Lessons from the Cosmos...

It was a very clear night last night - and it had stayed warm too.. 

There is something serene about star gazing, I dont know all the constellations and I cant find Venus or Mars, but sitting there with a glass of Southern Comfort on the rocks and contemplating the biggest questions we have, was magical...

As my eyes became accustomed to the dark, more stars appeared, and if I used my peripheral vision rather than looking directly at them I started to see clusters and detail that were not there before.

After a few minutes I spotted a plane - it was moving and flashing lights - so even I knew it wasn't Mars. Then in the corner of my eye I spotted a feint dot of light moving accross the sky - no flashing lights.
It was a satellite - and as it passed over head, I was reminded of the lyrics to a song by Billy Bragg - New England, part of which goes like this...

"I saw two shooting stars last night, I wished on them but they were only satellites, it's wrong to wish on space hardware..."

As the words came into my head, I thought to myself how cool it would be if after having seen the satellite, I now saw two shooting stars to complete the event...

Then - within seconds a bright "shooting star" raced accross the sky, and within two minutes another even brighter than the first. I had seen the shooting stars that I had imagined, the picyure was complete, and I had goosebumps...

So what lessons did I learn from this...

1. To find what you are looking for you have to know where to look and when is the best time. We have to be present in our own lives and in the situations that will move us forwards - in the case of shooting stars; looking up, at night is a good start...
2. In life and business, we need patience, we need to become accustomed to our environment and put ourselves in situations that allow opportunities to become manifest to us. It takes time, if we rush and chase too hard, we will miss the very things we desire.
3. Sometimes our results come from the periphery - we need focus but we also need to watch the edges, becasue thats where the best ideas and opportunities may come from - the Law of Precession...
4. When we have a vision or an idea, when we are clear about what we want, we will recognise the opportunities and events that accord with us. Without a vision, life is a random set of events, with vision and dreams, the same events have purpose and significance.

Have a great weekend - and remember; what you focus on will become manifest to you...

There are no Ferraris in Metz..

August is a strange time in France - everyone goes on holiday for the month..

I took my car into the local garage for repairs on Tuesday, only to be warned that if they couldn't fix it by Friday - it would be September before I got it back...

As it is most businesses don't open up until 10.00 am on a Monday, on Sunday everything is closed and they still find time for a two hour lunch break from 12.00 until 2.00pm...
We moved here about 18 months ago from Las Vegas in the USA - which is about as far as you can get culturally from rural France. In Vegas, everything is open 24 Hrs a day, the casinos never close, and just about anything can be driven through or delivered to your home or hotel room.
So what..?
In Las Vegas we lived in a gated community with cameras, security guards and  high walls to protect us, guns were in easy circulation and a search on the web revealed just how many convicted criminals lived in close proximity. Vegas is a tranisent city with great spirit but no heart; it is the American Dream on megawatt life support where alcohol fuelled highs are more than matched by acidic black jack and roulette induced desperation. Note - the casinos always win in the end...

The French do things differently, there are no guns, no cameras, and drugs are what you take when you have a headache. There is a value put on family community and quality of life - no one cares what car you drive, there are no Ferraris in Metz. What counts is lifestyle, choosing to take lunch, taking the month off, spending time with family and friends - no one actually needs 24hr shopping; I still can't remember who voted for that in the first place. Miraculously, we somehow manage to survive with the shops only open 6 days a week...

So what are you living the Vegas life or the Metz life - are you letting the glamour and the glitz dazzle your path to happiness, are you working 90 hours a week because you think it's how it has to be, are you substituting your real life with a fragile synthetic veneer of material acquisitions?

Metaphorically, everyone should holiday in Las Vegas and experience the energy, passion, fun and the endless possibilities. However, everyone should remember that in reality they need to live in France...

I wonder if that is where all the French go in August...?