andrewnicol.net

Living Quote

We are always getting ready to live, but never living.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like the quote. Emerson himself believed some wacky stuff.

If I just had...

A friend of mine has a new toy. It is a Lama V4 remote controlled Helicopter. He is seriously addicted and now so I am I.

I wish I had known about these before Christmas. I mean if I had a Lema V4 my life I think would be all but complete. Seriously, what more could I want. Really?

It is interesting to me that so many of our wants revolve around “if”.

If I just had …

If only …

If …

I am drawn to these toys, the same way I can be drawn to many other things. It is almost as though I have fondness to whatever the “if” is. As though by not having this thing, I miss out. I am deprived of some great pleasure.

In reality of course by not having a Lama V4 I miss out on little (Or a lot depending on your world view). But I actually have everything I need.

What I am really trying to say is this: “If” can be a dangerous word.

Footnote: I did $65 dollars damage to his Lama the first time I flew it. I could have flown to Tauranga in a real plane for that price.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post should be read to indicate that I will never buy a RC Helicopter. As I said I am now addicted and that may be the theme for another post.

Left for Dead – Nick Ward with Sinead O’Brien

This is the “untold story of the tragic 1979 Fastnet Race”. 15 people lost their lives in this race including 2 from the boat Grimalkin. Nick Ward was abandoned by 3 of his peers after being thought to dead. This is his story.

This storm was bigger than any of us or any race. Grimalkin and her crew were being crushed by this heavyweight bruiser. We were all suffering from the body blows, the knockout punches. Each time Grimalkin was pitched into a monster wave, we were violently flung about, thrown against a combination of wood, metal, fibreglass and each other – our heads, arms, hands, legs, chins, elbows, knees – virtually every part of our bodies hurt.

It is a mind blowing account of man against nature’s full fury. How they survived is beyond my comprehension.  Not his time I guess.

ISBN 978-0-7136-8522-0 : Paperback : 173 pages

I hope you rest!

It was a beautiful evening and I left Auckland amongst the heavy Friday traffic and made a bee line for Tauranga. Well actually it wasn’t so much a bee line as a zigzag. Nevertheless I head south and choose my route carefully, using my local knowledge to the best of my advantage to reduce precious minutes from my driving time.

Everything was going well, traffic was busy but flowing and I soon found myself heading down the Kaimai’s into my home town and the picturesque Bay of Plenty. Suddenly the display on my dash popped up a message I had not seen before. It was a picture of a tree with a picnic table underneath it. Below the picture the words “Rest Reminder” appeared. A rest reminder built into a car. Handy.

I was thinking, sometimes it would be great if we could get those reminders in life. You know when you are moving at 100 mph, when even a good nights sleep doesn’t bring rest. Wouldn’t it be handy if a display popped up and said hey you need to rest.

Really REST.

Resting is more than having a sleep in or taking it easy for a day or not going to work.

You can do all these things and still have a million things or worries or uncertainties in your mind. You can take a rest physically and yet not rest mentally or spiritually.

What if really resting means something more than just having a break.

So if we have burdens and baggage, if we have been toiling and labouring hard, if we have a million thoughts and worries running around in our heads, if we have been trying hard on our own to be nice rather than naughty.

Jesus has something really profound to say to us who are like this.

He said “Come to me”, and

“I will give you rest”.

I know he means real rest. Rest mentally, spiritually even though you may not be physically resting. Rest for our souls.

After the reminder popped up on my dash, I pressed cancel and kept driving. Ironically for me physical rest leads to mental rest, leads to spiritual rest. Quite often I press cancel part way through this journey and just keep going.
 
So rest this Christmas. Rest physically. Rest mentally. Rest spiritually.

Rest!

Training

In 2004, Starbucks spent more money on training and recruitment than on advertising. It understood that customer experience and positive word of mouth would do more for the brand than lots of ads.

- Simon Young (Idealog Jan/Feb 08)

Rich people keep driving

When I was in Fiji recently, Karina and I hired a car for the day. We wanted to drive to places that most people wouldn’t go. We wanted to see the people of Fiji. To experience. To open our eyes.

On this particular day we met with Karl (from Malomalo). He graciously led us down the coast where we checked out the water. Karl explained that the average income for the people of Fiji is $1 - $2 per hour. But the cost of living is basically the same as New Zealand.

Our journey with Karl took us down some serious back roads which was fun. We travelled through villages that 99.9% of visitors to Fiji will never see. Unlike the Villagers on the main road, they are not sponsored by Coke or Pepsi. They don’t have signs up saying they are supported by NZAID. They are just villages.

On the way back to our resort. I took these two pictures. The first is 3 guys working collecting sugar cane. As I slowed on the railway lines I took another, because I thought the lines of the track were cool. One of the guys called to this older man and he stood and posed for the picture.

I took the picture, gave him a wave and kept driving. At the time he was just a picture. Now the picture has become so much more.

I didn’t care about his circumstances.

I don’t know his name.

His family.

His needs.

Him!

He may not have had needs. He may have been happier and more content than me. But to him, I am sure, I was just another rich tourist who took a photo and kept driving.

The picture will be a vivid memory of the day I went to see the needs of the people of Fiji and forgot to see the needs of the individual before my eyes. I forgot to be.

I think we do that often.