Inside Out

Let me introduce you to Barbs, she's a woman I used to work with a while ago. She was one of those people who come into your life and you are glad to have there. She was always patient and kind and rarely got angry, and if she did she would soon shrug it off. She loved her family and her work and had an active social life, she was fun to be around as well as calm and peaceful.

I had finished my Nursery Nursing training a couple of years before and was working in a Social Services Day Care Centre in London, working with young children and their families from deprived backgrounds. Work was hard, despite being preschoolers, these kids were tough! Barbs was an unqualified member of staff on the team and I was lucky enough to be working alongside her and, despite all my training, I learnt so much from her. She was a natural with young children and they adored her. I was able to watch how she could coax a child out of a tantrum, encourage a stubborn child to participate and persuade a disruptive child to cooperate in a group activity. Tricks and tips that I still use and teach others to use today. All the staff liked her (and in an all female environment that was quite a feat!) and she was popular amongst the parents too.

Barbs saw the positive in everyone, including some of our more disagreeable parents, was quick to praise and be grateful and slow to criticize and complain. Life seemed easy for her and things came to her all the time. She enjoyed bingo and was always winning something - she had a store of toasters and kettles that she was happy to pass onto others when their's had broken. She saw her children and grandchildren regularly and was looking forward to her retirement in a few years time. I was going through a bad time in my home life and she always seemed to know if I needed cheering up, space to be quiet or a shoulder to cry on.

Although we have lost contact I still think of her and wonder what she is doing, and she still influences my behaviour today. Barbs was one of those people that you aspire to be like, I'm not sure if I have achieved that, but I think she'd be pleased if she could see me now.
Looking back on it now I can see she was unknowingly practicing what has become know as the Law of Attraction. That her inner thoughts were creating and shaping her outside reality. As she saw the best in everyone, they wanted to show her their best. She loved with a big heart and was showered with love in return. Although she was not physically rich she was grateful and contended with what she had and I truly believe did not want more as she had a great spiritual wealth and this pleased her more than the thought of a bigger house or a more expensive car.
My biggest wish is that everyone, at some point,  has someone like Barbs in their life too.