httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEMEBBwO6J8
get jiggy with it.
the spark of passion
“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” – John Maxwell
it was May of 2007. i paid about $1000 to go to this seminar. speakers from all around the globe gathered in Toronto to speak on one topic. how to be a better person. yes, it was worth the money. yes, i will be doing it again (i really wish to see Tony Robbins at least once in my life). if there was one commonality to all the presentations that weekend, it was this. have passion. in everything you do. everything. when you poo, make it your best poo ever. when you go grocery shopping, do it fully and completely. feel those avocados like you’ve never felt them before. alright, i’m getting myself too worked up over here. you get my drift.
how simple a lesson, and yet i forgot. doh, silly me! yesterday i was speaking with my brother on the phone and he was telling me an idea of his. you could hear the passion in his voice about it and i couldn’t help but get excited for him. when i hear people speak about things passionately, i just can’t help get excited for them. i’m sure you know what i’m talking about. right now, my passion is the city bee. not so much the website itself, but just the whole process of making this thing. i’ve learned so much in the past month on the whole process that i can carry this newfound knowledge onto the next projects i’ll be working on (i’m already in the prelim stages of a few). find your passions, and cultivate them. then after you’ve done that, find passion in everything, and cultivate that. passionate people change the world. look back through histories greats, and you’ll see they were all very passionate people.
give it up.
Happy Thanksgiving to our friends across the border. We are approaching that time of year where things can get a little bit consumer crazy. things like being grateful, being thankful for what we have and for being thankful for where we are can sometimes be overlooked. don’t let it. now is the time of giving, moreso then any other time of year. however, not that kind of giving. you don’t have to spend boat loads of money on gifts for people that probably, if they are anything like me or you, would much rather have the gift of spending time with you over anything else. or the gift of a phonecall. the gift of laughter.
can you give to complete strangers, the same way you would a loved one? can you give without expectation of receiving anything in return? when we reach that point, abundance will flow through us. cause we get what we give. so go ahead and give it up, and be thankful for the life that you share with those around you.
the curse of instant gratification.
“If I have made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.”
Sir Isaac Newton
we live in a magic pill society. media has a way of spamming us with empty promises and quick fixes. just look at the weight loss industry as a perfect example. diet pills, machines that vibrate while you watch tv, diets that claim you can eat anything you want, magazines claiming washboard abs in 3 weeks with only 10 minutes of exercise a day. sadly, patience and persistence have faded, and laziness and avoidance of pain have taken over. convenience and consumerism have brainwashed us. it is not like this in other places (although these habits are influencing the rest of the world a little bit at a time).
the problem with instant gratification is it is fleeting. temporary highs, followed by the next instant gratification fix. magic bullets don’t exist. you’ll be wasting lots of time, energy, and money trying to find them (that’s what advertisers want, your money). after awhile, you may just end up giving up altogether after the 15th diet.
the key is patience. something society has forgotten about a long time ago. can you delay instant gratification? its not easy, especially considering we are programmed to do otherwise. our friends do it, our family does it, our coworkers do it, our fellow consumers do it, and its plastered all over the internet and tv. man, we sure got our work cut out for us. however, in order to grow, patience is an absolute must. most of the time we spend on the plateau. its rarely grandiose and epic when breakthroughs happen, it usually comes through patience and things slowllly start to click and trickle in. don’t get it? patience, my friend. it will come 😉
Poise from Pops
A big happy birthday to my Dad, today. he’s getting old. Dad has had a rough year. He’s been laid off from his job, the crapping economy has made it harder to find one with hiring freezes and the like, he doesn’t have a car because it broke down (on the last week at his job), his brother’s and sister’s and mother’s health have been poor, his investments have tanked, and just general boredom sitting at home without much to do except look for a job. but my father, one thing about him that he has better then anybody i know is poise. he’s always so composed. i never understood it, and i never asked him how he does it (cause he probably couldn’t explain it to me) but i’ve always admired that about him. he just laughs things off like its no big deal. when he got hit by a drunk driver 20 years ago while riding his bike home from a long shift at work, he was seriously messed up. he still gets really bad headaches because of it. he never complained about it, never asked for any handouts, he just continued moving with poise and strength for his family. i can’t even imagine the backbreaking labour on the farms in the blistering hot sun with little to eat except a bowl of rice. it boggles my mind. and yet that was his reality for years.
poise, its an amazing thing. maintain it, especially if you are a man. its your duty to be strong for the people you care about. its your duty to be poised for yourself. but as i like to say, if you stumble, its ok. just try your best.
Today’s lesson. Listen to Oprah
Listen to Oprah in this 2008 commencement speech given to the graduating class at Stanford. What can I say, she hit it out of the park.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpd3raj8xww
The power of authenticity
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee
Do you know anybody in your life who is just really weird? Or has these interesting quirks and nuances about him/her that society would find odd, and yet you can’t help but love them for it? Do you know why? Its because they are being authentic. Truly, and completely authentic.
When I look at a lot of my closest friends, I realize it has far less to do with us living close to each other, or having a lot of commonalities, or sharing the same beliefs. It has far more to do with the fact that they are all really authentic people. Its the times when we become inauthentic do people start to see right through it.
Last Sunday I was invited to a dinner party at the very last minute. Old friends from school, some I hadn’t seen in over 2 years. So I showed up and there were a few people that I didn’t particularly care to see because I wasn’t really close to them, and there were a few people who I was very excited to see. One of my close friends, who I didn’t know was going to be there, showed up after I did. He looked at me with a wtf I didn’t know you were going to be here look and brushed me off. He put on his “identity mask” as I like to call it. I didn’t take it personally because I knew it had nothing to do with me. But just realize, and observe yourself when you put on these masks. It happens to us all, so be completely honest with yourself that you are doing it. Its ok, but try not to lose your authenticity when that happens. You will be glad you took the mask off.