Who’s your A-team?
December 20, 2010 § 3 Comments
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Every big company has a board of directors to give it direction. Companies are selective about who is on the board and the qualifications they have for being there. The day-to-day operations are left to the employees, but the big decisions can’t be made without input and approval from the board. This can sometimes seem like a long and cumbersome process, but the board is there to ensure the long-term success of the company.
What difference would it make in our own lives if we consciously chose our own board of directors? What positions would you have available and who would you choose to fill them?
Unlike a formal board, each of us can create our own unique combination of roles for personal governance to complement our strengths and weaknesses. You retain ultimate veto power over the board’s decisions. That being said, you also have complete control over who has the authority to give you advice you’ll trust.
My own board of directors would have the following positions:
Chair – The Chair is the one responsible for all decisions made at the end of the day. This position requires the utmost faith, confidence and trust in the person’s ability to lead and make the right choice for your overall success. Ideally, the Chair is you.
Director, Grounding & Good Sense – The primary function of the Director, Grounding & Good Sense is to call your bullshit and keep you on track. He/she knows when you’re making excuses and isn’t afraid to give you the kick in the butt you need to set you back on the road to success. It’s this person’s advice you seek at the beginning of an idea to help you outline a path and the obstacles you may face.
Director, Dreams & Unlimited Potential – This position is here to keep you afloat in those times when ‘reality’ has taken a bite out of your confidence. This person already knows you can do what you set out to do, and reminds you of this when you aren’t so sure. Consultation should happen with this Director when a creative solution is required for a problem or when you’ve heard the word ‘can’t’ one too many times.
Director, Slack – Sometimes you’ve been working towards something for so long and so hard that you just need somebody to cut you some slack. Everyone else is pushing and supporting you, you can’t let go of your goals and you’re striving for the stars, but it’s one of those moments when you’ve got a lot of balls in the air and your arms are getting really, really tired. This person will either step in to take over while your arms rest, or help you lighten the load for a while… ie cut you some slack. It is wise to seek counsel with this Director before you qualify as ‘burnt out’, but often times this happens post burn out.
Director, Special Projects – The role of this position is one of those ‘other duties as required’ kind of things. It’s for that person who just seems to be a great go-to person in all kinds of situations when the skills of the other members of the board just don’t seem to fit.
The board doesn’t necessarily need 5 different people to fill each role. Maybe it’s just one other person, or maybe you have multiple people who play this part for you in different situations. But identifying those ‘go-to’ people in your life helps you recognize your own strengths and weaknesses and those of your closest network of people.
Have you ever thought about your board of directors? What positions would you have and who would fill them?
In the pursuit of happiness…
December 7, 2010 § 4 Comments
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Happiness is the one thing we all want and the one thing many of us spend much of our time trying to find. We make changes to ourselves, our relationships and our surroundings in the hope that these will unlock more of that magical place that we sometimes get to experience in a moment here, and another there. A haircut, a new pair of shoes, rearranging the living room furniture, changing jobs, even changing friends or partners. Though hard decisions to make sometimes, these are nothing more than our attempts–no matter how graceful or clumsy–at fulfilling ourselves the best way we know how to (or don’t).
I’ve spent the past few weeks reflecting on the rest of this year. I’d have to say 2010 has been one of my biggest years. And in it, I’ve found my space in which to be happy. That hasn’t come without its trials and tribulations. I didn’t find my spot without some people coming into my life, others leaving it and some sticking around for the whole adventure. I also never would have found it if I hadn’t been willing to work through the bits that kept me tethered with equal gusto to the parts that helped me fly.
I’ve discovered that long-term happiness isn’t found in a moment, but is made up of our friends, family, coworkers and experiences. It’s a continual state of being that we only recognize when we have the other end of the spectrum to compare it to.
Often, we create our own roadblocks when we lack the openness and confidence to climb as high as we may have fallen. But the ups and the downs are what give us a foundation to connect with one another on. It’s those ups and downs that help us grow, and give us a richness and depth to life that we cannot get elsewhere.
So really, happiness is not something we find, but something we experience. It has as much to do with what happens within us as it does with what happens around us. And so, the responsibility of our happiness falls on no-one’s shoulders but our own. The question then is: Are you happy? And if you aren’t, what are you doing about it?
What’s Your Personal Brand?
November 29, 2010 § 3 Comments
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I have been thinking a lot about brands professionally and on a personal level over the last few months.
