What happens when there's a countdown in Countdown? (69)

What happens when there's a countdown in Countdown? (69):

"COUNTDOWN? Well it could be any supermarket. I was number 3 in the queue and the lady being served was paying in $5 bills. She had a wad of them. The checkout chick was very young, cute and nervous. The woman wanted her change in particular denominations and it was not working well. The supervisor was called and eventually ..all sorted....BUT..the little poppet had red cheeks and tears brimming....My turn and i contributed some cheer and good will..
....but as i walked away I knew it was not enough to shift the influence of what had just happened.
So I went to the $2 shop and bought a card. It had a bedraggled dog with a red ball at its feet on the outside . I wrote in it something like ' Nadia..or whatever her name was....sometimes it just does not matter what you do...people will not play ball! The lady with the $5 bills was needing to excercise power and control...for whatever reason. Her actions had nothing to do with you or how you were performing. You have a lovely smile and you are doing so well in this new position. Know you are appreciated '
Every day in so many places there are opportunities to make a contribution....I send 3 pieces of glad mail like this a day!"

Can AWE and WELLBEING be found in Matrons office ..?

Nikos Kazantzakis said : " the highest point a man can attain is not knowledge or virtue or goodness or victory, but something even greater, more heroic, and more despairing _ Sacred Awe"

Perhaps the greatest example we have of that this week in NZ is the presence of the emporer penguin. Why did he arrive in this time on that shore and manage to be so at one with the crowd and the relative heat - compared to his chilly and dark normal surroundings? From my own perspective I see rolling out a burgeoning force for good ( there are examples all around us if we but open our eyes) and have been a conscious observer of this since I was 16 years and 10 months old. ( In case you are wondering that was my age when I did my first bed bath of a real patient.!)

Picture if you will....it's 1970....my first day as a student nurse on the Clifford Green Ward at Fairfield district Hospital NSW. I am about to do my first bed bath on a real patient. His name was Bob Hall. A crane had fallen on Bob literally squashing him. He had over 35 broken bones. There actually was not much to wash as his legs were in traction and both arms suspended. Just his face and hands and ..'down there" ..( I was 16 !! )

Some 3 months before they stood around him in casualty and said quietly..." he's not going to make it" . Well, 4 hours passed and he was still alive and they said " Well, if we did take him to theatre he would probably die on the table". But they took him to theatre anyway, and he did not die on the table. Wheeling him back to recovery they said " Well, poor fellow will probably be a vegetable". Bob woke very quickly post -op and revealed he was indeed NOT a vegetable!!!

Then they said " Well, he will certainly never walk again"
Bob Hall was in hospital the entire 3 years of my general nurse training and I saw him every day I was on duty, even if not rostered on his ward. He had the occassional weekend at home, and ... much to my delight Bob walked on 2 sticks to my graduation ceremony at the end of 1973, and stood up the back till the ceremony was over. Then he shouted out.." I actually have something to say " and came forward. He had a huge scroll which he opened out and started reading out all the tricks and pranks I had played on him during his time in hospital.

When he had finished reading them off he turned to me and said " you dont know what you did for me with your impish ways and absurd and outlandish behaviour! " The thing is , it is only some 30 years on I really get what he meant. To be good humoured is to be appropriately responsive. Now that is not about being NICE. It is about being present and communing at a deep level. Responding and callibrating at the same level.

To this day I am in awe that Bob endured all that he did; that he became the inspiration for others who were ill; and that in being my innate good humoured and impish self I supported him to heal. Here's an interesting fact....At a cellular level in the krebbs cycle in the cells of the body ...when Adenosine Di-phosphate meets oxygen a small 'explosion" occurs and it becomes Adenosine Tri Phosphate. ( I am simplifying things a little ) So 2 become 3. And so we have the energy source of the cell and...the body. The more he breathed and laughed the more oxygenated he became and the more he sourced extra energy.

We energise each other ! And it's not just through the krebbs cycle...I am in AWE of that.

