From my heart to yours as you leave home.

Day 14 (Wednesday 14th December 2016)

14 major earthquakes (with magnitudes of 7 or above on the Richter Scale) 

have occurred during 2016 (compared with 19 in 2015, 12 in 2014 and 19 in 2013).

The worst earthquake of the year, with a magnitude of 7.8, occurred in Ecuador 

on 16th April (see photo) - with a death toll of 673. The second most devastating for 

human life, although only 6.2 in magnitude, was in Italy, 

on August 24th, and resulted in the death of 299 people.

What amazing blogs we have shared to date, full of highs, lows and love. Today's is one brimming with maternal devotion - a piece written by Maggie Marriott: it is a personal message to her two daughters (who are both now away at university). Maggie proposed all her own pictures and you might like to know that the drawings were actually done by her daughters to whom this post is addressed.

Maggie is a leadership coach and business consultant and the owner of the Gloucester-based organisational change consultancy Enki. She specialises in designing bespoke solutions for organisations that need or wish for change and has a personal flair for delivering difficult messages and working with troubled leaders. Maggie is a highly qualified Gestalt practitioner (she won the British Gestalt Journal Essay Prize for 2015) and she believes in enabling humane change via the approaches she devises. Being highly analytical and systematic, Maggie commenced her career as an IT programmer and worked for many years in the Public sector moving from a technical team leader to a business change specialist. Maggie believes in supporting and encouraging others; since 2014 she has been a mentor for the Aspire Foundation. You can connect with Maggie on Twitter - her handle is @maggiermarriott. When not working or helping people, Maggie is a voracious reader and relishes learning and gaining new experiences. I think the advice she provides below gives a good feel for Maggie and the way she views life.

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From my heart to yours as you leave home

On love…..

Never let gender, race or religion limit your love for someone.

Your heart will be broken and you may break hearts. Love anyway.

Some people will be in your life for just a short time. It’s ok.

Choose curiosity instead of judgement

On the future….

You don’t need to know what to do in the future, just take the next step and new choices will emerge.

If you don’t make a mess you won’t make anything. Take risks. Make a mess.

Say yes to as many things as you can and say no when it feels right.

Make sure you can always look yourself in the mirror

On being human…

You’ll get things wrong. Forgive yourself.

Listen to your body; it’s always talking to you.

Eating a little bit of what you fancy does you good.

If you like what someone’s wearing or what they’re doing, tell them. Tell them now, even if you don’t know them.

And always know…

I will be here for you if you call, ready to help you fly high again.