As a child, I intrinsically knew that there was a beauty within each person that was far beyond what we experienced through the five senses. I knew that it was not just in some of us but in us all. The spirit or greater intelligence within us knew no bounds and hence the human experience could potentially be 'limitless'.
This led to a love of people, all people. And as a young adult, a fascination of why we do the things we do to others. I would often contemplate questions about the deeper meaning to life....and how can we avoid the suffering that humans experience or put upon another.
Questions like, 'how can we learn from people who have experienced such suffering?' and 'How can we teach our children and bring up future generations to understand that peace is the only option?'.
In 2003/2004, after practically burning out from my first Executive role on the brink of the age of thirty, I decided to live and work in Japan. Upon arrival, I was given a teaching role in the city of Nagoya and knew that whilst I was in Japan, visiting and experiencing Hiroshima was a must.
I will never forget walking out of the Hiroshima train station during my very first visit to this very special city. I was surprised how different it was to the other Japanese cities I had experienced. It was modern yet I was confused as to why the tram tracks were still very old, appeared rusted and appeared to have ancient rough gravel on them.
I learnt that it was not rust at all but they ground between the tram tracks had melted when the A-Bomb had been dropped and they left them as they were as a reminder. The citizens of Hiroshima declared this atrocity to never happen again and hence became the city for peace.
Although, I came to Hiroshima in the quest to understand what the Japanese people had lived through as a result of the A-Bomb back on 6th August 1945 and how we could create a much better world, I did not expect to experience what I had. Spending a weekend at the Hiroshima Peace Park was beyond anything I had ever experienced.
I do not think that there was a dry eye in that place, especially after hearing the Hibakusha, or the A-Bomb survivors, tell their heart wrenching stories of that horrendous day back in 1945.
The city of Hiroshima declared itself the city of peace because of the suffering that its people had experienced. After my first visit, I left this city different. It had such an impact on me, an impact and influence wanting me to learn more, to be more, to scream and tell every single person I met that we all, together must delve deeper and become the peace that we wanted our own children and loved ones to experience.
My first visit to Hiroshima, planted a new dream within me - and that was to study deeper, to learn more, to be the leader and representative in the world that practices what I preach. This new dream lead me to discover a course in Hiroshima City University that was only taking twenty five international students and the remaining places were only available to Japanese students.
Although every single day, for months, I was thinking and yearning to be a part of this course, I felt that the odds were against me. There were many international students who had studied law and politics that would have had a much better fit than the psychology and counselling studies I completed. Besides, my Japanese language skills were very poor.
Lo and Behold, I will never forget the day that the letter arrived notifying me of being one of the successful candidates for the Hiroshima City University's 'Hiroshima and Peace Intensive course'. To cut a long story short, not only was I one of the few accepted but I ended up with top marks which made me very proud.
This coming August will be twenty years since I had completed the course at Hiroshima City University. Reflecting back on my life, not only did this course or experience, lead me to deeper understanding of the world and how we can all contribute to peace, it has lead me to understand the principles that I help my clients with today as a global leader in success coaching.
Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about the Law of Attraction and manifestation. When I reflect on my many travel journeys and the experience of landing a place at Hiroshima City University, I was practicing these principles and mastered the principles without knowing I had.
If I was to break down my experience, here is how I manifested both experiences in Hiroshima:
- I knew deep down within me exactly what I wanted - first to live and work in Japan and then, after my first trip to Hiroshima, to study at Hiroshima City University.
- I had a very deep desire to do both.
- I imagined it and felt the joy, passion and desire of having it every single day leading up to the experience itself - I was living the experience everyday before it happened.
- Even though the odds seemed against me at the time, I took action anyway. I applied to be one of the twenty five to win a place knowing deep down it was meant to be mine.
- When the notice came that I was successful, I did not know how I would get there and it was way, way out of my comfort zone but I went for it anyway. I took action although uncomfortable.
- That action ended up giving me greater rewards - not only during the course but decades later as the leader in my own success coaching company.
Your travel experiences will be the adventure of a lifetime if you allow them to be. They will stretch you and grow you to a greater version of yourself. But always remember to listen to that inner voice called your intuition, it will guide you to what you really want.
For me, this resulted in my business, Your2Minds, and helping hundreds of people around the world get to their greater success and to understand themselves, the law of attraction and creating a life or business by design.
Hiroshima is a very special city. Please remember to visit this city and please take your children with you. Everyone must experience this place so that future generations can see that peace is the only way. Peace within ourselves first, peace within our families and peace within our communities and then ultimately peace within our beautiful world.
Suzana Mihajlovic, Founder and Head Success Coach, www.your2minds.com
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