Last weekend I met some of my closest friends in Rome for a magical weekend. The whole time was filled with amazing sights, beautiful sunshine, great food, wine and the conversations you can only have with friends with topics ranging from the ridiculous to the responsible usually with 3 seconds notice.
On our first morning my friend Sarah had shared a question she was asked recently ‘How colourful is your life?’ We both agreed as we walked down Condotti Street surrounded Gucci and Prada and good friends that in that moment it truly was colourful. As the weekend progressed I was presented with so many moments when I would say it wasn’t just colourful but iridescent:
- Sat with a glass of wine debating life with my friends in front of the Pantheon
- Stood on a platform in the Colloseum taking in the size and history under a blue sky
- With my friends at the Trevi Fountain throwing in coins and making wishes
Back in Naples I started to reflect on Sarah’s question, and it is a big question, this amazing weekend aside how colourful is my life ? And I don’t mind admitting this blog has taken a week to complete whilst I contemplate that question.
I have spent time casting my mind back to the past, considered the here and now and started to look ahead at my plans for the short and medium term future. My evaluation and analysis style is visual so these thoughts are dominated by pictures; it is almost like the coloured powers thrown during the Indian festival of Holi intermingle with the images. I see the iridescence of magical moments like Rome, being sat on an elephant in Thailand and the moment I decided to go self-employed – the colours are vibrant. But I note there are moments when the colours are dull and become bleak like smog descending on my life.
I don’t hate those bleak moments because I believe I value the vibrant moments more as a result. But as I cast my mind forward I am now actively planning how to increase the amount of colour and it’s intensity in my future. This may be about ‘facing the fear… and doing it anyway’ or just taking control and planning in time doing what I love with people I love.
I invite you to set aside 30-60 minutes of reflection time, where you can sit and focus on you:
- Cast your mind backwards to look at the past, how colourful has your life been? Consider work, friends, family, relationships, events, days outs and holidays.
- Then bring your mind to the present considering today, the recent past and near future – what colour do you see, is there enough?
- Finally cast your mind forward to the future- How much colour lies ahead for you?
Now take action – you can not change the past but you can learn from it, what changes do you need to make to bring more intense colour in to every aspect of your life?
My wish for you – may your life always be coated in vibrant colour.