I've been tagged!

Paul http://glossaryking.blogspot.com/2012/02/ive-been-tagged_08.html tagged me. Well, since I am still new here, I think this is a great opportunity to get to know some of you.

Firstly, here are the rules - and then we'll get on with it:

The Rules:

1. Post these rules
2. Post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in the taggers post
4. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers you tag to answer
5. Tell the bloggers you've tagged that they are it
6. . . .and, No stuff in the tagging section about "You're tagged if you're reading this!"

Right, 11 Random things about me:

• I am born in the star sign Leo
• Passionate about people development from stopping smoking, to stopping dieting to breaking out of comfort zones
• Hate to see animals being hurt in any way
• Love walking the dog every day - he's a Staffie, so walks are very brisk
• My favourite TV show is Law and Order: Criminal Intent
• I grill a mean peri-peri chicken
• MacDonald's is for me a brilliant example of a system that works
• I love living in the UK because I get to visit beautiful ancient castles
• I spend every Monday night in a study group
• I visited Loch Ness a year ago and Nessie failed to turn up!
• I spend far too much time on YouTube

Now, to answer Paul's questions:

What is your favourite past time?
Reading my Kindle - what an amazing piece of kit!

Place of retreat?
Well, if on holiday, then Inverness, Scotland - if at home, somewhere in the Welsh Hills

Favourite Food?
My mother's deefried and creamed prawns

When are you at your happiest?
When I am in service to people. Whenever I work with someone and we reach successful outcomes, I am thrilled to beyond and back

What is your greatest desire?
I have one major backlog of books that I have got to read and assimilate; my greatest desire is to focus on the task in hand and get them read and mastered.

What is your proudest achievement?
I took on a hige project one time. Someone once suggested that you ought to bite off more than you can chew, and then, chew like hell. I took it literally and delivered, ahead of time and below budget. I still love that achievement - 9 years later.

Did you have a favourite teacher?
Oddly enough, Paul mentioned his Latin teacher. What is it with Latin teachers? I loved my Latin teacher too. His name was Sydney Klevansky - what a guy. he filled our minds with such wisdom and always said - to be successful is simple - you have got to learn to be the person your mother thinks you are! - how profound!!

What have your learnt about yourself recently?
Without getting into too much detail, I have discovered when the chips are down - I can really depend on myself to find a solution.

Who is your favourite performer / artist?
Al Pacino - every time: what an incredible actor - I love hsi versatility and intensity.

What are your goals for 2012?
My major goal is to systematise my business and emulate the MacDonalds business model - deliver knowledge transfer that sticks, is accessible and useable so people can change and shape their lives to their order - consistently.

I now tag these people:
Marcia 
Buttons 
Maas Journal 

Here are your questions:

1. Do you believe in the stars? Yes, why? No, why?
2. If you could be anywhere else right now, where would that be and why?
3. Have you got a favourite wild animal? If yes, what is it?
4. Do you like what you do for a living?
5. Imagine for a moment you have absolutely no limitations - what would you like to be doing with your life?
6. How do you like to spend your free time?
7. Are you a summer or a winter person?
8. Who, apart from you, has shaped your life the most, and why?
9. Tent or Hotel for taking breaks?
10. Aspirations?
11. if you could learn any language in the world, apart from your mother tongue, what would it be and why?

 

 

  

I just got the shock of my life.

Here's how it happened:

I had an inbox message from someone telling me that my website was non-compliant and that I should address this. Now that, by and of itself was not, nor would ever be a problem. I certainly believe in social inclusion - and that people who are not of able body ought not to be excluded from any social or business activity.

But, what had happened was - I received a Facebook notification, from a 'facebook friend' telling me to go and have a look at the new website. Now, I have to tell you something about myself - that is, I didn't do it!!

I have some trouble accepting unsolicited messages - especially when they are complete spam and and now somehow permissable because it is facebook.

So, I receive this invitation, along with who knows how many other people - when I get this sarcacstic inbox message advising me that 'it was nice to see how compliant my shiney new website is'. Now, in days gone by, I'd have had reacted immediately - but I wondered what was in the mind - so I answered with a question to acsertain what the full meaning of the message was. To which I received another terse, triumphalistic response advising that I fell foul of compliance rules. The note went on to say that it was for my own good - Imagine that!! (Now take your floggin' son, it is for your own good!)

