2010: Begin Again - The Gathering Part 2

The Gathering II

Introduction: The following is the second of a three-part blog that looks at the dangers fundamentalism poses to the Earth. On Sept. 12, 2010, I was speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Lethbridge. It was the day of our special 'Gathering of the Waters' ceremony. My talk and this blog plays off of the idea of human beings coming together is a similar fashion. I've divided it into three parts for an easier read and enhanced it with visuals not included in the talk. The final part will follow in the next few days. For your review: Part 1.

Warning: If you support fundamentalist religious or political beliefs, you may find parts of this series offensive. Sorry, but it's time we all opened our eyes and minds to what is happening around the Earth. These are merely my thoughts after living a life that has included membership in fundamentalist churches as well as becoming a secular humanist. If this isn't your cup of tea . . . don't drink it!

September is also the month that sees children back in school full-time. I don’t know about you, but the school playground could be the scene for a lot of animosity when I was a kid. I suspect it was the same everywhere and that likely little has changed since I was young.

Differences of opinion as to who was better would occasionally break down into the “my dad” debate. Maybe you remember it?

“My dad’s got a better car than your dad.”

“My dad’s job is better than your dad’s.”

“My dad’s richer than your dad.”

“My dad’s bigger than our dad.”

And the clincher . . .

“My dad can beat up your dad.”

Such silly, childish arguments should be relegated to our past. They should be. But they’re not. Substitute the word “god” for “dad” and see if the adult world makes any more sense.

“My God is better than your God.”

“My God is always right. Your God is wrong.”

“My God can beat up your God.” . . . and I’m going to prove it!

1 Corinthians 13:11; “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Ladies and gentlemen, recess is over. It’s time to come in off the playground, put away childish things and do some growing.

I’m not saying people need to give up their spiritual beliefs.

But I think that for the future of this planet and for the generations that follow us, there needs to be a maturing of thought that allows for a fresh perspective and an open mind when it comes to religion and politics.

I believe a closed mind can easily fall back into an egocentric state; one in which people see their beliefs as correct and anyone with a different idea as being wrong. They see themselves in competition with others and since the ego is so vulnerable and sensitive they are compelled towards defensiveness and self-justification.

Their egocentrism manifests as an inability to see other people’s viewpoints. Lao Tzu, a philosopher in ancient China, summed it up nicely. “Without ropes they bind themselves.”

If the beliefs that serve as ropes only bound those so afflicted, perhaps it would be a tragedy only on a small, personal level. But it often seems that those so ensnared want to lasso the rest of society into sharing their same vision . . . or lack of vision as the case were.

We see that demonstrated today in the actions of religious fundamentalists of all stripes. Some seem intent on blowing up themselves and the rest of the world to bring all under the yoke of their concept of a Supreme Being. Others push to have their faith-based views serve as the basis for acceptable societal norms and to ascertain that the God of their holy scriptures is the only God.

To see this here in Lethbridge, just check out the letters to the editor in the Herald.

“My God is right; your God is wrong.”

The dangers inherent in such extremism are testimony to the wisdom of keeping church and state separate.

When a nation becomes a theocracy, the rights of minorities are often obliterated. You can see that today in some nations that are essentially Islamic theocracies. There are also those who’d like to push their nation along the path to a more fundamentalist Christian approach, especially in the U.S. Listen to them and you hear rhetoric that differs little from what’s coming out of Iran.

“My God can beat up your God . . . and I’m going to prove it.”

But the danger of extremism is already a part of the world of politics, isn’t it?

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to wonder about politics as a way to foster positive change. Democracy is a beautiful concept, but the process seems to be grinding to a halt at provincial or state levels and higher.

Is the party system slipping away from the notion of governing with the best intent of the people in mind? Often it seems what’s best for the party governs decisions.

I hate being cynical, but sometimes I just can’t help it. Once a party is elected to form a government, the mandate no longer seems to focus as much on good governing as it does on keeping the party in power at all costs.

When such extremism comes in through the front door, rational debate is often pitched out the nearest window. Instead of intelligent argument and an exchange of ideas, you see political adversaries vilifying each other.

And you see religion dragged into politics and used as a weapon to bludgeon others for the sake of securing or retaining power, not for the good of a nation.

Next: Politics and religion. Religion and politics. When fundamentalists blend the two, the results can't be good. It's the final part of The Gathering.

