The world as we know it

Sometimes we really don’t realise what an amazing period of history we are living in. Okay, maybe all times in history are amazing, but still we just don’t realise some of the extraordinary stuff going on around us until hindsight kicks in. We sometimes look at history as if it’s some alien, distant world where things were so incredibly different. But with this week’s anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, it gives us a chance to realise what an amazing 20 years it’s been. History is always in the making and the next 20 years are probably going to look incredible when people look back on it. But it feels like a distant world 20 years ago when the Iron Curtain was cloaked across a large swathe of Europe, when Nelson Mandela was still in prison and Apartheid still had some ‘validity’, when the IRA continued to bomb mainland Britain, when it wasn't the done thing to travel to or from China, the Soviet Union, Hungary, East Germany etc etc.

In an era when everyone is jetting off for stags in Latvia, driving holidays around Germany, visits to the Beijing Olympics, and all creeds and colours holidaying in Cape Town, it’s amazing how different things were not so long ago – how we almost accepted that that was the way the world was. Thank heavens good men and women round the world asked enough questions about the status quo.

Play time

“What a horrible day!...Is it really morning already? …Woe is me!” I woke up in the foulest of foul moods yesterday. I had so intended on going to bed with a positive spring in my step but instead went to bed with a little bit of worry gnawing away, talking nonsense to me as I slumbered. And as I kicked around my apartment getting ready for work, I quite contently moaned about the weather, the state of the economy, etc etc.

This mood took me into the office and straight through to lunchtime. Everything was crap, I was rubbish at what I did and quite frankly nothing was going right. This state of being may have stayed put had I not taken a step back and stopped taking myself and some of the small stuff so damned seriously. All that petty noise in my head really had to stop. So I took on the ‘playful’ mode that I’d read about in the past and started ‘playing’ at doing things, started trying a few things out without a care in the world. Looking at the world through different eyes. Childlike, and all that. I'd read about the exercise sometime, somewhere but I've rarely stopped to try it out. Yet when I have given it a go, it’s made my surroundings feel so much lighter, so much more carefree. Maybe it won’t work all the time but this time my self-created sword of Damocles certainly disappeared.

This is indeed it....

You don't have to look too far to find some reference to a certain film that's recently been released - "This Is It". So the post-MJ circus rolls on. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to catch this one or wait for the sequel (mmm, that's probably in bad taste) but the clever blokes at Sony have timed the release so that the DVD can also become that must-have stocking filler for grandma. Regardless of the rights, wrongs and the artistic merit of the whole Jacko event, I was actually more struck by the title. "This Is It". To the point. Pretty final, don't you think? The phrase suggests none of this hoping, waiting or praying for something or someone that may or may not be waiting around the next proverbial bend. No, this is it. Life. Or to steal another fine phrase that is the scourge of the procrastinator: "If not now, when?".

And if I were to be so bold as to put it into cold, hard terms: sometime in the future, when we're laying there taking in our final gasps of air, decades from now or not so, surrounded by friends and family or just faceless dudes in white coats, do we really want to be saying, “So, was that it?”. I'm guessing not. Best get a move on then.

Keep pushing on

So continuing my new-found drive to go just that little bit further, this morning I attended a work family sports day. Now, to provide a bit of context, the idea of 'giving up' a Saturday morning just to indulge in some random non-Olympic games with individuals I felt I'd had quite enough of Monday to Friday, thank you very much, had overwhelmed me with apathy for the last few weeks. I could be doing something so much better like staying in bed a bit longer, watching the chart rundown on MTV or just spend my time staring out of my living room window. And I don't have family to take to this thing anyway.

But last night I had a "try it, you might like it" epiphany and before I knew it I was at the pick up point at 9.15 am sharp to meet up with a group of people whose names I still can't remember. Over the next four hours or so we bonded, sweated, won, lost, laughed, ate and sweated some more. And I'm not embarrassed to say I actually enjoyed it, not least putting a human face to some of the robots in the Finance department. So I guess I've got to keep pushing on with this new approach.

The extra 5%

It's been a while since I've managed to find time to hit this blog. Or rather, I've managed to discover a whole host of genuine reasons and two-bit excuses that have halted my march towards finding and providing enlightenment.

I was just about to give the blog the old, "Well, I'm sure I'll find a bit of time at the weekend", when I remembered the 5% rule. Actually, it came to me earlier today while waiting for the lift as I escaped grey suit heaven to head home. But it's only now that I've realised it's actually quite easy to apply. In a nutshell, the principle is all about creating great things very slowly. It's all about seeing the value in small changes rather than an all-guns-blazing tussle with a gigantic life-changing challenge here and now - the likes of which quite frankly tend to send me running for the hills. Or at the very least, force my feet back onto the table and remote control back into my hand for a little while longer.

So this approach is about the slow and steady march in the right direction. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that. So what's that got to do with the blog? Well, today the approach was all about finding just 5% more effort (or 5% less TV time) to enable me to get writing again - which is a good thing. And, of course, the 5% approach gave me something to write about.

Making sure your 'but' looks good for all occasions

I woke up this morning and realised that I'd been pretty quiet on the blog front for a while. I've been fairly busy doing a bit of this, that and the other. Some of the stuff was quite tangible. Some of the stuff was just noise and fluff - distractions, really. So although I know I'm going to take another short soujourn away from the writing when I go on holiday in shortly, I thought I'd get back into the rhythm. Because that's what maintaining focus is partly about - getting in the rhythm. Plus, I like writing so I really should be finding fewer reasons for not to be doing it.

Anyway, I fell upon this comment earlier which is quite an interesting way of looking at the world of excuses:

"If you want to do something in life, there's no doubt that you'll find a way, no BUTs about it! If, on the other hand, you don't want to do something, you'll always find a reason not to. Instead of looking to avoid things, start looking for excuses to live life fully! All it really takes is a shift in attitude. Change your excuses."

Time and money

I sometimes feel stuck - trapped by my own deliberations. For example, I've got a bit of money in my pocket, not ill-gotten, not intended for anywhere very, very important. It’s just there. Then the trouble begins. Maybe I should save it. Maybe I should buy that bright shiny thing that sits in the department store window. Maybe I should spend it on a slap-up meal even though I'm not hungry. Maybe I should really take that holiday that I know I really need but have been putting off because I always feel I should be spending my money on something more important... I guess we all get those days and moments - trying to align your time, money, energy with your priorities in life. I guess once you're aware of what your priorities are and it gets far easiest to make those important decisions.

Hilary and the real world

I was having one of those days today. You know the ones. Bored, frustrated, annoyed with work and their clear disregard of my superior abilities/sensitivities/financial needs/wish to be somewhere less boring instead.

The petulant schoolboy was kicking around in my head for much of the day, realising how everything was "so unfair" and ensuring that, by royal command, I was next in line to be awarded a 'Victimhood' .

Later in the evening I found myself kicking around the internet and fell upon the amazing story of Hilary Lister, a female quadriplegic that became the first disabled woman to sail around Britain solo.

Another amazing example of human endeavour. One read of the story and I knew it was time to shut up.