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Life is an adventure, and adventure is defined by you.

The noise in the back seat calms as Cape Reinga draws near. The squabbling turns to conversation about the lighthouse … the ocean … and the sea. Adventure for our family waits.

Our family value of adventure has drawn us here. A desire to explore and learn and have fun (despite another full day in the car). This particular adventure is also number 2 on my 12list for 2012.

For us, adventure means exploring, its often unusual, typically fun and sometimes hazardous. It often requires courage. Kid sized courage. The kind of courage that pressures parents into new things, because “we value adventure”.

Adventure creates learning.

Conversation.

Memories.

 

So go ahead and define your own adventure. Just don’t miss the opportunity to embark on an adventure of your own. Take your family, your friends, or yourself.

Go on be ADVENTUROUS!

 

Twelve : 12 memorable things for the 12 months of the year 12.

Happy New Year and welcome to the year of 12.

Because it’s the year 12, and because there are 12 months in the year, why not have a 12 list?

A 12 list is kind of like a bucket list but easier, and just for the year. I think the idea beats new years resolutions (although Jim's new years resolution is good).

A 12 list is a list of simple memorable things you want to do this year. Don’t worry about the order, or when you will do them. Just list 12 things, anything, as they come to mind.

Then pick one a month and do it, don’t forget to take your camera to record the memory.

Here is my 12 list:

1. Have a snow fight with my family
2. Visit Cape Reinga
3. Marvel at a sunrise
4. Catch a fish with Jayden
5. Take my wife on a picnic (without kids)
6. Fly again
7. Have someone I have yet to meet, over for dinner
8. Visit a good.water project
9. Catch up with a person I didn’t see last year
10. Go caving
11. Have a bbq at the beach
12. Take my kids to a NZ city they haven’t been to before

_______________________________________

‘Twelve’ - Project Leap begins. A photo each day from 1 Jan 12 to 31 Dec 12. 366 photos in total, including the leap day | 1/366

 

 

Throw out the Alarm Clock and grab an Opportunity Clock

In bed, out to the world, in a state of near comatose when suddenly that repulsive noise breaks the silence. The canned music or loud buzzing interrupts our dream, sleep is over, and we are called back to the land of the awake.

The work of the alarm clock is done for another day.

So why is it called an ‘alarm’ clock?

Is a new day really meant to strike such terror into our life that it is cause for ‘alarm’? Are our dreams so good that we need ‘alarm’ to bring us back to reality? Lets change the name of our alarm clock.

Lets call it an OPPORTUNITY clock.

When it awakes us from our slumber, it wakes us to new opportunities.

Opportunities to live. To taste. Listen. Touch. Smell. See.

Opportunities to create new things. To learn new things.  To experience new things.

Opportunities to experience laughter and sadness, fun and pain.

Opportunities to know and be known. To love and be loved. To seek God and experience freedom.

Everyday I have a choice. Start with an ‘alarm’ clock. Or awake to an ‘opportunity’ clock.

 

nb: I didn't create the term Opportunity Clock, just heard it and build on it.

And you prepare for the worst. And hope for the best.

Far above the ocean, an engine bigger than a large car suddenly disintegrates blasting shrapnel and metal in all directions. The shrapnel punches holes in the world’s largest passenger jet's wing, damages flaps, causes fuel to spew from the plane and degrades 2 of the remaining 3 engines.

In quick succession an unprecedented 54 alarms appear in the cockpit of the Qantas A380 on route from Singapore to Sydney.

In an interview on 60 minutes Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny describes the situation and some of his key decisions. Part way through the interview he states, "I thought lets protect this aircraft at the most basic level possible. And that was to position it within gliding range of Singapore. And that’s what we did."

"That’s a big call, gliding an A380", states the interviewer.

I love the captain’s reply. It is simple, striking and relevant to many situations.

"And you prepare for the worst. And hope for the best."

“Prepare for the worst” means I’m not ignoring the gravity of the event I am in. I’m not hoping its something smaller than it is. Preparing for the worst means I am recognizing it for what it is. Preparing for the worst means I am doing everything I can to position myself in a place where I have the best possible chance of recovering.

Prepare means more than just hope. It means action.

“Hope for the best”. Hope is critical, without hope all is lost. Hope enables you to make decisions, to think through events, to believe in yourself and the people around you. Hope, I believe, changes your mental direction.

Preparing for the worst in a bad marriage means admitting it is disintegrating and taking steps to fix it. Then hoping for the best.