As Manager of Marketing and Communications with the City of Grande Prairie, I am leading the initiative that will give our community an official brand for the first time ever early in 2011. A brand is not to be confused with a logo and slogan. These are the visual identity elements that represent the brand.
A brand is what people say about you as an organization, community or individual.
A consultant determined that Grande Prairie has an innovative culture. This was supported in October when the Canadian Federation of Independent Business declared Grande Prairie to be the most entrepreneurial community in the country. In 2009, we were Number 2. Our community also has a significant number of patents for our population. The ‘can-do’ spirit is pervasive in Grande Prairie.
A brand is something that is unique and enduring. Edmonton calling itself the City of Champions does not fit the current reality.
Likely as a result of my work with the City, I began contemplating the whole realm of personal brands.
This past week, the professional hockey world lost Pat Burns, a well-regarded former coach, to cancer.
Resoundingly, he was known as a hard-nosed but fair coach with a heart of gold. He had a reputation for building winning teams wherever he went and his three coach of the year awards – with Montreal, Toronto and Boston – proved that out. Burns was the first NHL coach to accomplish that feat. He also was a Stanley Cup winner with New Jersey.
His toughness carried over to his personal life – his latest bout with cancer was his third. He had beat colon and liver cancer but when the disease spread to his lungs, it was fatal.
I am not sure what Pat Burns would have thought about his own personal brand.
“For those who know me well, I’ve never backed down from any fight, and I’m not going to back down from this one,” he said after first learning he had the dreaded disease.
If anyone pitied him, Burns had this to say after it was determined his cancer had reached a terminal stage: “As for my career, I always said to my kids, ‘you don’t cry because it’s over, you’re happy because it happened.’ That’s the main thing. I’m happy it happened.”
Ironically, in the same week as Burns passed away, Tiger Woods was coming up to the year since he crashed his Escalade outside his home, opening up the floodgate of events that would reveal his repeated infidelity and end his marriage.
We were hearing how Woods is happier than ever, thanks to his two children. I saw in the media how he is said to love activities like bathing them and making macaroni and cheese.
What is the legendary golfer’s personal brand? I don’t think using his kids for PR will help him rehabilitate his image.
Perception becomes reality and it will take a long time for people to believe that Tiger is truly a great family guy. Whether he is or is not is none of my business. All I am saying is that once your brand is something you don’t want, it is difficult to change.
Similarly, if Britney Spears suddenly adopted a girl-next-door image, how seriously would she be taken?
On the other hand, Toyota has suffered corporate challenges over malfunctioning brakes and gas pedals in recent years, yet I don’t know a Toyota owner or former purchaser who wouldn’t buy a vehicle from the automaker. I almost did recently.
That goes to show that if you have managed your brand well over time, particularly as a corporate entity, people are more likely to be prepared to stand by you.
On a personal level, I think of myself as a hard-working, fun-loving and caring individual who would do anything for family and friends. If people don’t perceive those characteristics to be true, then that’s not my personal brand.
What image do you think you portray? What is your personal brand? Are they the same?
I leave you with this quote from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: “Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.”
Home is Where You Hang Your Hat
November 3, 2010 § 4 Comments
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In January 2009, Bruce Springsteen released an uplifting song called Working on a Dream. I thought of it recently as I reached another milestone on my own wish list – to travel to every part of Canada.
I am getting there but there is much more to see and do in this vast land. After all, it is the second largest country in the world. There is no shortage of diversity from sea to sea to sea!
You could fit the United Kingdom into Canada almost 40 times! There are more than 100 languages spoken here.
I’ve travelled to six provinces, and lived in three, but have not ventured east of Quebec. I had yet to find my way north of the 60th parallel until just recently.
Thanks to having the opportunity to attend Prospects North, a business and trade conference, on behalf of the City of Grande Prairie, I travelled to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in mid October. It was a wonderful experience though there was precious little time to explore as much as Brian Glavin, our Economic Development Officer, and I would’ve liked .
Still, Yellowknife reminded me in ways of Grande Prairie in that it has the bustle associated with a regional service centre and seems larger than it really is. Did you know that Yellowknife, with a population of 20,000, is the only city in the Northwest Territories?
I also couldn’t help but think of Northern Ontario and its rocky terrain and lakes.
Yellowknife is known as the Diamond Capital of North America.
I was taken by the warmth and friendliness of the locals and the sense of contentment people had living there and in other northern communities.