Well I replied that it would have been great advice if the site were mine - and since I had nothing at all to do with it, perhaps he (the man who contacted me) would probably be better served if he checked his factual content before making such allegations.

To cut a very long story, very short - it ended with me receiving an apology - but it came after some very sharp pieces of my mind were dispensed. I thought we were inboxing one another, and that my messages to this individual were private - imagine my shock, surprise, guilt and shame, when I was notified that a friend of mine in South Africa actually 'liked' the rebuke. I wasn't trying to score any points, but to correct a situation. This is certainly not how I like to roll!

The moral of the story folks is this - even in private - be gentle with people because you're always on display; someone is always watching.

I'll be more careful next time!!

Isn't life a smorgasbord of wonderful opportunities?

Every day, life presents her menu of choices to us, and says "Here's what's on the menu today. I know you may not like everything here, no more that you liked your greens when you were a child.  You didn't want to eat your vegetables then, but now in the fullnes of time, I know that you're glad you did!

You've also seen how your children chose not to like their greens but how now, that they've grown up, they're essential meal-time inclusions for them!"

Yesterday, here's what life said to me -
"So today here's what I offer to you! The man for whom you're delivering your training today, has been let down by his supplier for tomorrow! I know that by the end of this evening you'll have been at it for twelve hours!"  "You'll get home past midnight, and you'll need to be back here by 07h30 - the temperature outside will be -8 tonight and even colder in the morning; the roads will be treacherous and what is ordinarily a one-and-a-half-hour drive will take a little longer"
"Are you up for that?"

And I said to life - "You know what - why not?"

To which she replied - "Great, here's the tricky bit - the subject matter is someting about which you have absolutely no knowledge!"

And I said "You have got to be kidding me!!"

"No, I am not!" "But I know that you have one key ingredient that will help you!"

"And that is. . .?" I half replied, half enquired, cynically!

"The ability to ask great questions!" - . . . And therein was my answer.

I accepted the challenge and I had the most wonderful experience. I simply told my delegates today
"The subject I am about to present, I have no knowldege of - so, here's what we'll do, I present it to you by asking questions about what things mean!"

They loved it - and so did I - and the ratings they gave me defied reason.

Saying "YES" to life means trusting her enough recognise that she will give us what we need - and trusting ourselves enough to take stock of ourselves . . . and to enjoy the experience!

I called my friend and colleague Marianne today.

"Marianne!" I exclaimed - "I do beg your pardon: Remind me - did I say I'd call you today, or did you say you'd call me?"

"I said I'd call you" she replied - "and I apologise that I haven't done so yet!" - I was about to say "Hey, no worries, you've probably been busy!" when she interjected and said "a good friend of mine passed away today!"; "She was only 49"; "Cancer" she went on in her broken, considered way.

"OOOOh mannnnn!" I thought, "She was a baby!".
It's amazing how fast we can think - how much data our brains can process in the most compressed frames of time.

"Her name was Elissa!"; "Elissa-Jane!" 

I screamed inside my own head - "Oh my gosh!", and instantly I felt wracked with guilt.
I knew her; and the last time I thought about her, my thoughts were angry!!

Suddenly, the full meaning of 'it's a short life!' came home to me. Actually, it wasn't a gentle arrival - more like a hammer blow!

Here's what had happened. Elissa had stood me up - she made an arrangement to turn up to a meeting and she simply didn't do it. No apology, no explanation! I was, needless to say, annoyed! The worst was, that she'd done that more than once.

But, the last time I saw her was at an event last year (2011) in Cardiff, and she told me that she had cancer - I obvioulsy felt for her - Lord knows that I have people close to me who have been touched by this scourge.

"Coffee?" she asked at the event,
"But of course!" I replied, and with that, the date was set. This was June, last year.

Blow me over with a feather - I sat there at the Village Hotel when I received her text message to say
'sorry, can't make it; feeling a little low!" - and with that, the steam coming out of my ears was visible for all to see.

"That's just it now!" I raged inside myself, "I will never again even agree to even see this person, let alone meet up with her!"

What a difference 7 months makes. . . . Now, here I sit and contemplate - what the hell was all that about? How short life is; she probably did feel crap on the day that she sent me her text, and I was probably too busy being angry to hear what she was really saying.

"So, I'll call you back tomorrow George" Marianne said - I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't hear a word she'd said; I was too busy being absent . . .again.

I'm sorry Elissa, wherever you are . . . .