Giving Up To Get...

Life is about giving and getting, and I'm not referring to Christmas time. In everything we do we give and get, and there are trade-offs. If we want to get more money, in general we have to give up more time. If we want to get a new hobby, we may have to give up and old one. You get the idea.

What's interesting though, is how much more people are willing to give up now, than they were thirty or forty years ago. Now I can hear you saying that our standard of living is so much better now than it was in the fifties and sixties. I think every Generation X'er, born to immigrant parents must have heard the same stories of how Mum or Dad had to walk barefoot through snow to get to school... or took their shoes off when walking to school so as to not wear them out... or having the dream of one day owning a bought bicycle (one not put together from a collection of junk pieces). At some stage we've all heard these bleeding heart stories, but people weren't giving anything up to live like that - they had no choice. There weren't riches like we have now. My grandfather remembers when they used to add sawdust to the bread to give it volume. Now, I'd never even have considered that as an option, but they didn't consider it then because sawdust tastes good, they simply had no better option.

So thirty of forty years ago when the people looked forward to a future with factory automation, labour-saving appliances and computer technology that would all reduce the amount of work required, it's interesting to note that in the last twenty years the number of hours worked in North America has increased.

It's interesting that as a society we are now unable to afford proper health care, but how could we afford it twenty years ago when we were earning so much less. Where has all the money gone?

It goes to The Brick, Home Depot, Ikea, Nike, General Motors, McDonalds, Banana Republic, Nokia, Sony, The Body Shop and the list could go on almost forever. People these days spend so much more on personal items, and the race to keep up with the Joneses is faster and more furious than ever before. People are caught up in a spending frenzy, now with everything at 0% finance rates, don't pay 'till 2016, and other selling strategies.

All in the name of achieving happiness. But where does all this get us. We've given up so much of our spare time to work longer hours to afford all this stuff. We're chronically in debt to keep up appearances. The emergence of forty-year home mortgages is a further sign, that although we have all this money we still can't afford the essentials like good health care and a roof over our heads.

And then, does it make us any happier? With drug use on the increase, suicide a worsening problem, and the huge number of people on anti-depressants you'd have to say we aren't.

Happiness, you can see by looking at unhappy rich people, doesn't come from owning stuff, and one-upping the Joneses. True happiness comes from having good friends and loved ones, it comes from real satisfaction and meaning. True happiness can't be bought or owned or bestowed on you in the form of a title. True happiness comes from within.

Don't give up the important things in life for money and status. It isn't worth it.

Trust

Trust is one of those intangibles that has so much value. The reason Nike and Toyota have such powerful brands is because we trust them. The reason Oprah Winfrey has so much power is because we trust her. The reason successful people become successful is because they trust others and others trust them.

Trust is amazing, because it is so powerful yet it cannot be bought, only earned. I grew up trusting people unless they gave me reason not to trust them, and this has served me well over time. A couple of times I have been burned, but in general, trusting others has allowed me to become closer to people more quickly, which in the end helps us all.

So what happens if you get burned really badly by someone you trust? Does that mean you should never trust anyone ever again?

No. I think it means you should treat that person with extreme caution and probably not trust them, but also look at their traits and see if there's something that gives their personality away, which might indicate why they broke the trust.

This would also give you a clue as to why others might be untrustworthy. This doesn't mean that if one untrustworthy person smiles, all smilers are untrustworthy.

We need to look deeper to the motivations of people and see why they do things.

Why do people cheat? Why do people lie? Why do people back out at the last minute? Why do people steal ideas?

A big reason is insecurity or fear. I've heard many times that fear is the motivator of 95% of our actions, and this would include actions that lack integrity. Everyone knows that in the long run "honesty is the best policy", so if someone sane decides to go against that they are doing it out of desperation. It's easier to do something right the first time, and not worry about consequences than cut corners or misrepresent yourself for the sake of a short-term gain, knowing that in the long-term it might catch up on you.

