This is harder than I thought ;-)

Yesterday I thought to myself, goodness gracious, what did you get yourself into with this blog? I spoke to a couple of people about it and they all loved the idea though. More even so, the first person already committed to contributing with her personal column on the things she loves. Wow!! Well, I guess that means I can’t chicken out.

So I sat down and just checked back in with my intention. My intention was to learn to reflect more often and install a deep habit of seeing the good things around me. So, why not start with ‘The things I’m eternally grateful for’? Here we come, world. It still feels very clumsy ‘cos I think nobody will want to read this and if people will look at me strangely when knowing this kind of ’stuff’ about me but I’ll do it anyway.

Here are (some of) the things I will always be grateful for and proud of:
• Having lived in Australia, by the seaside enjoying the best life-style on earth. Having gone there just by myself, no visa, not much of a plan but with great naivety and optimism that everything will just fall into place. And guess what? It did
• Being the child of my mother who used to stare her fears right in their eye asking ‘ok, so what do you want?’. My mom died of breast cancer at the age of 59 but when learning that she had lost that one last fight she stunned us all by organising her entire burial and funeral ceremony herself as well as saying ‘good-bye’ to every single person she cared about – making peace with them and gifting them something special she carefully chose. On the other hand she didn’t make peace with people she didn’t want to make peace with, no pardon there!!! It was her most of all who inspired me to follow through on my vision for a social entrepreneurship landscape here in Germany as I understood we might not have years to wait for more money, more self-confidence, more skills or simply less excuses.
• My grandmother who didn’t care about the opinion of the rest of the family when she decided to support me throughout my second round of graduate studies (see a pattern in my family there??).
• My soul sisters & friends who support, push and pull me, inspire me and question the things I do and don’t. Doreen, friend for over 25 years now and more of a sister than just a friend. Manja (Manjanti) who I met at the first social marketing competition at University of Arts in Berlin (Bruttosozialpreis) and who’s – just like Doreen – taken immense personal hardship to found self and who can be just as much fun as she can give me a hard time when I’m leaving my path. Angela (Ange) from Melbourne who made it really, really, really hard for me to leave Australia and who taught me how to live in integrity, reduce swearing (sorry, didn’t stop it altogether yet) and bitching about others and to go for what I’m passionate about. And Michelle, still one of greatest and most inspiring coaches I know who I used to dream the dream of setting up a community coaching foundation with back in Australia. Of course, there is many others and I could go on and on for ages. I spare you for now but am sure we’ll cross their paths at some stage earlier or later
• The conference on organisational learning by SoL in Vienna in September 2005 where I met many our future business partners from what is now an international Hub Movement like Tatiana Glad (Hub Amsterdam), Mark as a co-founder of The Hub London and many more. Tatiana was inspiring me so much with the World Cafe she facilitated for the start of that conference that I outed myself for the first time ever with my intention to start the first network by and for social entrepreneurs in Germany.
• The first Ashoka Conference on Social Entrepreneurship in Germany held in Berlin in November 2005, where I met many of those people who now are my dearest friends, most admired colleagues, inspiring business partners, greatest mentors and like-minded souls on a similar path. These are in particular
• Peter Heller, Director of Canopus Foundation and many enterprises in the field of renewable energies through who I later met Peter Spiegel, co-founder and president of the board of self,
• Jutta Weimar who also became a co-founder of self and still serves self on the board of directors,
• Dennis Hoenig-Ohnsorg, now Director of Ashoka Youth Venture in Germany,
• ever-inventative and infamous Jochen Holtrup who intrigues the online world with his new project www.netzwirken.net

and many, many more. Oh, did I mention the Internet and everything that comes with it?? Love technology I could go on for ages, I just realise. That’s a good sign, right? Tomorrow I will continue with the Top-10-Hitlist of reasons to be grateful of the year 2008.