LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL: Deborah Buschgens wants retirement to be full of plans and purpose and to pretty much do what she is doing now!

Aney Mathew

Qatar boasts of an interesting mix of people from all over the world — a remarkable cultural mosaic with significant ethnic and cultural diversity. While the economic growth over the last decade has sent the demographic graph spiralling upwards, it has been accompanied by a considerable shift in lifestyles, trends and preferences.
Regardless of where people are on the social or corporate ladder, what keeps the pace of any populace moving are their expectations and aspirations.
In an attempt to feel the pulse of this emerging society, Community will reach out to people, who make up this interesting community. We will talk to them about their hopes, dreams, goals and expectations and what it is that makes them tick.   
Stay tuned, you may be next...

Tell us something about yourself…
Hi, I’m Deborah Buschgens — author, writer and speaker. Over 20 years ago, I left my hometown of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and went on an overseas adventure with my husband and two children. I have never looked back.  My husband and I have lived in Doha for 13 years now and are enjoying every minute of it.

What are your hobbies?  
Painting, illustrating and writing.  

Your favourite pastime/activity?
I love researching. I’m assignment-oriented and often have many different projects going on at the same time. I love to be in control of my own time and to jump into whatever project ‘calls’ to me on a particular day.

What is your dream?
My dream is to have a positive impact on the world by doing the things I love to do. If my projects can somehow make a favourable difference in someone’s life, well that is the ultimate. It makes all the difficult times worthwhile, and brings me incredible joy.

What is your dream destination?
My dream destination would be a place that is green and beautiful, preferably by the sea! I’m not sure if we will ever truly ‘land’ anywhere, but will just keep roaming the earth, visiting all the people we love so much!  They are dispersed everywhere on the planet!  But that said — Hawaii looks good right now.

And your dream car?
Anything with cuteness or style. Oh, and colour is important, too. Green and red are my favourites. Right now, I love my Honda, although I have to say the mini Cooper is adorable and the Volkswagen convertible, too. My mother drove a Fiat Spider and that was awesome!  Too many choices!

What is your idea of a dream job?
A dream job would be in a creative atmosphere. It would have the right amount of pressure, alone time and co-labouring with likeminded, creative people collectively working toward the same goal, albeit in different ways — like the spokes in a wheel.  This job would have diversity; flexibility and maximum impact to influence lives for the better.  It would be full of action, yet have sublime moments of reflection and intimacy. As I mentioned before — colour, lots of colour and movement.

What cuisine do you enjoy the most?  
I just love Indian and Thai cuisine with friends and family — anywhere, anytime.

Which is your favourite joint in Qatar?
Ric’s Kountry Kitchen by far!

Who is your favourite actor?
Robert Buschgens (my husband). Bradley Cooper is cute, too.  Meryl Streep is awesome.  But, Robert Buschgens is the best.

And your favourite movies?
Not sure, but my favourite ice cream is Baskin Robbins ‘Love Potion #31’!

What scares you?
If I look at the world or I forget who I am or who loves me — then I can get scared.

What was the scariest moment of your life?
Kids. My children have stopped my heart on many occasions. My son stood up under an outcropping of coral while we were in the middle of nowhere camping beside the Red Sea. He staggered down the beach toward us with more blood than I could comprehend, coming down his face. I panicked and ran blindly up to a man I barely knew and told him that he had to deal with this situation. And he did, thank God.
Then, there was the time when baboons were close to taking my daughter away when we lived in Saudi Arabia. We were on a bus and we stopped to take a look at these creatures. I was inside the bus and I saw my daughter outside and fear totally gripped me.  I called out, and then started screaming and banging on the windows until someone handed her back to me. It was like out of a nightmare. She was about five years old.  My blood still runs cold, just thinking about what could have happened to them both. That’s the trouble with a good imagination and loving your children too much. God attaches us to these people for life.

What about your most embarrassing moment?
I’m really too embarrassed to talk about it!  

Share with us something funny that happened to you…
I can’t think of anything funny that’s happened to me but I’ve had a lot of funny (strange) things happen.  For instance, last week I was looking after my neighbour’s fish/turtle tank while they were on vacation.  For three days, the four turtles and four little fish were very happy to see me as I came to feed them in the mornings.  Then, on the next day, only the turtles greeted me!  Where were the fish?  I looked for little floating bodies but could find none — only one little fish left swimming!  I looked in the rocks at the bottom of the tank, on the floor, and then I looked suspiciously at the turtles.  I don’t think those little turtles would suddenly eat up the fish and I’m sure they don’t have teeth!  Certainly, there would be some debris.  It remains a mystery.   But my mind returns to it often!

What are your retirement plans?
No idea. I think we’ll end up floating in the wind; landing on loved one’s doorsteps. I want retirement to be full of plans and purpose and to pretty much do what I’m doing now!

What would you do if you won a million dollars?
Seriously, I would buy a cute little place in a beautiful, lush green area by the sea and then go around the world blessing people.

How would you describe your life right now?
It’s so varied and completely interesting. It has just the right amount of adventure and challenge.

Your attitude to life?
Do the best with what you’ve been given and don’t sweat the small stuff.

Lessons learnt from life…
You get to choose where you look and what you see, what you think about and how you react to things. You are on earth to make a difference and you are more powerful than you think.

Anything else you would like to add?
The unseen is more powerful than the seen, and as a man thinks in his heart — so is he. Think about what you are thinking about!  Remember, where the mind goes, the man follows!