If I could leave all my responsibilities behind and head for Malaga, Spain, tonight, I would. I’ve actually never had a burning desire to go to Malaga, but I would go now to meet new FOF member, Lily Trainor.
I called Lily this afternoon after reading some of the powerful messages on her website.
“Nothing positive can come from agonizing over something that is out of my control. When the outcome is in the hands of someone else, all I can do is hope for the best and plan for the worst.”
“Giving to others has a powerful effect on my life. My mood is positively affected each time I give. When I see the expression on others’ faces and try to imagine what they are going through, I am rich with gratitude.”
“Maintaining an outgoing personality ensures me a life filled with excitement. I am always on the go, whether it is helping someone, volunteering, exercising, or seeking a new experience.”
Lily, 55, is a life coach, which she unpretentiously defines as “a good friend.” You can read about her rich credentials on her website, but hearing about her experiences first hand made me realize how much she really has to give and what a “good friend” she must be.
The daughter of a Russian mother and Indian father, Lily grew up in affluence in Singapore. Before attending university, she worked for Singapore Airlines and volunteered at an Indian orphanage every chance she could. Then she married a successful Scottish man, moved to Scotland and had three daughters. There she studied for a BA degree and became a geography teacher.
Ten years ago, after 26 years of marriage, Lily “became lonely” and wanted a divorce. “He was a great father but a lousy husband,” she told me. So she up and left, refusing to “take a penny.” Flat broke, she had no one to turn to for comfort.
“I wanted to start over, desperate to see things in a clearer light,” she explained. Settling in Spain (“to be close enough to my three fantastic girls, but far away from my ex-husband’), she decided to become a life coach so she could “continue teaching through motivation and inspiration.” Now Lily is a licensed master practitioner of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), and practices other—less controversial—forms of therapy. Tony Robbins is an NLP Practitioner, by the way.
“I believe that when we stop resisting the changes we are going through and simply embrace them, we realize that life is on our side. I believe that we all have a part of ourselves that doesn’t change… and, when we find that part within us, whatever change we are going through on the outside becomes easier,” Lily says on her website.
Newly married to a Swedish man, 15 years her senior, she is enjoying a “rich romantic life.”