Tag Archives: run your own race

Where Are We Now?

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I’m having a good day today. I’m feeling very lucky as I’m sitting in a bar on the 6th floor at the Royal Festival Hall overlooking the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames. It’s all lit up and looks absolutely beautiful. Even on a cold January night.

David Bowie
Image courtesy of Google Images

While I’m writing this, I’m also listening to the first David Bowie single in 10 years called ‘Where Are We Now?’ The music media and fans are all trying to interpret the lyrics and the song in a million different ways and some are inevitably quite cynical, especially as David Bowie is now 66 years old and as some see it, way past his most creative years.

Watch David Bowie ‘Where Are We Now?’ (Courtesy of Vevo)

However, for my part, having now listened to the song a few times, it’s one of the loveliest and most honest songs I’ve heard in a long time. And certainly with a new year only just begun, asking ‘Where Are We Now?’ is a good thing to be doing. However, at this precise moment in time, from where I’m sitting, the song is reminding me about ‘now’ and its power. The past is gone. The future is yet to happen. The only ‘real’ time element in our lives is surely now. So, I’m enjoying the moment. Wherever you are, whoever you’re with and whatever you’re doing, I hope you are too…

 

Do It And Enjoy It

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What do you like doing? Really like doing? Reading that book you’ve been wanting to read for months? Skiing? Whitewater rafting? Lying on a beach? Going to the gym? Working? Gardening? Spending time with your family?

Life can be short. So whatever it is, take a moment to make time for it. To make time for you. It may not be for a while, but then, when the moment comes, do it and really enjoy it.

And when you’re done, tell me how it went…

Nothing Compares To Doing What You Are Passionate About

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When was the last time you did something in which you really believed? When you took a chance and stood out from the crowd and said ‘This is me’? Maybe people were supportive or maybe not, but it didn’t matter as what was most important was for you to do ‘your thing on your terms’.

I recently saw Sinead O’Connor perform on TV and her passion for what she was singing was almost frightening because it was so evident that she so believed in what she was doing. It was impossible to do anything but watch her. Maybe you like her voice and music or maybe not, but her passion was extraordinary and inspiring. Here’s a clip so you can see for yourself.

How often do you feel this passionate?  And if not recently, when did you last feel this passionate? And what’s stopping you feeling this passionate again?

Can You Say ‘I’m Better Than Yesterday’ Today?

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I overheard somebody in a cafe ask her friend how she was and her friend replied ‘Better than yesterday’. They both smiled and continued with their coffee and conversation. Nothing unusual perhaps.

Then it struck me that not only was this a lovely thing to be able to say at that time, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to respond to that question the same way every day? How much ‘better’ and happier would people and the world be?

So, with this in mind, what could you do today that will enable you to say ‘I’m better than yesterday’ tomorrow?

The Christmas Tale of the Supermarket Singers

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On a shopping trip to a local supermarket yesterday, I was greeted by two young people belting out Christmas carols accapella raising money for a local charity. They immediately made me smile, not just because they were clearly slightly mad for standing outside in the freezing cold singing in public, but because they were giving it their absolute all and enjoying it. No doubt looking very uncool to their friends singing these songs and wearing rather uncool festive outfits. However, they just got on with doing something good for other people. And people were giving generously on their way in and out of the supermarket.

Young people generally get a hard time from people in society for all kinds of reasons, perhaps some of it is justified. However, this was a lovely reminder of the hope we still have in young people today to create a better tomorrow.

How To Say What You Want To Say In Different Languages

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In a world of misunderstanding and miscommunication, what’s more frequent?

- you say what you want to say how you want to say it?
- people understand what they think you are saying?
- people understand what you want to say?

In the same way that rose-tinted spectacles give some people a sunnier, though some might say naive disposition, everybody sees things through some kind of ‘tint’ influenced by events over one’s life. These ‘filters’ can have their pros and cons, so how we say things is just as important (and arguably, more important) as what we say. So sometimes we need to speak in the ‘language’ of the person with whom we are communicating and not in the way we would normally.

Do you speak to everybody in the same way? How do you speak to a child, your CEO, a builder or your grandmother? In cases like these for example, you may well use different cultural reference points to make your point more clearly. Saying what you want to say but in the ‘language’ of your audience.

So if we go back to the earlier points and now consider, what’s more important?

- you say what you want to say how you want to say it?
- people understand what they think you are saying?
- people understand what you want to say?

Ridicule is nothing to be scared of

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I recently fulfilled a childhood ambition to see Adam Ant in concert. I remember buying my first ever single ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’ by Adam and the Ants and it was a huge (admittedly nostalgic) rush to see him after all this time. However it also made me think about why he was still playing music after all this time. Like everybody, he has had personal and professional ups and downs over the years and some have been quite extreme, however he keeps coming back to music. 

Seeing him on stage, it was still clearly his absolute passion. Some may perhaps cynically say he’s in it for the money, however, those at the gig were undoubtedly still big fans and like Adam, were chasing their passion for the songs (and perhaps the memories) they loved. Either way, in their own way Adam Ant (and his fans) are still doing just that, as passionately as ever. And I’m looking forward to the new album. Really!

