Lyin' Eyes

I was thinking again about Facebook, or rather social media in general. As much as many of us love to use the medium to tell the world about when we're happy or sad or hungry, it also gives everyone an insight into the real you. Or often the "you" that you are trying to project, even if it is slightly fast and loose on the facts and detail.

A school friend posted news on Facebook of him starting a new job as headmaster at a school in the west of England. In the midst of the back patting and congratulations, I fell upon a comment from one of his friends saying how much he had liked the photo and biography posted on the school website. Ever the curious one, I thought it was worth a look.

His bio did look pretty impressive. But as I sifted through the many achievements and successes, I felt a little put out by what he had recorded as sporting prowess at school. Oddly my memory serves me very well on the silly little things, and in the seven years we were at school together I'm certain he played no more than twice for a ragtag reserve team (as opposed to the 15-20 times I played each year for the senior teams). As for the rowing, I recall he coxed a couple of times for a junior team but that was it. At the end of the day, maybe it's a petty thing to pick up on. Strictly speaking it wasn't false - semantics and all that. But if you're going to put information like that out there, be ready to defend yourself, Mr L...
 

Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)

I'm not really sure whether I should call Facebook a guilty pleasure. I've killed many days of precious human existence trawling through cartloads of pictures offering up brunches, boozing and banality, only to drag myself away feeling drained and deflated. I'd always assumed living vicariously would be quite exciting and liberating. Unfortunately, 'Faceboast' doesn't always offer the best filter system. Sometimes it's like sifting through the cutting room floor of a bad fly-on-the-wall documentary. You're living passively, and not the passive part of life you really care for.

But then there are the other times. Real world experiences. Stuff you might not hear about (or at least not for some time) without the power of social media. You lose touch on a personal basis, yet there's still a front row seat as their lives unfold. Four weddings and a funeral, a child is born, the godfather. All manner of things. These are the stories that keep me connected. I still plan to undertake periodic detoxes of social media (too much of a good thing, and all that), and I must be more discerning. But, at the end of the day, it's here to stay - so embrace it.

Live Like You Were Dying

We all have choices. Some are easy, some are torturous, some are fun, some are painful, some go right, some go wrong.

 

But at the end of the day, and in the words of a line from the Shawshank Redemption: 

 

“It always comes down to two choices. Get busy living, or get busy dying”

 

Do It Again

Reading back over some previous blogs it's interesting how some things go full circle. A few years back I had mentioned that I'd met up with a friend that had left my the company I was working for and was taking the massive step of trying out private enterprise. At the time I had praised his guts and vicariously felt the excitement of him taking this massive step. He was at complete peace and, as he put it, held no fear "for the first time in my life."

Well, fast forward to now and I'm in that said same space - out of the company, trying something new, and naturally stuck somewhere between a little hesitant meets excited. Before I was able to appreciate as an observer - but that's nothing like being fully in the mix yourself. Circumstance pushed the situation but it was an idea that had stewed in my mind for a while. And I was once told that any new insight that doesn't lead to action to help the quality of your life is just a waste. My friend seems to have gone from strength to strength. So hopefully I'll be able to chart a similar trajectory over time and note it in this blog.


 

Life's What You Make It

"Life is like a game of snakes and ladders. There are going to be good times and bad times, but you have to keep throwing the dice to stay in the game."

That's what you get to hear when you're sitting in a coffee shop, reading the paper and earwigging the table next to you. Well, at least that's what happened to me the other day. Two people chewing the fat about life, love and soap operas. And it seemed quite apt for me to hear it as well.

Things have taken a bit of a turn in recent months. I recently left my job, broadly by "mutual agreement", and I'm taking some time out to find some new direction and get some head space.

I've been thinking about it for some time and I provisioned accordingly for time away from the workforce. Still, it is pretty scary. I know there will be ups and downs along the way, but hopefully at the end of this crazy journey I'll be able to say "at least I tried", regardless of the outcome.

So I'm just going to have to keep throwing the dice and live the life I'm destined to live. That's the plan anyway. And at least I get to spend time in a few more coffee shops in coming months as well...

Wishing On A Star

“It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are still alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them.” 

- George Eliot

We Don't Need Another Hero

So often we look for inspiration from those that have done amazing things, yet your only connection with them is through the TV or the words written in some glossy magazine. We could be talking about Oprah, Mariah, Madonna - any number of individuals you'll never actually get to meet.

And looking outside for guidance is only right as we all have limitations and many of these exceptional individuals have achieved all sorts of crazy things from the hardest of upbringings. But at the same time, let's not get sucked into the cult of celebrity. These people are as human as the rest of us and, let's face it, a fair few Lance Armstrong posters have been thrown into the bin in recent months.

So rather than idolising complete strangers and placing them on pedestals, sometimes it's worth looking a bit closer to home. I'm inspired by my older sister's thirst for learning and goal of continually stretching herself academically; my younger sister's focus, drive and continued commitment to her calling in lay preaching and writing; my nephew's commitment from a young age to be his own boss, developing enterprises and passive income initiatives. I could go on. These are everyday folk that we can all readily relate to - and, in my case, actually be related to - and that can only be a good thing.

Back To Life

Blog, dear blog, it's been a while. The trouble with having grand designs but very little discipline is that the grand designs tend to gather dust rather easily. To put it another way, I haven't quite found or, in fact, made time for this blog. Hopefully I'll be able to turn that around in 2013.

But one thing that I have found enjoyable of late has been to look back at previous blog entries from a year or two ago. Ok, it's not Shakespeare and I can't imagine future generations poring over the nuances in the writings, but I'm kind of proud and sometimes inspired by the stuff I've written. That's all I ever really wanted in the first place anyway.