The key is to look for integrity. If someone has integrity then they can be trusted. Sure almost everyone has something in them that might mean they leave work early without saying or not declare incorrect change at the shop when it's in their favour. These aren't honest actions, but they've almost become an acceptable bending of the rules in our society. The value of the cheating is seen to be so small that it has become ignored.

But dishonesty that does affect people, like letting people down, not following through on promises, keeping secrets, gossipping indicate a lack of integrity and give reason not to trust.

So it's those people that you can choose to not spend time with, because being with them doesn't enrich, it diminishes your life force and life quality.

If you choose to surround yourself with untrustworthy people or you simply don't trust the good people around you, what's the penalty? You'd end up living in an unhappy world. A world in which people are out to get you and a place where nothing's safe.

When a horse rider falls off a horse, the first thing they do is make them get right back on. The bad experience is erased by a good experience. If not it could fester and become a phobia that is very difficult to overcome. The last thing a rider needs is a phobia of horses.

Most people in this world are good, and many can be trusted. I always think that no one can hurt me with me. What I mean by that is that you can't hurt me by saying something mean about me or my likes or who I am, because that's who I am, like it or not. The kids phrase "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." is true even as an adult. The name calling is different, but it's the same concept.

So what I'm saying in all of this is that trust the people who deserve it. Surround yourself with trustworthy people and be one yourself, and the world will be a friendly happy place for you.

Life Changes Suddenly

I've always been envious of those people who say "Yeah, it's all happened really quickly," when referring to how their mundane, unfulfilled life turned upside down and suddenly they are living their dream. I always looked at their tumultuous life that emerged with a silver lining and wondered why mine couldn't have the same outcome. But on the other side of the coin I know the same people look at my life and how seamlessly and easily I've cruised from joy to joy.

It was even very recently that I felt I was cursed with good fortune, because I thought, it is only through disaster that awesome things happen. Cancer survivors turn their lives into a story that affects millions. Obese people wake up one day and decide to get healthy, turning flab into mirror-posing muscle in months, and an example for others to improve their health. An ordinary person nearly gets killed in a landslide and becomes a national hero.

I thought that my life was too comfortable. It's satisfactory, it's easy, but it doesn't energize me like I know it could. And there's no disaster to change my life and turn it upside down, and make it better.

Then I realized that's because it's all going just as it's meant to. If life was on the wrong course then a disaster would strike me to allow me to re-evaluate its meaning, but I'm doing that right now without the disaster.

So I thought about all the people for whom life takes a dramatic and exciting turn, and looked at my own life and realized that although I've felt that it just keeps going on, one day at a time, it has taken many interesting and bizarre turns.

I was 25, living in Australia, in an apartment I owned (well... paid a mortgage on) on the edge of downtown, had an awesome Marketing job downtown, had a great circle of friends and I was growing and learning and making my fortune. Then my girlfriend of nearly five years, M., decided she wanted to go to work for three months in England. I said "Okay, I'll wait for you here." An odd decision for me, now that I look back. Had that happened now, I would have been inclined to pick up and move there with her.

After less than a month I decided to break up with M. and began dating a new girl, N., who at first glance seemed a serious improvement. She was everything I didn't get with M. Unfortunately she also had none of what I loved in M. What was worse, this new girl was like the crab who won't let go of your ankle. I was caught in a trap that I couldn't leave... until I left Australia.

Here was my relatively uneventful life turning around and almost exactly one year after N. and I started dating, I was arriving at Heathrow airport in London. My ex-girlfriend, M., was still there, and was now dating someone else. I wasn't going with the intention of rekindling anything, because even though N. was everything I didn't want, M. didn't have enough of what I did want.

For the first week I slept on the living room floor of M.'s house that she shared with four housemates, before finding a terrible room for rent in a neighbourhood on North London.

After a few weeks of looking, I found a good Marketing contract position working for a large package-holiday travel company, managing a Christmas direct mail campaign. I was earning good money, travelling on weekends and saving lots. Life was good.

When that contract ended I took a permanent position as the European Marketing Manager for an international billboard company, with the understanding that the company would immediately begin the process to sponsor me, since the role was outside my visa limitations. It was all very exciting. I would begin a life of working and living in Europe for the medium to long term.

This all came crashing down on my second day at work when I was expected to fill out a form to get a special pass to go behind secured zones at airports and had to disclose my name, passport number and visa details to a government authority. I knew this would be in contravention of my visa and I had heard of stories of people getting caught out, being deported and having to leave their stuff behind, now with a ten-year restriction on returning. This might also limit my ability to get other working permits in the future, a risk I decided wasn't worth it. So I lost my job. I was escorted out at lunch time by my boss, and never came back.

It was devastating!

I felt sorry for myself for about a day, and then I decided, "it's not what happens to you that determines your life, it's how you react to what happens, that makes your life."

I had no job, and London is not the cheapest place to live without income. I calculated that I had about six weeks worth of savings before I would either need an emergency job, or a flight back to Australia. So I applied for jobs and ended up snagging the Contiki Tour Manager position, just in time.

While travelling Europe and getting paid to do it, I met my future wife and ended up chasing her to Canada.

So, in a span that totals only thirty months I sold my apartment, quit my job, left Australia, travelled in Lithuania and Germany, moved to London, worked in a Marketing job, lost a Marketing job, wrote the first draft of a book (that still needs heavy editing and re-writing), worked as a Tour Manager, travelled western Europe for eight months, met the woman of my dreams, travelled some of eastern Europe, travelled parts of Canada (Ontario, Quebec, BC and Alberta), travelled Australia and New Zealand for three months, moved to Calgary, got a job and got married. Two months after that we bought the home we currently live in.

Even since that period of extreme change, I can show a series of significant changes that have occurred in my life. My point is not just to discuss the experiences of my life, but to make a highlight two things.

If you had told me when I started dating N., the bad girlfriend, that in three years I would be happily married to a Canadian and living and working there, I would have told you to have another drink and give up the drugs. It would have seemed like such a distant and remote possibility in such a short period of time that it couldn't happen, especially to me, Mr Consistency.

So anything in life is possible!

The other point is that it takes me to look back on that part of my life, and indeed my whole life to see that it has been a massive time of growth, change and an evolution of my soul. But it doesn't seem that way, because it has happened one day at a time. If you look at a clock and watch the hour hand move it's very, very gradual. It takes twelve hours to make one lap of the clock, and it seems like it doesn't move at all. But if you break it down into minutes or seconds, and watch those hands you can see that it is moving, actually quite quickly.

The same is with life. We live each day and notice very little change, because we focus on the days and weeks that go by, and not much usually changes in a day or week. But take a step back and look at the years and see that life does evolve quite dramatically.

So think, that getting from where you are now, to where you will be in a few years can be a lot more exciting and different than you can imagine, if you're prepared to take the risks that will get you there.

Taking the risk to quit my Australian life and board a plane to Europe took me on a different path. Sometimes it's less extreme than that and may be just meeting a person, who motivates you to change.

Whatever it is, the future is a great big open field of opportunity.

The Value of Time

I had a long dicussion with my wife today centred around how we spend our time. Initially it was a discussion about whether or not we would accept an invitation to a party in Edmonton, where we would know very few of the people and have little time to spend with the hosts. In my mind, the point is to see our friends, as we only go to Edmonton six to eight times a year, so we try to make the most of each visit. The alternative option is to go up two weeks later and spend an evening with the people hosting the party.

Why this became an interesting conversation is becasue it uncovered that we place very different values on our time. Just like when we were in Australia everyone was talking about how precious fresh water as, just as we would talk about gold or a precious metal. But its scarcity in Australia makes it very valuable.

