The Ambaa Tree

On a recent week end away with my coaching group we were all taken out of the conference room to the beautiful Minyon Falls in the hinterland of Byron Bay.  There is often a reason for our coach taking out on these excursions and not just to get us outside for the day, the question was what were we in for today?

It was a cool and overcast day as we arrived at the start of our walk, everyone was chatting away and ready to go.  Well it was just going to be a walk wasn’t it?  First task, “get yourselves into groups of 3 and stay with that group for the entire walk, there and back”.  A simple task you would think, but it seemed to cause a bit of a problem.  I wanted to walk with one person so I could have a chat, someone else wanted to walk with me.  I didn’t want to say no I am already with someone else, so I just let it go but we were in a group of 5 not 3 – that would be okay wouldn’t  it?  “No, it isn’t okay I said a group of 3, it’s not that hard”.  Okay a group of 3 it was, all sorted we are ready to walk.

Just before we left we had a quick group talk.  Our coach explained that the locals believed that these falls held great positive energy, for some people this walk may be a life changing experience.  In mind head, I was going okay it will be a nice walk but what life change experience could happen to me?

As we were walking off someone called ‘there will be lots of leeches and it will be very slippery, so be careful”.  Hang on there, leeches?  The last time I got a leech I was 15 years old and I screamed the place down and ran around trying to get it off me.  I gulped, and just kept walking.  OK if I was brave I could pretend that leeches didn’t really worry me.

I was in the first group down, taking it carefully but having a bit of a chat on the walk.  Because we were walking down a hill and it was a bit slippery I was a bit cautious, a little worried about what was happening. Then someone found a leech.  “Okay these leeches were real, but they looked small and skinny”. Then I looked down there was a leech on my leg, I didn’t panic I just bent down and flicked it off.  No, worries that was easy and no screams. I didn’t embarrass myself.  Then there was another leech, they were everywhere, I got rid of one and there was another one but I just kept going.  I was still talking to others, a bit of bravado, but I was worried but these leeches.  It was distracting me, I wanted to stop and get out of here.

We were the first to the bottom of the walk.  So where to know, which way did we go?  We hesitated and then started to climb over a small creek and look up at some fairly large rocks – I couldn’t climb them, they were too big, my knee wasn’t strong enough, they were slippery, what if I fell? Lots of excuses but luckily everyone else arrived and it was time for a 30 minute break.  “Great, I wouldn’t have to climb those rocks!”

While we are having some morning tea, I saw a large yabbie which was bright blue and yellow, he was hiding behind a rock. I watched some leeches dancing on a rock trying to find someone’s blood.  I stood (I wasn’t sitting on a wet rock) beside a small creek and just enjoyed the nature.  Was this what our coach had been talking about?  Yeah, it was nice and a life changing experience – I don’t think so” My coach asked me if I wanted to climb up through the rocks to see the waterfall, “Up those rocks, I don’t think so and I happy to stay here on solid ground”¸ He said okay and walked away.

As I stood down by the creek, I started to think.  “How do my clients feel when I ask them to undertake some of my programs?  I know they work.  I know that they will feel better if they do everything that I tell them, but these people don’t really know me but I expect them to trust me.  Just do as I say, you will feel better and you will see I am right.”

“If I expect my clients to trust me and to take this unknown journey then surely I could climb those rocks into the unknown and put my trust in myself and nature to look after me.” I climbed some very slippery large rocks, I needed to find my strength, I needed to find the courage within me to take this challenge, to do something which I have never done before.  After climbing like a mountain goat I walked over a ridge and felt the spray of the waterfall.

The falls were beautiful and the setting was so peaceful.  I sat down on a rock, I didn’t care if it was wet this time, and I just soaked up the atmosphere.  I felt good I had taken a challenge and had got the reward.  “Okay, so this is how my clients feel when they listen to me and trust me and they achieve their goals.  So all I had to do was help them through the hurdles”.

