Planting the seeds of hope, to those who have very little

As a personal development coach, I work with 'switched on' people who are tired of just 'thinking about it'... they are ready instead to take action and, with my help, start creating it.

Thats what my intro says.  And yes, I still do that, but now only with the select few who are my private clients beyond 5p.m.

Many of you will know that one reason I returned from Crete was to take up a job offer in Perth.  The job?
As a coach and counsellor, to give hope to those who have almost given up.Changing Lives, Creating Futures.  That is the strap line of the company I work for. And its very apt.

I'm working with people suffering from long term illness which has crippled their lives, their emotions their hopes and dreams, and certainly their finances.

I'm also working with chronic alcoholics, drug addicts and ex-offenders.

A very different sector of people.  Those I have worked with in the past have tended to be career minded, already successful, and already have most material things.

But you know what?  I LOVE THIS,  I love working with these people, because so little makes such a huge difference to them, and if I can make a difference, if only for five minutes out of the hour I'm with them, then its worth it.  To re-ignite that flame of hope,even just a flicker , is enough to take them through the day, to make them want more, to know that they can.

Maybe I will never make enough of a difference, but I know I was there with them for a moment.  For that moment they were not alone, not isolated, not hopeless.

When I assisted at a training course at The Scottish Parliament several years ago, on the New Disability Act, one of the lessons was connect with the individual, the person, and not the disability.  This has stuck in my mind, and is working well for me now.  No matter what the problem is, I have found the ability to look past it and see only the frail and damaged human being in front of me.

OK, not everybody is good.  There are some who are just plain evil.  Fortunately I haven't met them yet, and may God protect me if I ever do.

In the meantime, I feel life has given me the opportunity of being of real service to this client base.  These are not lesser people, they are people with less.  And there but for the Grace of God, go I.