As with Grande Prairie, many residents hadn’t intended on staying long upon arrival in Yellowknife or Whitehorse, Yukon, but have become attached to these places.
Actually, 2010 has been a year of rediscovering old favourites and exploring new destinations.
It all started in April when I attended the Alberta Municipal Communicators’ Group meeting in High River, where I had never visited. It is located just south of Calgary.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark hails from the town of 11,000. W.O. Mitchell, author of Who Has Seen the Wind? and other renowned Canadian literary gems also called the town home.
Joyce accompanied me on the trip and we enjoyed wonderful hospitality, including a recommendation we stay an extra day and hang out for the evening at Carlson’s on McLeod, a well-known local watering hole and entertainment spot.
That was well worth it.
We got to hear Bruce Innes of Original Caste fame play a variety of folk, blues and jazz tunes with support from local guitarist Julian Kerr. The Original Caste is known for two hits – One Tin Soldier and Mr. Monday.
The next day, it was off to Canmore to visit my brother, Bob, and family.
I’m always up for a suggestion for the road less travelled. Several people recommended we take the back roads through some lovely, breathtaking, rolling terrain.
So, off we went through Black Diamond, Bragg Creek and other small towns and villages surrounded by wide open spaces. I can see why artisans of all types are inspired and thrive in places like this.
Joyce had not been to Canmore in many years and it was an opportunity for us to enjoy the mountains on the way home via the Icefield Parkway, Jasper and Grande Cache.
In June, I attended the Canadian Public Relations Society Conference in Regina. I had never stopped in Saskatchewan’s capital on my way back and forth across the country.
On my way to the hotel on the day the event started, I couldn’t help but notice the legendary crazy Roughrider fans getting all whooped up. It was an exhibition game that afternoon. I can only imagine what it would be like during the regular season.
During the conference, I enjoyed a visit to the RCMP headquarters and was also pleased to see how the former train station had been transformed into the casino.
In August, we had a chance to visit Richmond, B.C., where I attended college. Seattle, Washington was new to me and Parksville, B.C., which is one of our favourite vacation destinations of all time.
Not far away is Englishman River Falls ↼a fabulous provincial campground where we stayed several days on our last trip to Vancouver Island, 23 years ago. This was far too long an absence, particularly, for people who had once talked about retiring to Vancouver Island.
We delighted in taking photos along the river and the many other spots for photo ops within the park ⇀only this time, they were all digital images, on Joyce’s camera and my Blackberry.
Next June, the Canadian Public Relations Society Conference is in Saint John, New Brunswick.
That will be my first foray into the East Coast.
My brother-in-law, Dave, has taught at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton for many years and yet we never made it there while living in Ontario for 20 years. We will make it there faster by living in Alberta!
We plan to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary while there.
When I reflect on these travels, I can’t help be struck by how different people view the country. Many will wonder how others would find themselves staying in places like Yellowknife, Whitehorse, Grande Prairie and other communities away from the bright lights and action.
The fact is, though, home is where you hang your hat. What attracts residents of Yellowknife may not appeal to those in Edmonton. Some will be content in Alberta’s capital city but not in Toronto.
I am eager to continue exploring my homeland. It really does have something for everyone. Should you be looking in from another country, come see what I mean.
If you are in Canada, join me in celebrating what we have!
A quick thanks for traditions
October 12, 2010 § 3 Comments
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They say that if you repeat something for three consecutive years, it qualifies as a tradition.
My Aunt Verna reminded me this year that it was my seventh consecutive Thanksgiving with them since 2004. I think that more than qualifies my visits out near Swift Current, Saskatchewan as tradition.
For a while now I’ve been trying to find my place in an ever shifting family scene. Wherever I can find a constant, I cling to it. As it turns out, Thanksgiving with my dad’s family is a big one.
No major holiday is ever complete without a full spread of food. From salads, to the main course, and then onto desserts, a Peters’ table is always full and a Peters’ stomach often left bursting at the seams. Thanksgiving is no exception. A turkey big enough to feed a dozen or more people and still leave leftovers, followed up with ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, carrots, at least five different kinds of salads and finished with six different kinds of pies (chocolate, banana cream, pumpkin, coconut, apple and lemon meringue), yes sir, nobody at that table leaves hungry.
We always spend a large part of Saturday preparing all of the food for Sunday’s big dinner. Vegetables are chopped, salads are made, fresh buns make their way out of the oven.
