Packing is arduous business.

Finding myself relocating to a new city means participating in the age-old, time-honored practice of pulling up stakes, shutting off utilities and looking ahead to another part of my life as it unfolds. The packing is simply the physical rendition of sorting and filing memories, moments and hopes that evidence the truth of the time spent in any place we choose to call home. Having done this a few times before, I am familiar with the process, its delights and its pitfalls. Gathering one's life together, releasing its unneeded portions to the universe, fitting the remainder into a box on wheels and trusting it will be intact and ready to be welcomed into a new space at the other end of the road, is both an act of will and faith,cheap timberland boots. This move calls forth a good measure of the former and a greater measure of the latter than any other move has required.

My mother's family started their journey in this country in upstate New York in the early nineteenth century. Eventually making their way through the Midwest, my great grandparents met in Iowa in the latter part of that era and continued their travels to Minnesota by way of South Dakota. My mother remembers that they returned to Iowa each year to help with the cattle drives, the women running the chuck wagon to provide home cooked meals for the cowboys. Their son carried on the tradition, moving his wife, son and daughter through Wisconsin and North Dakota before settling in Chicago. When my mother speaks of where she grew up, it is Chicago she remembers as home. While I know my grandfather moved his family to accommodate his work, I am not sure why his parents kept to the road for so long.

But what their movement across the land tells me is that they were strong people with dreams, willing to withstand endless days walking next to covered wagons containing their whole lives to the frontiers of a place completely unknown to them. Each generation pushed a little further West, following a hope for more than what they had or could envision for themselves where they were. What few pictures I have of these people I never met reveal great beauty and joy so poignantly real I can feel them with me,click here, directing me to take my part in the adventure. The unknown didn't seem to phase them, which is a gift, like their faith, that they have passed down to me. My people are people of faith, courage and abundantly joyful creativity, an ancestry of which I am proud to share, a legacy I hope to embody with grace.

The heat of these last days spent in this place that has been my home for seven years also reminds me that I am not carrying out an Exodus journey of Biblical proportions. There will be no hot desert winds on my face or burning sand under my feet, no blazing sun relentlessly beating down on my head with each passing minute, hour or day. There is an address to which I am headed, unlike the Israelites, who would wander for forty years with only the hope of God's assurance that there would be a promised land.

There is progress in the journey. Years later Isaiah would go on to speak of a new Exodus for God's people, a journey to a new Eden-like place. "For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off (Isaiah 55: 12-13)." Sometimes what we can't see immediately is as important as what is within each task and step of the day,website. Within the tangible moments of living are housed the grace and mystery of God's purpose and promise. Herein lies our home,cheap timberland boots uk, wherever we are.




This is the advice Gavin Aubrey of Think Training & Development gives to his trainees. Mooing like a cow can make you happier, increase motivation, and even make you live longer! This is just one of the practical approaches he and Wendie at Think Training & Development use to help demonstrate that people can control the way they think and therefore control their motivation, happiness and success.

Gavin and Wendie specialise in communication skills training, leadership programmes and Myers Briggs courses. Whilst many companies spend their training budget on knowledge and skills, research actually suggests that success is based on 80% attitude and 20% knowledge and skills. Gavin says "True success is about having the belief and positive mental attitude to achieve your goals." So why do companies not invest more time in motivation training? Probably because they never thought attitude could be developed.

Using Gavin's techniques, individuals can unleash their full potential and achieve personal success. He says "Mooing like a cow demonstrates how you can control your motivation and success." He continues "What makes the successful, successful? Is it education, good looks, luck, length of service? Look around at the people you class as successful (if you feel successful look in the mirror). Are they better looking, educated to a higher standard, had a lucky break or just been there forever? Probably not...what sets them apart is their attitude."

For his next exercise, Gavin uses another technique. He explains "Close your eyes and imagine half a lemon in your hand, notice the texture and contour. Now bring the lemon to your mouth and take a bite." He continues "If done correctly, everybody experiences some sensation of biting a real lemon ? saliva in the back of the throat, pulling a funny face. But why? The lemon was never there. Your brain is a magnificent creation, unfortunately we were given limited instructions on how to use it, and therefore we usually live our lives on what has happened rather than what could happen. If your brain can taste a non-existent lemon you can develop attitude."

To listen to Gavin's motivation podcast, or to book a training or coaching programme for yourself or your staff, visit the Think website.

About Think Training & Development
Think Training & Development Ltd was founded in 2003, by Wendie Michie and Gavin Aubrey,replica uggs. They have had the good fortune to coach and train thousands of people in more than 10 countries, across four continents ranging from Kazakhstan to Tobago, Deli to Hong Kong, Stevenage to Mayfair. The company employs a fabulous team of like-minded associate coaches and trainers from a variety of walks of life. To book a course or find out more, please contact: