Your Wish is My Command

Almost two weeks ago, my family and I flew half way across the world in the hope of experiencing snow. As we have lived in hot and humid South East Asia for 10 years, my 3 daughters did not know what real snow was like.

I told them that if we all wish for snow, it will happen. Although I said this confidently to my children, I knew deep down that the UK does not usually have snow for Christmas and that it's not the best strategy to wish for the unpredictable British weather to be on our side.

And just like a scene from Aladdin, our wish was our command. It snowed! We were out walking the dog when thick,white flakes started to fall silently around until the fields, lanes and roof tops were carpeted in a thick, white blanket of pure, fresh snow. The scene was magical. Like magic what we wished for had come true.


As the challenges of the snow and the cold set in, I was reminded of the well-known proverb 'be careful what you wish for as it may surely be yours'. I used to work with a colleague who wished he didn't have to go to work every day.When his job was made redundant he laughed nervously and said "I've wished for this for years and now the day has finally arrived, I'm not sure whether I want it."

As Mother Theresa said "More tears are shed over answerered prayers than unanswered ones."

Know with certainty what you wish for in 2010 and let it be a great year.

Let it Snow

We took the family to see Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol in 3D. My four year old daughter reached out her hands to catch the snowflakes falling from the sky in the film and couldn't understand why they weren't in her hand. I explained to her that the snowflakes were not real and felt disappointed to tell her this. I admired her for having such a wonderful sense of imagination, which all young children seem to so easily have.

When we become adults, we tend to lose sight of our imagination and become more aware of what 'reality' is. And yet what is reality?

As Einstein said "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

Our perceptions of 'reality' can get in the way of our imagination. As Ken Robinson, internationally acclaimed leader in creativity and innovation pointed out in his book called 'The Element', "People will pride themselves on being 'down to earth', 'realistic' and 'no-nonsense' and deride those who 'have their heads in the clouds' and yet far more than any other power, imagination is what sets human beings apart from every other species on earth."

The power of our imagination is what has created all that we have around us. When we use our imagination and let our ideas stick together, the end result can be an avalanche:

"Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together." Source unknown.

 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ...............

Follow Your Heart

I started this week ending on an emotional high. What a great way to start the week as it has continued in this way for the rest of the week.On Monday I completed running our NoLimits 7 day NLP Business Practitioner certification at a beautiful, lush tropical retreat among the green rice paddies of Ubud. The perfect setting for personal reflection, inspiration and transformation.

At the end of the programme, we celebrated our successes of completing this highly intensive, accelerated learning and sometimes gruelling NLP certification. My husband and I treated the group of participants to a tasty dinner at Nomads in Ubud which serves a colourful array of both Indonesian and international food to  high culinary standards.

To my surprise at the end of the dinner, the participants handed over a  'thank you' card and two presents. The one present was a funky, red, pinky and yellow tie-dyed v-necked tee-shirt that had a big tie-dye white outline of a heart and on the back of the tee-shirt were the signatures of all the participants. The words inscribed above the shape of the heart were: FOLLOW YOUR ........

On several occasions during the programme, I had been referring and agreeing to what one of the participants said "I believe in the saying 'follow your bliss' so this is what I do in my work and life." By following her bliss, this participant has moved from Hungary to London and now works in a beautiful estate in the hills of Ubud and goodness knows what other magical places and experiences she will continue to encounter because of this empowering belief.

The second present I received was a beautiful beaded, hand sewn, rectangular shaped purse. I had been admiring one of the participant's exact purse all week and couldn't resist feeling and admiring the small beads, only the size of a pin head that were carefully sewn into gold, cream and warm brown circular patterns. As I had admired the purse so much the participant went out to find the same purse for me but she couldn't find one so she kindly gave me her purse as a gift instead!

I was heartened by these kind acts and noticed when I got home that the participants had inscribed the words 'FOLLOW YOUR' in their own handwriting!  I will treasure and follow these words and kind acts forever.

Follow your bliss and your heart will sure to be there too.