The Parable of the Marbles

It is a bit surreal sat in San Diego writing this blog. This is a result of a two-year journey across the world to get to this point. I first met Kimo Kippen former Vice President Global Talent from Hilton Hotels in Dubai. Then in Poland and again in London where he agreed to book me to speak to the Hilton HR team at the world headquarters of Hilton in Washington DC.

I delivered my Mental Resilience Masterclass to them in Washington last October and the feedback was really positive. It was while there that I was introduced to a director from a company called Association for Talent Development (ATD). We spoke, and he felt that I would be a good fit to speak at their 75th Anniversary International Conference held in San Diego in May 2018.

A booking to speak in San Diego

We confirmed details and the time has finally arrived for me to speak which is tomorrow Sunday 6th May. Julie and I have just been to register and see the San Diego Convention Centre which is huge. I am not on the main stage as this is the 75th anniversary of this very large organisation which has 36,000 members across the world and the keynote speaker is Barrack Obama.

My books are already on the bookshelves in the book store at the convention centre and I have a book signing on Wednesday at 11.15am. I sent two boxes of books ahead of me and they have arrived safely. I am going to give it my best and I have set myself a target to meet 5 good contacts while I am here.

I came across this recently, which made me think:

The parable of the marbles

“Once upon a time, there was a foolish boy who had a bag full of beautiful marbles. Now this boy was quite proud of his marbles. In fact, he thought so much of them that he would neither play with them himself nor would he let anyone else play with them.

He only took them out of the bag in order to count and admire them; they were never used for their intended purpose. Yet that boy carried that coveted bag of marbles everywhere he went.

A wise boy had faith and wisdom

Well, there was also a wise boy who wished he could have such a fine bag of marbles. So this boy worked hard and earned money to purchase a nice bag to hold marbles. Even though he had not yet earned enough with which to purchase any marbles, he had faith and purchased the marble bag.

He took special care of the bag and dreamed of the day it would contain marbles with which he could play and share with his friends.

He lost everything

Alas, the foolish boy with all of the marbles didn’t take care of the marble bag itself, and one day the bag developed a hole in the bottom seam. Still, he paid no attention and, one by one, the marbles fell out of the bag.

It didn’t take long, once the foolish boy’s marble bag developed a hole, for the wise boy to begin to find those beautiful marbles, one at a time, lying unnoticed on the ground. And, one by one, he added them to his marble bag.

Faith and wisdom paid off

The wise boy thus gained a fine bag full of marbles in no time at all. This boy played with the marbles and shared them with all of his friends. And he always took special care of the bag, so he wouldn’t lose any.”

Because the foolish boy was selfish and careless, he lost all of his marbles and was left holding the bag.

Thoughts for the week:

1. How long do you work at something before you give up?
2. Faith is believing that something is possible even though you can’t see it.
3. The best things in life take effort and time but are worth it.
4. This week think about your vision and belief for things yet unseen.

Well that’s it for this week have a wonderful weekend and stay positive.

Warm regards

John

Off the Wall – How to Develop World Class Mental Resilience available here
http://www.jdmindcoach.co.uk/product/off-the-wall-how-to-develop-world-class-mental-resilience/ (Special offer. Put in code 10POUND when prompted to receive a signed copy for £10 including postage and packing – UK only)