Preparing for the worst in business means confronting the brutal reality of the situation and takings steps to recover it. Then allow hope to drive you.

Prepare for the worst in health, with the kids, at your job, in your illness and in relationships. Take steps to recover them. With hope!

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Choosing the long way … just because I can.

I had been driving for nearly 3 hours when my phone reminded me of the flight I had cancelled from Wellington to Hamilton. I mused at the fact that sometime in the next hour an Air New Zealand Q300 would fly unnoticed above me and deliver its passengers to my destination a full 2 hours before I hoped to arrive.

The sun had gone and darkness ensued, as cruise control limits my climb up to the Central Plateau. Then as I round a corner and head onto the Desert Road I see light. My increased altitude and wide-open spaces, allows me to catch the final stages of the setting sun, for the second time in a day.

I regret not having my real camera and wonder if it is even worth pulling over and taking a photo with my iPhone. Finally, the predisposition driven into me by taking photos everyday for a year, kicks in. I pull over (allowing a car that I had passed to get the better of me) and take this shot.

My drive home from Wellington on a Friday evening reminded me that:

I love driving. The 528 km drive home is still along way short of the 750km I used to drive everyday as a bank courier. I barely notice the 6 hours journey, but put me in a plane 3 hours and I go stir-crazy.

I love taking photos. And I miss the 365 project. I need to carry my real camera more often. This shot of the mountains would have been immeasurably better with my SLR.

I value time too much. At work I make a lot of decisions based on the value of my time. I literally, mentally value an hour at a dollar amount and plan travel based on that. Generally it is good for helping make decisions, but sometimes I need to get over it. Sometimes I value time the wrong way.

To conclude...

Sometimes I need to trade the value of my time for cruise control, wide-open spaces, photos with real cameras and second sun-sets.

Sometimes I need to choose the long journey … just because I can. 

 

Impatience that leads to frustration!

I was excited at getting home earlier, relaxing and finally ending a long day of travel. I was “lucky” enough to get moved to a flight that was due to leave Wellington an hour earlier than my original flight. I was homeward bound.

As I waited for my boarding call I noticed the “early” flight was delayed.

Then delayed again. And again.

We board, wait for missing passengers and finally we taxi out, then accelerate down the runway. As we get airborne I glance out the window to see my original flight taxiing out. “So much for earlier” I thought. And being the competitive person I am, checked the relative speed of the two aircraft and determined I would still be in 5 minutes earlier.

Not so. The weather started to turn and our pilots weaved around a lightning storm. My “early” flight finally landed 25 minutes AFTER my original flight, which somehow managed to fly directly to Hamilton.

Talk about frustrating.

I got home frustrated, tired and late. Maybe even a little bit grumpy.

The next morning I was following this truck. “Impatience leads to frustration” it inaudibly shouts. I guess it can be easy to be impatient behind a slow truck. The more impatient we become, the more frustrated we become.

Impatience leads to frustration.

Impatience on delayed flights.

Impatience while waiting our turn.

Impatience with your computer, or kids, or wife, or staff.

Impatience then frustration. And frustration causes us to forget just how lucky we are.

Like my trip from Hamilton to Christchurch to Wellington to Hamilton in a day. It’s incredible I can do all that in a day. And I get frustrated because I arrived home 25 minutes late.

I was impatient, then frustrated, for no good reason.

 

I’d agree with you … but then we would both be wrong!

Just before summer last year I decided to spray my lawns for weeds. I used what I thought was the right spray for the job “Weed Out”. I was wrong. It killed everything (except the patches I missed) and we spent the summer with a dead lawn.

I’ve been wrong before you know. Wrong decisions; wrongly reading people; wrong answers; wrong opinions; and wrong actions. Wrong!

And I will be wrong in the future. I know that, so will you.

But right now, at this very minute, I can’t think of one single thing I am wrong about. Nothing.

In the present we behave like we are right about everything. We believe that everyone else is wrong and we are right. We know we have been wrong before, and will be wrong again. But right now we are right!

Maybe we would do well to remember we could be wrong. Wrong in hundreds or thousands of ways. Maybe if we remember that we could be wrong, maybe it would open our ears and eyes to other views and ideas and ways.

Maybe if we did that, we could become right quicker.

Despite all that, at this moment I am still right about everything I can think of.

You of course have a different view.  And I’d agree with you … but then we’d both be wrong.

The points for exercise

 
I heard a podcast from Gallup the other day about exercise and how important it is to having energy and reducing stress. It reminded me in my relative state of sloth, what we all know, that exercise is good for us and is a vital part of our office bound lives.

