I see your light

When!I!was!growing!up,!I!felt!and!am!sure!that!I!never!got!parented

That!means!to!me!that!I!don’t!recall!my!parents!offering!me!any!advice.

My!parents!did!offer!me!unconditional!love!,which!is!one!of!the!greatest!gifts!one!

can!offer!someone.!If!not!THE!!greatest.

I!hope!that!I!am!able!to!offer!you!that!too.

So!I!want!you!both!to!know!that!I!love!you!both!–!unconditionally!and!always!

will.

That!means!irrespective!of!whether!you!get!an!A!at!school!(because!is!my!eyes,!

you!both!are!A’s)

And!not!to!take!away!the!importance!of!getting!that!A!–!as!we!need!it!today!to!get!

ahead!in!life.

I!didn’t!get!an!A!and!was!not!encouraged!to,!and!it!didn’t!help!me!in!my!adult!life.

So!challenge!yourselves!and!keep!going,!persevere!and!always!try!your!best.

If!you!have!given!your!100%,!then!you!will!feel!fulfilled!irrespective!of!the!result.

So!I!love!you!both –!whether!you!excel!in!other!areas!in!life!too!–!or!not.

Whether!this!is!running,!soccer,!yoga...or!whatever.

I!love!you!both!always.

Sometimes!in!life!we!make!bad!decisions!or!wrong!decisions.

If!you!are!not!harming!yourself!and!not!harming!others!that!is!of!primary!

importance.

You!are!at!an!age!where!people!experiment!–!alcohol,!drugs.

You!have!a!choice.

Don’t!harm!yourself!and!those!around!you.

Life!is!sacred.

In!life!being!decisive!and!choosing!a!path!is!better!than!choosing!no!path!at!all.

Stagnant!water!is!bad.

Flowing!water!is!healthy!–!it!can!also!be!a!fun!place!to!be.

The!Sea,!a!river,!a!waterfall!makes!me!feel!happy.

If!you!realize!a!path!is!wrong,!learn!from!it.

Take!the!positives!from!the!experience!and!build!from!it.

A!person!I!believe!needs!to!give!themselves!unconditional!love!too!and!those!

around!them.

To!regard!yourself!and!those!around!you,!as!if!you!are!an!‘A!‘and!so!are!they.

Giving!yourself!this!gift!(an!A)!and!to!those!around!you,!will!allow!you!to!be!

positive!in!your!attitude!to!yourself!and!those!around!you.

This!is!also!of!course!true!for!siblings!

And!how!you!regard!each!other.

Being!positive,!smiling!and!happy!(inside!and!out),!will!create!an!opportunity!for!

yourself!to!connect!with!others!in!a!positive!way.

Being!kind!and!generous!to!yourself!and!others!will!bring!kindness!and!

generosity!back!into!your!life!(some!say!100!fold).

Unfortunately!you!cannot!control!what!is!going!on!for!the!other!(and!perhaps!no!

one!has!written!to!them!about!this)...and!here!lies!the!challenge.

At!this!point,!where!you!have!given!your!100%,!but!the!other!hasn’t,!You!now!

need!to!get!to!a!space!of!radical!acceptance,!to!have!the!ability!to!accept.

Starting!with!yourself...accepting!yourself!as!you!are.

Accepting!circumstances!as!they!are.!They!does!not!mean!not!trying!to!change!

something!that!you!do!not!like!or!believe!in.!But!being!able!to!accept!an!outcome!

or!a!situation.

You!can!have!a!certain!amount!of!control!over!an!outcome.

Like!you!can!study!and!try!your!best!to!get!that!A!–!but!you!have!an!off!day...or!a!

strict!teacher...or!a!third!force!that!brings!about!a!certain!situation.

Whatever!you!can!control,!do!your!best!to!give!a!100%!towards...and!then!have!

faith!that!the!desired!outcome!will!come!about.

We!cannot!control!another!persons!thoughts!and!feelings.!We!can!only!choose!to!

put!out!our!best!self!towards!them!–!100%.

Just!like!aiming!for!an!A!in!school!or!trying!to!make!a!team!or!a!friend.

That!is!when!we!need!to!be!able!to!accept!an!outcome!as!it!is...feel!fulfilled!

within!ourselves.

I!was!lucky!to!have!to!have!two!siblings,!both!taught!me!about!radical!

acceptance.

One!the!theory!and!the!other!the!practice.

I!have!still!not!mastered!this,!but!I!realize!the!importance!of!this!and!want!to!

pass!this!onto!you!both.

I!have!also!had!to!accept!that!I!don’t!see!you!guys!everyday!–!that!has!been!one!

of!my!biggest!challenges.

I!have!to!accept!that!I!don’t!have!lots!of!money

Of!late!I!have!had!to!accept!that!I!have!a!nice!smile!–!and!that!can!make!me!

money.

When!people!see!my!smile,!it!makes!them!feel!good.

If!I!am!smiling!in!a!doctor!pic...people!feel!comfortable!and!happy!and!a!sense!of!

trust!towards!me,!or!whatever!it!is!that!I!am!representing!(in!the!advert).

Smiling!too!can!make!you!friends!–a!sincere!smile!can!go!a!long!way.

This!will!brighten!up!the!place!you!are!in!and!allow!those!around!you!to!smile!

back.

A!lot!more!opportunities!exist!in!this!happy!space.

The best!pics!when!I!am!posing!are!those!that!are!the!most!natural!–!the!

photographers!call!them!the!money!shots...

Money!is!not!everything!but!it!does!help,!and!it!is!better!to!have!then!not!to!have.

I!am!not!sure!what!I!could!have!controlled!to!change!this!for!me.

Did!I!give!my!best!at!school!?

