Vision

Last Friday, I had the privilege and pleasure of attending a book launch party. Jo Parfitt wrote and self-published her first novel Sunshine Soup, and Jae De Wylde wrote her debut novel The Thinking Tank, which was published by Jo through Summertime Publishing. Held in Café Quirky in The Hague, we were greeted with a glass of pink champagne, which was refreshing on that lovely warm, sunny evening.

What struck me most was how these two incredible ladies both had a vision to write and publish a novel, and there I was celebrating their moment with them: they had finally achieved their vision. It was an honour to be there, and I also found it inspiring.

Their achievements, along with a few others, have recently reminded me to hold onto my vision. Firstly, my brother Michael Sanderson, a talented cameraman and photographer, had a vision of making a particular wildlife documentary. It is now being realised.

Another family member, my mum Maggie Sanderson, had a vision at the age of 40 to become a yoga teacher; now 20 years on she is a qualified teacher and teaches a wonderful weekly yoga class.

What the above examples have reminded me of is to never give up on your vision or your dream. What you imagine in your head CAN happen.

Having a vision can seem daunting though. How on earth are we going to achieve writing and publishing a book; exhibiting our work in an art gallery; running a marathon; going back to university to study; and so forth? Where do you start? Often we don’t know how we are going to do it, but that doesn’t matter, the how will appear. What you need to be clear about and focus on is the what.

It does take time to realise your vision. Nowadays, one of the problems is we want things to happen now; our culture demands it and is geared towards it.  We speed up, work ourselves into a frenzy and if we’re not careful we burn out. No wonder people give up on their vision and their dreams. If you’re not enjoying the journey towards achieving your vision, what is the point?

Give yourself permission and the time to work on your vision. I always ask myself, what small thing can I do today that is in line with achieving my vision? I believe it’s important to look after yourself, have fun and live your life whilst focusing on your vision.

As I was finishing off this post, I was saddened by the news of Steve Jobs’ death. He was a visionary. Not only that, he acted on his vision. He made incredible things happen. It took him time to build up his business, but then he lost it all. Did he give up? No, he went on to create another amazing company, always focusing on his passion and doing what he loved. He followed his heart and intuition, and always encouraged us to do the same.

What is your vision? Do you have more than one? What are you aspiring to achieve? I leave you with a quote that spoke to me when I read it for the first time this week:

“Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.” – Eddie Cantor