Soar Like An Eagle

23 February 2015, 14:34 pm
Speciality Bites by Paul Hargreaves

Last week I was back in Kenya at the children’s centre (orphanage and school) that Cotswold Fayre supports on a monthly basis and with our charitable events

At our last ball in Summer 2014, a supplier present, said at the end of the evening that he would like to come with me next time I went.  Thinking it was possibly due to the wine consumed, I wasn’t sure whether he was serious, but dropped him a line before Christmas when I knew I was going in February.  To my surprise he was still up for it and the best thing about all this is that Laurence Harris is a dairy farmer, so has masses of knowledge to help with the farm I started here 20 months ago.

I met Laurence at Heathrow and discovered he had managed to check onto the plane a solar electric fence, with 50 posts and a kilometre of wire! This already seemed like it was going to be a different trip, and it has proved to be so far! (I may be back by the time you read this as getting a Wi-Fi signal here has its challenges and keeping the electrical devices charged also – thank God for the sun!)  The encouraging news is that last month the farm made a significant contribution to the running costs of the centre through its profit.  This is exactly what I set it up for, so the place becomes sustainable and less reliant on western funds which can then be used for capital expenditure. It all works a lot better that way.

As always, when here, it is a time to gain perspective and slow down and ensure that I am spending my time when at home as I should.  If you don’t spend time away from people, your computer or the TV, I can recommend it either in a large dose like this week, or, if it works for you, then walking the dog every day may do it.  It is so easy in our culture to run around like headless chickens when if you are running a business you need to be an eagle not a chicken, soaring above the daily activity and looking at everything with the perspective of a week, month or year rather than a day.  Becoming an eagle every so often will help maintain perspective as an employee or an employer and stop us wasting time in mindless activity, which deprives both us and our families.

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