2010: Begin Again - The Gathering Part 1

The Gathering

Introduction: The following is part 1 of a three-part blog that looks at the dangers fundamentalism poses to the Earth. On Sept. 12, 2010, I was speaking at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Lethbridge. It was the day of our special 'Gathering of the Waters' ceremony. My talk and this blog plays off of the idea of human beings coming together is a similar fashion. I've divided it into three parts for an easier read and enhanced it with visuals not included in the talk. The next two parts will follow during the coming week.

Warning: If you support fundamentalist religious or political beliefs, you may find parts of this series offensive. Sorry, but it's time we all opened our eyes and minds to what is happening around the Earth. These are merely my thoughts after living a life that has included membership in fundamentalist churches as well as becoming a secular humanist. If this isn't your cup of tea . . . don't drink it!

The Gathering

Imagine if this is it. Imagine if this is the only oasis of life in the cold, black expanse of space.

Yes, yes I know there are plenty of stars in the night sky. Science tells us there are billions of stars in our own galaxy and billions of galaxies in our universe. And perhaps one day we’ll discover our universe is only one of billions in a multiverse.

Now that can make you feel a little insignificant, can’t it?

Carl Sagan, noted astronomer and perhaps best known as host of the old PBS series Cosmos, said “We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”

But what if this is it for life?

Currently, we have no proof of life existing anywhere else. Not sentient life. Not advanced life. Not even microorganisms. Many would say that, given the reality of the number of stars in the universe, we can’t be the only planet orbiting one in such a way as to have life develop and evolve on it.

But what if we are? What if we are unique in the universe?

You can forget that feeling of insignificance I mentioned a moment ago, because suddenly each one of us, indeed, every living thing on this plant becomes more precious than the rarest gem imaginable.

Earth, our home, becomes the treasure trove of all life. And our responsibility to look after this jewel escalates beyond all levels of comprehension. We become the caretakers of the one island of life in a celestial ocean that stretches beyond our ability to perceive or even conceive.

Wow! Wouldn’t that be a magnificently noble cause to which all of humanity could aspire? For eons our species has asked why are we here, searched for our purpose and this could be it. But we’re not anywhere near there yet, are we? In fact, I would say we’re a long way from being the caretakers this planet needs.

To save the Earth, we first need to save ourselves. To save ourselves, we first need to become more united. To become more united we need to grow beyond the tribalism we have embraced for thousands of years. And to do that we need to be willing to change.

Today I’m asking you to be open to the idea of change. Some people find that a real challenge.

I do not know every individual here well enough to know your personal beliefs, faith or spiritual preferences. And my intention is not to attack any particular group or tradition. I don’t want to offend, but I hope you won’t mind that I’m going to be a little bit rude from this point on.

You see, it’s often said that in polite company there are two things we do not discuss. And those would be . . . politics and religion.

Ladies and gentlemen, take a look around. Take a good, hard, honest look at the world. The time has come to stop being so polite! Our tribal societies keep us divided and much of our tribalism is dictated by politics and religion.

The Earth is our only home and if we cannot unite in it’s preservation, we will fall victim to our own tribal ideologies. At the time of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln noted: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” This is our house and if we cannot stand united, we will fall divided.

Nine years ago this month, we witnessed an extreme example of the effect of living in insular tribes. Do you remember where you were on on Sept. 11, 2001?

On that day, members of one tribe, guided by the ravings of someone with influence in their lives, turned four passenger jets into weapons of mass destruction, smashing into the twin towers of the world trade centre, the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania.

Certainly, this is an exceptional case. It’s easy to point fingers at the perpetrators of these acts of terrorism, to despise them and to hold everyone who follows their faith to blame. But doing that means we need to turn a mirror on our own tribes and reflect on our history. Horrific atrocities have been committed to spread beliefs that many in our society hold dear.

No group can claim its hands are clean. We could wonder around like latter-day Lady Macbeth’s, wringing our hands and crying “Out, damned spot, out I say” in anguish over the blood shed for many pointless reasons.

Or we could take a different, more productive path. One of change.

Next: Part 2 of The Gathering looks at the need for humanity to grow up and leave our childish ways behind if we are to every become the caretakers of this planet Earth.

2010: Begin Again - Self Trust and Personal Success

Go for the Gold

Thar’s gold in them thar hills! At least there was back in 1854 in a territory that soon after became the state of Colorado. Stories abound of men who struck it rich and of the many more men who toiled away and earned very little . . . or nothing. Perhaps the best lesson to come out of the gold rush was shared by Napoleon Hill in the classic book Think and Grow Rich.

