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Where to begin

Pull The Thread

Monday, 10 June 2013
Inspire, Where to begin
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You’re not suppose pull that loose thread in fear that everything may unravel. In the case of garments – that’s probably good advice – but when it comes to that little curious idea that won’t let your mind rest, that choice of exploring a notion in the hope it grows into something more, it begins by pulling the thread.

A loose thread never seems like much at first – an invitation to join in something new, a fresh break in your daily routine, a new hobby – but that thread dangling in front of you is a potential opportunity to live more fully.

Don’t be put off by the fear of the unknown, pull the thread and enjoy the adventure of discovering where the end leads.

Handsome Rewards & Heartbreak

Thursday, 6 June 2013
Where to begin
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You can look at any given situation and considered it in two ways: how everyone else would do it; how I could do it.

Of course, your way can be just like everyone else’s and you can have a stab at enjoying the spoils they do. However, just because something is done a particular way by most people doesn’t actually qualify it as being the best way, does it?

Is there room for something else, a different approach, the path less travelled, that more closely fits who you are?

Do you really believe you are truly average in every conceivable way that no unique path could be cut out to custom fit the very best of you?

I can’t totally claim a wealth of experience here as I didn’t necessarily make radical decisions in my formative years. However I did march to the beat of my own drum to a large degree. Where I went to university, where I worked, what country I lived in, what ideas I built my life on and who I shared that life with were all choices I contemplated deeply.

What this has helped me to see now is the enormous gulf between the choices someone makes to really carve out their own path verses the choice of those who accept the default of the current status quo.

You don’t have to be a radical out-there person to see things differently. What you need to do is focus on how you’ll turn on the switch which lets you dare to think that the way you dream of it being is really what you need to act on. The responsibility to make this happen is yours – it’s not something you’re owed. Don’t make a plan which relies on your dreams being activated by someone else.

Not every dream you have will turn out with a handsome reward, either. Some of your dreams will lead to heartbreak. But by learning how to follow your own path, to choose the way that best suits you as a unique individual whose head is filled with brilliant ideas of your own, you’ll be able to take every opportunity to thrive in life. Hour happiness isn’t only about outcomes, it’s about contentment with you’re choices as well.

The window to learn this doesn’t stay open for ever either. You don’t have time lose.

Seize The Limitations

Monday, 3 June 2013
Success, Where to begin

I’ve riffed on this before – the freedom found in limitations (here and here). Essentially, freedom in limitations comes in understanding that what you think is holding back may just be the thing you can use to springboard onto something much greater.

Phil Hansen’s lives this out through is art by ‘embracing the shake’.

Watch his video here.

Windward

Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Musing, Where to begin

With skill and experience you can sail into an opposing wind. There’s even more that one technique to defy its resistance.

In life, as in sailing, we can craft maneuvers to spite the prevailing forces – be they systems, social barriers, opinions, or doubts. It’s an achievement of courage and resiliency to do so.

However, what we almost always resign ourselves to is that we can’t change the direction of the wind itself. It’s out of influence and therefore we must bear with it. This may be true in the meteorological sense, but in almost all others, despite the size of the obstacle, the gift humanity has is its ability to change the winds of our time.

Whether it’s civil rights, economic prosperity, famine or disease.

The direction our future blows in is up to us. Considering how we treat each other, how we are treated, and how we treat the world are parts of leading the change. Though just remember that there’s no point being able to change the wind if you don’t bring people along with you.

So go ahead and define what the next movement is. It starts with deciding which direction you yourself want to go in.

It’s An Epidemic

Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Musing, Where to begin

It can befall even the most collected of us, a disease that shows no prejudice to the victims it chooses – the dreaded Foot In Your Month.

Being afflicted with the ability to say something you instantly regret, to spray a clumsy and thoughtless statement that alienates and insults pretty much anyone, is one of the most human of misfortunes. This is not a slight humans – they have many great qualities as we know – but it’s a special ability they have to make the notion of their intelligence vapourise within the few seconds it takes us to utter a sentence or two.

The treatment for the illness?

Immersing oneself with the concerns and conditions of others, placing their welfare at the forefront of your mind, and sticking to what you know passionately to the best you can.

The thing with putting your foot in it is that the disease is so easy to catch.

You probably can’t take enough precautions to avoid it!

If you do come down with it, stop talking immediately and make sure the very next thing you do is take an extremely big dose of apology-giving. Never defend it, instead humbly submit yourself as a gaff-maker.

The more readily you can begin this treatment, the speedier you’re recovery.