Feeling Gratitude -

It was only a year ago that I came across a story about a couple that had lived through many ups and downs. One day a local newspaper reporter decided to write an article about their life and arranged for an interview. After having made his notes while listening to all the challenges they had faced he put his pen down and asked with wonder ‘tell me how come you never gave up and are so peaceful and content?

The couple looked at each other and then the woman smiled. ‘You see’ she said ‘we made a decision a long time ago that every evening we would sit down and make a list of everything we were grateful for and then of everything we did not like during that day.

However usually we felt so warm and wonderful after having made our ‘Gratitude list' that we never got around writing the second one. And soon we realized that we had so much to feel grateful for amongst all the challenges that we didn’t bother with the second list ever again.

What is the purpose of life? -

A couple of years ago, when attending a five-day workshop with one of my favorite teachers, Manuel Schoch, the question of purpose came up at the very end of the seminar. We had been exploring many different questions about life and meaning and finally one very frustrated student shouted ‘so what then is the purpose of life?’

The class went very quiet, everyone was watching the teacher; what would he answer? His reply was simple ‘YOU! You are the purpose of life.’

The purpose of life is that you exist, that you are here. The purpose of life is life itself. The purpose of life is expressed through each one of us. And the way we best express that purpose is by connecting to our qualities. We each are born with qualities or gifts of some sort. We all have natural abilities, which make some things easier to do than others. We all are good at certain things.

Identifying our qualities will help us identify how best to express our purpose. And as it is close to Christmas let us assume you are a candle. The candle expresses its purpose through being alight, through it’s flame. Your qualities are like the candle’s flame. Your qualities are the expression of who you are.

The wisdom of Pooh -

The Tao of Pooh is an inspiring little book by Benjamin Hoff in which he interprets the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism through the ways of Pooh, the bear and hero of Winnie the Pooh. It is one of the most fun and yet insightful books I have come across.

The song below captures the wisdom of Pooh in a few lines. Hoff: Being authentic starts with recognising Who we are, What we have got to work with and What works best for us. How would you explain it Pooh?

‘With a song’ says Pooh

‘Go ahead’

'How can you get very far

If you don’t know Who you are?

How can you do what you ought,

If you don’t know what You’ve Got?

And if you don’t know Which To Do

Of all the things in front of you,

Then what you’ll have when you are through

Is just a mess without a clue

Of all the best that can come true

If you know What and Which and Who'

'Thank you Pooh'

Yours truly,

Christiane Pohl