Attitude

This comes from my friend Andy. She is a better blogger than I am and I have no problem stealing her material. :)

Attitude

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

-Charles R. Swindoll

30 Hour Famine

Paris has signed up to participate in the 30 Hour Famine, to raise money for healthy food, safe water, and protection of children in the countries of Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

As a parent of a 14-year-old who can barely last an hour without eating and whose favourite contribution to the household is to make lasagna for dinner, I can't wait to see what will happen. At this point, I think the gesture of even thinking about not eating for more than a day says a lot.

If you are interested in supporting his efforts, feel free to donate online here.

Freedom and Success

My friend William recently blogged about an interesting work concept, that I mostly subscribe to. Goes something like this:

Old version: work hard (for a very long time), achieve success, earn freedom (to retire and do all the things you missed out on while you were working)

New version: find work that affords you freedom = success

I believe that if you enjoy your work, you can have freedom and success as you go. (I recognize that there will always be a percentage of the day that is just pure work, which we just accept. So 100% freedom is not attainable in the old sense, but with a positive mindshift, it is very attainable.). There are always ways to adjust your work life to make it more enjoyable and I will only work for companies that provide flexibility in how and where I get my work done so I can fit it around my family needs and my mental requirements.

William says: "I totally buy into the idea that in the workplace, results is what matters. Working hours are a leftover from the industrial age, physical presence is almost redundant because of technology and meetings a complete waste of time in most cases."

Click here to read more.

Solo Soccer

I saw a guy in the downtown east side passing the soccer ball to himself.

He was on the corner of Hastings and Cambie, in a concrete park, with nobody to play with except himself and the war memorial.

He kicked the ball to one side, ran around the memorial, then kicked it back to where he was before. Then he ran back there again.

Something beautiful about that.

Kinda make me want to go play with him.

Great chats

Today, I indulged in individual chats with 5 bright, interesting, intelligent, creative people.

I am so fortunate to have great friends. Tonight, as I sit back and relive my day, I realize that over the last 6 months I haven't indulged enough in old friends... and new.

5 big breathes of fresh air.

Thank you for your engaging conversations.

Body, Sex and Blah Blah Blah

The little guy had his first "official" sex ed class this week. (And no, I am not referring to Paris.)

-What did you do today? I ask.

-We had an assembly, he replies.

-Oh, what for?

-Body, sex and blah blah blah.

-What?

-Body, sex and blah blah blah.

-What did they talk about?

-You know, private parts and stuff.

-Oh. (My hubby and I exchange silly raised-eyebrow looks, obviously impressed.) Did you talk about how to make babies?

-Yep.

-Did you talk about safe sex?

-Yep.

-Did you talk about condoms?

-Yep.

-Did you talk about "insert proper name of private parts here."

-Yep.

-Hmmmmm. That's cool..... What did you think of it?

-Boring and disgusting and blah blah blah.

-Did you learn anything new?

-Nope.

Well, there you have it folks. A tiny glimpse into the day in the life of a grade one boy who had to sit through a boring, disgusting assembly about body, sex and blah blah blah.

Just a little bit brighter

Ohhhh... February. In the month of love, every day we get about 3 minutes and 21 seconds extra of sunlight. Forget Valentines Day, I love February because those extra 3 minutes and 21 seconds over January and until today have added up to a chunk of time I can see with my eyes and sense with my soul.

Winter may not be over for another month or so, but for me it is over when I can leave from work without the aid of my headlamp and dive light.

Dear Sun,

One, two, three, four,
When I get home I see my door.
Five, six, nine and ten,
Nice to see you back again.

Will you be my Valentine?

Much Love,
She's only happy in the sun
a.k.a Susan