Saturday evening, my cousins and I spend making turkey hats. We started out with just newspaper hats that we painted one year and called Thanksgiving Hats. We’re now on our fifth generation hat and each year we expand on the concept. One year we even had real feathers.
A large part of the weekend is also dedicated to kittens. Being that we’re out in the country, there are a few farm cats around and there are always at least a few kittens for us to track down and play with. It’s a wonder I haven’t come home with any yet.
When Monday morning rolls around and it’s time to think about heading home, I get in line with my cousins for a share in the leftovers first. We take turns dishing out what’s left of the food into containers to feed us in the coming days. I even bring my own tupperware.
Tradition gives us something to anchor ourselves to, and another piece of life that we can begin to identify with. For that, and for the people who are a part of my traditions, I am thankful. Because each piece becomes a building block in my life, both to build from and to build toward.
What traditions do you look forward to? And how do they help shape your life?
Sweet Memories Are Made of This – Food
September 27, 2010 § 8 Comments
Then I started thinking about how many wonderful memories are associated with food.
Image by Joits via Flickr
Amongst my earliest recollections as an adult was the Sunday fare when I boarded with the Hunter family in Richmond, B.C. while attending college. What particularly stands out is the Yorkshire pudding that accompanied the roast beef and gravy.
Of course, that was just a precursor to the pecan pie! I’ve had a weakness for that sweet pastry delight ever since.
I boarded with the Hunters for three years and we’ve remained close friends – more like family – over the years. In fact, I just celebrated my 50th birthday with them.
It is 27 years this fall since Joyce and I started dating. At one of our first outings, I made a small wager for dinner. I won. Joyce made me Chinese food. I reciprocated with a spaghetti meal shortly after. Very nice memories of our first weeks of dating!
Over our 20 years in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, nearly every Christmas dinner was shared with Jeni and Jim Rice and their daughters in alternating years. Our kids are grown now and dispersed. We live three provinces away, but I can almost smell Jim’s rhubarb-strawberry pie baking as I type.
It was wonderful to share these many special occasions with another family when neither of us had relatives in the Sault.
Speaking of food and family/friends could not be complete without mentioning my sister-in-law, Louise, and the sumptuous carrot cake recipe she shared with me many years ago. It’s been the highlight of many gatherings in our home and in the workplaces Joyce and I have had over the years.
When I mentioned my idea for this blog, many friends ate up the idea of sharing their memories.
Here are a few:
Jackie Ostashek, Parkland County Communications Co-ordinator
My Baba (Grandmother) has mastered the art of making cabbage rolls. She makes them so tiny, they are barely the size of the end of your thumb – and sooooo delicious. She always makes them in this ceramic dish that is probably 50+ years old. I swear that is the magic behind the most spectacular cabbage rolls.
I was nervous about telling her I’d become a vegetarian. But my Baba, being the amazing lady she is, took it in stride. Knowing how much I love my cabbage rolls, she makes a point of making them, bacon-free, every time I visit.
This amazing and spectacular woman turns 98 October 1st. For a woman of her age, she is shockingly spry and modern in her thinking. I can only aspire to be half as amazing as she is. But no matter how much I try, I will never come near her talent in making her tiny, tender and amazing cabbage rolls – even if I inherit the old ceramic dish.
Alina Popescu, Principal, Mirror Communications, Bucharest, Romania
They don’t make bread like they used to!
I might sound like an old lady, but the statement is nevertheless true. The best bread I’ve ever had was while visiting my grandparents (from my dad’s side of the family) in a small village near the town of Ramnicu Sarat.
Getting the bread was quite an adventure. I’d take my tiny bike and ride it to the bakery, a trip that seemed to take ages, when it was actually a 10-15 minute bike ride, but time always flows a lot slower when you’re young.
I’d buy this huge, round bread, put it in my bag and go back home. I would just walk along the bike because the bread was way too heavy for me to be able to ride. I’d get home to an extremely warm and lively kitchen where my grandfather would wait for me with stories and smiles while grandma would bicker about the meal being ready for quite a while.
We’d place this huge, wonderfully smelling bread in the middle of the table and break steamy pieces out of it as it was too fresh to cut it.
Whenever I sense the smell of bread resembling that special type that I cannot find no matter how long I look for it, I am taken back to a place of extremely long days filled with wonder, where I never asked for any given day to be longer than 24 hours.
