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This week the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton takes place.
It’s a massive media event and promises to be one of the most glamourous occasions of the year.
Tens of thousands of dollars will be spent on the lavish celebration and every component of the day will be carefully planned.
These days, even for us commoners, there seems to be a lot of pressure to have a grand wedding, with a whole industry based on assisting people part with their money so that they can have the big fairytale wedding that they’ve always dreamed about.
My question today is, what’s more important, a fairytale wedding or a fairytale marriage?
Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
McDonald’s have an interesting strategy when it comes to the ergonomic design of the tables and chairs in their restaurants.
They are strategically designed so that they are comfortable at first, but not if you sit in them for too long.
They want people to feel at home for a while, but not for too long so that they move on and create space for new customers.
I believe that the role of the coach is to be the McDonald’s furniture for the people around us.
It should be OK for people to feel comfortable for a short while, but then to get moving.
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If you want to burst a dam, you firstly need to drill in on one point of the structure.
You keep at it until you break through and water starts to leak.
Then you start on another point until that too starts to leak.
And you continue until the dam is weakened by a large number of holes and the strength of the water breaks up the concrete and eventually bursts through.
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It’s Anzac Day.
It’s a day when Australians remember the significant contribution that our servicemen and women have made to our way of life.
Thousands of young people have sacrificed their lives on battlefields around the globe to maintain our democracy here in Australia and to keep the peace in volatile parts of the world.
We are blessed to have tremendous freedom here in Australia. We can do pretty much whatever we want, whenever we want, with whomever we want.
But as I consider the freedom that we have, I can’t help but think that we have a responsibility as well.
Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
When you praise your child more than criticise… love wins.
When you act in love towards your enemy… love wins.
When you sponsor a child in a developing country… love wins.
When you encourage someone who has been your harshest critic… love wins.
When you respond with gentleness and acceptance towards someone with different opinions, who lives a different lifestyle and walks in different circles to you… love wins.
Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
Seth Godin introduced me to a new word last week.
The word fungible describes something that’s easily exchangeable or replaceable.
Unfortunately, it’s a word that can be used to describe many people in today’s workplace.
People who are fungible look like everyone else, they’re robotic, they’re beige and they’re in danger of being replaced.
Logan, Hayden and Madison. Photo taken by my cousin Nada from Loresh Photography
As many of you would already be aware, I have three great kids. Hayden almost seven and Madison and Logan are now four.
They are growing up very quickly, but the temptation sometimes as a parent is to wish that they were older and more independent or pine for the days when they were cute little babies.
It’s hard work being a parent and the sleep deprivation, lack of peace and quiet, tantrums and petty arguments that we are experiencing at the moment can cause me to not appreciate my kids as much as I should.
As such, this list is as much more about me developing a proper perspective of gratitude than anything else. If you’re in a similar situation, I hope that you find this list helpful.
So here are the 10 reasons why I appreciate my beautiful kids just as they are: Read the rest of this entry »
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Goldfish range in size from just a few centimetres to over a foot and a half in length.
The most influential factor in how big they grow isn’t diet or age, but the size of their environment.
If they are brought up in a small fish tank, they remain small. If they spend their lives in a large aquarium or perhaps a garden pond, they have the capacity to grow much bigger.
Are we that different?
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Famous conductor Benjamin Zander has a unique way of defining success.
Instead of defining it by money, fame, a big car or house, a grand title or other more worldly categories, he looks around to see if he is surrounded by people with what he calls “shining eyes.”
That is, are the people around him engaged, alive, full of fun and enthused about what they’re doing? And has he contributed to that?
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