I was watching an Elvis movie the other day and it was called Kid Galahad. You may be thinking good for you but I really don't need to know that. The beginning of the movie started with him singing a song which had a chorus that stated "The poor man wants to be a rich man, the rich man wants to be a king but the man who can sing when he hasn't got a thing is the king of the whole wide world". Stay with me and you will understand that it doesn't matter what type of vocal chords you have this applies to you.
With all the awareness that is coming up about mental health and all the struggles that each individual is holding inside these lyrics speak loudly. Singing is not limited to a voice which is worthy of a top eight finish in American Idol rather an attitude which is willing and able to take life for what it's worth. We've all heard of 3M innovation but what people don't really think of is the real 3M that we truly do struggle with. The 3M I'm talking about is marriage,mortgage and money. There are a few blessed with a harmonious three but many wondering when life is going to go their way. The question I ask is are you still the king of the whole wide world?
Credit cards bills are due, rent is coming up faster than you would like and everyone around you seems to have it all together. The stress is playing on your mind, its like that CD player we use to own where we could put the same song on repeat. Are you stressing now thinking that life is collapsing or do you realize that its not nearly as bad as it seems? We live in a place where are attitude dictates how are lives will truly be. Regardless if you have been dealt a poor hand or have an addiction that's tough to beat there is a way for you make it through and survive. Trust me this is coming from an individual who had to shower and shave with candles providing light because there was no electricity as well as washing dishes with raindrops falling on my head because the roof had so many leaks; I had to drain up to 20 buckets on a rainy day.
The 3M we look at is such a struggling point for many. There is a need for companionship and businesses such as lava life and e-harmony have thrived. Those without a partners wish for one and those with one spend so much time arguing and regretting the fact they have one. It doesn't matter what side of the equation you are on, you must continue to sing. The standard that life has brought before us is that we must own some land. Is this what we want or are we following a standard that is set before us? It is said that money is the root of all evil but we definitely wish we had more of it. The difference between a rich man and a poor man is a lot closer than we are led to believe.
Have I ever felt like life hasn't given me a fair shake, no because I know that whatever situation comes my way I will be able to keep my head up and handle it. Just like the man who hasn't got a thing I'm able to sing and believe. The whole wide world consist of what you experience in your lifetime and you have a choice to give up and say I'm not good enough or say this is my life and I'm going to make it royal. There was a sign that I read the other day that said "A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, the world may be different because I was important in the life of someone I cared about". We have a choice, embrace where you are at and make the most of it or keep complaining about why you don't have enough. My choice has been made simple and that is why I am the King of the whole wide world!
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Saturday, 28 April 2012
You are what you say you are
In being somewhat of a sports fan I enjoy watching the post game rants of coaches after their team has has lost a game they could have won. One of my favourite rants of all-time comes from the former coach of the Arizona Cardinals Dennis Green. After his team lost to the Chicago Bears he goes on a tirade and with anger he says "they are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook, you want to crown them then crown them but they were who we thought they were". What surprised me about this tirade was the fact that the coach was so focused on the fact that they failed to beat one of the best teams in the league instead of building up his team he tore down the other one.
I recently read about a man and his young boy who were on an outdoor adventure when his son had gotten lost. His son was very scared and yelled out "somebody help me" a voice responded "somebody help me". Very confused the son then yelled out "who are you?". The voice responded "who are you?" Now frustrated the son yelled "You're a moron!" Once again the voice responded "You're a moron!" Just then his father arrived and was relieved to find his son unharmed. The son explained the mocking voice to his father who laughed and said son that is your echo. His father then yelled "You're awesome" and got the response "You're awesome". The father once more yelled "You can do anything" and the echo gave back that exact response. "Son that's exactly how life is, whatever you send out always comes back to you" his father explained.
What we don't realize is that when we go throughout our busy days we are setting up our lives by what we say about ourselves. When we have exhausted that avenue we tend to want to deflect and attack what we perceive others are lacking to make us feel a little stronger. The true question then becomes if you go around allowing yourself to believe the truths about yourself such as you are important, talented, more than able, loved, cared for and much more, don't you believe that you will then be willing and able to build up others rather than tear them down? What we believe about ourselves does have a true ripple effect and it is a positive one.
Now if I was Dennis Green I would have liked to change my response to something like this "We know what we're capable of but our opponent came out today and got the better of us. They are a great team but I know that the men in our locker room today are not hanging their heads because they proved that they can play with best of teams today". Just like that the young son we all have a voice that comes back to us telling us who we are. We truly are who we say we are so it is truly up to us to dictate whether we become a victim or a victor.