At the time, R. U. Darby, who lived in Maryland, was contacted by an uncle who’d struck gold in Colorado. The uncle needed financial support to buy equipment necessary to process the vein. With the support of friends and a few neighbours, the money was raised, the equipment purchased and Darby accompanied his uncle out west to work the claim.

The quality of the ore proved top-rate and the men went to town drilling away to dig up the gold. Just when things were looking great, the vein of gold disappeared. The men drilled on to no avail. Finally, giving up the hunt, they took their loses, sold the equipment to a junk man and returned home to the east.

The junkman hired a mining engineer to look at the site. The engineer determined the original owners didn’t know enough about fault lines to realize they needed to shift their operation. Three feet over, the junkman found the main vein and went on to extract millions of dollars worth of gold. And this was in the 1850s when a million really meant something

Three Feet From Gold

Greg Reid and Sharon Lechter recall this story in their book Three Feet from Gold. Consider the book a follow up to Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, supported by The Napoleon Hill Foundation

The lesson commonly taught from this story is that we should never give up on a goal. Persistence can be the key to eventual success.

Yeah, that’s good. And I agree with it. But I think there is more here than learning of the need to stick to it. In fact, the lessons in Three Feet from Gold tie right back to my previous blogs on the Speed of Trust and Developing Self Trust. And that’s what has me excited right now.

When I see a convergence of ideas that build on and support each other, I think I’ve learned a real lesson. That’s what I’m taking away from my experience with The Speed of Trust presentation by Stephen M.R. Covey at Lethbridge College; exercises and teachings in The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery; and the wonderful stories in Three Feet from Gold.

The Reid and Lechter book shares the stories of real men and women who faced huge obstacles with grit and determination and pushed through them to find incredible success on the other side. People from the worlds of business, philanthropy, sports and publishing. People like James Amos, former chair and CEO of Mail Boxes Etc.; Genevieve Bos, who started Pink Magazine for professional women; Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A Inc.; Debbi Fields, of Mrs. Fields Cookies fame; Mark Victor Hansen; Evander Holyfield; and more.

Some names you’d recognize, some you would not. But in most cases you’d be familiar with the outcomes of their tales. Yes, they showed determination, but they also showed a huge degree of self trust.

Each goal they achieved along the way placed another stone of proof in their walls of self trust. They developed a deep-seated belief in who they were, what they were doing and in the knowledge that they could trust themselves to do what was needed.

Catch the Wave

Remember, self trust is the first point in Covey’s Five Waves of Trust. With that firmly in place, the ripples could flow out through the other four waves, Relationship Trust, Organizational Trust, Market Trust and Societal Trust. And those are waves you can ride to whatever success you seek. But it all starts with Self Trust.

Do you really, deep down inside, trust yourself? That trust is the key to your own success. Think about it. If that first wave rolls out to the second, Relationship Trust, you begin to enhance the base from which you can build. With a growing Relationship Trust, you start to see people in your life who can help you move forward.

What if R. U. Darby’s trust had extended out beyond his uncle and family members? Perhaps a stronger Relationship Trust could have led to contact with someone wise enough to help him understand gold mining a bit better and that massive vein could have been found by Darby instead of the junk dealer.

In my life I’m finally, at 53, beginning to develop the self trust that will take me from here to there . . . wherever I decide there to be. Developing it requires taking some baby steps to achieve small goals that confirm within my own consciousness that I can trust myself to get it done.

It also requires, as pointed out in Adventures on the Quest, an awareness of what I’m feeding the brain and a willingness to critically examine what’s going into it. Is it my truth or what someone else wants me to believe?

GIGO

Our perception of the world can be skewed to the negative by what we read and see. We can allow ourselves to absorb the world’s sewage or we can filter out what doesn’t truly feed us. My wife rarely reads or watches the news. Why? Too depressing!

Think about what gets media attention. Do you see a lot of good news and uplifting stories? As I write this blog entry, I’ve quickly skipped over to Yahoo.ca to see the current headlines. Here they are in the exact order as of this moment:

• Toronto high school locked down after shots fired inside
• Gay student secretly taped having sex kills self in N.J.
• T.O. MD faces 26 new charges of molesting sleeping patients
• Father weeps as he admits shooting infant son with shotgun
• Shootout on Toronto streets leaves two people dead
• '100 per cent' sure life exists on new planet: Astronomer
• Virgin offering deep discounts on flights to Toronto
• Stand-up comedian Greg Giraldo dies of overdose at 44
• Several bright UFOs sighted in skies over Montreal
• Paris Hilton and new beau in car accident in Hollywood

That’s 10 headlines. Read the first five again. How does it make you feel? Life seems cheapened, doesn’t it? Death. Suicide. Abuse. Murder. But the sixth headline offers hope: there’s somewhere else that might have life. Maybe we could move there, if Virgin’s deep discounts on flights would include the long haul through space. Of course, the UFOs over Montreal may provide a better deal if they have a seat sale!

