My Counselling Retreat: Two Years On And Life Is Good

Guest Post By Nono.

It’s two years since my counselling retreat and feel that it’s a good time to give some proper feedback on my experience with the Life Change People and how it changed my life. I wanted to wait to see if the changes stick, and they do! And generally life feels good. Many goals have been achieved, some reorganized and others will forever remain work in progress, but now I understand the difference between them all.

My ad hoc contacts with Chrissy over the years keep me going as I keep remembering what the experience really meant to me and one thing is certain, I never will let it go. I cannot forget all the wonderful things I did for myself and the things that happened to me. I know I will return to Chiang Mai someday and I look forward to it.

Here goes.

My journey to Chiang Mai, Thailand to visit the Life Change People was one that touched me very deeply. It’s quite accurate to say that it changed my life.

From the fact that I actually found the web site by chance, while surfing the net, to being determined enough to fly to Thailand from South Africa by myself. Traveling on my own used to terrify me to the point that I decided “no more!” I decided that this fear had to be conquered and that I would also be doing myself a huge favour by going through this experience as a whole, the travelling as well!

With anxious thoughts I did not want to set my expectations too high because disappointment would be a major blow for me. So you can imagine my relief and shear joy that I was welcomed with open arms by Chrissy, Khun Son, Luke, Alex and all the other people that work at the hotel and on the excursions and the Thai people as a whole.

I was humbled in a way that made me wish many things for my people back home in South Africa. I decided to focus on positive thoughts and try to develop an open mind towards my week long counselling retreat.

My Week

My sessions with Chrissy flew by as quickly as they started. No amount of convincing can ever make me believe that I did not feel free and comfortable to open up myself with Chrissy. I even told her “It felt like I was talking to myself the entire time”. What she does feels like magic.

She is kind and insightful in a way that is unusual. It feels like she knows you very well as soon as you meet her.

Slowly I came to understand myself exactly as I am and not as I think I should be. This was a huge step and felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I began to see things in a way that made me appreciate a lot of things that before I just couldn’t see. For the first time I was really changing, really seeing things differently.

I have been blessed with the life I have lived, the people who have been around me and the things I have been capable of achieving. I am not without fault and mistakes but I will not allow challenges to deter me from moving forwards. My country, South Africa, may be going though a dramatic transformation but knowing myself and my place in it has given me real hope that I can, and do, make a small difference. For me this means the world.

Much Love Chrissy and the Team. Best wishes and thoughts always.

Nono

South Africa

Read more about the Counselling Retreat