Was!I!able!to!do!better!?

At!certain!jobs!–!which!were!limited!now!because!I!did!not!get!that!A!at!school!–

did!I!give!my!best!?

Or!do!I!arrive!at!a!place!where!I!accept!things!as!they!are.

Comfort!myself!that!I!did!give!time!to!my!children!–!and!watched!them!grow!up!

and!support!them!in!there!little!endevours.

Whether!encouraging!you!to!take!a!yoga!class!or!play!soccer!and!supporting!you!

in!doing!this.

And!this!being!in!conventional!money!making!time.

Some!things!money!just!can’t!buy!

And!spending!time!with!you!guys!is!one!of!them.

I!am!not!sure!what!the!future!holds!–!no!one!really!does.

But!I!need!to!accept!that.!Uncertainty!is!the!only!certainty.

Someone!else!said!you!can!plan!for!a!100!years,!but!it!can!be!changed!in!a!

minute.

Makes!me!think!of!a!flash!flood!that!can!change!a!path!that!a!river!takes!–

forever.

I!can!choose!to!see!this!as!a!positive!thing!though.

Our!freedom!to!choose!is!what!we!really!only!have.

To!choose!positive!over!negative.

Good!over!bad.

Happy!over!sad.

We!cannot!control!our!emotions!though,!and!being!able!to!connect!to!them!and!

feel!them!–!is!so!important.

To!cry!when!you!sad,!and!laugh!when!you!happy,!to!feel!deeply!is!really!

beautiful.

And!then!to!accept.

To!choose!the!‘A’!,!the!smile!– Ke!Ching,!the!money!making!shot!–!the!place!of!

opportunity,!the!place!of!greatest!possibility.!The!possibility!of!a!positive!

outcome.

To!bring!out!that!smile,!you!need!to!connect!to!yourself...know!yourself,!your!

limitations!and!your!abilities!(know!that!I!love!you!irrespective!of!these!traits).

10!years!ago!when!I!started!‘modelling’.!I!prefer!saying!photo!shoots.

I!hated!it.!I!resented!what!I!do.!I!resented!that!this!is!how!I!make!money.

Back!then!I!was!grumpy!going!to!the!shoots!–!it!was!bound!to!fail,!as!it!did.

It!didn’t!work!and!I!stopped.

A!few!years!later!I!went!back!![!I!had!a!choice!not!to,!but!chose!to.

I!accepted!that!I!had!a!nice!smile.

(I!also!badly!needed!the!money!at!the!time).

And!now!I!have!connected!with!lovely!people!(mainly!the!same!photographers!/!

companies!that!choose!to!shoot!me!over!and!over!again).

But!they!choose!to!photograph!me,!because!I!am!smiling!when!I!go!to!the!shoots,!

not!only!in!front!of!the!camera.

I!create!a!positive!vibe!around!me,!so!they!enjoy!being!with!me.

This!includes!the!people!that!arrange!the!shoots!(sometimes!I!think!they!have!

more!say!in!who!they!get!to!shoot!then!the!photographer).

The!make[up!and!stylists!enjoy!my!company,!because!I!am!smiling!and!positive!

around!them.

Change!though!is!also!another!certainty...if!my!looks!change!(and!they!will)!will!

then!this!path!might!just!come!to!an!end.!I!accept!that.

But!over!time!I!have!built!a!deep!connection!with!myself!and!this!too!is!a!work!in!

progress.

Before!being!able!to!connect!to!the!other!(the!people!around!me!in!work!and!

play)!I!have!had!to!connect!to!myself.

Sit!silently!and!get!to!know!myself.!This!takes!time.

Vipassana,!Meditations!and!Tefillah!are!just!some!of!the!tools!I!have!used.

And!in!connecting!with!myself!I!am!connecting!to!the!world!(mother!nature)!and!

to!GoD.

This!is!where!the!sweet!spot!is!found.

Belief!in!the!greater!good!(as!opposed!to!bad).

Belief!that!I!am!loved,!and!cared!for!and!provided!for.!It’s!a!happy!place.

Trying!to!understand!that!happiness!too!comes!from!accepting!things!as!they!

are.

I!haven’t!seen!you!guys!as!much!as!I!would!have!liked!over!the!last!two!months!

and!that!saddens!me.

I!have!though!had!the!opportunity!to!study!more!(mainly!Torah)!and!pray!deeply!

–!alone.!

Sit!on!my!meditation!stool!with!my!tefillin!and!prayer!shawl!and!connect!

through!prayer.

And!connect!deeply!with!myself!and!bring!out!my!smile!so!it!can!rub!off!on!those!

around!me.

Of!course!this!time!has!allowed!me!to!connect!to!Jo!too!(which!is!important)!and!

we!have!had!a!beautiful!time!here.!Seen!beautiful!sights,!flowers,!beaches,!and!

people.

I!choose!to!believe!that!we!spend!quality!time!together.

As!you!head!off!on!your!respective!holidays.

Be!grateful!for!what!you!have.

The!sacrifices!others!have!made!to!make!this!happen.

Make!healthy!choices.

Try!be!Mindful!in!all!you!do.

Happiness!is!in!the!here!and!now,!let!go!of!the!past!(learn!and!let!go)...build!for!

the!future!(aim!for!that!A)...but!be!present!(this!is!the!gift).

I!love!you!both!more!than!anything!in!the!world!and!I!wish!you!both!only!

happiness!and!pray!that!you!read!this!again!(and!again).

I!don’t!always!get!the!opportunity!to!say!these!words.!And!for!this!I!am!deeply!

grateful.

Maybe!somewhere!in!these!words!there!is!a!light!for!you,!your!own!lighthouse!

that!can!shed!light!for!you.

Namaste!x