So why do I run hot and cold on exercise?

Firstly, it’s because it doesn't make it to the top of my priority list. It's important but not that important. In my case it is not a lack of discipline, it is purely that I don't make it a priority.

Secondly, it’s because I don't really enjoy it. Lets be honest it is hard work. I have know desire to sit in a gym, get only mild enjoyment out of running, and can’t bike to work most days as I have NO desire to bike to meetings.

Finally, I like freedom. My calendar and commitments are such that no day is the same and so therefore exercising at the same time each day is impossible and a burden.

Yet! I know I need to exercise more.

So I am trying a new system. Not an original idea, but a system none the less. I have allocated points to various activities, based broadly on energy burn.

points per 10 mins

Biking 5

Walk 3

Jogging 7

Weights 3

I have set a goal of 50 points this week. So will have to do 1 hour 10 minutes running. or 2 hours 40 minutes walking. or 1 hour 40 minutes biking. or a combination of the three.

By setting a goal, hopefully I make it a priority. And by having flexibility hopefully I enjoy it and it fits my freedom mindset.

As always it is easier to write than do.

Each and every single day is different

The sunrises and sets in different places and the clouds form never before seen shapes.

Tomorrows future becomes clearer and yesterdays memories fade.

Even when we feel as though life is “same old, same old”, each day is completely unique. Our problem is not that we don’t know that each day is different.Our problem is that we fail to slow down
enough to notice.

After a year of taking photos every day I took a break. I am only now realising that I no longer slow down to notice the changes each day.

Tomorrow is a different day.

Resolve to slow down enough to notice?

 

The beaches of Tauranga it would seem are laden with treasure.

The beaches of Tauranga it would seem are laden with treasure. On a number of recent visits I have seen older people with metal detectors in hand, combing the beach for precious treasures buried in the sand.

They are the new treasure hunters, no X marks the spot needed.

As I watched them I realise that we all search for treasure. We are all treasure hunters, in a restless pursuit of things to make our own. Some of us pursue treasure in money or work or success.Others pursue treasure in family or love or organised religion or God.

I have thought about what Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

It reminded me to think about the things I am pursuing. It reminded me that they are a display of my heart.

364|365 Dead End

The tedious drive from Auckland turned into an expedition of sorts as I tried new ways home. Unfortunately heading down unfamiliar roads without a map can easily lead to a dead-end.In one such dead-end as the road narrowed I spotted a small cemetery and paused to take photo 364. Strolling around the bleak relics of other peoples memories for loved ones, I stumbled across this
gravestone for Olive.

‘Beloved wife of Thomas Nicol, Died 17 August 1907, Aged 23. Thy will be done’.

I wondered if Olive and Thomas were distant relatives of mine, then pondered how she might have died at such a young age. I thought about how unlikely it was that anyone remained alive that remembers
Olive.

Driving back out of the dead end road I resolved again not to let my life be a dead end.

I’m not so much worried if people don’t remember me in a 100 years time, but more worried if people will remember me for what I have done in the last 10 years, or perhaps more importantly, will
they remember me for what I will do in the next 10 years of my life.  

Empty | Winter Blues

Met, know and have heard of bundles of people, lately who are not themselves. Thy feel flat, down and maybe a little bit empty. Much of it I’m sure is the winter blues.
 
Well, if you are one of those people I have a solution. At this time of year the playgrounds are practically empty. No kids, particularly during the day.
 
So head down to the park, why not take a friend. Then forget that you’re meant to ‘behave’ like a grown up and jump on a swing.
 
Swing.
 
Breathe.
 
Smile.
 
Laugh.  
 
It will be the wackiest thing you have done in ages, but I guarantee some of the winter emptiness will disappear.

329|365 Colours

Picture a day without colour
No colour in buildings or things we wear
No colour in paint for art to smear
No colour in the sun or sky above
No colour in stuff we love
Picture a day without colour
And rejoice that today
However grey
Is filled with colour!

[329|365 – I love how colourful schools have become]

298 | 365 The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago

An old chinese proverb says “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now”. Case in point, the tree that Kyla is climbing is 11 years old and would be unclimbable if it was two. But I think that this proverb has implications to more than just trees. The best time to do a lot of things was in the past ... the next best time is now.

The best time to get healthy was in the past ... the next best time is now.

The best time to reconcile with someone was in the past ... the next best time is now.

The best time to input into your kids lives was in the past ... the next best time is now.

You get the idea.

296 |365 Twenty-One

It’s Stass’ birthday today. Happy birthday!!
 
