Beatrice Schultz

 Take a breather stay a while.

Hours roll into days, days roll into weeks, weeks roll into months, months roll into quarters and here we are… nearly in the last quarter of the year. 

Seasons changing, situations shifting, mindsets questioning.

All around us we see there are only 4 months left in the year use it wisely, focus, re-assess your goals, have you achieved them? Are you on the right path? 

Breathe… there is no rush, who are you competing with? Who is putting all this pressure on you to become, to succeed, to achieve? 

And who says you haven’t? 

I recently attended a transformational leadership course at Rocklodge ( I’ve been doing it in parts and in August I attended week 2). 

This week was not only packed with amazing sessions of learning and growing we had to do team building activities outside.

One of the activities made a huge impression on my heart. 

We were put in groups of 3, one of us blind folded and the other 2 had to scream out instructions for the blind folded one to follow in order to get to our desired destination which was to win.

Now, whilst we were screaming out instructions the other teams were too and it made the blind folded person quite confused as they tried to decipher our voices from the crowd. 

In life everyone will have an opinion about you.

“Go to university.”

“Start a business.”

“Loose weight.”

“Gain weight.”

“Get married.”

“Stay single.”

The voices go on and on, never ceasing,never quieting down. Voices of family, voices of friends, voices from television, voices from books, voices from social media.

Like our team we were shouting at the blindfolded one hoping that they would follow our directions.

When they stilled and started actively listening for us and concentrating on our voices we were able to direct them to where they needed to go. 

Who are the people in your life that you deem valuable?

Who are the people in your life that you know want the best for you? Who genuinely celebrate you? Who seek good opportunities for you? Who look out for your best interest?

Those people are the ones who’s voices you listen out for, who you know are able to lift you when you fall and dance with you when you win. 

Another aspect I found interesting in the exercise was that they found it difficult to pick out our voices as we hadn’t gotten to know each other that well yet so we didn’t know how we sounded to one another, we didn’t know the frequencies or the tones of our voices.

That blew my mind… do you truly know the  person behind the voice you are listening to? Are they integral? Are they reliable? Have you walked a journey with them to be able to hear them in a crowd?

They say your tribe becomes your vibe or as my grandmother put it, “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you your character.”

The people you surround yourself with slowly become you, you pick up their nuances, and their habits, you rub off on one another. 

We were not created to be in isolation, we were created for community and our very bodies attest to that. No organ can function on its own but needs the collective body to be optimal.

As we near the last quarter of the year, listen actively, re-affirm who you are and find your tribe. A tribe that sees your success and not just your failures, a tribe that sees you trying, a tribe that wants you to win. 

1 will kill 1000 2 will kill 10 000.

-Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:

If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.- 

Ecclesiastics 4:9-12