Yesterday I was spoilt by myself and others, oh & hugged a lot - I love to be hugged!

5th February 2017

By doing what you love, you inspire and awaken the hearts of others.

Well I've finally come back down to earth, although it did take quite a while, I went to bed around 8pm last night and finally managed to sleep after the excited restlessness the night before.  I'm still on cloud 9 though if I'm honest.  I've been awake since 2am so I've just gone through all the wonderful Facebook congratulation comments that were posted on my award photos and videos, I can't believe the video that both my manager and senior manager have posted has had almost 8,000 views in total - that's crazy!  

I decided yesterday I deserved a bit of a treat and as the award came with a bonus, I didn't have to worry about how I would pay for it, especially as I'd gone all out with my 'treat' when I got my fourth diamond leader award a few weeks ago.  That time I'd completely indulged in a watch which was square (a side for each award) and had diamonds (small ones of course) on it, every time I look at the time, even on the longest of days, I'll be reminded what a lucky lady I am to be appreciated and recognised for doing a job I absolutely adore.   

This time I wanted something that would also last forever, like my love of Weight Watchers and my role as a coach, the only jewellery I ever wear is my snowflake necklace which was presented to me when I received my Weight Watchers 10 year award, I decided I wanted a bracelet to go with the watch and necklace so not only would I be Weight Watchers through and through, I'm be wearing it too :) 

The search was on to find something apt, now my lovely friend Vicky who I met when I became a member 13 years ago is very special to me, we even met in the venue the award was presented to me and when I think of her, I think of Tiffany jewellery because she wears it, so I decided to go have a look see if there was anything that took my fancy, apparently every girl wants a little blue Tiffany box, if their website is to be believed "Crowned with a white ribbon, the Tiffany Blue Box is an international symbol of style and sophistication" well anyone that knows well, me knows I am the "WW symbol of style and sophistication" NOT!  

 MY helpers appreciating my award & keeping me stylish & sophisticated!

I know I shouldn't buy into all the 'hype' over a silly blue box and I'm not usually impressed by stuff like this, but you've got to admit that their explanation and story of the blue box is rather wonderful;

Tiffany Blue Box

The world has been enthralled with the distinctive Tiffany Blue Box since the very beginning. It was Charles Lewis Tiffany who mandated that the coveted boxes could only be acquired with a Tiffany purchase. As reported by the New York Sun in 1906, "Tiffany has one thing in stock that you cannot buy of him for as much money as you may offer, he will only give it to you. And that is one of his boxes."

Glimpsed on a busy street or resting in the palm of a hand, Tiffany Blue Boxes make hearts beat faster, and epitomize Tiffany’s great heritage of elegance, exclusivity and flawless craftsmanship.

Anyway, I knew I wanted a bracelet or bangle but it needed to have some kind of meaning, I wouldn't buy a Tiffany bracelet just because I was getting a blue box!  It had to have some relevance to Weight Watchers, the obvious thing was a diamond (but have you seen the price of them!), then I thought maybe a heart, or the eternity symbol but although they were pretty they weren't grabbing at me, then suddenly as I was scrolling I saw this;

The Starfish Bracelet, instantly I knew, this was it, I added it to the shopping basket, the description on their website said " The starfish evokes life beneath the waves and in the celestial heavens." But for me this was so significant, it was as if Tiffany had known I would be getting the award, looking for a bracelet to celebrate it and designed it specially for me!

Why you ask?  Well if you had been a Weight Watcher leader for a few years or more you'd instantly know but for the rest of you I'll explain, when I first became a leader, when a member called or got in touch with Weight Watchers to say nice things about their leader for whatever reason, we were sent a compliment card and on the front of it were Starfish and on the back their Starfish story.  I'll never forget the first time I received one, I was thrilled and here was my very own Starfish bracelet as a reminder of that wonderful story.

What's the story you ask, well here it is, every time I read it, my eyes get a little watery;

One day a man was walking along a beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.  Approaching the boy, he asked, 'what are you doing?'

The boy replied 'Throwing starfish back into the ocean.  They get washed up on the beach and if I don't throw them back into the water they'll die'

The man said to the boy 'but there are thousands of these starfish washed up on the beach - what difference can you make throwing a few back into the water?'

The boy never said a word.  He bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it back into the water.  Then smiling at the man, he said...

'I made a difference to that one.'

The bracelet will be a constant reminder of all the members I've helped over the last 12 years and a symbol of being appreciated for doing it.  It'll remind me at the scales when I'm weighing each and every member "I can make a difference to this one" and I'll never forget that. 

I found out later that this was adapted from a book called The Star Thrower, by Loren E. Eiseley where he talks of the day when he was walking along a sandy beach where thousands of starfish had been washed up on the shore. He noticed a boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. Eiseley observed the boy for a few minutes and then asked what he was doing. The boy replied that he was returning the starfish to the sea otherwise they would die.

Eiseley then asked how saving a few, when so many were doomed, would make any difference whatsoever? The boy picked up a starfish and as he threw it back said "It's going to make a lot of difference to this one!"

Eiseley apparently left the boy and went home to continue writing, only to find he could not type a single word. Instead he returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish into the sea.

How you live your life, how you behave, shapes not only your own future but that of the world.  

So each night, before you go to sleep, ask yourself did I make a difference today?

Simple enough question to ask, and when you can answer yes more often than not, you're doing something right!

My award tells me I am ;) And now I've got a big, silly grin on my face again and my eyes are filled with happy tears. 

Deep breathes...

Right enough of this floating, happy stuff, I need to get my feet back firmly on the ground, unfortunately, I'll have to choose carefully where to put them because my house looks like we've been burgled and there's not much clear space on the floors!  My mission today, is to put the radio or a good audio book on and be a domestic goddess - I'll never win any awards for that role :)

I also intend to get back to pointing and tracking, I've not been dreadful the last two days but I've not been golden either and I didn't even try to track my dinner yesterday, I'd had a lovely morning, my amazing massage lady Karen treated me to my weekly massage as a well done gift (how kind) and by the time I did get home I just wanted to eat and rest, then sleep - so I did. 

Here's to be healthy & happy today BeYOUtiful, are you with me.  Xx 

Oh my days, I almost forgot!  See there's so much amazing going on this weekend, I can't believe I forgot to tell you, we've hit and passed the £1k mark on my Dry for Dementia sponsorship money! Eek!  How phenomenal is that!  Less than 5 days to raise one thousand pounds, I'm so thrilled, it's almost worth being sober, not quite, but nearly, I'm focusing on March 1st, I will be having a glass of my favourite red wine after my meeting that night and I will enjoy every sip, I really will.  

Thank you BeYOUtiful for being you and thank you for aiming to constantly be the best version of you xx