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