I recently read about a man and his young boy who were on an outdoor adventure when his son had gotten lost. His son was very scared and yelled out "somebody help me" a voice responded "somebody help me". Very confused the son then yelled out "who are you?". The voice responded "who are you?" Now frustrated the son yelled "You're a moron!" Once again the voice responded "You're a moron!" Just then his father arrived and was relieved to find his son unharmed. The son explained the mocking voice to his father who laughed and said son that is your echo. His father then yelled "You're awesome" and got the response "You're awesome". The father once more yelled "You can do anything" and the echo gave back that exact response. "Son that's exactly how life is, whatever you send out always comes back to you" his father explained.
What we don't realize is that when we go throughout our busy days we are setting up our lives by what we say about ourselves. When we have exhausted that avenue we tend to want to deflect and attack what we perceive others are lacking to make us feel a little stronger. The true question then becomes if you go around allowing yourself to believe the truths about yourself such as you are important, talented, more than able, loved, cared for and much more, don't you believe that you will then be willing and able to build up others rather than tear them down? What we believe about ourselves does have a true ripple effect and it is a positive one.
Now if I was Dennis Green I would have liked to change my response to something like this "We know what we're capable of but our opponent came out today and got the better of us. They are a great team but I know that the men in our locker room today are not hanging their heads because they proved that they can play with best of teams today". Just like that the young son we all have a voice that comes back to us telling us who we are. We truly are who we say we are so it is truly up to us to dictate whether we become a victim or a victor.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Attitude builds resiliency
There once was a man named Viktor Frankl, his name was taken away and replaced with the number 119,104. Viktor was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during the second world war. What is so special about this man is that he left us with this great message "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given circumstances."
This should be a sobering reality to a lot of us who have been to the point where we are complaining about the little petty things life throws are way. In saying that, a trip to the Nazi's version of death row is nowhere near the level of receiving an unfair grade or being gossiped about by others. What Frankl's view does leave us with is the ability to understand that no matter what circumstances comes our way we have a choice in how we view them.
Resiliency is one's ability to cope and deal with stress. In understanding that hardships are a part of life and we can't avoid them, we have to now shift focus and control the only thing we can and that is how we view situations. Is this an easy proposition, no but it is attainable. Let us view Frankl mindset through shifting two letters and see if we can gain from it. These two letters are "im" and "or".
The first of the two is "im" and when we place it after the four letters "vict" we allow ourselves to be in a position more likely to be invited to a pity party in our mind and soul. Now let us replace "im" with "or" after the four letters "vict" and we see that its a celebration of how we choose to feel no matter what comes our way. Being a victim is at times a lot easier but in the long run damaging because we are not building resiliency for future trials and tribulations. Seeing ourselves in the role of the victor no matter what circumstances we face provides us with the knowledge that we have something that can never be taken away, our choice of attitude.
This should be a sobering reality to a lot of us who have been to the point where we are complaining about the little petty things life throws are way. In saying that, a trip to the Nazi's version of death row is nowhere near the level of receiving an unfair grade or being gossiped about by others. What Frankl's view does leave us with is the ability to understand that no matter what circumstances comes our way we have a choice in how we view them.
Resiliency is one's ability to cope and deal with stress. In understanding that hardships are a part of life and we can't avoid them, we have to now shift focus and control the only thing we can and that is how we view situations. Is this an easy proposition, no but it is attainable. Let us view Frankl mindset through shifting two letters and see if we can gain from it. These two letters are "im" and "or".
The first of the two is "im" and when we place it after the four letters "vict" we allow ourselves to be in a position more likely to be invited to a pity party in our mind and soul. Now let us replace "im" with "or" after the four letters "vict" and we see that its a celebration of how we choose to feel no matter what comes our way. Being a victim is at times a lot easier but in the long run damaging because we are not building resiliency for future trials and tribulations. Seeing ourselves in the role of the victor no matter what circumstances we face provides us with the knowledge that we have something that can never be taken away, our choice of attitude.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Choose joy
There is a commercial that I've watched a couple of times during these NHL playoffs by Bud Light. In this commercial it shows the difference between the guy who says "I'm in" and the guy who says "I'm out". Its obvious who the more responsible one is. I'm not about to knock having fun but rather embracing responsibility.
The difference between fun and joy is simply this, fun is temporary and joy is everlasting. Each step we take is a step towards the future and with these steps comes a responsibility for the direction we're heading. While coming home at four in the morning after an intense night (sometimes) I'll admit is fun, but not so much if you have a seven o'clock shift the next day. Being aware that we have sort of deceived ourselves into thinking that we can't have the same amount of fun at 11AM as we can at 11PM is where we get stuck. This is where joy comes in, knowing that we don't have to wait for Friday night to experience the joy of fun.