I was feeling good, but….. now I had to climb back down those rocks.  This was going to be harder than climbing up, a lot more risk and uncertainty.  I was a bit slower and very cautious but I know that when I climbed up these rocks I felt great so I wasn’t as worried this time.  I was more confident.  Then it was time for our walk back out of the falls.  Back to our group of 3, I was ready to go.  I was feeling energetic and wanted to start walking but my group wasn’t ready to move.  I had to wait for them; we ended up being the last group to leave.  I didn’t need to watch my step on the way back up, I was full of energy and I was confident.  I moved forward, I left my group as they were having problems keeping up with me but the instruction was to stay together so I stopped and waited for them.  “Come on, didn’t they feel the same energy I did?” It seemed to be a quicker trip out of the falls. I didn’t get any leeches this time, even though I was prepared for them.  I had a couple of small slips, but I corrected and kept moving up.  Suddenly we were back at the carpark, we were finished.

I took a couple of minutes to think about this walk.  I realised that many of the feelings and emotions that I had experienced on this walk were similar feelings that my clients feel when they undertake a treatment program.  They want to do it, they are excited but cautious, and they start enthusiastically but then start the stumble as the “leeches” slow them down.  They get worried as they change their habits, then they reach a goal.  They feel good, but comfortable.  Then another challenge comes along. A decision which means they will fall back to old habits or move forward with the challenge.  Those who take the challenge feel great and enthusiastic.  Those who don’t take the challenge find that they stagnate and things just stay the same.

“I did learn something on this walk, it wasn’t the lightning bolt of energy.  I did connect with some of the feelings that my clients go through.  Does that mean I should stop what I am doing?  No, it means that I need to encourage my clients. I need to be firm and keep my intent clear.  My clients deserve to feel the best they can and it is my role to guide them through the rocks to the beautiful place on the other side. Not everyone wants to climb the rocks, they are happy to stay where they are comfortable and that’s okay.” Thanks Adam for the experience and the lessons.

Well another lot of school holidays are over but for once these seem to go by very quickly.  Having the long week end at the end of the holidays was a good break because I was able to share the parenting duties with Dad.

We took our kids up to Dubbo for a couple of days to have a look around the Zoo plus we checked out the Space Observatory and the Wellington Caves.  When it was time to leave my son said that “Dubbo was Cool, can we live here?”

Looking back at our weekend a few things came up for me.  It was great just cycling around the zoo in the fresh air with no real timetable or plan, we just took whatever path there was and we still managed to see most things and if we missed something it didn’t really matter.  Sometimes I think we need to step off the “path of life” and just go with whatever happens.  We are busy making plans (and these are important) to make sure that we see and do everything that we forget to have FUN and just relax.

The other thing which really made me think was at the Observatory where I looked through a telescope and saw Saturn.  It was so clear with its rings, it looked just like a photo.  Yes, I have seen pictures of Saturn before but seeing it with my own eyes made it real, there is something out there, outside of our own small Easrth.  This is a bit like our dreams and wishes for the future, we can see them in our mind’s eye but they aren’t real.  Writing about them in detail, finding the pictures to go with the words or creating a Vision Board makes them real – and achievable.

Also standing in a cave in Wellington, a cave which was once part of the sea.  Over time the earth changed and moved, it created something new.  Some parts of the earth collapsed and created caves, the water continued to seep through the earth to create the fantastic formations that we were standing in front of, taking photos.  These caves were millions of years old but they are still being formed and continue to change, one drop at a time.  Isn’t that a bit like us, well we aren’t a million years old, but we have the ability to change and we continue to grow every single day.  Changes in the earth can happen slowly but sometimes it will happen very quickly as a reaction to something, this was seen recently in North Queensland, Christchurch and in Japan.  But as with the earth with every change we make, with every new drop we continue to grow and develop.

So my short trip to Dubbo has given me more than I expected.  It has allowed me to have FUN and experience nature at it’s best.  I am even contemplating a Bike Riding holiday (much to my husband’s delight, he is an avid bike rider), this is something I wouldn’t even have considered in the past but people can change, very slowly……

This trip has also helped me to get back on track about the future direction of my business and the role that the clinic can play in provide support and understanding for Mothers.  My goals book will be filled this weekend with what the clinic will look like in 6 months time and how our team will be able to deliver a fantastic health concept to our clients.  My goals are not just for the clinic, my goals book will also include some of my personal goals.  The changes that I will make so that I can have more fun, spend more time with my family and also time to look after myself.

But no we are not moving to Dubbo, my son will get over that just like he got over not moving to New Zealand last year.