Lead a vivid life that does good
Today a heap of people gather to do good for those who are poor and less fortunate and in need of help.
Older people, children, students and families all giving their time for free for their community.
What started as an idea by a few uni students texting each other, ends up with hundreds of people of all ages making a real big difference.
That's proof if you ever needed that the best way to make an idea happen, is to just start doing something.
Freedom is never free.
Freedom comes at a cost. Many many people have died that we might have the freedoms we enjoy.
And one man died that we might have the freedom we where created for.
Easter and Anzac together. A reminder how blessed we are to be free.
I've chatted with Balloonists a few times. As we talk, it becomes evident how much they love Balloons. How passionate they are about them. How they long to be 'up up and away in my beautiful balloon'. Personally I've found ballooning to beautifully boring (its too slow), but I love to hear their conversation. When we talk about ballooning they are altogether different people.
I love to ask people what they are passionate about? It opens the hearts of people. It enables me to listen. To connect.
I love getting past the what our jobs are, or what we are studying, as if that defines us.
I love to hear the words "I'm passionate about…" … ballooning … music … animals … horses (hard to believe I know) … travel … different cultures … food … makeup … children … God … family … motorsport …
I love the conversation.
Its engaging.
Next time you meet someone, maybe even someone you have known for a long time, why not ask 'what are you passionate about?'
Then sit back. Listen. Engage.
And then, when you least expect it, you may find you meet an entirely different person.
For some unknown reason I am both cursed and blessed with a natural ability to do accounting. So much so, that some people consider it a strength.
I am blessed because when you run a business it is good to have a firm grasp on the numbers.
Yet I am cursed because I actually really hate doing accounting. Nothing sucks the passion from my veins as quickly as doing accounts.
So is accounting a strength? Just because you are good at something, does that make it something you should do?
No
I believe strengths, real strengths are the things that you are really good at, and really passionate about.
According to Strengths Finder 2.0 my strengths are Strategic, Ideation, Futuristic, Competition and Self Assurance. And I am actually quite good at these things, just like accounting.
When I am doing them I feel like I have hit my sweat spot. I am passionate about whatever I am applying towards. I am energised.
Your strengths are things you are passionate about and really good at.
Go find them this week.
Work on them.
Nurture them.
It will energise you.
Yesterday we headed out to Patetonga to watch our friend’s son race in Motocross (#342 in picture). He is racing smaller bikes in a larger class to give him more competition, as he often nails the competition in his normal class.
This made me think about the importance of competition.
One of my 5 strengths from Strengths Finder 2.0 is Competitive. I love winning and hate losing. When there is something to win, I try my hardest to win it (or often don’t play if I know I cant win, I hate losing so bad). Competition for me, causes me to work harder, think more creatively, be more persistent.
So.
We talk a lot about winning. About being winners. About being successful. About improving ourselves.
Yet.
We have become anti-competition. Kids play sports and do stuff to participate. Most businesses don’t care about their competition. Charities think competition is bad.
But.
Is it even possible to WIN without competition?
Well no.
Not for me at least. I am reminded from yesterday that healthy competition, the kind of competition that stretches you to become better, is incredibly important.
And right now I need to add some of that back into my life.
I heard a podcast from Gallup the other day about exercise and how important it is to having energy and reducing stress. It reminded me in my relative state of sloth, what we all know, that exercise is good for us and is a vital part of our office bound lives.
So why do I run hot and cold on exercise?
Firstly, it’s because it doesn't make it to the top of my priority list. It's important but not that important. In my case it is not a lack of discipline, it is purely that I don't make it a priority.
Secondly, it’s because I don't really enjoy it. Lets be honest it is hard work. I have know desire to sit in a gym, get only mild enjoyment out of running, and can’t bike to work most days as I have NO desire to bike to meetings.
Finally, I like freedom. My calendar and commitments are such that no day is the same and so therefore exercising at the same time each day is impossible and a burden.
Yet! I know I need to exercise more.
So I am trying a new system. Not an original idea, but a system none the less. I have allocated points to various activities, based broadly on energy burn.
points per 10 mins
Biking 5
Walk 3
Jogging 7
Weights 3
I have set a goal of 50 points this week. So will have to do 1 hour 10 minutes running. or 2 hours 40 minutes walking. or 1 hour 40 minutes biking. or a combination of the three.
By setting a goal, hopefully I make it a priority. And by having flexibility hopefully I enjoy it and it fits my freedom mindset.
As always it is easier to write than do.
The sunrises and sets in different places and the clouds form never before seen shapes.
Tomorrows future becomes clearer and yesterdays memories fade.
Even when we feel as though life is “same old, same old”, each day is completely unique. Our problem is not that we don’t know that each day is different.Our problem is that we fail to slow down
enough to notice.
After a year of taking photos every day I took a break. I am only now realising that I no longer slow down to notice the changes each day.
Tomorrow is a different day.
Resolve to slow down enough to notice?
Oh, what do I do?
Well “I run a business that provides training and recruitment services to the transport and logistics industry”. This has been my answer in the past and it is fair to say that usually stops the conversation dead. (As it turns out transport is boring and most people have no idea what logistics is.)
At more social gatherings I have answered “oh, I buy and sell people for a living”, this kills the conversation just as quick but I do have the satisfaction of the priceless “wacko” expressions it generates.
Recently, as a part of my journey to be more outward, I decided to change the way I answer that question. I now say words to the effect of:
“I’m a Social Entrepreneur, I am involved in various businesses and charities for the purpose of enabling social change”.
The reason I have changed what I say, is because I am passionate about more than just Agoge which is my day job. I am passionate about Agora, Good, CBC, WOL, and SIMP. I am also passionate about family and friends and strangers because through all of them and in them I make a small social changes for the better in this world.
The implication: Generally when someone asks us “what we do?”, we answer with our job, when in reality we do so much more.
So, what do you do?
The beaches of Tauranga it would seem are laden with treasure. On a number of recent visits I have seen older people with metal detectors in hand, combing the beach for precious treasures buried in the sand.
They are the new treasure hunters, no X marks the spot needed.
As I watched them I realise that we all search for treasure. We are all treasure hunters, in a restless pursuit of things to make our own. Some of us pursue treasure in money or work or success.Others pursue treasure in family or love or organised religion or God.
I have thought about what Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”
It reminded me to think about the things I am pursuing. It reminded me that they are a display of my heart.
I remember sitting at a camping ground in Papamoa after days of scourging sunshine. The kind of sunshine that you dream of for summer, but after weeks it has dried the ground so much around us, everything had turned to dust. Over the course of the day the wind changed. Slowly, unnoticeably to most, but a significant enough change to indicate the weather was changing.
The next day, as we packed the drizzle arrived and after we departed the rain set in. When you grow up around the ocean, particularly sailing, you learn what the winds of change are.
My final photo for the 365 project on the 23 September was of a wind sock.
I took it for three reasons;
Firstly, to remind me how I still long to
be in the airborne. In 365 days I missed the opportunity to pilot a plane as a
private pilot. I continually look at the sky and long to fly.
Second, to remind me of how windy it was in September. It’s windy every year around the equinox but most people forget that we get windy weather as the winds of change signal a season change.
Finally, personally I feel like the winds
of change are blowing. I am not sure where the metaphorical weather will lead me, but change after 365 days, is in the wind. I can feel it.
So ends 365 days of photos. 365 days of my life.
What’s next?
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