GIGO – garbage in, garbage out. If this is all we feed our brains, can you see how our perception of the world could start to become excessively negative? Self trust requires proper care to bloom and grow. This type of raw sewage carries little of nutritional value. Be sure to use a good filtration system when allowing the world to enter.

Consider what is influencing you’re thinking. Through self examination it’s possible to begin enhancing self trust, allowing an individual to see that aspirations may truly be attainable after all. Perhaps the trust waves can carry us further and we won’t stop three feet from gold.

Personal Success Equation

It’s time to wrap up this three-part series on the converging elements that have impacted me during the last two weeks. About a week ago I posted the following on Facebook; Lesson for today: ((P+T) x A x A) + F = ??????

It puzzled some people. It helps summarize my thoughts on the whole self trust and success concept. I promised a solution and here it is from Three Feet From Gold.

((P+T) x A x A) + F = Your Success Equation

((Passion + Talent) x Association x Action) + Faith = Your Success Equation.

Passion and talent are fed by self trust. Multiple this by Association, which comes from the second wave – Relationship Trust – and Action, which also originates with self trust and is influenced by the resulting trust waves. Finally, add Faith. If you trust yourself and you trust individuals and organizations with which you associate, you can have the faith to forge ahead

Believe it and achieve it, my friends!

Next in 2010: Begin Again – On Sept. 12, I spoke at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Lethbridge. My talk was called The Gathering. It’s a call for a more open-minded approach to life, one that moves away from fundamentalism of all stripes, in order to save this planet. Warning: If you are a fundamentalist who believes your way is the only way, you may not like the next posting!

2010: Begin Again - Developing Self Trust

Adventures on the Quest – Law of Mind Action

There is a huge trust deficit in society right now. Public trust in business, the media and politicians is currently at historically low levels. Lack of trust has a huge negative impact on society. These are some of the lessons shared by Stephen M.R. Covey in The Speed of Trust and at a presentation Sept. 23 at Lethbridge College.

It was also the focus of my last blog entry, the first of three looking at the elements converging in my life right now. Covey talks about the Five Waves of Trust with the first and most important being self trust.

Self trust plays an important role in the recent exercises I completed as part of The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery. Darren Hutchison, a friend of mine, and I are slowly working through the book. Recently we finished off Chapter 19 – Law of Mind Action. This really gets down to dealing with self trust and how, if we want to change our lives, we need to change our thoughts.

The study helps bring attention to areas we may not otherwise delve into. I’ve been bothered by how I’ve reacted to life and began this year with the intention to, in a way, start things over. Hence the blog – 2010: Being Again.

I’ve come to realize that a lack of self trust can be the biggest obstacle we need to overcome in personal efforts to find the happiness and success we want in life. Paying attention to how we make decisions and what we think can increase awareness of our self trust and help us focus on making needed changes.

Exploring self trust

Adventures on the Quest challenges readers to explore areas of self trust. Three exercises included:

1. Think of your earliest thought about a life-changing experience. Perhaps it was a decision to marry someone or to get a divorce. Maybe it was a decision to change a job or to have a child. Describe how that thought led to your eventual action. Be as detailed as you can.
2. Are you facing a decision now? Write down your thoughts about it.
3. Will these thoughts lead you where you want to go? Explain how they will or will not.

This is the kind of stuff few of us, and by that I mean me, ever undertake. Blissfully, we go through life perhaps not living up to our potential and wondering what’s holding us back. At least, that’s the case for me. What are we listening to? What is impacting our thoughts and, subsequently, our self trust as well as trust in others.

The chapter talks about the impact of the thoughts and messages that bombard us every day. Think about commercials on TV and the radio, and ads on billboards and in newspapers and magazine. All are attempts to influence how you think. And don’t you think that this can affect your self trust? I’d say yup! You betcha!

4. What commercials or advertisement do you disagree with? Name three and list the reasons you disagree with them. For example, maybe you don’t like being told that you must smoke a cigarette or drink a certain beverage to be sophisticated.
5. What popular thinking to you agree or disagree with and why? Perhaps you agree with popular thought about economic good times or bad times. You may agree or disagree with the implications of the news media that we live in a dangerous world.
6. Think about your life. What is your dominant thought about yourself? Write it out.
7. What major shift in your thinking is needed at this point in your life? Be specific in your details.
   

