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How would you like to be remembered?

Reading the newspaper one morning a man was shocked to see that his death was featured in the obituary column. His first response was shock. Am I here or there? When he regained his composure, his second thought was to find out what people had said about him. The obituary read, “Dynamite King Dies.” And also “He was the merchant of death.” This man was the inventor of dynamite and when he read the words “merchant of death,” he asked himself a question, “Is this how I am going to be remembered?” It didn’t take much for him to decide that this was not the way he wanted to be remembered. From that day forwards, he started working toward peace. His name was Alfred Nobel and he is known today for the Nobel Prize.

A few years ago when on a training course I was lucky enough to be ‘used’ as the ‘guinea pig’ for a visualisation demonstration. Up on the stage in front about 200 people I was ‘transported’ to my graveside. The lights were low, the music dark and ominous. A voice boomed in my ear ‘you had a dream, you didn’t take action, look at your family, what do they think of you, always so full of ideas – yet you didn’t do anything with them, look at their sadness, their disappointment – How does that feel. Tears streamed down my face, sobs tore from my chest. The feeling inside was hollow, sad, lost, devastation and disappointment in myself.
Slowly the music changed, it had a gentle uplifting pulse, it was sunny – help hope and opportunity. Even though my eyes were still closed I could feel the brightness of the lights. The energy in the room had changed. I was led back to my graveside and asked to look at my families expressions, to feel their pride and love for me – because I had taken action, I had followed my dreams and made a positive difference in the lives of others. My tears tuned to ones of gratitude and love for my family.

The reality of this life changing moment was very real to me as at that time in I was recovering from skin cancer (nothing dramatic – the best sort you can have – but I had been told to be prepared to be facially disfigured). This was the third health scare within just a few years.

This experience was my wake up call – My life, my priorities, my outlook and values changed forever. Each day is about balance and yet at the same time it is about taking actions towards the type of legacy I want to leave. It is not attached to ego – but to … … well actually there are no words in the spoken language that I have found to describe it. For me it is about how I feel at a cellular level. Everything is an opportunity to learn, to grow, to live – Everything is about choice.

So What Have I Done?

Have you ever had a dream, something that you wanted so badly that it became part of you? A dream that lit you up inside, left you feeling as though your energy levels were off the chart and that if someone plugged you into the mains you would light up a whole city or more? A dream that felt as though it was encoded into your DNA?

I have and it is big, very big. In fact it is a BHAG – A Big Hairy Audacious Goal

Have you, or someone you know, ever looked for help or support in your community and not found it, when you really needed it, only to find out later that it was there all along? I have and I have talked to thousands of others who have been in the same situation.

For the past two years a small team of volunteers and I have been working on finding a solution. We have spoken, and really listened, to people from all walks of life.

We are working on utilizing existing technology to create an Online Interactive Community Map (ODODOW) that will Pin-point Community Projects, Non-profits and Charities.

ODODOW – will provide an innovative and flexible solution to some of the challenges faced by individuals and communities. It will be launched initially in the UK and focus on Four Key Areas of support:

Helping those who need help – to find it
Sign-posting those who want to help – to projects that need their support.
Connecting New and Existing Projects to each other – so that they can share best practices, tools, strategies, services and more.
Encouraging businesses – to support projects within their local community, forging stronger community links.

And all of this will be available free, 24/7, at the click of a button.

To achieve this – The Team and I have just launched a Crowd Funding Campaign – we would love it if you would take a look and see if there is a Perk that you would like – so that you can support us. There’s a wide choice – such as – A Limited Edition Token, A Key Note Speech, Cream Tea at a Castle, to name a few. There are also opportunities for forward thinking businesses to get in at the ground level with sponsorship – and even a chance for you to suggest a perk.