Seize the Moment! (From The Pegasus NLP Newsletter - 9 September 2000) High Ropes' time again! No apologies! I'm back on the topic not just because it is a passion of mine but it is also a great metaphor for how people approach life's challenges. I was working with a group of young-people-with-cancer some time ago. And it was inspiring. The two on us who were leading the group treated them exactly as we would any group. Without sympathy and without making allowances for their situation. We treated them as people – not as patients. It was not a conscious decision – that's just how it worked out. And they were great! They really went for it! However challenging the situation they just got on with it. Standing on top of the wobbly trapeze pole and leaping out to catch the bar. Walking the high beam between two trees. Moving across the high wire. Whatever the challenge they took it on and dealt with it. Why this no-hesitation? My guess is that they don't make a common assumption – that they have unlimited time to 'get around to it'. When they visited the site to take part in the High Ropes session their attitude was 'do it now' because maybe there won't be a next time. In one of my workshops I ask people 'what would you do if you knew you had just six months to live?' It really focuses the mind. Now things take on a new immediacy. Like making it up with that person you had an argument with years ago. Or taking up that hobby or activity. Or asking that person for a date. Or telling a loved one how you really love them. Many of us have this terrible complacency. We act as if we are eternal – when we are not. Because of this so many opportunities remain dreams. Until it is too late. We are so busy working to pay for the new windows, or the alteration to the bathroom, or a flasher car that we put things like having fun, or appreciating a loved one, or looking after our health 'on the long finger'. In our teens it's “I'll get around to that when I have a mate”. In our twenties it becomes “I'll get around to it when I have a better job – or when I am married”. Then it becomes “I'll get around to it when the kids have started school – when the kids have finished college - when we move house – when the kids have married – when I retire – oops, too late…….!” What's on your “Oh, yeah, I'll do that – one day” list? There was a series on BBC TV recently called Hope & Glory. On the wall behind the main character's desk was a sign: If not you, who? If not now, when? It's worth thinking about. Many of us wait till the gun is to our head before we act. When middle age comes along we become frantic trying to fight off ageing. When we get ill we start changing our diet and taking food supplements. When our loved one or child starts looking elsewhere for affection we start acting tender and caring. That's not the time to make a fresh start. Now is the only time… From the Pegasus NLP Newsletter - 9 September 2000. You can subscribe to our free NLP Newsletter here and receive this newsletter every few weeks. © 2000-2008 Reg Connolly - but you can freely pass this newsletter on to friends as long as you do so in its entirety, include this message and link: http://www.nlp-now.co.uk. Please contact us if you would like to reproduce this article in your own newsletter. | 