Our thoughts determine our self trust

How we think and what we think of ourselves gets right to the heart of the self trust Stephen Covey talks about. Without that self trust, the first pebble in the pond, the other ripples necessary to reach societal trust can’t happen.

Learn to trust yourself. If that’s an issue for you, how do you overcome it?

Picking up on Covey’s teachings, sometimes we develop a lack of self trust because we make promises we fail to keep. Think about New Years resolutions. How often do people make a decision at the beginning of the year only to see their determination quickly slip away, often before Valentine’s Day?

Hey, wait a moment. That’s me in the mirror! Those resolutions slip sliding away are mine. So, what’s the result?

Repeat it a few times and perhaps subconsciously we begin registering the fact that we can’t even trust ourselves to live up to our own self promises.

Without self trust, the ripples do not expand out to the other waves that need to wash over society and bring about needed change. So, what can we do? Take action to begin growing self trust. Simple steps are the best. Something to which you can commit.

Maybe you’re looking to lose some weight. (Yup, that’s still me in the mirror. Just more of me than I'd like there to be!) How about a promise to walk every day? Live up to that promise if you haven’t before. Prove to yourself that you can be trusted. It’s a small step. But it’s a beginning on which you can build.

So join me. Take that small step. Build your own self trust and let the ripples start to spread.

Next: Self trust. Without it people can come within reach of a dream or goal only to let it slip away. Three Feet from Gold explores the lives of people who had enough self trust to over come obstacles and challenges to attain their goals. Also: A few days ago I shared a special lesson on Facebook - ((P+T) x A x A) + F = ??? I'll share the solution in the next blog entry; the final in this series of three about self trust.

Photos: Adventures on the Quest asks readers to think about their lives and consider what is the framework around which they fill in the details. Think of it like a sculptor who creates a metal frame and fills in the details with clay. What is the key framework for you? The photos capture my framework. Lynda and I took our grandson, JC, down to Indian Battle Park in Lethbridge on Sunday. I’m with the woman I love on multiple levels, she is my best friend, we’re enjoying nature and sharing it with our grandson, thus helping him to appreciate it, too. Top: Lynda and I in a self-portrait at the park. Next: Lynda and JC at the base of Lethbridge's High Level Bridge. Next: JC and I take a look at a garter snake I spotted off to the side of the path. Bottom: Close up of the snake. JC liked him almost as much as I did!

2010: Begin Again - Speed of Trust

“If you want somebody you can trust, trust yourself.” – Bob Dylan, Trust Yourself

I think that any success in life has its roots in trust. Trust in others, trust in organizations, and trust in yourself. Trust in yourself is the most important as far as I’m concerned, so right on Mr. Dylan.

In the last couple of days, my life has seen a convergence of elements that all seem to speak to trust. The first, and most publicly obvious, was the Wednesday morning presentation by Stephen M. R. Covey to the employees and students of Lethbridge College.

Covey popped by the college for part of what had to be a very busy 48 hours for him; a presentation Tuesday night to college supporters, one at a Wednesday morning breakfast seminar for local business people, then a wrap up session at the college. Kudos to Mr. Covey for energy! And kudos for a great message, too.

He was sharing concepts from his book, The Speed of Trust – The One Thing that Changes Everything. If you don’t have the book, you might want to get a copy. Well, I guess only if you have contact in some fashion with other human beings. If you don’t, I wouldn’t worry about it.

There was a ton of information in Covey’s presentation and even more in the book. Essentially, he makes the case for trust being about much more than just a social virtue. It’s not just a warm, fuzzy feeling we can have for each other. Covey talks about three big ideas:

1. Trust is an economic driver, not merely a social virtue.
2. Trust is the #1 competency of leadership needed today.
3. Trust is a learnable skill.

Trust has an enormous impact on society. Right now, trust in business is at an all-time low. Gee, I wonder why? Just take a look at the last couple of years and what’s been happening in big business. (Sidenote: That’s one reason why you should be considering a small business of your own in this economy!)

Organizations, businesses and government are all lacking a trust factor. And the costs can be huge. Investing in building honest trust, not something manipulative as demonstrated by those who talk it, but don’t really walk it, is vital for economic recovery.

As a quick example, Covey talks about a Trust Tax and a Trust Dividend. The tax shows when trust is down in a company. Speed or production follows it down while resulting costs can spiral up. The dividend shows when the opposite happens. An increase in trust sees a rise in speed and a decrease in cost. Companies that fail to invest in their people and in building trust in them ultimately pay a cost. A lack of trust can be a prime motivator for your top people to bail on your company and go elsewhere.

