Present in Arabia

The feeling Bobbie has when she is riding Arabian horses particularly in the Middle East leaves her euphoric, for her there is no other feeling like it in the world. A few years back she couldn’t understand two things: why she loved horses and why she felt euphoric when she was around them. She travelled frequently to the Persian Gulf. Whenever she could that was where she headed. The barren landscape, the extreme heat, the extreme cold, the unreliable and highly erratic rainfalls, the never-ending sand dunes were all part of her spectacular experience.

A Bedouin called Ali accompanied Bobbie on her trips across the desert. He was intriguing - a Master Horseman and had incredible life stories, mostly about living in the desert with his horses.

Equally Ali found Bobbie fascinating. Her love for horses, for the wilderness and most of all for her inner knowledge and thirst for breaking through all the limitations and all the challenges she had endured in her life. He secretly loved that she used her chequered past with absolute gusto to inspire others, regardless of their backgrounds, to live life to the fullest every day. Each day looked like a new adventure to her and she embraced it with such tremendous gratitude.

Suddenly and abruptly the horses became highly alert. In the not too far distance, what looked like a small oasis came into sight. This was incredible Bobbie had never seen a calm fertile spot before in the desert especially with water. It was beautiful - the calmness was sublime; the stillness and tranquillity was mesmerising.

Ali had a small stove which he set up, lit and boiled water. He set out two coffee cups, two plates, two napkins. He gave the horses some carrots, apples and pulled out two nose bags full of hay coated with honey.

He placed a traditional Levantine cake, basbousa which was his everyday dessert. It's quite a simple recipe he explained: “the cake is made from mostly semolina and sometimes powdered coconut, then soaked in syrup and garnished with blanched almonds before serving”. He set out a beautiful box of dates. The coffee was strong and had a bitter taste but together with the sweetness of the cake and dates made it very pleasant.

They shared stories, laughed, cried as well as sitting very still and staying silent for long periods of time. Bobbie was deep in thought; her eyes were drawn to a small patch of vegetation it looked dark although it was surrounded by desert. She closed her eyes and again once when she opened them she was drawn to the same spot. Time and time again, she asked Ali if he could see anything and he very snappishly replied “no”. Bobbie felt a sense that he definitely did not want to be disturbed.

After what felt like a long period of time had passed, Bobbie quietly stood up and walked over to the exact spot she had been drawn to, bending down to see what this dark patch was. She saw what looked like a little black notebook, impossible she thought, as she stretched her hand out to reach for it. A strange feeling came over her, almost to the extent she felt very light headed, she picked up this beautiful little book, opened it and page after page it was full of symbols or similar to a code, possibly Arabic writing or numbers and a small drawing of what looked like a very small map, all written, in what she assumed was Arabic. As she flicked through this little black notebook she could feel a very powerful presence. On the very last page of the book there was the most magnificent drawing of an Arab horse it looked like a stallion; she was blown away by what she had found.

When she turned around to show Ali, he was gone, his horse, coffee pots, plates, everything gone. She wasn’t fazed by this he often took off and left her on her own; he thought it was great for her growth.

Bobbie mounted her horse and headed back through the desert, mesmerised with her little black notebook. There was a slight breeze in her face and along with the euphoric feeling she couldn’t have been happier.

Bobbie had a very challenging past, she had struggled with life, with relationships, with her career. She had lost all the money she had ever made with two broken marriages; she had been left penniless with debt. Bobbie had ended up with lots of addictions and at one point, her lowest ebb, she had been found very close to death. To have turned around her life the way she had was a miracle. She was the happiest she had ever been.

Bobbie arrived back at ranch; it was almost sunset. She showered down her horse put him in his pen with lots of hay water and his well-deserved bucket of feed, full of his favourite food. Ali’s horse was in his pen munching away on hay - she was happy to see he was home.

No one was around, it was very quiet, only the horses in their pens. A small black cat was roaming around and Harry the camel was standing as tall as ever. Bobbie went to her little cabin, where fresh towels were placed on her bed with some fruit, dates, nuts and a fresh pot of coffee. She took a handful of dates and nuts, had a quick cool refreshing shower and before her head had barely hit the pillow she was fast asleep.

