34 Today and its been so much fun so far.

Today I have the privilege of turning 34! And im feeling younger, happier, calmer and more alive than ever before (being in Verona surrounded by beautiful buildings, art, food, vulture and ladies might be helping ??????)

My 30's so far have been a self discovery journey. The journey of who we are, what we actually want and "why" is constantly evolving and developing and I have the privilege of using some of these "learning opportunities", many times called "failures", in my daily business and political life, and just generally day in and out.

The sad news of Caroline Flack this morning, who I don't know as I don't watch TV, and I have never met, but as one person to another I felt the sadness of it when I read it this morning made me reflect and push through some internal fears to make this post. 

This deeply sad news reminds us we are all humans first, in all our "issues" and "stuff" but that understanding, forgiveness and humility are the choices we can make to help others. Ultimately we are all the same, dealing with the same issues. 

We all make mistakes, make decisions that have consequences, BUT fundamentally humanity is good, we are bound together but much stronger values, beliefs and hope than divides us. Everyone needs help at times, support and the most powerful energy we have - LOVE. 

Love can be "tough love" as well as warmer, it is not simply as we have been conditioned to believe - "soppy, mushy and let anyone do anything", but actually its about our intentions, to do the right thing by another many a times is the not seen that way by the "other" or anyone as love, its usually very unpopular and deeply internally challenging, but in time we see it for what it is. 

But with the receipt of love, many times at our lowest points when we can not see what someone else can see, the power of this energy, the most powerful energy we have, is transformational, it ignites sometimes the last fire we have, to overcome many a times our great hurdles, it shows us who we really are, and sets us back on our paths. 

Those people who do this for us, who remind us through love to us, who we are, they are everything amazing about this world, and many of times they are dealing with their own issues too, but still have the strength and love to help another. The power of humanity xx 

In many ways are duty, our responsibility to the world is simply to give love to ourselves, which provides more Love for us to give to others. In all of our work that we are involved our loving intentions power us daily to create a better world. Every piece of passionate work is powered by love.

There is much talk that we are experiencing more "problems" now than ever, which is debatable given the atrocities of the 20th Century the world endured, but regardless of this now is the time to do the things we can do, simply little steps each day, be more mindful and loving to ourselves and others and this effect will ripple out to everyone else . Ghandi saying of "be the change you want to see in the world" describes this beautifully. 

Today I am grateful for the privilege of being alive, having many great people in my life (some of whom I politically disagree with significantly, but admire and respect) and for simply learning to just be me, I think the greatest challenge for us all. 

I think the lesson for today, is to simply understand, refrain from judgement as much as we can and be mindful of our intentions, to seek to help first, and that understanding and forgiveness is not somehow "acceptance" or endorsement, it is to see the good in people, when many times they can't see if their self.

Happy Sunday everyone, I'm off for a cappuccino ?? , one small step of kindness today from us all will have a huge impact xx