Living the life of your dream with an NPO

So Spring is upon us, it is the time for new growth and fresh beginnings - the tone of this week's piece. I find it a poignant time to be grateful to all of our supporters and adopters who have given so many animals in need a fresh start and a "spring" in their step.

This week our guest blogger is Susanne Venter- our book guru! Woodrock are so lucky to have her as own of our own and she is a huge asset to the team.

Oh and one last thing- if you need to get rid of goods that you no longer need as well as second hand books of any sort- she is the lady to speak to so send her a mail  susannev50@gmail.com

Enjoy the first few crisp days of Spring everyone ( in South Africa at least)

Oprah Winfrey said “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams”.

How many of us live the life of our dreams.  We certainly try or think we do, but honestly a lot of us don’t.  A year ago I would have said certainly not me.  Now, a year later things have changed so much, that I can say I am starting to live the life of my dreams.

When asked to write this blog I needed to understand what exactly is a blog, as I am a newbie when it comes to blogging. A blog is an online journal which is updated frequently.  A blog is not long and readers can even respond online. It is a conversation  with other people.

As a fellow Woodrocker, animal and earth lover, social media and information geek I would like to share a story with all you.  It really is my personal journey over the last couple of months.  I hope that you will find inspiration in the blog.

I was away in Mozambique for over two years (spending some time with my daughters and grandchildren) and returned to my country of birth, South Africa at the end of August 2012.  Although I have always liked animals (domestic and wild), I would not say that I was a BIG dog lover.  I do like cats by the way. My new job was going to be in Woodmead and I needed a place to stay close to work.  As I was scanning Gumtree, OLX and Junkmail online I found an advertisement to rent a room in house, but the advertisement specifically said MUST LOVE DOGS.  I though no that is not me.  I continued my search, went to view a couple of places and eventually ended up phoning the advertisement mentioned above.  Upon arrival at the property I was looking for dogs roaming the property, but instead did not see any dogs.  I met the owner, viewed the room and realized soon thereafter that the dogs were there, just in kennels across the property.  The owner said to me “ I like your karma”.  I still thought to myself – lady if only you know that my life was in a bit of a mess at the time.

To cut a long story short, I moved in two days later.  Lovely room, beautiful garden settings with lots of ponds and water flowing.  Four cats and  plenty dogs.  Little did I know at the time that this was going to be life-changing for me and that I would become involved as a volunteer with Woodrock.

Today I run the book sales division for the centre whereby we sell books every weekend at a different shopping centre across Gauteng.  I have met so many interesting (and some well-known) people).  Reading has always been a passion for me, (I also used to be a journalist and weekly newspapers), but this experience has changed me.  I love what I do, always thought one day I would be involved at a non-profit organization.  I am learning lots about dogs (even walked two dogs at the centre over the past weekend) and loving it more and more.

Moral of the story – you are never too old to learn about new things, you can  become involved as a volunteer  at any time – it really has fulfilled my life in a big way.  Dogs and cats can change your life – it certainly has changed mine forever.   Thanks to Woodrock for letting me part of this great big  adventure.