Let Me Out. Let Me Out. Let Me Out!

Did I tell you that I’d been locked up?
You know… jailed?
Stranded and frightened in a police cell?

Well, I’m telling you now.

I was just 11 years old at the time.
And I’d run away, you see.
Run away from the convent children’s home where we spent our childhood.
(Unaware that dozens of police stations were looking out for us.)

Pedalled with my friend, Clifford, for what seemed miles and miles and miles down the Roman Road in Hertfordshire.
Him on a boys bike a tad too small for him.
Me on a girl’s bike too big for me.
On a warm school holiday Summer evening.

Until we reached Golders Green.
And there it happened.

Copped!
Nabbed!
Slammed into the slammer.
My freedom taken away for… “Goodness knows how long” I was thinking.
”And what happens now? Especially when my Mummy finds out!”

Who would have thought that you’d come to know exactly how I was feeling, eh?

Think of it.
On the 11th of March we were eating and chuckling and coaching each other at our Soul Millionaire Spring MasterClass at Ashdown Park.
Now it’s the 2nd of April. And freedom-of-movement is a thing of the past.

But here’s the thing.

Like me in that police cell in Golders Green…
None of us know What’s Going To Happen Now.
Nor for how long.
None of us.
Even if we pretend that we do.

And – deep in the silent corners of our heart – we know.
We know that the world will never be the same.
That we won’t return to ‘Normal’.

I don’t know how we know.
Collectively, we just know.

Surely, no sane person feels good during a global disaster.
So, like my Childhood Me… of course we’ve felt fretful during the last three weeks!

But isn’t it a soothing revelation to know that we do have people who care for us; who prefer us in their lives?
And to love them right back.
All the world and bigger bits.

Perhaps I can leave you with what Wendy and I have discovered that has steadied our world.
We’ve found they apply to every aspect of our lives: including our business.
– Our home can become a sanctuary. (But it needs to be organised to become so).
– There are so many, many things that we don’t need (cripplingly expensive offices?).
– And almost as many things that we simply don’t need to keep doing… to be happy (or help others be happy).
– There certainly are many places we don’t need to drive to, in order to enjoy that happiness.
– Setting all those aside frees up masses of energy, emotional capacity and time.

– Food, Family, Friends, (and ideally) Fitness. That combination will see us through so much.
– Arranging regular times to talk (not tweet or text; but really, really talk. Like humans!) during every week has provided us with enormous comfort.
– Having the long-term perspective of Faith & Hope – a deep purpose – has provided us with a profound sense of Peace and Calm.
– Reaching out to serve others has provided a greater sense of meaning (and joy).
– Taking more time to pause and think than we’ve ever done before. This behaviour has already been visibly rewarded
– Realising that to plough on with the same old strategies… is absolutely delusional. That has been an abrupt awakening.

I’m sure you could add oodles to that list.

Before you do… I’ll leave you with a thought from that 11 year old child.

When you get ‘let out’, I wouldn’t expect to return to your old routine.
You’ve already learned some valuable Life Lessons. in a very short period of time.
Lessons about how you need to change.

The question is…
Do you understand what they are?