Philip Blatchford - All About Quality
NAME: Philip Blatchford
AGE: 49 LOCATION: Somerset, UK window cleaner, farmer and IT consultant My childhood was nothing remarkable. At the age of 12 I went to the local boarding school, which after the initial shock of longer days and homework, I enjoyed, as I was able to be involved in many things with more freedom. I made few friends as I was different to the others, but not sure why and it did not really bother me, preferring to be busy and in my own company.
University was not really much of a change, I worked hard, but did have a few close friends. Not drinking was a big benefit to my friends (school and university), especially when I had a car, as I could drive and they could drink – the benefit to me was I was happy with my driving and did not miss drinking.
After university I had a couple of jobs ranging from sales to purchasing, to production planning, and then fell into IT. IT seemed to be easy (I had done it a lot at school from 1981). I could pick up new things on the fly and even teach it with minimal effort – IT was something I found easy, I could do things without learning (e.g. hardware repair, cabling, server setup and fault finding, using new software etc.) The job went sour as my boss did not like that fact that I got on well with everyone – I worked hard and helped people with their problems, explaining in ways they could understand. A job came up at the local monastery-run Catholic boarding school as an IT technician. I applied, starting there a couple of weeks later
My boss and I had an interesting relationship, with him afraid that I was trying to run the department – the opposite was more the fact. I made many friends here as people found they could easily relate to me. I had a few very difficult years with my boss and needed the odd shoulder to ‘cry on’, but rapidly gained my own strength and worked out ways to do what I felt was needed – which was helping people. When, after 10 years, a new boss arrived it was like a breath of fresh air – he understood my various skills and helped me expand my abilities. I greatly expanded my skills and helped all sorts of people through all sorts of problems. I was actively involved in many extracurricular activities and there were very few people that I did not get on well with (very different to my earlier life). It was also here that I did a year’s teacher training and 5 year’s part time teaching to gain my qualified teacher status – all in addition to my regular job
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I found a ‘Countryside & the Environment Course’ at the local college. My lecturer and I got on extremely well and he opened my eyes to the world that was around me. I completed the course with top marks, also teaching the other students on a couple of days. I started the second course in the September, but the college closed the course at short notice and I was back to ‘what do I do now’?
I had been doing odd jobs and earning some money. I was offered a couple of days window cleaning – I was dubious at first, but having tried it loved it. I now window-clean several days a week and earn enough money to pay my bills. I have just set up my own business window cleaning.
I met Serge Benhayon on his first trip to the UK at a Level 1 Heart Chakra workshop. Even though I had flu, I was determined to go. Serge talked for most of the day and answered questions – the things he was saying made sense. At the end of the day I felt so ill with the flu I could barely sit up – Serge spent 20 minutes working on me with hands on healing. I felt fantastic afterwards – I felt I was home.
Gradually over the years I learnt more from Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon and slowly realised that things were not right with my body. This is when I started to figure out what was wrong and by becoming more aware of my habits discovered that my relationship with food was a big problem. Since looking at what my body needs and what it doesn’t, I have removed certain things from my diet, and also noticed that my tastes have changed, especially now, I find sweet things too sweet. I have also noticed that aches and pains in my body that I have had for a long time have now gone – I can now genuflect (go down on one knee), something I have not been able to do for as long as I can remember!
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After 12 ½ years senior management changed radically and my department ran into problems with them wanting to get rid of us – we did not fit into their plans and we rebelled against the ideas that they were trying to do as we felt they were not right for the school – a fact that has since been proved. My boss left almost a year later. I soldiered on doing his and my job with little support for a few months, but finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed. I was signed off work by a doctor for a few months and during this time decided that I did not want to go back.
During my years there I met online and married my wife, Val, moved house and started our small holding
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Over the last 12 years I have also changed my life in other ways. I used to ignore my body, work long hours, stay up really late and eat a lot, though fairly healthy. I have gradually found the benefit of listening to my body – I now eat what my body says it wants (no dairy, no carbs etc.) - I am feeling much better, less greasy skin, my knee problem has gone and without trying I have lost over a quarter of my body weight – the only disadvantage of this is that my clothes are now too big.
Val and I have over the last 6 years set up a small holding. We started with 4 alpacas (joining our 2 black labradors) and have gradually grown to now include 63 sheep (mostly pedigree), 2 highland cows (who are both due to calve in August), chickens and ducks. We have also started talking to local primary schools, as I am after all a qualified teacher, offering them onsite tuition on our farm, and also us visiting the schools offering various activities.
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