Encounters....🥰🌅🌈...MOMENTS ❤️
22. Oct 2026 · Rethymnon, Greece · 7 min read
Susan's pictures arrived yesterday 😊
And of course I'm happy to share them with you. What this kind person additionally shared with me, among other things, is so beautiful that I want to let you be part of it: her meeting with me triggered something in her that she can define as conscious FREEDOM for herself, something that lets her BE HAPPY 🌈 ...and that in turn makes me GRATEFUL, as I'm delighted to be able to be an INSPIRATION to a person through my MINDFULNESS ❤️
His buddy, the fisherman, actually delivered fresh fish, which we then had last night in the company of one of his best friends, meaning Elias' best friend, Dimitris, and some other family members. 😋
His brother was there, the sister-in-law was there, Nikos, Alexis. The team was around us, we drank great wine and had a wonderful Greek dinner. There was everything around the fish. Except for the meatballs, which were of course magnificent, because it was lamb as well as beef as well as pork with a fantastic sauce. 🤓
So Rita, the head chef, simply rocked it again. That was magnificent. 🤩
It was a beautiful, long evening in the broadest sense, until the neighbor across the way, I've forgotten her name, she's an old lady like that, who then at some point around half past eleven, twelve closes her shutters and makes a clear statement.
Of course there was also a lot of talking, I was an observer, I watched. Both Nikos and Elias and Dimitris threw in little translations here and there. Of course it was also about what am I doing today with my brother and the family, did they have any fun idea what should definitely happen. And I find it magnificent that my brother and his family have already been able to experience exactly all these things here in Kreta over the last few years. 😂
And the alternative regarding taking a boat out, that just doesn't work, because the guys who have a boat here, they're still fully booked.
And I reckon also a whole day out on the water like that.....yeah, NAH...LAUGH... 😜
Now I'm excited and waiting for my brother to get in touch, so that we can then spend the day together. 👏
And on the other hand it's of course also nice when the camper here next door, the one standing next to me, who came yesterday, at three meters distance, even though this huge parking lot is empty, then also moves on.
I find that cool, because if I'm already in the city, then I do enjoy it when I have more space. 😅
Whatever, training this morning. What can I tell you?
After the orioles left me in northern Greece, I haven't seen one since, a constant companion on my path seems to be the rainbow. 🌈
And therefore of course what follows now is not all the pictures I was able to take for myself. I actually, because the phone was hanging on the charging station, only shot a few for you.
I can tell you, in between there actually was also the second arc up above, for a short time and I simply enjoyed it.
Simply enjoyed the sunrise and what was happening around me in the water.
Totally crazy was the first balloon, a white one, that trudged across the parking lot here and landed in the sea. And basically moved diagonally through my field of vision once. And that repeated itself, in pink, in blue, in red and again in pink. And they all drifted in the same direction out to sea, carried by the offshore wind, and likewise accompanied my training. 🎈
I saw fish jumping. I watched a hawk while I was lying on my back doing a few exercises. It showed off its aerial artistry directly above me, which I naturally found wonderful as well.
It was fantastic. I'm grateful to be able to experience such moments, to be allowed to, to be meant to, to have to, to want to.
Anyway, I have a big, fat grin on my face and I'm sending it to you, wishing you a fantastic rest of the day.
I'm sending you a bit of this wonderful energy that the sun is pumping into me and I hope you treat yourselves mindfully, so that you spend the day with a big, fat grin. No matter what you do.
Take care of yourselves. Have peaceful, joyful moments. Until then. 🥰🌈❤️🤓🌅
On the topic of mindfulness and intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and inspiration, here's a text that reached me as a voice message. It naturally caught me off guard in a good way and I'm sharing it with you because I'm OPEN and naturally pleased when my IMPACT triggers this in people: "Hello Iven, I hope you're doing well and I hope you're also somewhere in a very beautiful place again!?
I follow your news from time to time and yes, I really enjoy looking at your pictures. You definitely have a knack for taking beautiful pictures.
Right, I'm sitting here in front of my assignment and yes, the topic is sports, social work, mental training.
And yes, I'm immersing myself in this topic and keep realizing how grateful I actually am to you. I know, maybe I wasn't able to express that so well during our last personal meeting at your place or your apartment at the time.
But I'm very, very grateful to you, Iven.
You tried to build up my self-efficacy yes, also a certain self-conviction, but not in an exaggerated way, competence conviction they call it in the literature. You also tried to build that up in me and many, many other things. Also to make me understand how important it is to act clearly despite external distractions. Yes, it's called inhibition in the literature.
And I see again what you actually did with me, in a positive sense I mean. And I'm very, very grateful to you for that, Iven.
I know that some things didn't work out either. Too many fears, too many self-doubts and so on. But when I compare myself today to the Alex you met at the beginning, who was very strongly introverted and withdrawn, those are tremendous worlds. I mean, those are very stark worlds.
And you have definitely contributed a lot to me developing into a really good person. And I've also taken that as an example, not just as a coach, if I really should establish myself somewhere in a club, where I'm really convinced about the club too, that I want to leave my energy there, but I also mean as a person, as a hopefully future social worker, that I will do the same for the kids as you accompanied me, as you invested time in me and energy and attention, that I will do that too.
But not because I have to, but because I want to, because I think it's right. So Iven, I wish you a nice day. I will definitely get in touch with you again in the course of time and thank you again.
Of course there is an answer from me: Dear Alex, thank you very much for your long message, I've listened to it several times, and I'm sitting here in Rethymno with a broad smile and a little "tears" in my eyes. You write that I gave you something. Honestly, what you are today has mainly to do with your courage to set out on the path, even with doubts and fears in your luggage. The Alex from back then and the one from today are the same person to me, only back then you wouldn't have trusted yourself to do what you're doing now. That you pulled it through belongs to you. I was particularly pleased about what you say about the kids: That you want to give them time, energy and attention because you think it's right and not because you have to. With that, you're exactly the right person for social work and coaching. Good luck with the homework. If you ever want to discuss something, I'm here, whether with text, voice message or a call. Warm regards from the island, one more smile and peaceful, joyful moments, Iven