Keep On Keepin’ On

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So what do Abraham Lincoln and Curtis Mayfield have in common? Other than being American icons for supporting human rights in very different arenas, they also both passionately believed in continuing whatever you do until you’ve
done it. Abraham Lincoln said “I do the very best I know how, the very best I can and I mean to keep on doing so until the end” and it could be argued that his passion changed the course of American history, while the galvanizing words and music of Curtis Mayfield inspired a different generation of people to ‘keep on keepin’ on’. 

I recently read an inspiring blog by Jim Connolly called ‘Keep On’ and it made me think about how in their own ways Abraham and Curtis’s passion inspired and empowered people to change the world.

So whatever it is you have done, if it’s worked, wonderful. If it hasn’t, learn from it. If people tell you that you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing, consider it. If you think they’re right, change. If not, keep doing what you’re doing. As Curtis and in his own way Abraham Lincoln said, keep on keepin’ on.

Running Your Own Race (Marathon Pt2 – Seychelles)

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Just had the loveliest and most tranquil holiday I have ever had in the Seychelles. Absolutely beautiful and my first on a tropical island. Even went to the beach where they filmed the Bounty advert! Two weeks of blazing sunshine, white sandy beaches, beautiful clear blue ocean framed by palm trees and local exotic birds.

And now I am back in London having only arrived a couple of days ago, thinking I need to ‘get back to the grindstone’ of daily life, work and sardine-can commuting. At this moment, it all feels a bit overwhelming and that it’s all getting me down. So what to do about it? How can I turn this into something good? An opportunity?

I remember being so excited in the weeks building up to this holiday. So maybe I could arrange something else to look forward to? I love visiting new places and recently went to Whitstable to mooch around and had fish and chips on the beach at sunset. Not as grand or exotic as a tropical island perhaps but I had the loveliest time nevertheless.

What are you looking forward to doing? It doesn’t have to be fundamentally reinventing your life with a grand gesture. It just needs to be something. An evening class? A weekend away? Seeing friends or family? Sitting in the garden reading that book that’s been lying on the bedside table for weeks? Your something could also of course be taking a trip around the world or moving to another country if that is what you really want to do.

It may have been a few weeks ago now, but the thousands of runners in the London Marathon could only do what they did because they had something to look forward to. The finish line. Some of them may have spent time visualising themselves crossing the line, while others may have constantly pushed themselves to finish by repeating something motivating like ‘I can do this!’ Whatever they did when they ran their race their own way, they looked forward to achieving their own goal. And to knowing that they had set their mind to something and achieved it. However painfully it may have been at times.

We can do that in our daily lives too, can’t we? Whatever we like doing or want to do, we can make it happen. What’s stopping us? However supposedly big or small. Now where did I put those travel magazines?

Give yourself unto the moment

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James Dean once said ‘Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.’ Perhaps that is a tad melodramatic and romantic in its extremity, however the essential point is very real.

Think for a moment if one day you woke up and overnight, a miracle had taken place that would have given you all the time you wanted, what would you choose to do with it? How much time would you really need? Two hours? Three weeks? Six months? Ten years? And if you had that time, what would you do with it? Climb Mount Everest, travel the world or simply spend more time reading books?

Do you really need that time or is there something you could be doing now, this very moment, to move you forward to where you want to be in your life? Is it a fact that you need more time or is it your perception? It is perhaps a sad, yet understandable truth that people sometimes wait for a moment of tragedy before they are spurred into action to do something they have always dreamed of doing. What makes us wait until a moment of tragedy happens to feel like we need to truly live our lives? What is holding us back from living now? If it’s important enough to do when a life-changing situation comes to pass such as somebody being taken seriously ill, divorce or losing a business, is it not as important now?

If someone were to ask you when the best time of your life was, when would you say? Last month, last year or five years ago perhaps? Would you consider saying now? Would you be able to say now? And if you couldn’t say now, what could you do to make now the best time of your life?

I recently went to a fantastic open-mike night where people came along to sing their favourite songs accompanied by a pianist. Mostly show tunes, of which I must admit I am not generally a fan, however this evening, they took on a completely different angle for me as people were coming up to sing, many for the first time, in front of a live audience.

Perhaps this is something they had always wanted to do. Perhaps it is something, which has always terrified them. Perhaps by day, they are teachers, accountants or carpenters, but by night and especially this evening, it struck me that they were not only singing, but also revealing a little more of their very souls with every note. The receptive audience no doubt helped, yet fundamentally, they were facing their fears and their own self-doubt to bite the bullet and say ‘I’m going to do this!’.So all in all, an incredibly enlightening and inspiring evening all round!

Eleanor Roosevelt said: ‘The future is literally in our hands to mould as we like. But we cannot wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow is now.’ Though I must admit, I prefer the profound, ancient truth of one of my favourite bands Moloko, who said – ‘Give yourself unto the moment. The time is now.’ So, go out and give yourself unto the moment. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Live the life of your dreams. The time really is now!