Character and Competence

The two sides of trust are character and competence. If both aren’t present in some balance, there will be a lack to trust. Think of people you know or work situations you have experienced. Almost all of us can think of people who’ve had good character, but lacked competence. They can be likable, fun to be around, great people to know. But if they lack competence, trust in them will falter.

Something I’ve seen more of over the years is the opposite – people with competence, but no character. Oh, they know what they’re doing, but they don’t show any real empathy for others. People don’t matter to them. Perhaps they see people as pawns to be used to reach a goal. Sometimes they’ll say or do the right things, but even then it’s more manipulative than sincere. They actually think only of themselves and what they want. Try to have trust in that scenario.

The Five Waves of Trust

The last thing I’ll share from Covey’s presentation is the flow of trust. Covey talked about the Five Waves of Trust. The visual is a drop of water falling into pool and causing ripples to flow out. Each ripple represents another level in the flow of trust. The Five Waves are:

1. Self trust. (See, Bob Dylan and I are on the save wave-length!)
2. Relationship trust. Your trust in others grows. You begin to form ‘trust accounts.’
3. Organizational trust. This starts to examine how leadership can create trust in different organizations.
4. Market trust. Earlier ripples start to build and reputation becomes strong. It’s your organization’s brand . . . and your own personal brand. People are now trusting it.
5. Societal trust. By this point, we are giving our earned trust back to others and, in a way, coming full circle as our growing trust of others inspires greater self trust and begins the wave all over again.

I have not done Stephen Covey justice with this brief review. If you are in business, whether a traditional retail or self-employed in a home business, or if you are employed by someone else, building an open and honest trust in your relationships among those with whom you interact is a vital key to success. Get the book and see how you can improve your trust factor.

Photo: Stephen M. R. Covey

Next in 2010: Begin Again

I’ll take a look at the second of the converging elements affecting my thoughts right now – The Quest: A Journey of Spiritual Rediscovery, Chapter 19 – Law of Mind Action and how I believe what we think impacts the very first step in the Five Waves of Trust.

2010: Begin Again: A van-tasy

Dreaming

Are you familiar with the Pepsi ‘Forever Young’ promotion?

I don’t know if this ran in the U.S., but my fellow Canadians will likely recall it. Someone is drinking a Diet Pepsi and the voiceover asks “Is there anything else youthful you'd like to experience?”

Then the person drinking has a flashback to something great from when they were young, sees how it would apply to life today and decides to stick with the Diet Pepsi instead.

The one that gets me is the guy in the minivan who says, “Yeah, I’d like to have my old van back.”

The view cuts to him driving around in this tricked-out Boogie van from the ‘70s with the gaudy mural of the big-breasted warrior woman and her team of saber-toothed cat/bear things. Cue Loverboy’s ‘Working for the Weekend.’ The music pounds, the van rolls and everyone is looking at him. A businessman gives the driver an odd look at a red light. He stops to let the kids out at school and a mother covers her little girl’s eyes as the driver stands leaning up against the van with one hand near one of those massive breasts.

He’s quite embarrassed. He snaps to and says “On second thought, I’ll stick with my Diet Pepsi.”

Wrong answer, dude! See, I had a Boogie van back in the late ‘70s. Yes. Me. And recently I’ve been thinking how great it would be to have one again. That one in the Pepsi ad would be so cool!

There was a very cool van around in 1976 sponsored by Pepsi’s competitor, Coke! Check out the photo I’ve included with this posting. Took me a bit of time to find it. Coke and Levi, the jeans people, teamed up to produce about 25 of these vans, giving them away in contests across North America. I entered a bunch of times, but never did win the van, although someone in Alberta did win one. Very nice custom interior . . . all in Levi denim.

Mine was a Dodge Tradesman B100. It was sort of a copper colour. No exterior mural. Couldn’t afford that. Duel side exhaust. Visor. Flares. No side or rear windows. My friend, Ian, and I worked on the interior. Ian had a Chevy van with a beautiful interior. We had lots of fun doing my van. I’m a klutz with things like that, so Ian was a big help. We built a good bed in back, with a pullout middle section that served as an extra seat and a cooler. Installed wood flooring and ox-blood red faux leather walls. Put in a sunroof.

I loved that van. Every once in a while, deep in a restful sleep, I will dream that I still have it. That it’s been sitting in a garage somewhere all these years and I just have to dust it off, start it up and get back on the road.