I place a very high value on my time. It's the only non-renewable resource. As a full-time employee I donate forty hours per week to my employer, a neccessity at the moment to pay our bills. The rest of my time I try to make the most of. I don't waste time with people who don't appreciate it, and I am continually trying to improve myself and my life with the discretionary time I have, and actively enjoy myself. Therefore I read, paint, exercise, socialize, write, mediatate, travel etc when I'm not parenting, cooking, eating, sleeping etc. We live in the inner city which keeps my commute under five minutes each way. I watch very little television (one or two hours a week) and I actively schedule my time to make the most of it.

As I re-read this I think it sounds anal, but how's this for perspective...

The average Canadian watches television for 21.4 hours per week (source Stats Canada) for... say seventy-five years, that's 9 years and 193 days wasted.

The average commute is in the ballpark of one hour in total (thirty minutes each way), five days a week for fifty weeks a year for forty years, that's 10,000 hours or 1 year and 51 days.

So, buy not watching television and living close to work, my effective life expectancy is almost eleven years longer than the average Canadian.

So, on average, buy how many years will smoking lower your life expectancy? A fifty-year study completed in 2004 by BUPA's Health Information Team in the U.K. stated that smoking cuts life expectancy by 10 years.

Can we therefore conclude that smoking is about as healthy as watching television? We should all pray for those who smoke and watch television, especially the ones who smoke while watching television!

There are many ways time can be spent... or wasted, depending on your perspective. But it's important to remember that once the time is spent it cannot be regained. Take the perspective of my grandfather, an old man dying of lung cancer. He only sees that there's isn't enough time to do everything he wants to. His only regret in life is that he smoked for thirty years, which has both made his life shorter, and the last five years more challenging to live, given his declining health.

It's important that we not only respect our own time, but even more importantly, the time of others. It is only by being active in the time we have that we can accomplish and grow.

"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book" - Groucho Marx (1890-1977)

You Only Have Everything To Lose

You're probably wondering what do I mean when I say "You only have everything to lose" and what am I referring to?

I'm referring to your life. You only have everything to lose if you don't live a fulfilling life. Imagine for a minute that you're very old and close to death. You're looking back on a life of eighty-plus years and what do you see?... Missed opportunities, failures, dissatisfaction, unhappiness, hatred, regrets? A desire for more time to do some of those projects you had always wanted to do? Or do you see a life full of accomplishments, successes, love, incredible experiences, satisfaction and completion? Does your heart grow warm with the fondness of memories or cold with regret?

You've just imagined looking back on a life that maybe twenty or fifty years longer than you've currently lived, and there's plenty of time to get stuff done, but now imagine that you've been told you'll die tomorrow. Look back on your current life and see how you feel. Maybe more regrets and more missed opportunities, maybe not as many incredible experiences as you'd have hoped for.

So what can be done about it? The answer is everything. This life is all we have. You can look around at all the possessions you "own", but they're all only on lease, because you give them back when you die. Your life is what matters. How you feel, the joy, the happiness, the feeling of growth and excitement are what you'll keep forever.

I often hear people say that they will begin a certain (fun) project when something's complete, for example, "I'll take that painting class after I've bought my new house." or "I'll go to Mexico after I've lost 10 pounds." These may not be the greatest examples, but you get the idea.

The worst kind of procrastination is to put off the feeling of self-worth. I'll be happy when I have a new job. I'll be happy when I lose ten pounds. I'll be happy when I'm in Mexico. What happens when you reach these milestones and you're still not happy? You set new milestones and by the time you're eighty, you still have milestones that are not yet reached... and then you die... unhappy.

You can decide to be happy today. Sure there are goals that you want to reach and experiences you want to have, but your happiness need not hinge on the completion or not of these goals.

I constantly remind myself that today is a great day to be alive. That I'm thankful for today and all the wonderful things I have today. I realize that I am indeed very lucky today and everyday and I am thankful for all the little details - a butterfly, a kind gesture, a smile, thanks, my daughter laughing - that make it great. That's what makes me happy, even when everything doesn't go to plan.

It's important to live today and enjoy today. Make the most of the time you have, this time... now. Putting everything off for a future date does not ensure it gets done. It doesn't ensuyre a life full of rich experiences. Doing it today, does. Why not do it today? What do you have to lose other than everything?

Keeping Up With The Joneses

After the Second World War the economies of the world shifted into overdrive and the industrial age, combined with mass marketing and increased wealth meant that it was possible for the Joneses, a mythical middle-class family to have more stuff than their neighbour. In the sixties it was the new Buick or Cadillac that was a status symbol in your driveway. Simply buying a new vehicle would give you bragging rights for a couple of years before enough of your peers had also bought a new vehicle.

It was culture of distinguishing yourself by having something your peers didn't and the inevitable catch-up that was played by the Jones' peers that created this cycle of consumerism. A cycle that goes nowhere, because when everyone has a new car, then the Joneses have to go out and get a better new car, or anew boat or a bigger house...

These days with technology advancing at such a frenetic pace buying the newest and latest greatest gadget only allows you to be the Joneses for a few weeks or months. With buy-now-pay-later options and the ease at which people can get credit the race to be the first is one that most people can participate in.

But what's interesting is that having all this stuff has meant that in return we give up a lot of other things. In order to earn all the money required we need to work longer and harder, and we spend time worrying about what we need and time acquiring it. And it doesn't make us any happier, we just own more.

The time will come I think, and maybe we're still twenty years away from it, when people are going to see someone else who is genuinely happy and content with life and say I want to be like that person, rather than I want to have like that person, and realize that they aren't the same thing.

There will be masters of energy, who know what they want and either have it or are on their way to getting it, and these will be the Joneses of the future. In a relatively small way right now people like Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and others are masters of energy and have a number of followers, but at this stage it is still not seen as a mainstream reality. Tony Robbins, who has made millions from motivating people is the closest to mainstream, and I see the future holds that there will be more and more like him, advocating personal power without the purchase of any material goods.

I used to think that the Baby Boomer generation was the best one to be with regards to the lifestyle they grew up with and retire in, but I'm more inclined to think now that Generation X (born in the 1960s and 1970s) and beyond will be the most exciting.

It's amazing!

It's amazing what a good diet and some gym time can do for your body...

... if you're Arnold Schwarzenegger! And it's amazing what I can do with Photoshop these days. It's a pity working out at the gym wasn't this quick and easy!

All We Have Is Now...

The first book that started me on my current journey of self-examination and exploration is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

It's quite a heavy (not literally) book, rich with thought provoking ideas and concepts and the basis for a lot of my further thoughts on our existence and what this life all means.

The essence of the book is that all we have is the present. Everything happens in the present. Nothing happens in the future and nothing happens in the past. The most important factor of our lives is what we do in the present, far more important than the past or the future.

There's a lot that can be discussed surrounding living in the now, but one thing that is interesting, especially for people on a personal spiritual discovery is how they are looking to the future for what will happen. I know this to be true for myself and others I know.

The thought that I'm not happy where I am now, but when I have learned a certain skill, I'll be able to transform my life and then I'll be happy. For example, I don't like working in my job, but when I've improved my intuition, then I'll be able to read cards for people for a living and then I'll be happy. That will make me complete.

The reality is that we are all complete right now. We are all doing what we're supposed to be doing right now. If we weren't supposed to, then we wouldn't be. It makes sense when you look at a child. In general four and five year olds are not reading the newspaper, they are reading simple story books with large type. Why? Because that's what they're supposed to be doing. When they've mastered that and understand more complex issues they progress to more advanced books and so on. They are doing now what they are supposed to be doing. And if they are reading the Wall Street Journal at five then that's what they are supposed to be doing too!