Grande Prairie businessman Brooks Hoffos
Shauna and I were in Cinque Terre, Italy. We hopped off a train and grabbing a lunch break in a quaint little restaurant.
We had a local Chianti wine and spaghetti and local fresh clams. Now, whenever we cook spaghetti and clams, it takes me back to that time and place. We shared a table with an Aussie and an American. We laughed. We drank. We ate. We bonded. It was a great experience. Italy also made us the cooks we are today. It was a life changing experience! Forever!
Debra Ward, Edmonton Communications and Professional writer
I can’t remember what we even ate but my family and I were in Christchurch, New Zealand having dinner at this really nice restaurant when we all had an attack of the “sillies”. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, made us laugh uproariously. …It was a memory moment.
The first Christmas back in Canada was the best turkey dinner with all the trimmings dinner I have ever had. It was special because it was our first “in Canada” Christmas meal after living overseas for so long and because it would turn out to be my mom’s last.
Dale Tiedemann, Youth Facilitator, City of Grande Prairie
Family Dinners at Grandma’s place were the best! Always delicious with home-grown vegetables (she had a market garden)! It’s always amazing watching her cook…no need for a recipe, just add a little of this and a little of that! Plus, you can’t forget about the home-baked goodies for dessert…chocolate pie with whipped cream! Yum! 🙂
Grandma doesn’t cook as often as when I was younger, but when she does … bliss!
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So, what stories do you have where you and family and/or friends partook in some great food while forging wonderful memories? Want to share any special recipes?
Moshin’ and a-rollin’
September 13, 2010 § Leave a comment
This summer, I attended two different day long music festivals. One was Warped Tour, the other was the Sonic Boom Festival. Both were in Edmonton and set up at Northlands.
I’ve been going to concerts and outdoor shows much like these two for over a decade. It was odd watching the shows through my nearly thirty something eyes. I looked at the young kids at the shows and remembered what I thought of people my age when I was their age.
“Oh my god they’re so old. I’m never coming to a show like this when I’m that old, they’re so out-of-place. Don’t they know they’re too OLD?”
The perspective was based out of what nearly 30 somethings are supposed to be doing. When you’re this age you should be married and settled down, possibly with a couple of kids, a steady job and a house. People who have those don’t go to punk or rock shows. Once life starts, you aren’t allowed to have any more fun.
And I suppose there are a group of people who actually do live that way, after all, the stereotype had to come from somewhere. And yet there I was, with other nearly 30 somethings, and some over 30 somethings, at each show. Hanging out. Enjoying the music.
There is one major difference in how I participate in the shows though. The mosh pit. That’s right, back in the good old days I was right smack dab in the middle of it. I’d mosh all day and emerge from the pit, my hair a mess, and smelling like only a kid in a mosh pit could smell… the odour of other people’s sweat mixed with my own, perhaps the fumes of somebody’s joint or cigarette mixed in. Oh yes, somehow that was a desirable state to leave a concert in. These days, I appreciate the music from afar. I enjoy being able to see and hear what’s going on over attempting to support a crowd of body surfers above me while holding my own in a gnarled pit of other teenagers there to jump around while pushing and shoving one another in a mild form of chaos.
The rock show pit is much like I remembered it. Disorderly, unruly. Some moshers were watching out for their felling pitters, but many had no regard for those around them. They would jump, push, shove, whatever they wanted to break through a crowd, trampling any in their way. Experiencing it first hand at Edmonton’s Sonic Boom Festival reminded me of why I quit trying to be in the centre of that crowd.
Warped Tour was a different story. Find yourself a pit at Warped Tour, and you’re more likely to encounter what is known as the circle pit. I have no idea where this concept originated, but it is the most orderly mosh pit I have ever seen.
Everyone knows what to do in a circle pit, when one starts to form, the crowd that wishes not to participate backs up to make room. As soon as the space is there, participants start to run around in a great big circle. Yes, they run. And they’re all going in the same direction. There’s no body surfing in a circle pit, because there aren’t enough people to support body surfing.
Watching one particular pit, there was a point where many of the moshers stopped running around in a circle, and then started to do the same moves. It looked like they could have been kick boxing. It didn’t look like most of them knew each other, and yet they all knew the same pattern of moves. Had they been close together, they surely would have hit one another. And yet, in the confines of the circle pit, they had enough room and nobody got hurt.
