Eat up Boy and .. Swallow!

Our growth depends not on how many experiences we devour, but on how many we digest.  Let us face facts, the term "growing", is very difficult, in fact far more than meets the eye.  We may talk a lot about growing and yet it is often lost in the discussing and there is much talking about change and how we grow, as we get older and the like, but actually the more things "change" the more they stay the same.  Sometimes we identify circumstances in our lives that we are not happy about and we know that they are affecting us negatively, but we are so stuck in the rut of daily life and afraid to change our circumstances our of fear or habit or uncertainty, that extracting ourselves from the position, is so much more difficult than even talking about it.  So we end up talking over it and continue to talk about it and and and,  but all the while continuing the very thing we believe or think is hurting or holding us back. We hope that our circumstances will get better and that bad things will not happen to us if we talk about them positively.  However, so it is that sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives, put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us.  Therefore, we owe it to ourselves to take a chance, to take on the bad things, as they appear on our horizon and through our actions we may in fact come through to the other side, more enriched and a far happier and better person.  No doubt that there are aspects of hurt and pain and turning a blind eye to these things would be silly.  It is rather the pain and hurts that we can talk about, after we have taken action, that results in a shift away from one circumstance to another.  I am not saying pain is nice or pleasant, but it certainly means that something is happening and that you are on a route to a different and hopefully happier future.

You take my breath away!

Living in our country under current circumstances can be very draining, harsh and especially frustrating when it is so evident that a small group known as government are abusing their powers and making decisions that will materially affect the next generation and this one, in the most severe manner.  But this is not a political statement (because we all know the president and anyone supporting him or working with him are disgraceful idiots) except to show that there is a whole lot of sh#*% in our lives on a daily basis, let alone dealing with relationships, business challenges and emotional decisions.  We try to distract ourselves with many useless things like worries and over thinking and pressure to succeed and feel part of something and thoughts that we are not good enough or could have done things differently and yet the only real truth, is that we need time to breathe.  We need to learn to take one positive breath after the next.  No matter your circumstance, stopping for a moment and doing whatever you can to slow down or shut off for a few minutes, or hours, or days, depending on your capacity and station in life will give you the time to breathe.  We just need to make time because we tend to leave things in our lives, up to a point where it becomes a near crisis, before we decide to do something about it.  It also implies that we need to breathe for ourselves as these are the breaths that make the difference in your future.  It does not mean that you always need to breathe for someone else, it does not mean that you have to take on every burden every mistake made by someone else and certainly not every negative circumstance that comes across your path.  In order to achieve balance, being the perfect balance for you, at your time, in your life, you need to breathe purposefully and free of any factors that hold you back.  Whether you go to a spa, or to gym, or speaking to someone that makes you smile, even resting at home with a good book or crafting, the process of breathing declutters the mind and soul and makes the possibility of a new day, or a time of recovery and regaining your strength, entirely possible.  Make yourself aware of the process and be a breather.

Our thoughts turn to such things.

How is it sometimes in our lives, that we go through a time when we have memories which come flooding back from all sides of our brains.  Perhaps a discussion with an old friend, or a picture, which we have not seen for a long time and it starts to set off our brain into remembering a series of memories and events in our lives.  It is incredible, the kind of capacity and details that a mind can store and that it seems to have the ability to recall the information some of which has been stored for a very long time.  Apart from asking myself why I seem to be recalling the exact memory at this time, I also try to make sure that if there was a lesson at the time or even a lesson I can think of now, which affects my life then I try to make sure, that I learn from the memory and either enjoy it or remember not to do it over again.  Having a good memory has the problem that you tend to remember everything in detail and this can cause pain, frustration and negativity, so fighting bad memories, becomes a big task on it's own.  The up side is that the good memories remain vivid and they can bring a lot of cheer into your life as you recall them.  Sometimes people catch you shaking your head and they think that something must be wrong, but you are just recalling a memory so good that you are shaking your head in disbelief, that you could have been blessed to have had such a memorable moment in your life. It is a privilege to have a mind filled with good and happy and positive memories and they should be savoured so that they can be used, in the times that are not so good, to keep your mood from falling into depression and from total negativity.  Hold fast and long may your memories not haunt you, but rather bring you peace.

Take Two.. Lets do that scene again!

