Let your mind wander back to your early teenage years.  What activities did you enjoy doing where the time just flew as you did them?  What was it that you did when you didn’t notice the time flying by?  An hour or more could disappear but you were so immersed in what you were doing that it didn’t matter.  If you trace what happened to those activities as the years rolled by and find you continued to have time for them no matter what else was going on in your life, then you likely will have uncovered your passions.

Sure, I didn’t have the ‘coaching’ label for the hours and hours of cheerful mentoring with friends, colleagues and often people who I hardly knew talked to me from their hearts.   Mentoring people was a challenge like solving a maths problem (there can be many different ways to solve those and come up with an answer that works).  I had been a mathematician from my earliest years, later obtaining a degree major in pure maths and becoming a computer programmer.  In those days a computer filled a large room.  It was a marvelous feeling when a room full of machinery performed exactly as I had intended but even at the best of times, for me, maths and computers weren’t as satisfying as working with ‘real’ people, their challenges, complexities, getting to know them well and helping them to lead more satisfying lives.

There have been many which I would have preferred not to have been challenged with.  On the other hand those challenges have made me the person that I am and have given me valuable insights into many areas that people struggle with.  In my rather dysfunctional family of origin, I was the only child of older parents, a status which I didn’t enjoy.  It gave me plenty of time to read and think.  I determined to have several children before I felt old!  In my immediate family there is haemophilia (an inherited blood clotting disorder) and Asperger Syndrome (a variation of high functioning autism) to deal with on an ongoing basis.  These issues have proved a huge challenge and a reason to shift from living on an orchard in a rural north island location to Christchurch where there is easier access to health services and a greater variety of employment and lifestyle options.

Throughout my life I have believed in and experienced the presence of God.  Without his direction and the large number of Christians who have shared their insights and experience with me, I would be ill-equipped to cope with the challenges of my own life let alone guide others.  I believe that my passions and life experience have equipped me well to coach, support and mentor people from many walks of life to be able to make lasting and positive changes to their day to day experience.