All of us are different levels of ability, intelligence and spirituality based on what lessons our soul has learned. We're all here for a journey and to learn something, and depending on who we are, we have a different lesson, one no better than another, simply different.

We are all complete now. Yes, we all do have learning to do, but when that learning is done, then what? If we feel incomplete now, then we'll still feel incomplete then because we'll still have more learning. We only stop learning when we die, and even then there will be unfinished business, so it's futile to think that we will at some stage in the future become complete, or that we will feel like we have arrived if we don't already feel it now.

So the point is, that to feel happy now, we have to accept who we are now. We have to be happy in our own skin... something the plastic surgeon association would not be advocating too loudly. We are who we are and we do what we do because that's the way it's meant to be. It doesn't mean there isn't free choice, becasue there is. What it means is that we can't change who we are, even if we change our appearance or qualifications or experience. All of that makes us who we are, like it or not.

When you look at movie stars, who are rich and famous and seem to have everything, but aren't happy, and compare them to the regular person who has little and isn't happy, it shows you that having things doesn't make you happy.

Feeling happy about yourself is the only thing that will make you happy. It sounds so simple, but evidence would suggest it's incredibly difficult.

Birthday Reflections

Birthdays are a great time to reflect on life, probably the other key time of the year together with New Years. I'm lucky enough to have all my reflecting over and done in the first week of January.

Today is my birthday, and I couldn't sleep last night thinking about stuff. I thought about the last year that's flown by. I've watched my daughter grow up. I worked another year at the same job. I took a painting class and created twenty new paintings and had an exhibit. I started this blog and set myself some goals for creating a book. I travelled with my wife and daughter to Australia for three weeks. I read a bunch of books. I made some new friends. I started meditating, and I'm starting to see things with my third eye, including energy, visions and auras. I took a tarot card reading class.

I guess I did a few things differently this year, although I feel like I could have done a lot more. But I thought about how many people didn't do different things last year, and how many of those don't plan on changing it up for 2007. I think it's a terribly sad state of affairs.

What's the point of life if we don't make changes... if we don't grow and develop? I think I would be a very unhappy individual if I was forced to stay the same forever. Part of the adventure of life is the ability to discover what mysteries it has in store.

If we maintain a status quo and not make any progress, and simply keep on doing what we've done, we'll keep getting the same mediocre result.

Why is it that we don't treat life like people treat game shows?

There's a program that airs here called Deal or No Deal. For those who haven't seen it, the contestant is confronted with 26 sealed briefcases full of varying amounts of cash - ranging from one cent to $1 million. Without knowing the amount in each briefcase, the contestant picks one -- his to keep, if he chooses - until its unsealing at game's end.

The player then eliminates the remaining 25 cases - which are opened and the amount of cash inside revealed. In each round, after a pre-determined number of cases are opened, the participant is tempted by the "Banker" to accept an offer of cash in exchange for what might be contained in the contestant's chosen briefcase - prompting the host to ask the all-important question - Deal or No Deal?

As each case is opened, the likelihood of the player having a valuable cash amount in his or her own case decreases or increases. The contestant knows that as long as the larger cash prizes haven't been opened, the Banker's deals will only get higher. And if the conflicted contestant accidentally opens a case with a bigger cash value - the Banker's offer could suddenly evaporate.

What's most interesting about this game is how far the contestant will push the limits. When faced with an offer of $100,000 from the banker, most people push on, hoping to expose the lower amounts and therefore get a bigger deal offer. It's really amazing what sort of risks these people are prepared to take. I'm sure the adrenalin surge brought about by being on national television, the hyped-up crowd and having family members cheering at the side all contribute to getting the contestant to go further than they ordinarily would.

But why can't people go that far on a regular basis? Why can't people take risks in life like they do on television game shows? If people behanev on game shows like they do in life there'd be no game shows. Who'd want to watch someone take the first measly offer on Deal or No Deal? Would you care to see someone walk away with $25,000 and leave 20 un-opened cases? What would you scream at your television if you saw that? Honestly, you'd think they were crazy... and they probably would be.

