation, and the circumstances, letting go of all the expectations… the wind finally comes. If we have enough experience, knowledge, and compassion, paired with a bit of luck we can win. We get the job, the house, the money, the relationship, everything we prayed and hoped for. But we need to believe and keep our faith. You never know which day will be the day that change your life entirely.

The other thing I have realised is more personal. Since I can remember I have been obsessed with sailboats. I have no idea why, but these things amazed me. Well, of course, they are slim, elegant, proud and free. Once you go to the open water nothing is around you, so calm too. I know they are symbols of freedom and many others before me used this metaphor, but I have never really realised what this truly means to me. I heard it but never touched by it. The sailors’ knowledge without the wind is nothing and also vice-versa. You need the help of Life/God. Also in your life. If the water is smooth and calm the boat is “happy”, just like us when things are in order. But when the storm comes, there are waves and the boat needs its captain’s knowledge and power to stay stable, we need our knowledge and strengths to keep up when Life/God through the storm. We have to keep our focus when life is “hard” and wants to teach us something important. Sailboats represent everything I wish to have in my life: elegance, smoothness, focus, pride, freedom, etc.

I have never had the privilege to be a passenger nor to step foot on a deck, but I still love and adore these things. In my eyes, they are the Queens of Balaton, they are the symbols of Life and freedom for me.If you wish to see pictures of the regatta and the breathtaking sunset with them click here on The Blue Ribbon’s Facebook page.

Have fun guys, Spitfire up and don’t forget: Don’t have to be always strong to be a Hero.😘 Here are some pictures I managed to take.😅

XOXO,

Krisz😘

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Appreciate small things

Hello, hello

I hope you enjoying the Fall. Here in Hungary, we are so lucky as the weather is still sunny and above 20 degrees, so it feels more like late Summer than Fall, but the leaves are starting to fall down and change their colours.

And that’s how I ended up with this subject. This Summer in London wasn’t the nicest. It was chilled, windy and not as hot as expected (at least not much above 20 degrees and definitely not enough sunshine for me). So when I relocated to Hungary, I expected, I would feel hot again next Summer, but I was wrong. Since I came home (end of August) the weather has been incredible just like my mood. My friends and family often joke that I am working with solar energy, because if the Sun is up and the temperature is around 20 Celsius, I can conquer the World two times a day, but if not… Well, I am grumpy and feel low energy. I just wish to stay at home and relax the whole day.

I started to feel happier and grateful for small things. I didn’t realise in the past years how much weather affects ME. Of course, I knew, because there are millions of studies about the amount of daily light and all the connections between this and our energy level and how it affects our performance. However, I just noticed that I am calmer and things that bothered me, now really don’t matter any more. Because I feel better I started to notice small things. Like how grateful I am because of the weather or how lucky I am that I can bake again. ( That’s one of my relaxing states, but this is a story for another day.) I can walk in nature, see the Balaton, eat delicious food, my bicycle, the shops and the kind strangers. But mostly for the fact that I am with people I love.

I am happy that I can see my family and friends whenever I wish to see them and I do not have to count days and calculate my holidays. I finally live my life… I finally have a life again. I do things I love and be with the people I love the most. That’s my definition of HAPPINESS. I am sure this word means other things to each one of us. What I realised during these past months is that I can have the best job ever, I can live in the most bubbling place in the world, I can have all the money (this is still one of the most important and who says money does not make you happy, trust me, that person has never been poor), without sharing with my loved once means nothing.

So basically what I wish to say today is that I need to be surrounded by people I love and when I have this, I can see the small things and be grateful. Honestly feel the appreciation and not just saying or writing. If you ever heard “fake it until you make it”, you know what I mean. Most of the big motivational speakers, positive gurus or anyone who tried to be a bit positive heard that. Just start to count and write your blessings and you will feel it soon. I did it for years. Every day I wrote in my diary or notebook the things, people, places, and everything that I can be grateful for in the past 24 hours. Monthly I wrote a list about everything, from the water to the air why I was grateful, but most of the time I felt nothing. Or if I felt anything, it was when something really good happened. For sure after a bit of time, I started to notice the small things, like a nice cashier and made me feel a bit better, but somehow most of my days I felt empty. On my bad days, I felt anxious and depressed, even if the cashier was the nicest person ever or if I had my favourite cake from my favourite place. Don’t get me wrong, because I know that bad days are important and it is perfectly normal if I am not happy all the time, but something was missing. I wasn’t surrounded by people I truly loved and I tried to force the gratitude. I forced myself to feel something with all those lists. I don’t say stop doing it, because they are useful, but if you don’t feel something, please leave it for the next day. If you write every day for hours and after the first 30 things (including your favourite activities or people) still feel empty, just leave it. Go back and start again the next day. My suggestion is that if you skip 3 days and still feel nothing, please sit down and try to find the root of the problem ( or ask for help, from friends, a therapist, or anyone you trust). But if you feel gratitude, feel the appreciation and you forget to write them, don’t worry, it’s okay if you live your life you do not have time to document every moment of it, the most important is the feeling.

And trust me the small things will be the most important. Such as your kids went to school on time and you weren’t in a rush. Or when you have time to drink your coffee before work while you are sitting on a bench in a park. Or the time you could spend with your family, the lovely weather in October. It could be anything.

My favourite “small things” from the last couple of months were the birthdays I managed to attend, the goodnight hugs from my loved ones, the games with my nephew ( I love the slides on the playground), the fireworks with my parent in Szigetvár, the morning sticky notes from my Mom when I was there, the mother-daughter days, the chats with my Dad in our garden, the furniture shopping and build up, the grapes, the view, the Balaton, the fact that I made it, I am home. I could tell you a million other things, but what I appreciate the most is that I FEEL the gratitude, I FEEL the love, I FEEL I am alive.

So please go out and FEEL the life, not just document it and if I ever can help with anything, please send me an email or message me on any social media platform and I am happy to SpitFire you up!

Be happy and don’t forget: Don’t have to be always strong to be a Hero. Also, follow me on at least one of the below. 😘