It’s a nice reminder that we all have dreams. Often we let the dreams slip away as we ‘mature.’

Life has a way of smacking you upside the head with a two-by-four. Before you know it, you’re working in a career, you’re married, you’ve got kids, the kids grow up and move away (hopefully) and you’re left staring at the fact that so much of what you wanted to do when you were young hasn’t happened.

The goals you had were put on hold, then got lost in the back of that garage in your mind, covered with dust and forgotten about. Part of what 2010: Begin Again means to me is examining those old dreams and seeing about resuscitating them. Can a little mental CPR breath new life into my earlier desires? At least those dreams that still intrigue and interest me.

I like to think it’s never too late to begin again. Take a fresh look at life and see if you’re living the way you really want to, or if you are living the way you have to. There’s a big difference. I’m fortunate to have a job I enjoy working with people I like. Not everyone has that. But there is still more I want to accomplish.

If you’re still in your 20s or 30s, don’t give up on your dreams. Maybe it doesn’t seem like they are possible right now, but if you work a plan to make them happen, you’ve got time. If you’re closer to me in age, I still say don’t surrender to the passage of time. You can still make a plan to achieve, then work your plan.

My plan involves developing second income streams to enhance what I currently earn. This summer I’ve been fortunate to have time to do some research and develop some ideas to achieve that goal.

One of those ideas is to provide others with access to a service that allows people to easily connect, reconnect and stay in touch with friends, family, co-workers clients and just about anyone else through easily customized greeting cards that are printed and mailed for you for less then you could spend on a card purchased in most stores. You can check this out here.

And if you want to see my van, stay tuned. I’m going to try to locate and scan some photos from that era. You’ll get to see me when I was skinny (I was once, you know), had a cheesy moustache and a perm! Hey, it was the ‘70s.

I can skip the cheesy moustache and the perm, but I’d sure like to have the van again!

Cue the music . . .

“Everyone's watching, to see what you will do

Everyone's looking at you, oh

Everyone's wondering, will you come out tonight

Everyone's trying to get it right, get it right

Everybody's working for the weekend

Everybody wants a new romance

Everybody's goin' off the deep end

Everybody needs a second chance, oh”

And fade out . . .

Photo: The machine of a dream. The Coke Denim Machine. I wanted it so badly. To enter the contest you needed to collect bottle cap liners. This was the day of metal bottle caps. I used a magnet on a sting to fish caps out of vending machines. Ya see, in the olden days you'd use the machines built-in bottle opener to pop the metal cap, which would fall into a receptacle below. How primitive!

2010: Begin Again . . . Lessons I Have Learned

“That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Get your money for nothin' get your chicks for free” – Dire Straits

Nice thought. The money, that is, not the chicks. I’m married. But let’s face it. No one gets money for nothing – lottery winners the exception, I suppose. Two in Canada are splitting $50 million after a draw this weekend. For 2010: Begin Again, I gave serious consideration to enhancing my income. Today more than ever a second income stream is a smart goal for most people.

Some of you know I’ve dabbled in some different home-based business ideas the last few years. Nothing really took for me. And there are a couple of reasons for that. One is, of course, you have to be committed to doing the necessary work and that commitment often needs some specific goals to keep you motivated.

I didn’t always have specific goals and so I must admit that I wasn’t always motivated to do the necessary work.

But there are other reasons, too. A couple of examples:
1. In one case, I discovered that the company I chose to work through had a weird policy in place that said Lynda and I could not build with them as a partnership. In fact, it said if I successfully built my business to the point where I was earning, say, $75,000 a year, and I got hit and killed by truck, Lynda could not take over. The company would take my business and turn it over to someone else who’d built a business with the same company. That didn’t fly with me. To me, the company was there to supply quality products and support efforts to build MY business. Needless to say, I’m not with them anymore.

2. I really liked another opportunity. It was creative. It offered a unique way to capture important family moments and preserve family history. And Lynda and I could work it together, so if anything happened to one, the other could keep on building. Then the company announced an special training seminar. I love seminars that are uplifting and offer good business-building event. One problem. The company was only allowing women to attend. Granted, the business likely appealed mostly to women, but there are men involved. I wouldn’t want to be part of an organization open to all that didn’t allow women to attend a seminar, so I wasn’t going to be part of one that did not include men.

Lesson learned. Do your research!! Before you make a decision to sign up with any opportunity, make sure it fits with your interests and how you’d like to do business.


Back to the Idea
Let’s get back to the idea of developing a second stream of income and why it’s so important. Personally, there are things I want to see and do that can’t be achieved with my current income. Please note that this does not mean I hate my job!

