Great Expectations

I have always been an admirer of the works of Charles Dickens. The way he mobilised social conscience and conciousness was revolutionary for the times and has remained to be a moral role model into the now-time. In Great Expectations his main themes include gratitude, suffering and social mobility.

In the learning process of who we are and what we want to achieve in this life time, we have all more or less gone through different stages of gratitude, suffering and social mobility. I believe everyone can tell a tale of suffering in one way or another. We can also sing a song of being flexible when you want to find a new job, for example. But how are you dealing with gratitude? At least in Western cultures, we have reached a fair amount of affluence which could now allow us to fine tune our focus a bit - say gratitude, empowerment, personal flexibility and in general integrity. Just take a look at where you are at this moment. Yes, there could always be more and better whatever. Take the time to say thank you for what you have and then take the next step. If you are suffering in your world, look for the reasons within yourself. What is it you want to have - where is it you want to go? Find your passion and go for it. We can strike Dickens´ suffering. That too is inside yourself - your creation - so start dis-creating that. You know you always get what you focus on. If you focus your attention on tough luck, well that's what you will reap.


If Charles Dickens had written his book in this 21st century maybe he would have called it Great Potentials. The themes might have included personal attributes that bring about change, helping yourself and others to reach empowerment. Times have changed, society has changed, people have changed, thinking has changed. Just think of all the potentials you have to create a new you, the life you want. Did I just hear, "I would, if I weren't afraid of..."?

What I really admire about Charles Dickens is his ability to speak straight to the heart. He has the big asset of being a storyteller. He got his message across without having gathered tons of statistics and packing it into a sleek powerpoint presentation. He creates a sense of urgency necessary for creating change. Very personal, very profound, very creative.

I don't want to drift off sounding like a motivational speaker here - so I'll stop here and continue on a lighter note next time.

Enjoy!