“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill Churchill’s words feel like a useful reminder of what’s needed for the times, indeed any times, we live in. He led a nation through the darkest of days, calling into service the hearts and courage of his...
Depending on our preference, and current capacity for heat, the stunning recent summer days reminds us of the extraordinary beauty of nature – the bursting richness of flora and fauna, the vast blue skies given greater definition by shapely white clouds, the obvious presence of the life-giving sun. It’s a visual feast all can drink...
It’s often said, usually by motivational speakers, that we can be whatever we want to be, or can become whatever we want, or can manifest whatever we want. What’s noticeable in these sayings is the self-focus, the betterment of the lot of the individual. Whether be anything, have anything, do anything is myth or reality,...
‘What our deepest self craves is not mere enjoyment, but some supreme purpose that will enlist all our powers and give unity and direction to our life. We can never know the profoundest joy without a conviction that our life is significant – not a meaningless episode.’ Henry J Golding There’s so much talk about...
For me the recent death of Pope Francis brings into sharp focus the quality of conscious presence. Of course, I never met him and yet he seemed the living embodiment of all he believed and espoused – peace, humility, simplicity, compassion for all and especially those less fortunate and disenfranchised in our world. Amongst the...
Have you noticed how often heart comes up in our everyday speech? Take heart, put my heart and soul into it, heart in the right place, heart of gold, wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve, heart in your mouth, change of heart, heart to heart. I could go on, and you will have your own...
We’re likely the best informed, and possibly most manipulated, version of humanity there has been. We have vast amounts of knowledge at our finger tips, quite literally. We have access, courtesy of our ever-expanding, 24/7 media, to the scary, surprising, inspiring, wonderful and, on occasion, plain weird, imagination-defying happenings across our planet. That window on...
The dictionary defines intention as an idea that you plan to carry out; a goal or purpose or aim; something you mean to do whether you do it or not. In this context the intention is often self-focused, on our own plans, and not looking to a far and elevated horizon. If we look deeper...
Another day, another week, more grisly headlines…this time the fall of a dictator, the grim legacy of inhumanity left behind. An uncertain future for a nation. With the full on, full frontal and ever-present nature of the media it is hard to avoid what is happening in our world. And the worse it is the...
A walk in nature often leaves us awed at the beauty of creation. The perfection of leaves, of trees, of flowers. The springiness of some grasses. The perfume of flowers. The rustling of life unseen. The occasional scampering across our path of squirrel or rabbit, maybe even the shy stillness of a deer. In these...