Ten years ago, the pits at both shows probably would have been very similar. I find it intriguing now to see the subculture that’s morphed over the years into the different scenes I saw before me at these two shows. And it surprises me that those at the punk/metal show appear to have developed more regard for one another at their events than those at the rock show. They seem more harsh on the outside, but what I’ve observed tells me differently. What I see here is more community than we’d ever get from the mainstream.
I’m no anthropologist. But how this subculture developed is of interest to me. Did it have anything to do with a stronger sense of identity for the Warped Tour crowd? Or was it all just one big coincidence? And on a sidenote, if I were growing up in today’s youth, I wonder which group I’d identify with more?
Causes With Credibility
July 26, 2010 § 3 Comments
When politicians come to my door at election time and start telling me all the ills of their opposition, I immediately switch the conversation to what they will do if they get into office.
Let’s face it, if the political hopeful is talking about the party in power, I already know about them, so I don’t need someone else’s opinion.
If it’s the incumbent talking about the contenders, then they aren’t focusing on accomplishments achieved while in power and what they plan to do if returned to office.
I had much the same feeling of the non-focussed politician at my door when some American environmentalists launched the Rethink Alberta campaign recently. They want to draw attention to environmental issues surrounding the oil sands in Northeastern Alberta.
Their campaign attempts to get tourists in various parts of the world to avoid travelling to Alberta. One gets the sense from seeing the video, in particular, that there was a recent oil spill in the province or that all of Alberta is an environmental wasteland.
Give them credit for slick production capabilities, pun intended, but beyond the propaganda, I ask much the same question as I do with the politicians at my door. “So, what are your solutions?”
I am sure they’d reply that creating the campaign is their contribution. If you want to identify problems, be sure to have solutions.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I applaud environmental efforts of all kinds, whether these are community-based garbage cleanups in the spring or much larger initiatives such as cleaning up the Great Lakes. I admittedly am not the greenest person in the world, but I do attempt to do what I can at a household level to recycle, reduce and reuse. I also clean up garbage on neighbourhood walks throughout the year.
I’m also a rebel with several causes. I supported a campaign to build a swimming pool in a former community. I’ve written letters to the editor when I believed wrong had occurred. I competed for a seat on a school board. I was a union steward while employed at a newspaper.
The problem with Rethink Alberta is it is nothing more than a smear campaign against the whole province. Essentially the goal seems to be to hurt the economy in Alberta.
I would love to see cleaner forms of energy production. The fact is, however, few people in North America are doing much to reduce reliance on production from the oil sands.
Are the environmentalists taking the shot at the oil sands doing anything to clean up their own country? Are they protesting the damage the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is causing?
I created a Facebook Group to draw attention to the environmental protesters. It is called: Concerned About Environmental Issues in Canada? Clean Up Your Country First!
My hope is to create some real dialogue on the issue rather than having some people point fingers at industry and government with no reasonable solutions. Let’s face it, if there aren’t consumers for a product, the industry wouldn’t be there.
I want to see money invested in research to find solutions to cleaner forms of energy. It would be great if more people walk, car pool or take transit to work, for example.
The real answer lies in all of us caring enough to make change and challenge governments and industry to do better.
However, trying to get tourists to avoid Alberta is not the answer. In fact, it could easily backfire because most travellers tend to check out the landscape before hopping on the plane and jetting abroad.
When they open up their magazine or go online and see Mount Edith Cavell or Maligne Lake, they may want to come.
Oh and by the way, when the students from the nearby elementary school come to my door to fundraise, I make them tell me how the money is being used. Same with the hockey players looking for sponsorship.
They need to be accountable, just like the politicians coming to my door and the environmentalists trying to sway opinion.
If the environmentalists really want to gain credibility, they need to stick to the issues and the facts.
In the meantime, if you live in Alberta, you know what we have.
If you’re reading this in another part of the world, check us out. We have our issues and they need to be addressed. What place doesn’t? We also have some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. We are also very hospitable. Check us out for the real story.
Be. Do. Have.
July 19, 2010 § 2 Comments
For most of my life, I had the first two words of these three words reversed. Do. Be. Have. A certain type of person had the things I wanted to have in life. But in order to be that type of person, I had to first do all the things that kind of person did. That meant I had to build my life and the things around it before I would ever reach that level. To me, being the person that I wanted to be was going to take years.
Last year, those words were switched up for me. Be. Do. Have. That meant I could already be the person that I wanted to be. By being that person, it would drive my behaviour to already do the things that person does and eventually have the things that person has.
