The Greatest Gifts

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Three never ending and most valuable gifts you can share with others are: music, education, and storytelling.

Above them all is communication.


ThInQ About It

Rose Coloured Glasses - Blog Off



Photo by Clarke



Awhile back I met a friend for a beer. He told me something I was not expecting.

“You hold back. You come across as someone who puts yourself out there, but really you hold back. It hurts people you know. “

What? Are you kidding me? Hello, this is me you are talking about! I was in shock. Maybe I offered an apology I don’t really remember. The truth is I didn’t know what to say. This was not something I ever expected to hear about myself betterstill that I hurt anyone.

Later that evening or morning (I have no idea what time I got home) I crunched on what my friend had to say. To tell the truth I had (surprisingly) a bit of cry. And I vowed to address this issue in my usual tenacious way and face it head on.

Imagine my surprise when a week later it happened again. This time a different person in an entirely different situation but the message was the same.

Damn. The rose coloured glasses slipped off my nose again!

I really believed that I was someone who for the most part lived close to the edge 90% of the time apparently I lived in a cow pasture 100 miles away quietly sauntering around chewing on a sprig of wheat. Good gracious what happened?

Didn’t I always push here and there, try new things, get out there, meet the world, rise to challenges, take stands, take leaps of faith, and question ideology till people were ready to muzzle me? It all used to be part of my daily routine. Like breathing. I thought I was the great adventurer of life.

Alas with the glasses lying somewhere on the ground I had to admit that I had learned to go with the flow instead of pushing against the stream. I also learned patience and contentment. Could the shadow side of both of behaviours be complacency? Hmmm I am not so in love with that.

My two friends were right in their assessment. They were and are asking for a little more edge.

A week ago I stood on the edge, threw caution to the wind, put myself out there, and gave away a really big idea. Why? Because holding it back, waiting for the perfect opportunity that may or may not ever arise would be a crime. We will see what will happen but regardless it is time get out of the cow pasture.

The Universe, God, Serendipity, whatever label suits you best has a remarkable and unique way of voicing its opinion, ripping off those rose colour glasses, and moving the edge just a little closer to the tips of the toes.

What will you do this week that is totally unexpected?

While you are thinking about that why not tune into Blue Rodeo's Rose Coloured Glasses as posted on Youtube and be sure to roll down thInQ and check out Kai's counter to the photo I sent here in this month's Blog Off! Something about marbles! Welcome aboard Kai!

Cause That's How We Roll - Blog Off

Of course the marble motif is bound to conjure up the theme of emotional stability and mental health. For example: “I still have all of my marbles!” or “Have you lost your marbles?” and so forth. Not long ago my cousin wrote to me that he had been given a pouch of marbles for his Birthday. Therefore, nestled nicely into his mid-fifties, he is assured that he still has all of his marbles (and extras as needed). Birthdays are, of course, the dawn of a new year in our lives and a signifier of a new stage of changes.

Marbles are spheres, and it is circles which represent the cycles in our lives. Although we may prefer to view life in a linear fashion: beginning, middle, and end, the lessons we learn are circular in nature. Humans are, essentially, creatures of habit and we create cycles within our lives in order to fully learn our lessons. A lesson will come back over and over, through different means (thoughts, emotions, places, and faces) until we learn it more solidly. Once the lesson has finally been learned, and the cycle broken, we can tuck the lesson away for safe-keeping. If we have truly learned the lesson, we are no longer caught up in the cycle, and it becomes more solid within us, much like a marble. Our “marbles” are, metaphorically, our lessons!

Changes in our lives are some of the best marble-shakers that we have. Some changes have the potential to reach down to the root of who we are and jostle the daylights out of the various systems that we have neatly put into place. So, although we can despise changes for their challenges, they are a tremendous tool because they encourage us to not be so rigid in our thinking. When stimulated enough to look outside of what we have previously known, we tend to gain more insight, and learn the greater lessons.

The only way to truly handle change with grace and humility is to accept it, to become one with it. If we can learn how to do this, our marbles (lessons) can be shaken and stirred, and remain intact. We do not need to question if they are still in place, we know they are. We know it because they have become our greatest resources and instead of second-guessing ourselves, we have begun to use them. When change shakes us to our root, the knowledge and wisdom we hold begins to surface. When that occurs, we start to feel calmer and more relaxed. We somehow accept that we are more capable than we ever have been of connecting with change and moving forward.

Life is always in motion and everything is constantly changing. If we choose to become one with the changes, nothing will ever catch us off guard; and the fear of “losing our marbles” (during the course of changes) diminishes greatly. We no longer need to fear that we even could lose our marbles if we are clear in the knowledge of what we have already gained. So the next time life hands us a whopping great change we can tally up our lessons and know that this change will only add more to what we have previously discovered, and then fear can rightfully become a gift.

-Kai.

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Canucks, This Hockey Aunt's Opinion On How to Win the Stanley Cup

Image via WikipediaDear Vancouver Canucks,

As a hockey aunt and Canadian here is the best advice you will ever receive to help you win the Stanley Cup. Then again, it's just my Opinion.

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Buy a roast, potatoes, carrots, and onion.

3. Go to the liquor store.

4. Buy a 6 pack of Canadian beer of your choice for #11.

5. You will need these things for strength.

6. Cook roast and vegtables.

7. Have one beer while it is cooking.

8. Eat dinner.

9. After eating sit on deck and contemplate the Stanley Cup with your name on it in 2011.

10. As soon as you are relaxed and focused, have one more beer. You will need it.

11. Pick up the phone and call your mother. Do not be afraid. This will be the most courageous thing you will ever ever ever do because no matter what you have to say or no matter what you are thinking... she will put on her lipstick and tell you what you need to hear and more than you ever wanted to know. (This will include brushing your teeth, should you have any left.)

12. Go to sleep.

13. Upon waking if in doubt about #11 call your Grandmother. She trained your mother and she will strainghten out whatever kinks may be left.

14. Then, get yourself to the rink. Greet your team, put on that hockey equipment, place that hockey stick in your hand, and play the game like you have never, ever, EVER have played it before.

15. Because if you don't you will at some point have to talk to your mother again, refer to #11.

16. Your dad? Refer to #11, he wil have the speech memorized and be able to repeat it in several languages and backwards.

17. Don't forget to bring home the Cup and have fun!

P.S. Don't call any of your aunts - it will be worse than #11, recovery time is way too long!

As posted on YouTube Stompin' Tom Connors has a little tune for you to hum to as you get on with your day.