PURE GRATITUDE

Hi everyone.

A quick blog that I just had to post as today I have witnessed the purest of gratitude.

Picture the scene.  Busy Leeds City Centre just short of 3 weeks before Christmas.  Lots of fun and frivolity and shopping.

We had gone in as a family for the kids to choose their Christmas presents.  I witnessed a number of spats in shops with kids wanting more than they could have.  We had just enjoyed a pub lunch as a family and were all warm and filled up with good food and drink.

We walked back into the City Centre to carry on our shopping and there, sitting on the floor amongst a sea of designer shopping bags was a homeless man.

We swiftly diverted away from him.  I’ve done this a lot in the past to avoid the embarrassment of refusing to give any spare change.  This time it was different.  We diverted into a nearby Tesco and bought a food deal.  Sandwich, crisps and a drink.

My 20 year old student son even dipped into his own precious funds to buy an extra tub of crisps.

We walked out as a family and crouched down to hand over the goods.  The look on that man’s face will stay with me forever.  I have never seen so much gratitude.  When he looked up at the direction of the voice and offerings – I realised he was blind.  We gave him some human physical contact and shook his hand.  What a beautiful firm hand shake.

In that moment, something that has been stirring in me for a long time just shifted so hugely it was almost overwhelming.

What are we doing!!!!!!???!!!

How can it be in this world that another human being should have to live like this alongside designer handbags and Jimmy Choos.

We are human beings.  We are here to express humanity towards one another and live in harmony.

This is not going to happen through government and politics.  This is going to happen through people helping out their fellow citizens.

I recently ran a Conscious Cafe with my awesome business partners.  The humanity in that room was palpable.  The passion in that room was palpable and the desire to take action was palpable.

We do not have to make some grand sweeping gesture to help others.  We can all contribute to humanity in the way that feels right for us.  If every person helped another person every day – can you imagine what a wonderful society we would live in.

We came home to a warm house to put our Christmas decorations up with our beloved family.  I wonder what that man is doing tonight?

It’s down to us folks.  What difference do you want to make in someone’s life today?

Vivienne

Christmas Magic!!

What happens when you mix:

• A bunch of good citizens
• A great organisation who wants to make a difference (Clarion Solicitors)
• A homeless charity (you are awesome St George’s Crypt, Leeds!!)
• A passionate gift wrapper
• A load of people who want to learn how to properly wrap presents
• A load of donated gifts for homeless men
• A good lashing of Prosecco

THIS!!!

 

Another awesome example of humanity that I have been blessed to witness and be part of:-)

Tonight it is -2 degrees in Leeds.  There are homeless people that St Georges Crypt are having to turn away because they haven’t got enough beds.

What difference can YOU make.

Vivienne

Blessed and Humbled

I just had to share this.  I am so blessed and humbled to be a Trustee of Disability Sport Yorkshire.

It is when you watch videos like this that you realise how RIGHT we can get it in society.  Where humanity really does prevail.  With a group of awesome people doing awesome things to help awesome kids.

I challenge anyone to watch this and not be moved by it and have your spirits uplifted.

Magical

Also very proud of my son Ben Duke for filming this and putting the video together.

Vivienne

Bravely asking the bigger questions!!

Had to share my excitement at our forthcoming Conscious Cafe!

Those that know me well will know I have been involved in developing a rather exciting service called Conscious Communities through my company People Help People.  Our key aim is to support the wellbeing and resilience of individuals, organisations and communities so we can collectively contribute to making this a better world for everyone.

We’ve taken on quite a big Vision but we know we can achieve it and we are doing so in a collaborative way with some awesome people.  People seem to be drawn to us and the magic of synchronicity is prevalent every day:-)

Just wanted to share something with you today as it is thought provoking and I guess you will relate to a lot of it.  One of the missions we have through Conscious Communities is to get people talking about issues of wellbeing that concern them and to start having ‘conscious conversations’ about how we can make a positive difference in our own lives and that of others.

We recently surveyed our wonderful community of partners and client organisations and this is what we got back from them.

Would love to hear if this resonates with you and what your thoughts are on how we can be more ‘conscious’ in our day to day lives.

Please do leave your thoughts below.  We are going to be publishing a report from our first Conscious Cafe and we are seeking thoughts from as far afield as possible.

We’ve also just launched a Linked In Group and would love you to join us in our discussions.

Look forward to you joining our Conscious Communities!

Vivienne

Just updated Vision and Values on Home Page – love to hear your thoughts!

Here they are.

This is what we are all about.

Our Vision

To see a time when we all live harmoniously with uplifted spirits!

Our Values

.  We aim to help you lift your SPIRITS through:

• Smiling and Happiness
• Positivity and Optimism
• Inspirational Content
• Resilience & Open-Mindedness
• Inner Strength & Courage
• Trust & Integrity
• Support & Caring

 How important are these values to you?  We would love to hear your comments.  Please do share before you leave.

Vivienne Duke 05 May 2014