Next morning at 5am the taxi arrived, still no one around, Bobbie left for the airport. She thought about this little black notebook in her backpack; as soon as possible she would set about finding out what the codes meant and have someone translate it all into English for her.

As she arrived at the airport, the check-in officer asked her if she would like to be upgraded to first class, free of charge. “Well absolutely” she replied. ‘Can things get any better’ she thought. Bobbie had never travelled first class before, what a journey this had been, from rock bottom, living in hell for years and years and now this - her heart was so full of gratitude. One thing she was absolutely sure about was that when you really discovered the secrets of the inner way of being, it was very possible to create your own destiny. It was really starting to happen for her after many years of practise.

First class is the most luxurious way to experience a flight. In fact it’s the most luxurious way to live life. The upgrade included exclusive access to spa treatments, fast-track security and outstanding service. “It’s by far the finest way to travel”, Bobbie thought to herself, enjoying every moment of it.

Bobbie arrived at London Heathrow. As she was on her way out of the airport, there was huge luxurious car right outside the exit and a very handsome, elderly gentleman. He looked like a Sheik and was walking towards the open door. Without a second thought, Bobbie smiled over and in the same motion asked this lovely gentleman if he could translate a few things for her, this man was bemused. All of a sudden three men appeared from nowhere, clearly they were security, this man nodded his head, as if to signal it is ok. He said, “I am going to Kensington, I am happy to have my driver drop you off home if you would like to accompany me I can certainly have a go at translating for you”.

Without any hesitation Bobbie was sitting on the pristine cream upholstery rummaging through her backpack for the little black notebook. As she lifted it out he bag she handed it to gentleman, she told him the story about finding it at an oasis in the desert. The man’s name was Ahmad. He looked at her dumbfounded, he asked Bobbie “will you trust me?”

“Of course” she said. Bobbie had nothing to lose and knew without a shadow of a doubt that the worst things she had ever experienced had happened to her in the past, she was completely aware and knew the secrets of inner calm. “Nothing to lose by trusting him”, she thought.

Ahmad told her the story of his family, the money they inherited, how they turned it into extreme wealth and how they owned companies and investments worth billions of dollars.

Now Bobbie was dumbfounded. The little black notebook contained a system of words, letters, figures, symbols that represented generation after generation of wealth building secrecy. One of his sons has taken it on a trip through the desert to absorb the information and had lost it over 5 years ago on his way home.

They arrived at Ahmad’s destination his door was opened, he turned kissed Bobbie’s hand, thanked her for finding his family heirloom then turned to the driver said something in Arabic and left.

The driver asked for her address, perplexed Bobbie gave her address. It felt very surreal, although it also felt like a great thing had happened.

That evening Bobbie could hardly sleep, she couldn’t wait to see her daughter Sofia to tell her about her adventure and the little black notebook. Next morning there was loud knock at the door, Bobbie ran downstairs thinking Sofia had forgotten her keys. It was Ahmad’s driver he had what looked like a huge painting and a beautiful leather cognac coloured box. The driver said, “Mr Ahmad asked me to deliver this”. He stepped inside the house put the painting and the box in the hallway and left.

Bobbie was shaking, she took the cover off the painting, with tears running down her face she couldn’t believe the painting was the exact same horse that was on the last page of the little black notebook. It was exquisite, a masterpiece. To her astonishment in the leather box was $20,000 in cash with a copy of the heirloom notebook and a card with a note saying”

“Thank you Bobbie, I was given $20,000 and this little black notebook when I was 12 years old. I have diligently mastered the secrets of creating wealth, I had no choice this practise has been passed down for generations in our family. Now this is the opportunity for you to do what truly matters to you, there is no need to do what others do.”

In that very moment Bobbie realised why she loved being around horses and why she felt euphoric in their company. For many many years she had practised tirelessly being as present as she could be, it’s a skill and a very challenging one to accomplish. On her journey with horses she expresses her happiness, she doesn’t seek it. This is why she has the most beautiful moments; she does everything with the horses like it’s the last thing she will ever do. This is her purpose in life to work with people to be present and particularly in the company of horses. As soon as her daughter Sofia arrived she made tea and sat her down. Bobbie shared her story and began to make a plan as if it was the last thing she will ever do.