Then why do people live their lives the same way and everyone agrees it the most appropriate way to live?

Life is there to be lived actively. Go out an try something new! Take a risk! Make a new friend!Experiment with something! What's the worse that can happen? You could enjoy yourself. You could find something you actually enjoy doing. You could find a new passion. You could have an enriched life with new people a part of it.

Experiencing life through the television and vicariously through others is a passive, unfulfilling way to live. Getting out there and doing it for yourself is where the big enjoyment comes. Just like you wouldn't take a measly $25,000 offer from the bank and leave twenty un-opened cases on Deal or No Deal you should do that where it really matters either... in your life.

I'm Lex Luthor... Who Are You?

Apparently I am Lex Luthor!

A brilliant businessman on a quest for world domination and the self-proclaimed greatest criminal mind of our time!

My Survey Results...

Lex Luthor - 66%
Dr. Doom - 64%
Riddler - 60%
Kingpin - 57%
Venom - 48%
The Joker - 48%
Apocalypse - 48%
Juggernaut - 48%
Mystique - 44%
Green Goblin - 44%
Magneto - 41%
Dark Phoenix - 41%
Catwoman - 30%
Mr. Freeze - 28%
Poison Ivy - 21%
Two-Face - 12%

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Uncomplicated Living

One thing you learn from children is that they have uncomplicated lives. They haven't had the time (and stupidity) that we as adults have to complicate matters.

When I look at my 15-month daughter and see how she lives every moment in the present, it's inspirational. She doesn't dwell on things or get stressed. If she falls down and hurts herself she cries and gets over it. Something that bothers her now will be forgotten in five seconds. "Moving on" is about finding something new to do. For example... "I'm upset that you took that toy out of my hand... but it's okay now that you've just given me a book to play with."

Wouldn't it be a simpler world if we all forgave and forgot as quickly as children do? Children are amazing and we can learn so much from them if we are prepared to.

More on Perspectives

I thought more about perspectives since entering yesterday's blog, and I realised how my perspective is quite different to most people's. This is mainly because I have travelled to many countries (31) and lived in four - Australia, Germany, England, Canada.

Having not grown up in Canada, I'm not used to -40C weather. I'm not used to 0C weather! Before living here I had seen snow twice - once in Germany and once in England. I had never seen a game of (ice) hockey, didn't know what the Stanley Cup was, had never heard of Edmonton or the Stampede, and had no idea that there was a difference between Canada's and the United States' accents.

But I do know which spiders are poisonous, I know that it's very important to leave your house with a bottle of water on a hot day, I believe that beaches are a free service and should be no more than a 20 minute drive from your home, I'm used to celebrating Christmas in hot weather and sweating over presents before having a barbeque and a swim, and I played basketball as an outdoor winter sport.

Yes, life is different when you live on the other side of the planet, but Australia and Canada are two of the more similar countries I've been to. In Thailand a toilet bowl is a luxury and you haggle over the price of a can of Coke; in Spain the shops don't open until late morning, but they stay open until midnight; in England the beer is served warm and in New Zealand people walk around bare foot in public.

I get told that my Australian accent is a chick-magnet in Canada, but from my point of view it's annoying because I answer the same five questions every time I meet someone new (Are you Australian? I have a friend in Australia, do you know him? How long have you been here? You get the drill!)

Travelling and experiencing the world and its many cultures has been one of the most eye-opening aspects to my life. I am lucky that travel was encouraged by my parents, and that is a gift I will impart to my children. Just like camping makes you appreciate your warm bed, sometimes it takes seeing another world to appreciate your own.