In the past I’ve had individuals offer me an idea for an additional income with the approach that, like many folks, I probably hate my job and would do anything to get out of it. Some would even refer to almost as a curse word – the J-O-B! Nope. That doesn’t work for me. Perhaps it’s a motivator for you and that’s OK. I understand because I’ve been there.

Imagine working for a family-run business that is operated by a father and his five sons. And it’s a dysfunctional family to boot! Yikes! Been there. Done that. Never again! Now I work for a community college. I’m in a great department and I really enjoy the people. For me, the motivator isn’t to get out of the job, but to build a supplemental income that can enhance my life experience.

Another reason to look at developing a supplemental income is for security. For a long time the myth was we could get a good education (still important), find a great company to work for and spend the next 40+ years building a secure career . . . with benefits and a retirement package.

If the last couple of years have taught us anything, it’s that there is no such thing as security in working for someone else. You can love your work. You can be a valued employee. You can be with a great company or organization. But you can lack control over a variety of influences that could spell the end to that great job.

Just ask all of those folks in the U.S. and Canada that saw their jobs vanish last month. And that’s on the road to the economic recovery I keep hearing about.

You would likely have your own reasons for considering a second income stream. Perhaps you’d like to travel more, make enough to cover a car or house payment, contribute to your favourite charity, save for a child’s education or any of hundreds of other reasons. That’s something you’d know better than I.

Lessons I’ve learned:

1. I’m not interested in a business built around home party plans. I have tried a couple and they can be fun and profitable. But they’re just not me. If you’re looking for an opportunity that can get you out of the house a few nights a week, it could be for you. Just be sure you have a real interest in the product line represented. That comes through in your presentation.

2. I don’t want to be tied to a specific location, so I want a business that can be built online, allowing me to work it wherever and whenever I wish.

3. The product has to interest me. There are many good opportunities to consider, so personal interest plays a major part for me. And it needs to be a legitimate product. Some companies market stuff that is questionable in my mind. If you find the product to have dubious benefits, don’t do it.

4. As I’m not a pushy sales type, I don’t want to be involved in something that requires a lot of hype. For me, it has to be something that can be easily introduced to people and appeal to them. If it doesn’t appeal, that’s OK. I only want to share with those who see a benefit for them.

5. This year I have committed to ‘begin again.’ One of the things I want to focus on is people. Working a business that is all about people and relationships is something that strongly appeals.

6. Finally, I’ve come to see that support is key. If you don’t have a lot of business experience, it’s great to have someone in your corner who can coach you along the way. Obviously, someone with experience in doing what you want to do is best.

My Choice

I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching and exploring. Having the summer off has been great for that purpose. There were a couple of things that interested me. Then came a fateful correspondence. If you’ve read my earlier blog entry you may know the one I’m referring to.

Shortly after realizing the importance of building and maintaining relationships, Jackie Ulmer and I reconnected. We hadn’t corresponded for a couple of years and she shared with me an idea that could help with my desire to build new and enhance old relationships. That idea is what fuels a company called Send Out Cards (SOC).

She let me send a card for free to see how the system works. I chose to send a card to a good friend of mine in Calgary. She’s important to me, but we hadn’t stayed in touch. Once I saw how the system worked, I knew it was for me. Keep your eye on your mailbox. You might me on my list to receive a card!

Seeing how SOC fit so well into part of my 2010: Begin Again plan for fostering friendships, it just seemed natural that I would look into it as a means of developing a second income stream. It matched up with all of the things I was looking for in a business, especially being able to build it online. So Lynda and I made the decision. We are now officially Send Out Cards independent distributors.

I invite you to check out our company site. If you know anyone who would appreciate an easy way to stay in touch with family, friends, customers, employees, or just about any group of people, feel free to direct them to me. Even if someone would simply like to send out a card or two that they can design online, we can help.

Also, if you know of anyone with a possible interest in having an online business, it would be my honour to introduce them to SOC. Don’t worry. I’m not an arm-twister, so I won’t be hounding anyone and you won’t lose a friendship over it! J

Until next time, thanks for reading and thanks for your friendship.

Photos: TOP - Apparently I was very excited about a birthday drink with my friends Sharon, left, and Cheryl. Or maybe it was the gift Cheryl was holding! It was my 50th at Mocha Cabana. BELOW - Overlooking the rive in Trail, B.C. with Uncle George and Aunt Joyce - two fabulous people. Friends and family. Gotta love 'em!

E-mail: blyderek@yahoo.ca