I wanted to do this list because normally we only really talk about the positive impacts people have had on your life when we are talking at their funeral, which is a bit late as they are not there to hear it. Some of the people on my list have already passed away but I still wanted to give them the recognition they deserve.
I did say that my list wasn't in order of importance or anything and was in chronological order so I don't feel the need to do them any particular order. As I am staying at Rachels' house at the moment I thought it would be quite apt to choose number 9 off my list.
Rachel Williams
I met Rachel when I started working at First Choice Holidays. She was always very professional and never seemed to be phased by stressful situations. I started working for her when I joined the group reservations department looking after bookings for parties of 10 or more passengers. At the time I joined her team I was in my early 20's and still very unconfident about my appearance and was still living at home with my parents.
We got along really well and even though she was technically my boss we were also friends and spent time with each other outside of work. I would often stay at her house as I didn't have a car when I first started work and so would rely on lifts or public transport.
The top picture was at Rachel's first house in Bredbury, Cottage Garden Mews. It was only a one bedroomed and so when I stayed I would be. on a camp bed in the lounge. I had hair then (first time round lol). The bottom pic was on one of our many holidays together.
Rachel was all the things I aspired to be, she was doing well professionally, she was organised, had a busy social life, travelled lots to different places that were not your bog-standard bucket, and spade holidays to Spain. Her house was always immaculate and everything had a place and I knew that when I eventually got my own house I would want it to be just like that.
A lot of the holidays I went on during my time at First Choice Holidays were usually arranged by Rachel as I have never been great at sorting out where I want to go. I think I find it overwhelming because there are so many places to choose from. We would go on work trips together if Rachel got incentives through suppliers and could wangle it for me to go with her too. Rachel would often include me in the holidays she would go on with David, I don't think he minded some of the time because I was quite good at stopping arguements between them as I would try and see both points of view and use humour to diffuse the situation.
Even to this day, I tend to join on holidays that other people are already arranging, otherwise, I would hardly go away lol.
Because I was very unorganised back in the day I used to get easily overwhelmed by things that I needed to do and would often end up in floods of tears at Rachels desk because my mental "To Do List" had gotten out of control and I felt unable to cope. Rachel just seemed to have a nack for being able to make everything seem manageable and would sit me down and go through each item on my mental list and break them down into actionable tasks and a timetable to get it done. Looking back my lists were usually quite simple tasks but I just seemed to get bogged down because I was partial to a bit of procrastination.
Looking back the things I used to get worked up about looks quite pathetic, but it would literally spin me into a world of turmoil because they were all these things in my head to do that were not be getting done. Rachel would calmly ask why I was so overwhelmed and I would start to spew out things that I needed to do. Rachel would calmly start to make a list on a piece of paper, and when I got to the end she would ask "is that everything?". At this point seeing the short list with quite daft things on it, I was already starting to feel quite ridiculous for getting all worked up lol. An example would be something like the one below:-
Tidy Bedroom
Pay credit card payment
Pay car council tax
Set up a direct debit for "something"
Take an item back for a refund/.exchange
She would start going down the list "right well let's go to your mum's after work and tidy your room together, then that's done, Next, dig out your credit card statement when you get home and you can pay it over the phone. And so on until this mountain of things weighing on my mind was nothing more than a molehill.
I remember one particular meltdown when I had gotten myself in a mess with credit cards. I had discovered the power of plastic and had about 20 different store cards and credit cards, I even had a Filofax for them all. I ended up with about £8000 of debt because it just didn't feel like real money just handing over a store card. Every time you shopped they would offer a discount if you opened up a store card so I'd be like "Yes Please". I didn't think about how I was going to pay for everything and then all of a sudden I started getting all these statements :-/ Rachel came home with me after my meltdown, got out all my cards and statements, cut up my cards and then worked out which statements we would tackle first. Some I would pay the minimum, others I would pay off in full to get that out of the way. She worked out all my outgoings, what I could afford to pay off and gave me a budget I had to live on each month. I think it took me about a year to get straight again, but I definitely learned my lesson.
During my time at First Choice, Rachels work ethic always encouraged me to do the best I could and strive to be the best version of me I could be. She would always preempt the information she might require for a meeting so that she was prepared and not caught on the back foot. She would be a brilliant chess player because she has always mapped out the different outcomes from a situation before going into it, so that she is prepared for every eventuality.
When we went on holidays (I say 'went' because we don't really go away together now that she is with Karl), I used to always see how organised Rachels suitcase was. She would have all the documents required in a travel document wallet printed out and the order that they would be required so that nothing was left to chance. I would think to myself that I would be like that one day. Now I am the most organised traveller ever lol, I even have packing cubes so that everything is easy to unpack at the other end and I know exactly what's in the case and whereabouts to find it.
I even used to take note of how Rachel would organise her kitchen so that she had everything to hand in the right place for its use. The way she cooked was very methodical and she would always have all the herbs and spices she used on a regular basis fully stocked.
Now that I have my own place I am obsessed with organisation and everything having a place so that it is easy to find things and I know exactly where things are, and I owe all of this to Rachel. She did say at one point that she has created a monster because I am probably more obsessed with being organised than she is lol. I just feel like it gives my life order and my mind is less chaotic when I know where to find things. I always try to keep back stock of items I use regularly and then add them to my shopping list (via my Alexa lol) when I use the backup of each item, so I don't run out of things like toothpaste, washing up liquid and other items you always need.
Rachel has always been the voice of reason I would turn to when I was faced with a dilemma or a situation where I wanted to make sure I wasn't acting in haste and had thought things through. She is my sounding board and someone I can always depend on to have a calm head in times of crisis. I could ring Rachel up in a fit of anger about someone I'd just had an argument with and she would always calm me down and help me see both sides.
I am sitting in Rachels house as I type this and looking out over her garden and I realise that I still have a way to go lol. Her garden is pristine and tidy, unlike my overgrown mess at the moment. I think the secret is to keep most of your plants in pots so you can control how big they go. That will be my next project!
In closing, I believe that the person I am today is lot to do with meeting Rachel and I am a firm believer that you should always try to surround yourself with people who either match your vibration or are at a higher vibration and so lift you up. I think you can tell a lot about a person by the company you keep.
What do your friends say about you?
If you would like to read the blog posts dedicated to my other influences, check out My List
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