It's because of my different perspective that I won't pay a thousand dollars to go to an all inclusive resort and sit on a beach for a week - that should be free. It's because of my different perspective that I get excited by snow and think of skating as a challenge. It's because of my different perspective that I think that the game of cricket which takes thirty hours, spread over five days is exciting even when it ends in a draw!

As citizens of the world it's important that we recognise and respect the people around us, knowing that they all didn't have the same upbringing as we did, and have vastly different views and opinions of the world. It's not the era for being insulated. This is the age of understanding and acceptance. Today's enemy may be tomorrow's brother.

Perspectives

We live in a world with many where there seem to be many "truths" and absolutes. It's wrong to steal. Giving is good. Drugs are bad. But these and all the other "rules" we live our lives by are not real, they aren't truths and depending on whose perspective you take will depend on your interpretation of a situation.

It's wrong to steal... except if you're doing it to feed your starving family?

Giving is good... except if you're a politician looking for votes?

Drugs are bad... except if you're the one selling them and making money?

Earth is an enormous place, but from our perspective it's a city or a town or a street or our house. It's the places we go and the people we spend our time with. It's not that big really!

I tried an exercise yesterday where I lay on the floor and looked around, getting a closer view of the perspective my 15-month daughter would get... or perhaps the view our cats get. I can tell you, it's a way different view from down there. The kitchen counters are unreachable!

I was also reading yesterday about how we accept different norms in our life. For example, we stand on the curbside and a bus passes us within two feet of our nose, and we have no issue. If we were standing in an open field and the same thing happened, we would feel it was too close for comfort.

We get used to so much, and we see our world from one perspective... our own. Sometimes it's useful to look at the world differently, shake things up and question what we do, why we do it, and whether we should continue doing it.

It's often said that "the world is a small place", but I don't think that came from an astronaut.

Goals for 2007

It seems that the first of January is the most common time to set goals. At least that gets people thinking about their goals once a year, if only that rarely.

I'm in the minority who thinks about goals often, but I still use the first day of the year as a trigger to re-evaluate my goals and my progress.

When setting goals it's important that they are stretching, measurable, attainable and with a timeline.

This year I've looked at different aspects of my life and where I'd like to move forward. Where I see opportunities and where I'd like to be spending more time and energy.

One thing I learned last year is that to make time for things you want to do you need to drop some activities that are not fulfilling.

Basically, I looked at where I was spending my time, evaluating my enjoyment of each activity one by one. I also ranked them in order of enjoyment to see which would be the first to drop if I cancelled them. This included activities like watching television, sleeping, family time, time with friends etc., not just scheduled entertainment.

One major change for me was dropping ten-pin bowling from my schedule... every Monday night from 6:30pm to 9:30pm for 33 weeks. When the new season began in September, I decided to replace it with group meditation sessions on Monday nights instead.

It was at the same time that I decided that I no longer wanted to watch television, and so we cancelled our full cable subscription to go back to basic, eliminating the temptation to watch garbage. I decided that I'd rather sleep than watch garbage on TV. Television viewing actually ranked as my lowest priority activity, although it wasn't the activity I spent the least time on.

Which brings me to this year's resolutions. Again I'm looking improve my health and fitness. I admit to having a chocolate problem, and I've decided to track my Chocolate Free Days (CFDs), with the aim of having 23 per month. I'm also tracking my gym visits which should be ten per month. As I get older I realise the importance of keeping the body in peak physical condition. It's the only one we have so we should treat it with the utmost respect.

I've also set goals for writing my book. It will be done and published this year, even if I have to publish it myself. I have set dates for when each part of it will be done, and they are all achievable.

I also want to sell my paintings, so I will make a larger effort to market myself and my art to galleries, cafes and other places people can see my work.

From a growth point of view I want to read two books a month, and continue with my spiritual growth through mediation and and other exercises to increase my intuition.

2007 promises to be a big year for me. I feel I'm on track with my goals and I feel like they can be achieved. I've decided that it's a priority and so I'll keep at it.

Eye Of The Fire