Last Sunday was a beautiful sunny day.  My 4 and 6 year old children decided that they would love to ride their bikes up and down our street.  Our street is a cul-de-sac and pretty safe but I do like to put out a picnic blanket on the grass and watch them – just in case.  Both kids ran inside to get something and at that moment some neighbours from down the street drove past.  Winding down the window we made a joke out of the fact that I was sitting on my own on the side of the road – I looked like “Nigel no friends” having a picnic by myself – with no food.  We laughed, said goodbye and off they went.

Next thing I know, my neighbour is walking up the street with a plate of food and two glasses of red wine in her hand, closely followed by her husband with another two glasses and a determination to prevent my husband from mowing the lawn!

What ensued was a fabulous afternoon with great conversation, lots of laughter and half the residents of the street popping in from time to time.  Not to mention a few confused looks from passing motorists!

The fact that the afternoon was spontaneous and unexpected, not to mention a lot of fun, will make it a life long memory that will always bring me joy when I think of it.  I will also treasure the random act of kindness from my neighbours.

When was the last time you did anything spontaneous?  How did it make you feel?  How do you think your team/family/friendship group would react if you threw caution to the wind and just did something for fun?  Life is just a series of memories so we may as well make them good ones, huh? 

I raised this idea with a couple of my managerial colleagues and the response was that they were too busy to think of anything spontaneous to do!  I think the key here is to be open and aware enough to seize an opportunity that comes by.  We get so bogged down in our day to day life and “to do” list that we don’t “see” the beauty and the fun around us.  We also get too busy to listen sometimes - I mean really listen – as our next Businesswomen’s Breakfast Series speaker in Sydney, Helen Wiseman, will discuss.  We also have Sarah Cornally in Parramatta speaking about Courageous Conversations and Helen Mac in Melbourne discussing whether people will follow you where you lead.

I’d love to hear what you have done on a spontaneous whim that has created a lifelong memory for you – and it may just give others some ideas!  Post a comment and let us know!

I’ll sign off now, but don’t forget to look around you sometimes – it may just be a lot of fun!!