Many years ago a wrote a note on a piece of paper. It said one day I will build a retreat on an island. It was to be a place where like-minded people would congregate and rejuvenate. I imagined people dropping in from their busy lives, reconnecting with themselves and others. There would be different activities, some spiritual, some intellectual. Meditation meets dance, meets philosophy meets entrepreneurship. People who wanted to change THE world or THEIR world could come for support, be inspired or just for some downtime. I could see it in my mind. I wanted to hang out there
When I wrote this note the idea I was writing about seemed so removed from my life. I had hardly been to any retreats. I was leading teams in the advertising world. I had hardly invested in my own personal development. But it was a flicker, a little seed of inspiration of another possible world.
A few years later I left the world of advertising with little sense of where I wanted to go. This note was still with me and at some point it would provide the spark of inspiration to pull me forward into a new space, a new life and a new way of being.
I’m writing this post from a café on the stunning island of Aegina in Greece. The early morning sun is reflecting a beautiful light off the shimmering sea in front. The fishing boats are gently bobbing up and down. Their work was completed hours ago; the local fish market, just a few steps away, is testament to their achievements.
I first came to this island with a Greek friend of mine from London. I had managed to enroll him in the dream. In the idea that we could build a retreat centre here. We had no experience , no money for this type of project but in that moment we were convinced, and that was enough to take action and spend two months here. We walked the island with architects and estate agents looking for land, we learned a lot, we made many friends, we had a laugh.
The following year I bought a house here. I met a wonderful greek lady and started a relationship. A new life had revealed itself from simply moving towards my impossible dream.
Since then my friend Manos and I created Laughing Heart, a brand dedicated to supporting others in discovering their Good Life.
Most of us only create goals that lie within what seems possible. Where’s the fun in that? I’m interested in exploring something bigger, the dream that seems impossible. The one that really excites you but you think is out of your reach. Once you start to play this game you realise that you may never reach your dream. It doesn’t matter.
The key is that it inspires you into a new way of being today and then just watch what unfolds..
I still have a dream to build a retreat center on an island. And I’m now living on an island, leading retreats and slowly stepping into that new possibility.
What “impossible” dream do you have?