As it turns out, when you’ve lived your entire life from a ‘Do. Be. Have.’ perspective, changing that around to ‘Be. Do. Have.’ is a little trickier than just switching a couple of words around. Learning to BE before I DO has proven to be a tough process for me.
But DOing first before I can be is not working for me. It’s keeping me in a perpetual cycle where I’m striving so hard to reach the level I want and I never quite seem to get there. Why? Because there will always be an endless list of things to do. And in a scenario where DO comes first, it’s a stage I’ll never get passed.
The trick, I think, is in letting go of what I thought I was and accepting the fact that I already am who I want to be. I’m BEing her.
Who knew changing the order of two words could make such an impact?
Be. Do. Have.
Deja Vu All Over Again
July 6, 2010 § 1 Comment
My wife and I were visiting my Mother-in-Law and other family in Ripley, Ontario last week when I heard a thought-provoking statement that jolted me out of my seat.
They were busy sorting through some genealogical documents when Joyce’s mother came across a photo of her late brother. Gordon Berry McGuire died 66 years ago this month in World War II.
She paused and remarked, “We never learn, do we?”
Indeed, it seems the world has not progressed a lot from what one would have hoped could have ended global conflicts.
There’s been virtually ongoing unrest around the world in the interim. This has ranged from religious-based upheaval in Northern Ireland to larger scale fighting involving several nations such as the Gulf War.
Gunner McGuire, a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery, died in action on July 11, 1944 and is buried in the Canadian War Cemetery in Beny-Sur-Mer, France. He was 25.
Mickey, as he was known to his troop mates, inadvertently picked up an activated grenade, left behind by the retreating Germans. Sounds very similar to the roadside bomb casualties we hear from the ongoing Afghan war.
At times like this, I hear the words of John Forgerty’s song Deja Vu (All Over Again), produced in 2004, comparing the Iraq War with Viet Nam, chiming through my ears.
Joyce’s Uncle Gordon is laid to rest in a graveyard with more than 2,000 other fallen soldiers from Canada and other Allied countries.
He is among about 200 men who perished in World War II from Huron County alone.
In June, Canada passed the 150-mark in losses in the Afghan War. We are supposed to be withdrawing in 2011, although I suspect our military involvement will continue beyond next year. Our pullout can’t come soon enough for me.
Our role in rebuilding the war-stricken country gets lost on what seems to be almost daily news that more of our soldiers have been killed.
The most heart-wrenching stories are those where we hear the soldier is just days away from returning home from a tour of duty. They are a husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father, or brother or sister.
For a country with a relatively small population, Canada has a glorious war history, particularly for courage in specific significant battles and for our significant participation in freeing Paris and Holland in World War II. This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy.
The Dutch remember Canada fondly to this day for our soldiers’ role in returning their country to them.
In the Second World War, Canada joined forces with the Allies to defeat the Nazis. We would also take engage in the Korean War. Canada participated in the first Gulf War but declined to in the second.
Since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, there is reason to suggest the Nazis and the Axis Allied countries might have attempted some kind of global domination if they’d been successful in their advances.
It’s always difficult to determine how and when Canada should be involved in conflict on the world basis since only once has our own country ever been under attack.
In the War of 1812-1814, combined forces of British and colonial Canadian residents and Native Canadians defeated intruding Americans.
Now, Canada is viewed as a world leader 143 years after confederation.
I am not here to point fingers as to who is right or wrong in disputes in other lands. Factions in those nations believe in the rightness of their respective positions.
Their arguments don’t make sense to me – but then I was brought up to value life, my own and the lives of other people. I can feature risking my life to save a loved one. It would never occur to me to list Suicide Bomber on my business card.
It still galls me when Canada enters these frays and loses lives when they are not defending our borders. I support our troops and understand that Canada is a world leader. But there is also no guaranteed end to our involvement in Afghanistan and I would not like being the one telling a family they have lost a loved one.
While our government makes decisions on what battles to engage in on the world stage, would it be right for another country to attack us because it disputed something we are doing?
What is the impact of deciding not to enter certain conflicts? We came out looking good by not joining in the Second Gulf War. Some question what the difference is between the war in Iraq and that in Afghanistan.
I am more concerned with the bigger picture – the prospect of a larger threat.
That is because Mary Black is correct. The world never seems to learn.
John Fogerty had it right, too – Deja Vu (All Over Again).
The Muse and Views 