Testimonials

To anyone wondering if this is for them – stop and listen to your heart.. my heart told me to go even when my mind was fearful I can honestly say it was the best flight I took in a long time...

Full Testimonial

Only Hand Luggage Allowed.

Sitting in City airport waiting to board a plane to Malaga my first trip to Spain I watched everyone around me going about their business – some looking happy because they were going on holiday , business men gesturing with their hands – looking like they had large business deals going down however when I got up and close to them realised they were talking to the wife about family life and day to day issues. Me – well I was somewhere in the middle – thought I could blend into the business crowd and yet relaxed enough to suggest I was on holiday – I was going on a retreat “ Get Unstuck in 2 Days “ run by Jessica McGregor Johnson .

Relaxed ….. there was nothing relaxed about me! Worrying about home, family, work and just life in general -thinking I could be , should be and would be better. I reckon that I had 44 years of baggage with me on my trip to meet Jessica. Was I crazy spending my bonus on this … well worse case I get to see Spain.. So I settled in for the trip but I must admit I was on edge.   I meet Jessica at Malaga and I wondered what her first impressions were of me – could she see what a failure I was , what an emotional wreck I am something that I hide from the world – what if she doesn’t like me or I her and the trip is just a waste of time. From the excitement in the morning to the questioning why I was there, was like a roller coaster ride.   First impressions she is lovely, warm and open we stopped off on our way to the white villages for some lunch on the coast. Started to relax a little – at least I was there.

When we go to the white villages – wow …what a place , beautiful , peaceful and a world away from what I left behind – as I sat in my room I thought I’m a nobody, this woman deals with people who are at the top of their game, Bankers, Directors, what am I ? I needn’t have worried I was just as important to Jessica as everyone else.

We started Day 2 with me releasing 44 years of thinking I had failed and having lost my passion, dreams and values somewhere between conforming to life and been a single parent , Jessica made me realise that I had been living my passions and fulfilling my dreams just not in the place that I had envisaged as a 12 year old. I understood my values and how important they are to me – Dharma was a new word and I love it –“Doing what is right” – sums me up in a nutshell.

We listed my passions – nothing extraordinary about them expect for one – the man I will meet has to have his own teeth – so important:-) I’m not going to go off and do a Shirley Valentine…. yet anyway… To see them written down has enabled me to stay focused on them and every day I have a poster on my wall that asks me:

What am I doing :

• Today ….
• This Week….
• This Month…
• This Year so far….

“To make my dream a reality, to live the life I want, to have peace of mind, to be present and happy even when things are seemingly going in a different direction. Feel and live in the moment, breath and enjoy life. “

At the beginning of the retreat you wonder if 2 days to get unstuck is enough – it is more than enough and the walk in the mountains allowed me to drop every piece of luggage that I have been wearisomely dragging around with me in case I let someone down. What a feeling to leave it all on the mountains and to allow the waters to wash over me and refresh my soul. I walked down off the mountain with the key in my pocket and the knowledge that from now on it is hand luggage only.

I am still working with Jessica upon my return and this is the second key – it is so easy to slip into old ways and feel that you must pick up the luggage that you dropped off as people are accustomed to you doing it for them. But just like those airlines – hand luggage only …. something has to come out if something extra has to go in. Keeping the focus on this is the start of me living my life.

Thank you Jessica for enabling me to drop the baggage, to showing me that I can have a life that I want – you have a beautiful office in the white villages – and a gift which enables people to know we are important , we can have the life we want and to fulfill our passions. I grateful that I meet you at such a time in my life when I needed to become unstuck…….

To anyone wondering if this is for them – stop and listen to your heart.. my heart told me to go even when my mind was fearful I can honestly say it was the best flight I took in a long time and I only had hand luggage going. …….. and I will continue to travel with hand luggage only….

T.O’C. Operations Manager