They say You have the power to say "this is not how my story will end".  Sometimes we are guilty of limiting ourselves by the story we created about ourselves.  This may be as a result of things happening in our lives or because of words spoken directly or indirectly to us. We end up believing the story and as a result our future becomes limited by the very story we are meant to control - that of our life.  Examples like I am not good at maths, or I have never been able to dance or I don't sleep well, or I am a very moody person, or it is hard for me to make friends, or I cant help it that I am overweight.  All these example have one thing in common - they contain limitations which hold us back from the opportunity to go forward and change the circumstances we are in.  It is like we have stood in wet cement, being the thing that has been said over us or to us and we have now allowed the concrete to dry around our feet and we become completely stuck in the circumstance like a statute. Having said this, getting your feet extracted from cement that has dried, is not an easy feat and it takes a certain amount of assistance to extract yourself from the situation.  It starts though with an awareness of the things that were said and which you heard and basically allowed to become part of your own vocabulary and having discovered what it is, you can put yourself in a position to delete the things and rewrite your story.  It will take careful consideration of your relationships and friends, it will probably imply some pain along the way, your feet (mind) may begin to go numb as the concrete hardens around you and you may need help in getting someone to chip away at the base of the statute, so that you can eventually free your self without suffering serious damage.  If you want the story to end differently then you need to build the story that you believe will lead to your eventual happiness and success, for it is only when you are in that position that you can then be the person to others that fulfils your and their dreams.

Keep 'em peeled!

When you spend the amount of time on the road that I do at the moment, you tend to spend it thinking about various aspects of life and you have no choice but to look around you, take in the surrounds  and wonder what is happening in the car next to you, what about the businesses with lights still on late at night, why people are going to gym at 7 pm and what fellow motorists are doing on the road at the same time you are commuting.  A journey home can become a fascinating experience.  It makes you think about the society we live in and the many things that influence us and drive us daily, to makes ends meat and a life for ourselves.  I even catch myself talking to myself sometimes as I ponder how everything is connected and how lives ebb and flow and whether peoples hearts are warm and happy, or if they have things to talk about and share from their daily experiences, or whether they are in a mould of eat, sleep work repeat.  Hopefully today you have wakened in peace and with purpose as I do,  excited to do something positive and memorable and that your heart is not a ghost town, but rather a place of enthusiasm and meaning.  We can all do with keeping to the basics, living within our means and doing what makes sense currently in our lives.  We have today ahead of us and since we can do little with what happened yesterday and tomorrow is a mere possibility, we can have the freedom to know that what matters is how we handle today and the people we spend it with.

Be the Hypotanuse Your were born to be!

What does it take to be an "effective executive" in your sphere of influence or place of work.  It is not necessarily the number of hours that you spend working, because this is not always a measure of effectiveness.  Results is probably a better indication of the effective executive, but this too is not always as clear cut because we often do not work alone and functioning as a team is very often crucial to success because it incorporates elements of different strengths, specialities and skills.  Decision making is a vital part of running a business and executives know how to make decisions.  In reaching decisions you could ask two questions namely, in a particular situation, what would happen if you did nothing? And secondly, would the outcome of your decision outweigh the the risks and costs.  The result is that too many ineffective decisions get made and until action commitments are made the new regulations will not be enforceable.  It is the risk in taking the decision that defines the executive whether there is criticism for a decision or not.  There is a lot of pressure being an executive because you are always judged for your results, but predicting the outcome of every decision is near impossible.  All one can do is to follow the path that you think is best.  You can be wise in listening to the viewpoints of others, but this must be tested against your own beliefs, before you make a call.  Getting feedback is also of great use in improving your skills as an executive and choosing to listen to the advice of key people at the right times, is what makes a success of a business.  There are always restraints and adjustments may be necessary on occasion, yet the only thing that is truly limited is time.  This is such a precious resource and one has to use it effectively because you never know what awaits you daily and how circumstances can change.  Using time as far as possible, is valuable, because we can end up wasting so much time on the process of getting to a decision that there is not time to enjoy the fruit of the labour.  Having said that, it is important not to try to push every decision which you may think important because it may take much more time than we think before we reach the right decision.  The best  executive learns to share the load of responsibility and they delegate well.  Only delegate when someone is better at a task than you are and remember that simply delegating is not what makes a good executive.  It is still important for the executive to focus on what he or she can contribute to the organisation.  There will, finally, be problems in every business and so finding the right person for the position is what produces great results, but problems are there to be taken care of, but problem solving does produce great results, it merely prevents damage.  If you want great results then you have to take advantage of opportunities.

Name it and Claim it!

Isn't it amazing that some days simply can be best  forgotten.  It is like the best thing about them is that they are over.  You may feel that you would rather put an "out of order" sticker on your forehead and call it a day.  Yet at the same time you are going through this rough day, there are others having the best day they have had in years.  They may be getting news of success or promotion, of a medical condition that has been healed, or new work that has come their way.  You may have passed the person in the shops after work who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness and all this can happen within a very small area or circle of life.  That is why it becomes so important to make each day count.  As long as we can rise daily in the belief that we have a purpose and a place to go whether to work, or school, or varsity, or gym, this becomes the substance and fibre of our lives and we will become more aware of the fact that there are people experiencing a lot worse and a lot better than us each passing moment.  Don't presume that you are better off than the guy paying for his coffee in front of you and don't assume that you are happier than your neighbour - just focus on the fact that you have had another opportunity to rise and work in your current place in life and you have managed to get to the end of the day safe and alive.  Whether tomorrow is better or not as good the unmistakable gift of life is there for all to see and as many as possible to claim.