Inspired by Desiderata’s “Record

Naked Leader Week – 167 (w/c Monday 31st July 2006)

Every week I make a private note of my achievements, and this last week has seen more than normal! your achievements as well as your plans”, the day I started to record them was the day I began to notice what is great about this thing we call “life”.

In the last week I have been blessed with many such moments – and, as I started to write them down, my whole being tingled with excitement. One-to-ones with business leaders; several, wonderful team events; and progress made on writing, were the first I recorded.

In my mind, though, there was a gap – what did I do last Wednesday afternoon? I could not remember – as though a whole two hours had been erased from my memory. Living a life so reliant on clocks, time and time-zones, here was 120 minutes when time had simply not mattered.

And then it came to me – in a rush of joy, smiles and laughter. At 4pm on Wednesday, while reaching a critical point of my book, Olivia asked me to go shopping with her, for “one or two things.”

Off we went – her enthusiastic, me slightly less so, Then I remembered the advice I had so often read, and so often shared with others – when you spend time with your children, really spend time with your children.

Olivia is 16 and no longer a child, and last Wednesday afternoon we had such a laugh. We were a marketer’s dream as we picked up almost everything with an offer at the ends of each aisle, bought far more than we intended, and debated whether tomato sauce tastes better upside down.

Last Wednesday afternoon, in a world full of canned goods and surrounded by people in a hurry, time stood still.

With love to you all

David

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