Jigsaw pieces
The way to the top
October 18, 2024
Saturday September 21 - Neerpelt, Belgium
We have lived in our house for six months. Two months ago we could finally accept what a beautiful place we now get to live in. More importantly, we found each other again. The way to the top, we wrote in the previous blog. So many wonderful things have happened in the past two months. It seems like all the pieces of the difficult puzzle we started are slowly starting to fall into place. We go back for a moment to the end of September.
Energy
After a long train ride that began at 5 a.m. this morning, we arrived in Neerpelt at 8 a.m. Route de la baguette, our cycling adventure is France, was exactly what we needed. Just back to ourselves, on a bike and in nature. We don't have long to enjoy because in Neerpelt and Breda there are 300 copies of Wildkamperen ready to be signed, packed and shipped. We blinked our eyes three times and were suddenly at the airport in Oslo. It was an intense month, with only fun things that gave us so much energy. The leadership retreat opened our own eyes and gave our own feelings back. The adventure in France brought us back to ourselves. Now we are back in Norway and immediately feel the peace in Oslo. For the first time we don't feel any reluctance to go to our home. In fact, it feels like we are really going to live there ourselves now.
"You can't grasp something new until you let go of the old."
Letting go
Olivier must first pick out a faulty piece of the puzzle. He started a permanent job with a company in Oslo at the end of last year. If we wanted to get a loan and buy a house, there was no other option than a permanent job. Olivier started a job in IT, but actually from the beginning he felt it wasn't right. At first we thought it was mainly getting used to the fixed structure, but gradually it became clear that this work took a lot of energy from him. So why not stop earlier? Olivier would have liked to, but when we bought the house, financial obligations came along with it. Just quitting would bring so much stress and we already had enough of that. Now that we have lived in our house for a few months, we have a better overview of the expenses and Olivier finally dares to take the step. He calls his team leader and quits his job. A beautiful expression goes “you can't take something new until you let go of the old." That same day, Olivier has an appointment with a project manager of a mobility project in the area. Olivier's knowledge and expertise about cycling and mobility is exactly what the project leader needs. Coincidence, luck or the universe? Over the past six months, Olivier has had dozens of conversations with directors, department heads and consultants within mobility and nature. They were all great conversations, but once we needed someone to give us a chance and that push to get started. That Olivier meets that person just today can hardly be a coincidence.
Surgery
Three days later, Olivier has an important appointment in Oslo. He has been walking around with radiation pain in his leg for almost two years. The result of overconfident running training with his youngest brother. 'It will pass' became after a while 'now it's starting to take a long time' and then 'maybe it's time to go to the doctor after all'. Six months of physio, accupuncture and a chiropractor didn't help. Worse, since June Olivier has been unable to walk more than 500 meters or stand up normally. It sometimes looked like an 80-year-old version of Olivier was renovating our house. Bent over, he walked around the house against his will. Zoe suffered just as much. Olivier couldn't go for walks, explore the area around our house or run together. Olivier still hasn't been in the woods around our house. It's too far.
Today he finally has an appointment with a specialist in Oslo. We know by now that it is a hernia, which is getting worse instead of better. The doctor's advice is simple: “surgery is the best solution in your case.” Suddenly, things can move fast. Ten days later, we are again in Oslo for surgery. In the morning, Olivier first hands in his laptop at work, says goodbye to a few colleagues and heads to the hospital. At the exact same time, Zoe is in a job interview. She applied for a job as a coordinator in an organization that organizes outdoor activities for refugee youth and other minority groups. Sleeping outside, fishing, cross-country skiing, skating, learning to make fire, and so on. A perfect combination for Zoë and now she gets to prove herself during the interview.
"So suddenly we are very close to our dream picture that we wrote down on paper three years ago."
Olivier's eyes open. He stretches his leg. No pain. He lifts it slowly. Still no pain. Then the nurse comes and asks how it's going. 'Good,' says Olivier. “I'm awake. When can I go?” After a sandwich, a glass of water and an obligatory pee, Olivier is allowed out. He walks normally, stands normally, and Zoë immediately notices. “Finally a normal hug,” Zoë says, ”not with a half-bent man anymore.
“How was your interview?” asks Olivier.
“I think I got the job!” says Zoe still a little in despair.
We've never enjoyed Oslo so much!
The right pieces
After two weeks of mandatory lying down, Olivier has another appointment with the project leader. “I am going on parental leave for four months from December and would like you to replace me,” Jens says immediately, ”Then you will be the project leader for the bicycle projects." Olivier beams. Working in cycling has been at the top of Olivier's list as a dream job ever since we came to Norway. It's four months for now, but he has his foot in the door and then he's in. December 1 he officially starts, as does Zoë. Olivier for 40%, Zoë 20%. That too is our wish as it was on paper. Half-time stable income and supplement that with everything we do with WeLeaf. So suddenly we have a lot of the right puzzle pieces in our hands. Puzzle pieces that seemed lost six months ago. Maybe buying the house set a lot more in motion than we could have imagined. Maybe the tough months were the last big test to reach our goal. We did not have it easy and had serious doubts. Fortunately, giving up was not an option and that leaves only one thing we could do: get up, keep going, work together, talk to each other, be a team, become positive and enjoy what we are doing. So suddenly we are very close to our dream picture that we wrote down on paper three years ago!
2 Comments
Hej Zoe & Olivier…from Värmland, Sverige
The perfect analogy. The pieces of your puzzle were once all mixed up, but gradually… with hope, positivity, and love, a beautiful picture is emerging.
Absolutely! Beautiful summary :)!