So take a moment to close your eyes as you listen to me,
And as you listen to me and you begin to fall asleep,
I'm going to tell you a story in the background,
And so with your eyes closed as you drift comfortably asleep,
You can have a sense of somebody who was going about everyday life.
They'd wake up,
Go through their life,
Going to work,
Being polite to others,
Going home,
Watching some TV,
Going to bed.
Getting up,
Going to work,
Being polite to others,
Going home,
Watching some TV,
Going to bed.
And every day this was their routine.
They'd wake up,
Go to work,
Go home,
Watch TV,
Go to bed.
And then one day they woke up,
And they thought to themselves that they didn't want to keep doing this.
They wished there was something more exciting in life.
Because when they were thinking back over their past,
Only a few memories stood out.
Most of the memories just blurred into one.
They couldn't tell one day from the next.
Just getting up,
Going to work,
Going home,
Watching TV,
Then going to bed.
So one day while they're at home,
They decided to go on the internet,
And just randomly book a holiday.
A trip anywhere at all,
They didn't know where.
They just wanted to book something,
And they booked a holiday to an exotic location.
And all of a sudden,
While they were going to work,
They'd be thinking about the excitement of this trip away they've got coming up in the future.
While they're at work,
Working and smiling politely,
In their mind they were thinking about what this exotic location will be like.
On their journey home,
They're thinking about that holiday they're planning on going on,
And looking forward to it.
And every day they crossed off a date on the diary,
As they got closer and closer to their trip.
And then when the holiday came around,
They travelled to that exotic location.
The plane landed,
And they went to the hotel,
And they left their stuff in the hotel.
They decided to go out exploring.
And so they went out exploring.
They wandered out into a beautiful rainforest.
The sounds of the birds,
The rustling of the leaves,
The sounds of monkeys in the distance,
And all the other sounds.
And they could feel how warm it was in the rainforest.
But their attention was just so focused on the excitement,
And the exploration.
They could hear water in the distance,
And so they pushed through the rainforest.
And the sound of the water got louder,
And louder.
And they continued pushing through the rainforest,
Excited,
Wondering what they would find.
And the sound of the water got louder,
And louder,
Until eventually they found a clearing.
Suddenly,
There was the light from the sun beating down on them,
And glistening on water in a giant lake,
Surrounded by huge waterfalls.
And they could see those huge waterfalls,
And the spray,
And the mist coming up at the bottom of the waterfalls.
And rainbows dancing in the water,
As it spray up above the lake.
And they saw what looked like a small wooden boat,
Down on the lake.
They walked down to that boat,
Climbed into the boat,
Picked up the oars,
Pushed off the side,
And gently paddled out into the lake.
They could feel the force of the water against the oars as they paddled.
And they paddled out towards the centre of the lake.
And the lake was calm,
With just those waterfalls around the outside.
But the water seemed to quickly calm,
As it moved away from the waterfalls.
And the lake appeared to be very deep.
And the person just pulled the oars into the boat.
They put their backpack down,
To use as a pillow.
And they lied back in that boat,
And just closed their eyes and relaxed.
Listening to the waterfalls in the background.
Smelling the fresh water air.
Feeling just the most subtle rocking of the boat on the lake.
And feeling the warmth of the sun beating down on them.
And they just closed their eyes,
Took some deep breaths and relaxed.
And just allowed themselves to become absorbed in the moment.
And as they relaxed and became absorbed in the moment,
The sun continued its journey across the sky.
Gradually lowering in the sky.
And the sounds in the forest began to change.
From daytime sounds to night time sounds.
And as the sun set,
So the person opened their eyes and gazed up into the sky.
And as they gazed up into the sky,
They could see a blanket of stars twinkling in different colours in the sky,
Different clouds.
And they could see the Milky Way stretching across the sky.
And they recognised one point of light in the sky as being Mars.
And as they gazed at that point of light,
As they gazed up at Mars,
So their eyes began to close again.
And as their eyes began to close,
They discovered their eyes opening on the red planet.
And oddly,
They didn't have any space gear on.
And they were able to breathe perfectly fine.
As if they were just on Earth.
But they knew they were on the red planet.
And they discovered themselves at the foot of a mountain range on Mars.
And they thought,
Wouldn't it be exciting to climb a mountain range on Mars?
So they climbed up the mountain.
They trekked up the mountain.
And as they approached the top of the mountain,
They noticed how vibrant the red was.
They began to get a new perspective on this world.
And they sat down and they enjoyed the view,
Knowing they were the first person ever to set foot here.
And as the small sun set on Mars,
So they could see two small moons in the sky and all the stars in the sky.
And they could see off in the distance pale blue dots they knew was Earth.
And they enjoyed the awe,
The wonder of gazing at that pale blue dot.
Seeing that all life on Earth,
All known life in the universe,
Is on that pale blue dot.
And suddenly,
They had a sense that life seems so fragile when it's all contained in that one location,
In such a small location from this distance.
And they felt a sense of love and compassion for all that life.
And a sense of the importance for looking after that pale blue dot.
And as the sun rose on another Martian day,
So with these new learnings,
They climbed down the mountain.
And as they reached the base of the mountain,
So they found their eyes opening in a boat floating on a lake,
Listening to that water,
Feeling the warmth of the morning sun.
And they got the oars and they rowed back to shore.
And they continued exploring for a while in the rainforest.
And that evening,
They decided to pitch up a tent to camp in the rainforest.
And it was a tent that you pitched up between the trees,
That would tie to the trees and be held a few feet off the ground.
And then you'd climb up into the tent and you'd be a few feet off the ground.
And you'd feel like you were floating.
And as they relax in the tent,
Feeling comfortable and calm,
So they would notice how the tent sways gently between the trees,
Almost like being rocked gently asleep.
And they did rock gently asleep in the tent.
And after a week or so of enjoying an exotic holiday,
Seeing colourful birds,
Seeing different apes and other animals,
Taking plenty of photographs and writing down thoughts that came to mind,
They travelled back home.
And they appreciated their own bed more than they had appreciated it in a long time.
And they knew they had to do this more often as they relaxed down in their bed and drifted comfortably and deeply asleep.
