In the right place at the right time

I recently went to Iceland for few days - one aim of the trip was to see the Aurora.

The night of the sightseeing trip arrived, and the forecast looked good:

• Solar flares headed towards Earth a few days earlier 
• No moon 
• Little cloud
• KP 4 

With those criteria met many would suggest we had a higher than 75% probability of seeing something. 

And yet we saw nothing.

The next night I had a choice of whether to go out again on an aurora hunt, or stay in Reykjavik and to go out for a meal. By now the forecast and probability was nearer 50%. 

I chose to spend the night wrapped up very warm, in freezing conditions, looking to the stars. 

The patience and perseverance paid off, and for 20 minutes the night sky moved with ribbons of green light.

As the week progressed, and as the forecast and probability reduced further, the Aurora became more and more spectacular each night. 

A reminder, as I wrote about the other week, that we can't control the weather or nature.

In life as in nature.

That is we too can believe we've got all the right conditions in place for something to happen, and yet for some reason it doesn't! 

The key to ensuring we achieve our goals, despite other criteria not being as promising and the disappointment of the first failure, is to keep putting ourselves out into the environment. To turn up and be where it counts, when it counts. I certainly wouldn't have seen the aurora from the restaurant on Reykjavik. 

Although sometimes, just like Tim Peake on the International Space Station, you have to go a little further to truly experience what you're aiming for.

Alison Smith

Landscaping Your Life

Using nature to inspire change inside and out