​TIME ZONE
 
I’ve changed my time zone.
I now get up at six o’clock rather than eight
and go to bed at ten o’clock rather than midnight.
 
By moving my time zone back two hours
I have not only been able to redesign my day
but to reinvent the work that I do.
 
You see, these two amazing extra hours
every morning help me to redefine
not just the rest of the day but who I am.

ANGELS 

​Isabella is the light of my life,
saving me from everything.
Not expecting anything
and finding true joy in all things.
 
She helps me with mundane tasks
bringing me to a level of understanding,
peace and real happiness
in these moments.
 
Her excited greeting ‘Hello Grandad!’
makes me thankful for my years.
Her run to get lifted
makes me wish I was younger.
 
Isabella is my angel.

 
JIGSAW PUZZLE
 
I do not even have one piece of the jigsaw.
I don’t know how many pieces there are
or what the picture on the lid of the box is.
 
Yet this is a jigsaw that will be completed.
For the search for pieces and the piecing together
will answer every question.

TERRITORY MANAGEMENT
​
God is not territorial. God is love.
God does not need us to believe in anything but love.
For love is all we need to unite us in common goals
of peace, kindness and compassion.
 
Love requires us to look beyond ourselves.
It asks us to feed the hungry and care for the sick.
Questions of belief or non-belief miss the point
of all that is.
 
We are not here to exclude others
 but to unite ourselves with all others.
That is our purpose.
There is no greater priority for mankind.
 
Structures give authority
and authority brings power over others.
Religious structures too can divide us
despite all the good words.
 
We can walk through the doors of exclusion
and re-write the rules that hinder
the fulfilment of the true purpose,
potential and happiness of all.
 
Inclusion can grow quietly and
gently within each of us,
for this is our personal journey
of love.

​COMPLIANCE
 
To change things for the better
You do not need to operate within
the rules of business
and the machinery of the world.
You can bypass the games of competition
and expectations of others.
 
You have your own compass of compliance,
your own way of being
and are your own self.
This must grow and flourish
despite all around it and
because of all around it.
 
You can set a different path.
A new way.
You can offer fresh hope
just by being totally and truthfully you.
This will create new ways of working
that will change everything – forever.

PEACE BUILDING
 
Throw your grenades
of love into the world
with a quiet thought.
 
Fire your missiles
of help to those in need
with a wish especially for them.
 
Blast your kindness
to everyone you have never met
with a moment of silence for them.
 
Launch your propaganda offensive
with words and messages of love
and a share of your resources.
 
Create collateral damage
that inspires and transforms everyone
to join your war of peace.

​RELOCATION PACKAGE

We’re moving house next week. My wife is busy ensuring all the lightbulbs are working. She will clean the flat from top to bottom. She’s had new window locks fitted as we’d lost the keys.
 
We’ve been to the hardware store and bought a new electric fire to replace the one that we are taking. The Shop Assistant laughed as it was the hottest summer on record! We have even bought better quality ornamental coals for the gas fire.
 
We’ve touched up all the paperwork where pictures used to hang. We have left a welcome pack of notes with instructions on the boiler, door key codes, internet connections, recycling arrangements and heating controls. The last thing will be to leave a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine.
 
We’ve spent all this time and we will never see the people who move in. We will not know who takes our place here. We will not know if they are kind or thoughtful. We will not know if they are younger or older than us.
 
When I questioned all this activity, I am gently reminded that it’s just about doing for others as we would like them to do for us. She asks ‘If we were to walk in here what would we like to see?
 
It’s not so much about us leaving and moving but, them arriving. Sometimes we need to relocate our thinking. For relocation is not so much about where you go but what you leave behind.
 
(P.S. Three weeks after we left, we received a lovely thank-you card.)

​HAPPY FATHER'S  DAY
 
Every time I play golf
I am with you, remembering
to keep my head down
and watch the ball.
 
I always want to play
on my own, partly due to
embarrassment at my standard
but also, just to be with you.
 
For it is not about the score,
the lost balls, my swing, or even
the one or two good shots
that redeem the round.
 
It’s about being with you,
treasuring the gift that you gave me,
and remembering your call
to follow through.

​PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE
1.  What are your best memories of those who loved you?
2.  What is your ‘follow through’?