20 June 2023 · 2023-06 newsletter
After months of planning by a dedicated and talented team, the morning arrived for a new kind of women’s gathering: a “Women’s Breakfast” with the Theme: “Become the Best Version of Me”. Fifty women accepted the invitation. Our senses and spirits were nurtured with a visual display in the way the family hall at Mt. Schoenstatt was set up and decorated, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and a lovely selection of breakfast delights.
Getting a group of women together from different age groups, walks of life, nationalities, and experiences, always brings joy and a vibrancy. The chatter and sharing began with the first greetings and good mornings.
After an initial welcome and breakfast, Elizabeth LeBreton was introduced. She had used the covid lockdowns to reflect on her life. Having space and time she trained as a life coach, after 30 years as a teacher, and started a business “Balancing Life” to help others thrive and become their best selves. Elizabeth shared “the most fulfilling part of my role is in witnessing personal growth, the achievement of a goal and the challenge of the next step”.
The presentation was interactive and the energy level in the room went up a few notches as we worked on our personal “wheel of life”, a tool of self-reflection gaining insights into our strengths and vulnerabilities. After sharing with those on our tables we had ideas about what our items to action would be to help us find balance in our lives.
Many in attendance were from the Schoenstatt Mothers and Single Women’s Branches and from the PMA as well as several new faces. For me, coming from a Schoenstatt lens it reinforced how blessed we are with Schoenstatt’s method of self-education: the discovery of our personal ideal, spiritual daily order and particular examination.
Angela gave a reflection after Elizabeth’s presentation using Our Lady as the balanced personality, our mother, model, and educator in a very practical way. An example Angela gave was if the wheel of your bike has spokes missing, you won’t get very far and with what Elizabeth shared we can see that our life needs to be balanced, having a goal to guide us, steps to “unlearn what does not suit any longer” and steps to take action. In our Schoenstatt school of life: Personal ideal (God’s image of me), P.E (Particular Examination – overcoming what makes my life out of balance) and S.D.O (spiritual daily order – steps to action) help us in achieving a balanced life.
We left today wanting more, and asking when the next breakfast will be. Many women spoke to Elizabeth after the event and many of us shared with one another. We all left happy and challenged to become the best version of me. Elizabeth was grateful to be trusted to be the speaker at Schoenstatt‘s first Women’s Breakfast at Mulgoa.
Michelle
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