We did it! I’m not sure how, but between moving back and forward to Bali, welcoming our little girl Charlie into the world, doing our first steps in the magical world of parenthood, we re-opened the doors of our little paradise. It was an absolute crazy journey and we would have never made it without the support of our staff, friends, family and sometimes even total strangers.
A big thank you to all of you who were on our side during this crazy rollercoaster ride. From sending messages, to bringing food, from joining me at my doctors’ appointments, to help me with packing my hospital bag, from helping us with cleaning the villa’s, to holding me when I was crying because I thought we would never make it.
Keep having faith
As with every big building project, we had a lot of setbacks. Deadlines that were not met and promises that were not kept became part of our daily life. More than once, I fell asleep crying and wondering how we would ever make it. There were countless days were tiny nuclear bombs went off in the corners of my head. Where I had to take a deep breath and tell myself to keep faith. In one year we took down our house and villa’s, redesigned a new resort, rebuild our dream while a new life was growing in my belly.
We had our first bookings on the 15th of August and despite of all our hard work and sleepless nights we didn’t manage to finish on time. Something which was really hard to accept for me. Luckily we had the best guests we could have ever wished for and without making any drama or fuss they offered to find another place to stay for 2 nights to give us time to finish rebuilding our dream. They returned two days later and gave us a bottle of Prosecco upon check in to congratulate us with us the re-opening of Villa Nangka. How amazing?!
Our first guests…
That same evening, when I sat down in our brand new kitchen, I looked around me, and tears of happiness were rolling down my cheeks. Here we were, our first guests, our lovely boys (who never left our side!), my Sunshine and our little Charlie. For more than one year our paradise was covered by a blanket of dust and sadness, but tonight there was life again!
There is still a lot of work to be done, but we will take our time for that. The most important thing for now is that we are open again. Step by step we will bring back the magic and every day we will put in a bit more love in our hidden gem at the heart of Gili Air.
The hardest and most rewarding year of my life
The past year is been by far the hardest year of my life. But it’s also been the most rewarding. Going after what scares you is the bravest thing you can do. It’s okay to be scared, it’s okay to have fears; it’s more than okay, actually. It’s normal! But what’s not okay is if you let these fears of yours stop you from pursuing anything you want in life. There’s always going to be something that scares you, but the thing is, you have to face that fear and do what you strive for anyways.
Do it even though you’re scared. Do it with your heart pounding and your voice trembling. Do it even though your hands are sweating and shaking. Because that is what makes you strong. Strength isn’t about the lack of fear or having nothing that scares you; strength is doing something even though it scares the hell out of you. Strength is looking your fears right in the eye and doing what you aspire to do anyhow. But going all the way despite the fear that fills you is where magic happens, where life changes and you start to flourish.
Love Rose
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