Spending the weekend with 500 writers was a great lot of fun. The flow of ideas was constant and the sharing, inspiring. The quality of the speakers was a true blessing and this brings me to the Power of Recognition and the gift of giving.

Each author or presenter gave freely of their time, their knowledge and shared their journey, helping to light the way for those inspiring listeners in the audience. What was given back, very little? This may seem harsh, please read on, why this is said will make more sense.

Last year i was at a location with 2000 like minded people, those who had achieved their goals and reached a milestone where brought on stage and received a standing ovation. The energy in that room was electric, the air vibrated with appreciation, gratitude and all that energy was directed to that one lone soul standing on the stage. Can you, for one moment image how that would feel, how inspired, how humbled that one lone soul would feel? All those people on their feet clapping, honouring the person on the stage, projecting positive Love energy towards them has to leave an impression, create bonds with strangers and forge connections and inspired action.

For those at the Hay House Event in Sydney on that September weekend, they experienced the vibe when one of the speakers sang a song, everyone stood and clapped, cheered and sang along. That for short duration we all connected and sang with one voice, one heart. I smiled as i felt the love spread through the room. Praise, recognition and respecting the achievements of others is un-australian, we have a cultural cringe when it comes to this area. A shame really, for if we had raised to our feet, clapped and opened our hearts the way the speakers did, each andevery person would have left with a feeling of love, respect and connectedness.

One person i spoke to mentioned that clapping is masculine, while this may be true, i believe this is missing the point. Giving recognition in any form is an act of Love. It goes to the heart of the meaning of Namaste., the god in me, honours the god in you.

On this amazing weekend we came together to share, instead without realising (unconscious incompetence) we took without returning the gift. We were energy vampires.

How hard really would it have been to stand up, and openly, honesty and from the heat say thank you in a public show of appreciation to the speakers. Having experienced and been around some world class speakers I fully appreciated the wonderful band that took to the stage and inspired us all towards our dreams.

This weekend, many of us we energy stealers, uncomfortable, yet true, we came, we took. we left. In hindsight each and everyone of us lost an opportunity to dance closer to love through the simple act of recognition. We cannot turn the clock back, we can however balance the ledger by recognising people in our lives, smiling, saying thank you, making eye contact.

Monday morning after the event i was up early and walked to the opera house for sunrise, along the way i smiled at people in the street, sometimes they stared back, bewildered. Conversations started with strangers, a little nod, a grin, a short hello. In the possess i met some interesting people, discovered some great photo ops and gently felt good. It was a win/win situation. Another story, Sunday night I had dinner with one of the attendees, while waiting for her to arrive I wandered around the opera house taking pics of the bridge. Two couples were trying to take a group pic, I offered to take it for them. We ended up chatting and they invited me to their place for dinner. A simple act, built a new friendship. It cost me nothing to give and the rewards we well worth it. Next time we are together i hope we all have the courage to step out and step up, give the recognition the speakers deserve and build a bridge of love and respect that will radiate out to everyone we come in contact with. Lets change the world with the act of giving, let’s all practice recognition. Namaste.