She’s twenty-one! Not twenty-one again, but twenty-one for the first and only time. How cool is that!
 
My dilemma with people turning twenty-one is that I can remember what I was doing in 1989 and it confirms that my life is extinguishing, in a positive way, at a rate that is more rapid than I originally thought. It’s positive because each day I get to learn, to love and quite possibly even grow in wisdom.
 
So with all this newfound wisdom that in reality comes from a deep pool of craziness, I offer this thought to Stass or anyone else that would care to listen (not than any of you asked). Here it is:
 
You never get yesterday back. Each day we have a choice to either consume or invest our time. Sadly if we don’t choose to invest time, it will get consumed.

286 |365 An hour out

This will sound weird to some people but last week I planned to take an hour out. A full hour with no note book or cellphone or laptop, so while I was in Tauranga headed to Leisure Island (which because of the high tide was actually an island).
 
Took time to watch and breath and think. Was amazed by the rip the surfers were catching out to the wave break that moved fasted than I walked. Then further amazed by the guy, pictured here, who climbed out on the rocks with his board, waited for a big wave and jumped in.
 
An hour out, no people, no connection, just me and my thoughts. If you’re super busy, give it a try.

282 | 365 Meals

I think having meals together in each other’s homes is dramatically undervalued. Over the years I have come to love having people at our place for meals. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out for dinner, but at home we, our guests included, tend to relax more, talk more openly, and be more authentic.
 
Had Francis and Delwyn for dinner. They are an awesome couple we are blessed to call friends.

275 |365 - Confidence

Took J to his first school disco. He was eally shy and he reminded me of me. It was really interesting to watch him slowly build in confidence over the course of the night.

I was thinking about how confidence often comes from experience. The more you do something, the more you push into areas that are hard, the better you get at things.

I would describe myself as a very shy person, socially at least. Over the years I have pushed myself to meet new people, to ask questions and as time has gone on I built in confidence.

Realised that I will need to teach J some of these skills as it took me way to long to discover them.

260 |365 A New Day

Not every sunrise will be as beautiful as this one.
 
Not every day will be the best day of your life.
 
But today is a new day.
 
Seize it!
 
Make the change you have always wanted to make, even if it’s only for today. And if you fail… tomorrow is a new day again and you can give it another go.
 
May your day today be beautiful and full and alive.

259 | 365 Wiping Out

Sometimes in life we see opportunity coming like a wave of success. Like surfing we seize the moment, drop-in and catch the wave. We are stoked because the ride is exhilarating and for that moment we feel like we have found our sweet spot.
 
Without warning, the wave changes and we wipeout as it all comes crashing down around us.
 
Then we have two options. Give up and become a spectator, or head back out for another attempt. Catching another wave will take effort, time and patience. Like most things there will be an element of being in the right place at the right time.
 
But at least you will again get to enjoy a few moments of exhilaration that those who merely watch from pier will never experience.

235 | 365 Play the Movie

Today, Talia decided to make a movie. A movie in which she was the writer, the director and the only star.
 
If your life were a movie, what would be the story line? How would the movie end? Would it be an epic story that people remember? Would your movie be an adventure, a love story, or a tale of overcoming the impossible?
 
Like me, your life isn’t likely to become a movie.
 
But we are still the writer, director and star of our movie, of our life. As individuals we choose to live a memorable story of adventure, love and triumph.
 
Or not.

234 |365 Partial Reflections

Our lives are all partial reflections of others.
 
We all in someway reflect the people and events that have had an impression on us.
 
In some cases, repulsive and negative things done may be reflected in us. Things we would rather forget and wish they had never happened.
 
For the most part we reflect the good people in our lives. They may be parents or teachers or colleagues or friends or Jesus, and regardless of how independent we think we are, we are all small reflections of them.
 
So if my life is a partial reflection of others, how will I ensure that their reflection of me is a blessing, vivid and good?

230 |365 Measuring Time

Moses once wrote ‘Teach us to number our days so that we may present to you a heart of wisdom’.
 
It’s almost as if he is saying we need to measure our time. Nowadays we measure almost everything, our bank balance, our speed, our weight, or our kids performance.
 
Yet we don’t measure our time to see if we are using it well. We rarely look back and make sure we are making the most of time.
 
At the moment, indirectly through 365, I am measuring time. It has been around 60% of the year since I began the 365 project. That’s 230 days or close to 20 million seconds.
 
Seeing how fast time is going, seeing pictures from 2 months ago, that feel like yesterday is really scary.

