My truth....

It took me a while to get it....my truth is just that, mine. How I see the world, the choices I make based on what I'm dealt - all based on honoring myself and being truthful in what moves me. 

The problem is when I do not see things which others do. When I stay in cycles, jobs, relationships which I do not recognise for their truth, but rather for what I imagine them to be. When I have to work at it, or compromise - all is well, until I start betraying myself. And this has nothing to do with expectations or dreams, but rather my day-to-day "OK index" - when you have to move remove yourself, or knowing you must exit a situation. Almost like something is punching a hole in your heart and you start leaking life force...

The most difficult part is when staying is seen to be "the right thing to do". When you cannot bear to look at yourself in the mirror for feeling this way - but deep down you do not know how you will be able to keep it up? And maybe this is why we self-destruct - because it is noble? 

My Yoga teacher said something which struck a cord. She said you will never be able to stay if you are not getting something from the situation in return. Like all symbiotic relationships, a victim needs a hero, a coach needs a student, and maybe it is in these contradictions that we find our truth.  

No words...

I shared some memorable growing-up years with Michiel. I know him to be strong, inside and out. A free-thinking, swimming up-stream, stand-up man. But most importantly, a kind man.  Then the news that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer...

Last month marked exactly 1 year since receiving the mail - and he posted this on Facebook.

No words....

Unbroken....

At last, I surrender -

aftermath of a slow toxic exhale.

A knowing:

my heart is unbroken.

Anne-marie

Stripping the Paint....

'We accumulate barnacles, or layers of paint, which mask our purpose or constrain our personality. After some number of years, we might have survived – maybe even done very well – but in many ways we have numbed or forgotten what led us here, why we are on this journey and most importantly, who we are?’ Redefining Corporate Soul: Allan Cox

Another "Purpose Huddle" with beautiful people this past weekend at Grotto Bay: 

From Knowing to Doing to Being...

Some of the concepts we worked on:
- Thinking Styles
- Awareness
- Perspective
- Ambiguity and paradoxes
- Personal Contracts
- Purpose Statements

I always walk away from these weekends feeling profoundly affected by how we underestimate ourselves and how we are able to cause effects in the world, leaving it, in some way, better than we found it.

 (Thanks Veniets!)

Every human heartbeat is a universe of possibilities. Every human has the opportunity to transform their own fate. I’d always thought that fate was something unchangeable: fixed for every one of us at birth, and as constant as the circuit of the stars. But life is stranger and more beautiful than that. The truth is that, no matter where you find yourself, no matter how good or bad the situation, you can change your life completely, with a single thought or a single act of love.”

Shantaram