When you enter the TRUST lunchroom in Amsterdam, Netherlands you are greeted by both upbeat graphics and motivational quotes, as well as many smiling faces. The atmosphere is one that feels relaxed, and you instantly feel welcomed. Just the type of place where you would want to work for a couple hours, meet a friend or relax with a cup of coffee and a good book.
The outside window declares “Come as you are. Pay as you feel,” as there are no fixed prices. You are invited to pay what you feel for whatever you order. They invite you to “sink into your heart and let what you feel to pay come up into your consciousness.” They believe that by turning inward “we give from a place that is loving, joyful and trusting. When exchanged from this mindset, be it by giving or receiving, it creates more of the same.”
The reason for this is because the 5 founders – Joyce Olivier, Hugo Leemhuis, Mariella van Mackelenbergh, Cath Laporte and Maarten Zwemmer – and the 3 TRUST Partners – Akke, Tine and Astrid Kersten – created and run the lunchroom for one main reason…to practice Mind Training via a heart to heart business.
As they explain, “Whilst cooking, serving or making coffee the Mind Training is ongoing. Every thought is watched. The lunchroom is not a place you join to help us in the kitchen. It is a place you join to get to know your mind and work through everything that is unlike True Love and Joy in order to experience Happy for no Reason every day.” For years they met in Joyce’s living room each Thursday night to work on Mind Training, but decided that they needed somewhere out in the world to practice it on a daily basis. The money is just an after-thought.
I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Mariella and Astrid while I was visiting Amsterdam and learn more about both their personal paths to TRUST as well as the goals and principles of TRUST as a whole. Prior to TRUST, Mariella was working as a child psychologist within the daycare system and Astrid as a physical therapist. We met in TRUST², their meeting space that is a few doors down from the lunchroom. It was one of those conversations that will always stay with me, as it was calming, affirming and enriching. Besides being so well aligned to Chapter Be, it was extremely freshening to meet two women who were walking the walk, and not just talking the talk!
In the episode we talk about what trust means, how you can infuse it into your everyday life and how relying on others within your community makes it all the more possible. Listen below to learn more about Mariella, Astrid and TRUST’s Chapter Be story…
LISTEN…
CHAPTER BE QUESTIONNAIRE…
Be:
Unity
What’s your favorite quote, story or fact?
“Seek not to change the world but to change your mind about the world.” – A Course in Miracles
Worst work experience?
We don’t see it that way. We believe every experience is an experience for growth and decide to be thankful for it.
What is your definition of success?
Living abundantly from being in service to the Whole.
How do you tap into your creative energies – especially when you are feeling drained?
Remind ourselves of our purpose. Our WHY. Say out loud WHY we started doing what we are doing in the first place!
What does “to be” mean to you?
Being our TRUE self. Being who we are meant to be. Using all of our mental, physical and emotional capacities as they were meant to be used.
How do you spend your time when you are procrastinating?
We don’t procrastinate. Winners do what ‘failures’ don’t like to do. We follow our guidance, our inner knowing, as to what to do and when, and we do this without delay. We ask each other to keep us on course and focused.
Ideal READING LIST – books, websites, blogs, podcasts, magazines, etc. that you would want on your Swiss Family Robinson deserted island?
- Bob Proctor teachings/audios
- As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
- A Course in Miracles by Foundation for Inner Peace
- Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch
- Chuck Spezzano books
Favorite song with “be” in the title?
What I Am! by Will.I.Am
Doens’t have ‘be’ but has ‘am’ in the title…and it does have A LOT of ‘be’ in the lyrics and its exactly what we as TRUST do.
It’s a TRUST thing from TRUST on Vimeo.
LINKS & RESOURCES…
Images via Chapter Be and Trust
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