Sunday 22 September 2019

The Aponatime

The Aponatime is a very curious animal. Shy and terribly timid they only come out if people are being very quiet and listening to the world around and inside them. Oh, and just so you know they are becoming increasingly rare because sadly we don’t spend as much time being quiet and listening as much.

In fact they are so rare that you might not even have heard of an Aponatime. But I want you to imagine how dreadfully sad it would that be if there were no Aponatimes left in the whole wide world. It would be unimaginable because Aponatimes are very special indeed. You see they take you to the Land of Imagination. They can make you laugh, they can make you sad, they can make you frightened, they can make you smile and they can make you very, very happy.

But what they are quite brilliant at is making your eyes feel sleepy. Really sleepy even when you know more than anything that you’re not tired and you don’t want to lie down or go to bed.

It’s then that the Aponatime can weave its magic. It’s like they put a spell on you and before you know it you are drifting off into another world. A world of dreams and fantasies where impossible things can happen and you could be a giant or a mouse, an astronaut or a blue whale. Maybe even a tiger or a wizard. It’s a truly magical world the Land of Imagination and we must never stop going there.

Would you like to go there again? Well of course you would. Would you like to go there now? Well, if you shut your eyes and listen very carefully maybe an Aponatime might just take you there. Sshh now and let’s just see. Ooh, what’s that, I think I can hear something, I think it might even be ....... oh yes it is, so now just relax and listen

Once Aponatime .....

Friday 13 September 2019

A Paper Boat on the Sea of Doubt

(Just a thought from the shower)

When an idea first emerges it’s like a paper boat – delicate. 

It is launched into the Sea of Doubt where it is tossed about by winds of negativity whipping up waves to capsize it. Inside the boat is self-doubt, quietly ready to spill you overboard.

Try to talk to people about your idea because some of them might bring you wood, sails, varnish and many other things that can help strengthen a paper resolve. They can add other hands to the tiller to help navigate through the waves. Someone might even bring a ‘fibre glass’ moment that streamlines, strengthens and speeds you. 

A good idea can sail through the doubt and find the land to develop and build. It can steer round the rocks others place in the way.

But sometimes your ideas boat will sink. It might be under the weight of problems, it might have been launched at the wrong time or, simply, there might be a hole in it.

The important thing is not to be dragged down with it. There are always new ideas to launch, new seas to cross, new reasons to try. To be held back by the fear of failing merely adds further depth to the Sea of Doubt and can turn you into a negative wind for others.