I remember when I used to walk my girls to school a few years back, I used to meet various other parents on the path. One day one of these parents stopped me on my way back and demanded to know why I always seemed so cheerful.

The simple answer was, and remains, 'I choose to be cheerful'. It's an effort, a discipline - and it keeps me sharp and focused.

Does bad stuff happen in my life? Yes, of course. But I try not to choose to view it as being disastrous, because rarely have I found that becoming a victim about things serves any useful long-term purpose. All it seems to do is get you deeper in the hole of victim-think.

I don't try to fix my pain, I don't deny its existence - and perhaps most significantly, neither do I let it start controlling how I choose to live my life and interact with others.

I have my painful times and I know they are there to teach me something about myself. I hold the thought that there is perfection somehow in what I have experienced and a great lesson to learn somewhere.

And when you realise that you are always learning, and that those lessons often come in the most unlikely ways and through the most unexpected people, well- what is there not to be cheerful about?

An open heart and a willingness to learn from everything  are two very powerful tools in personal development...

Hi all

this blog I'm asking for a favour. We're testing out how the site is working and would really appreciate if you would make a comment on this blog just to say you've seen it.

Fill in a comment under the blog and submit - it doesn't have to say any more than 'I read this...'.

Thanks so much...

Well, it's been a funny old summer so far. Not much in the way of sun, that's for sure! But lots of exciting things happening here as we prepare for a new period in our lives.

Barry has been working for many months on designing a course based around The Art of Change coaching techniques - in particualr in relation to communication. That work is now nearing completion and he is hoping to make an announcement soon on how those materials will be available, whether it will be an online or face-to-face course etc. With the internet making it easier and easier to create online broadcasts it is possible that we will be able to offer something to reach a wider geopgraphical audience.

Winnie has just completed training with Dolores Cannon - a leading US regression therapist. She is looking to include this in her set of consulting tools as Dolores has had extraordinary results with clients using her techniques, with her clients often experiencing both physical and emotional improvements. Watch this space!

Anna is currently rehearsing madly for a performance of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which she is performing with a group of close friends prior to their leaving for University, gap years etc! They are doing this from scratch in only three weeks so they have taken on quite a challenge!

Barry has also been exploring an incredibly exciting development which could impact massively upon ordinary families and our planet and is related to our cars...more to follow over the coming weeks...

Well, after two incredibly exciting years of publishing The Mother magazine, we have now handed back the administration to Paul and Veronika.

When we took over the magazine we had absolutely no experience of publishing a magazine and neither did we even know how we would find the time to fit it into our already busy coaching/home-educating/writing lives! All we knew was that, at a time when it was struggling, we had to do whatever we could to carry the baton a little further so that the magazine could continue to reach across the globe.

During that time we've learnt a lot, the subscriber base has grown considerably, and the magazine has attracted some amazing writers. We've also helped to get Veronika's book into print, and seen her address her first NHS audience and appear across the USA on national tv.

With Paul now able to take on the business and with Veronika continuing at the editorial helm, this change feels absolutely right and true to the magazine. We did our bit, made a few cock-ups along the way and had a lot of fun! We have so many other projects that we want to give our time to and which have had to take back seat for a while!

We're delighted that we will be continuing to sell back issues of The Mother exclusively for a while (watch out for the bargain prices!) - and we also have just a few copies of The Drinks Are On Me left before Veronika and Paul take over and organise reprinting.

It just leaves us to say a massive THANK YOU, not only to all the Robinsons for the amazing work they do, but also to all the subscribers and friends with whom we have communicated over the last couple of years. The Mother family is a very special one - one that we will continue to enjoy being a part of for many years to come.

Thanks to Sophia Style for passing this clip on to me. In her words:

"this is a truly amazing story of a couple who bought a lion cub in london in the late sixties...when he got too big to be able to keep in their flat, they managed to fly him to africa.... and have him reintroduced him into the wild.

almost a year later they went back to see if they could find him again...."