Kim Knight from Art of Health http://www.artofhealth.co.nz/ was on my radio " Radio Improv - Joy in the moment "this week. We talked about awe, and chi; we spoke of depression and fatigue; we did an inner smile meditation..or rather she did! And we too communed and were in awe of what each of us in the room knew and how we used that to each be a contribution to the other. www.planetaudio.org.nz/radioimprov

Now back to my opening question " Can AWE and WELBEING be found in Matrons office ?" Yes it can! 10 years after my graduation I became the Matron of a 79 bed hospital and we became the first Rest Home to conduct its own ongoing education program and also became the first provider of Geriatric Nurse experience for Wollongong University Gerontolgy students. Remind me to share the poem they wrote when I left!

Live in a circle of no circumference and find Joyful Empowerment

Ghandi said " Live in a circle of no circumference".
The notion evoked a smile for me but I confess I was a bit at odds with the seeming paradox. A circle is complete in and of itself....isn't it? I recall my mum saying " a circle is round and has no end" . Great!

I wonder though, if Ghandi was talking about expansion and growth? When we give the thought more context we can make a bit more sense. All the elements of our persona exist within a zone that we define and call our "space' . We define that space by identifying where it ends . We call that our comfort zone and we typically live well inside or close to the edge of that . The invitation today is to extend yourself beyond your comfort zone....take a good look at what qualities sit inside the zone ....choose to change what no longer is useful...and stretch!

Make a committment today to extend yourself beyond your comfort level.

Why would I invite you to do that? You can't grow and develop..and stay the same! And the thing is....when you adopt this position you will find " change is the new comfortable! " And it is in this space that the extra-ordinary happens. I recall once being financially unresourced after a relationship breakup. Not much JOY in being consistently in my overdraft. I made a conscious choice to go to that which I had been resisting....Landmark.

Friends had suggested I do Landmark to achieve a breakthrough in my finances. I did not have sufficient funds, but I did have a voucher and some cash and determined I would offer to be a contribution. My thought was to do that by way of a contra, as the means to get to do the course that weekend. I also had resistance based on pre-conceived ideas about the Landmark training.

I went immediately into their city office and made my offer. There were about 8 or 9 times in the first 10 minutes when the conversation could have ended and I could have left the building. I chose to persist and finally was in front of the manager. I had my book with me ( self published), 100's of testimonials, and my bank statements. I made my offer to pay part with the money I had, and to do some training or a presentation to staff or volunteers by way of a contra. I pointed out to the manager how I was owning that the book, the testimonials and the empty bank account were not exactly a match and that I was committed to achieve a breakthough in my finances( read self worth) .

The manager said "I am sorry but thats not possible. " Some of you may know part of Landmarks "signature" is they dance in possibility. So when she said that to me I said " Well if thats not possible ....what is?"

Then I was SILENT!
For quite some time. :)
First person to speak loses....:)

She said..."You are amazing.....just a minute" and rang someone who gave me a funded program!! Just like that.

But here's the thing. What I noticed along this path was all the times I might have:-

1. given up,


2. accepted what was said,


3. or generally complied in the past.

This time though, I kept asking questions and as I did I could see how I had been being in previous encounters. My response to rebuttal previously had been to walk away.

I walked in to that office at 4.20pm and walked out at 4.35. Mission achieved.

So my point? Here's a question. Why are you where you are at in your life? Whether you know the answer or not you still have a point of choice. Choose to be responsible...and response - able. Here you will find FREEDOM and what I call Joyful Empowerment. When you go to that which has you ... and renders you to a degree of powerlessness....you notice very quickly that it is not there. You see you have gone beyond it. The edge of the circle of comfort....the comfort zone is expanded and things will never be the same! When we allow vulnerability we find new power. We can then stand in that power and be a demand for what we want. We become more "attractive" and people hear us differently.

So as you step out this week first thing ...draw yourself a circle. This is your circle of influence. Choose one item where you would like a shift and write it in the circle. Then imagine yourself stepping out of the circle into circumstances that will support you to grow to another level. Feel the rising confidence and listen to your feelings . They will be your guide. Maintain your posture..stand tall...imagine the feeling of being admired and acknowledged for your courage and willingness to chnage. Listen to what people will be saying for their conversation with you will be different. And your circumstances will shift.

This is just one aspect of what is available in my coaching and you are welcome to ask questions or comment!
Pat