Do you remember when we were children, say around seven years old? How was it that we were able to experience such happiness without relying on a crazy night out partying and drinking. It was because we were content to allow ourselves to enjoy every moment of the day. What this Bud Light commercial fails to tell us is that "I'm in" is now 35 years old hanging out with a new generation of "I'm in" who are ten years younger. Eventually the other "I'm ins" had the thought in there mind that the true fun in their life was waking up with their partner and planning a great day with their family because that is where the true fun is.
What I'm saying is that fun is being able to experience every moment of our lives knowing that eleven in the morning can provide as much fun as eleven at night if we allow ourselves to experience the joy of embracing life and responsibility. Are you having fun? I am because saying "I'm out" has allowed me to have a fresh mind today without thinking wow that night was repetitive(possibly regretful), because we all know after awhile they are. Let us encourage each other to choose joy because we all know that is where true fun stems from.
The difference between fun and joy is simply this, fun is temporary and joy is everlasting. Each step we take is a step towards the future and with these steps comes a responsibility for the direction we're heading. While coming home at four in the morning after an intense night (sometimes) I'll admit is fun, but not so much if you have a seven o'clock shift the next day. Being aware that we have sort of deceived ourselves into thinking that we can't have the same amount of fun at 11AM as we can at 11PM is where we get stuck. This is where joy comes in, knowing that we don't have to wait for Friday night to experience the joy of fun.
Do you remember when we were children, say around seven years old? How was it that we were able to experience such happiness without relying on a crazy night out partying and drinking. It was because we were content to allow ourselves to enjoy every moment of the day. What this Bud Light commercial fails to tell us is that "I'm in" is now 35 years old hanging out with a new generation of "I'm in" who are ten years younger. Eventually the other "I'm ins" had the thought in there mind that the true fun in their life was waking up with their partner and planning a great day with their family because that is where the true fun is.
What I'm saying is that fun is being able to experience every moment of our lives knowing that eleven in the morning can provide as much fun as eleven at night if we allow ourselves to experience the joy of embracing life and responsibility. Are you having fun? I am because saying "I'm out" has allowed me to have a fresh mind today without thinking wow that night was repetitive(possibly regretful), because we all know after awhile they are. Let us encourage each other to choose joy because we all know that is where true fun stems from.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Love wins
With or without Love which is better? Before we answer that question we have to first acknowledge that the latter is easier. This world has the ability to help abolish our true love through competition, greed, violence and the overall yearning for ourselves to be thought of in a sense of importance. Honestly and truly we want to be viewed for all the "good" things we do. Is it a stretch to say that we need acknowledgement to continue to do the right things?
Underestimating the power that lies in unselfishness and the connection it has with the true love inside of us is a dangerous proposition. True love is an act of complete giving of oneself over to the understanding of what we truly should be after, a clear conscience and a righteous conviction. There has been moments in our life journey where we have recognized our selfishness and felt a tug of our heart saying you know what you should have done. Here is where our problem lies, the more we brush off the convictions of what we should have done or should be doing we are beginning to sweep love under the rug. Without a clean room for love to reside it becomes lost in the shuffle of our everyday being.
In philosophical context, love is a virtue "representing all" of human kindness, compassion, and affection. When we choose love we do so with the understanding that we are not the primary benefactors but rather contributing to the betterment of all. Buddhist belief states that "Love dispels hatred", we need to recognize whether you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, or not a believer in any form of religion or God there is a way to contribute to the world we're living in and that is through unselfishly choosing love. In a world where we are faced with poverty, natural disasters, sickness, greed, violence we still have a choice to choose love. Why would we decide to unselfishly choose love, because through all the rain and pain love wins!
Underestimating the power that lies in unselfishness and the connection it has with the true love inside of us is a dangerous proposition. True love is an act of complete giving of oneself over to the understanding of what we truly should be after, a clear conscience and a righteous conviction. There has been moments in our life journey where we have recognized our selfishness and felt a tug of our heart saying you know what you should have done. Here is where our problem lies, the more we brush off the convictions of what we should have done or should be doing we are beginning to sweep love under the rug. Without a clean room for love to reside it becomes lost in the shuffle of our everyday being.
In philosophical context, love is a virtue "representing all" of human kindness, compassion, and affection. When we choose love we do so with the understanding that we are not the primary benefactors but rather contributing to the betterment of all. Buddhist belief states that "Love dispels hatred", we need to recognize whether you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, or not a believer in any form of religion or God there is a way to contribute to the world we're living in and that is through unselfishly choosing love. In a world where we are faced with poverty, natural disasters, sickness, greed, violence we still have a choice to choose love. Why would we decide to unselfishly choose love, because through all the rain and pain love wins!
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