Thank you, Seeds for Change, for this post. And Maria and Allan, obviously. The last paragraph says it all.
One or two readers have had a difficulty seeing Facebook links, so here is the text, just in case:-
“We have been travelling without money for over twenty years. In 93 we gave everything away and began our journey. That year I gave my home to the person who wanted it. Allan gave all his possessions to the Steiner school he worked at. Giving gives such joy. You must be prepared to let go, attachment you don’t need.
We travelled without any money for about two and a half years until the government caught up with us. They got stressed because we hadn’t applied for our pensions. We lived with no money, we walked until we were offered shelter, we fasted until we were fed. Travelling with just one bag with two pair of knickers and two T-shirts was a challenge, but it never ever stopped me from trusting. This is okay, this is what I’m meant to be doing.
In the end we gave in and took our pensions. We never use that pension, we give it all away, I don’t have a need for it. They say we must, so we do what they like and they’re happy. Everything I have is given to me, because I give. But I don’t give expecting, I just give.
We would be asked to give workshops and personal sessions around the world. We never told them we’d work for no money beforehand. We allowed them to give. In the end we would say: It’s all yours. If you can, look for a project that deserves it. Maybe it’s a family in need, whatever you find from your heart, help them. This was Polish money, it was Indian money, it didn’t matter where we were, it belonged to those people, not to us. We didn’t need it.
It makes my heart sing when somebody says: I am awake, I have woken up. Everybody would like you to stay asleep, to not realise who you are. You’ve given yourselves the opportunity to find out who you are, without being in the mundane nine to five, pay your bills system. You are free now, and your decisions come from your heart, not from your head. That’s what makes it beautiful.
Our seed for change? Find still time, by that I mean be in your own company and listen. Don’t expect messages to come in a particular way. Believe in You, for nobody knows You better than You. Do a little mantra every day: I believe in me, I love and trust myself. Every day, a thousand times if you like. The more you say it, the more it becomes a way of being. It’s simple, it’s so damn simple. We can only do it with love, with violence it’s been tried and it doesn’t work.”
Maria and Allan — in Melbourne, Australia
Palace Gate Counselling Service, Exeter
Counselling Exeter since 1994
Palace Gate Counselling Service Blog 