We have no time to stand and stare

I am in two internet joke telling circles and somehow my previous post about Joshua Bell slipped through the net. The experiment made me stop and think and I forwarded it on to a couple of coaches.

One of these, Anne Pink from New Horizons, sent through the following poem. The poem was written in 1911 and the poet was married in East Grinstead and lived in Sevenoaks for a short time

W. H. Davies – Leisure

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare

So much has changed in one hundred years! In the last 20 years there has been massive change with 1984 becoming reality and technology taking over.

If you know anybody who can’t live with their Blackberry switched off for 5 minutes or doesn’t have time to take their annual leave or is like an elastic band ready to snap as they never relax, please send this email to them.

Coaching gives people space to stop and think, and may be even smell cut grass (rather than the coffee!)