And a good reminder!

229 |365 Long Drive

Tonight I took the long way home. When it’s busy it still takes 2 – 3 minutes longer, but the drive is relaxing, the traffic is generally light and my competitive nature doesn’t have to come out.

When I take the short way at peak times, the traffic is bumper to bumper. 2-3 minutes shorter and not at all relaxing.

Tonight, taking the long way, I stopped and took this photo of the sun setting across the farm land. I wouldn’t have stopped in heavy traffic. I would have missed the moment, and I actually got a small kick out of seeing the sun set and know the day was ending.

I remind myself, that sometimes in my rush and competitiveness I miss small things.

Beautiful things.

One of a kind things.

All for the sake of a couple of minutes.

221 |365 Head First

This is not the worlds must technically correct forward roll.

But when you are having fun and you throw yourself headfirst into adventure, being technically correct is completely irrelevant!

218 |365 Murkiness

It seemed that the sun rose late, and was cloaked behind the fog that had lowered amongst the autumn leaves.

As it lifted later that morning, it unveiled an amazing autumn day.

Sometimes in life, amazing things, beautiful things are cloaked by the murkiness of life.

214|365 My 40th

An awesome 40th birthday with my wife and kids.

Up at 5am for the ANZAC day dawn parade. It was a still misty poignant setting and a reminder that “freedom is never free”. Someone must always pay the price for freedom.

In the evening we headed out to Raglan to watch the sun set on the west coast of NZ, and eat fish and chips. A beautiful evening.

A fantastic day. (Even if I am now in my mid life)

209|365 Leaving my mark

My signatures are funny things. For instance I have four scribbles I call a signature. I have my initials scribble, my ‘Andrew’ scribble, my general letter scribble and my bank scribble. The picture scribble is none of the above, but they are all different, all unreadable, but all my mark.
 
The use of signatures date back thousands of years. They are my mark, a thing that identifies me. In the flick of a pen I acknowledge my agreement, my commitment, my obligation.
 
Today, I was thinking as I signed a new large contract we won recently, how most people sign very few things. Signing letters has been replaced with email, or txt, or verbal. Signing cheques replaced with pin numbers and credit cards.
 
Personally, when I sign a document, I make sure I am comfortable with my obligations and commitment, because it is ‘in writing’.
 
Yet my verbal commitment should always be just as strong as my signed commitment. My word should carry the same weight as my mark.

206|365 Sports Star

A bunch of fans crowd behind the tent of the Castrol Edge race team. Amongst them, this fan, with a poster at the ready, eagerly awaits for the autograph of Greg Murphy, an iconic New Zealand sportsman.
 
Greg is a New Zealand V8 supercar sports star. He is a star because drives really fast cars. He is a star because he bets Australians. He is a star because handles the public and media really well. He is a star because he wins.
 
Gregs stardom came purely through hard work, focus, practice, lots of losses and a few wins (comparatively).
 
We can all be stars, maybe not iconic ones, but certainly in the life of people around us.
 
We also become stars through hard work, focus, practice, lots of losses and a few wins.

205 | 365 Good Communication

It was 11:30am, and with my entourage in tow, we stepped into a meeting with one of our largest clients only to be told we were expected at 10:00am. I explained that we were on time and I had checked his email the day before. But he was adamant we were late.
 
So a choice, prove I was right or apologise?
 
I apologised for being late.
 
Why? Because the relationship is far more important than being right.
 
On the way home I saw this cell-tower and I thought about communication. Communication is more than listening and talking. Good communication requires give and take, empathy and forgiveness, honesty and discretion.
 
When we communicate well, we realise the relationships are our highest priority.

202 | 365 Bachelor

Our house became progressively emptier over the last week. One of the kids headed to the grandparents last Wednesday, then the other two on Friday. On Monday Karina headed over to Tauranga for the night.
 
As the house emptied, the life of the house left. It was as though I had become a bachelor again. The life of the house is family. A family like most others, with conversation and laughter and arguments and squabbles and noise and homeliness.
 
As it emptied the home just became a house. A shelter. A place to rest.
 
Silence.
 
Late last night, everyone arrived home. Noise, buzz, stories, laughter and love.
 
Its home again!
 
 
 
[202 | 365 – ‘Bachelor’ - Being the bachelor that I now was, last night I cooked up a storm]

198 | 365 Behind these doors

Behind these doors are warmth and shelter

Behind these doors are comfort and empathy

Behind these doors are amusement and joy

Behind these doors is home

Behind these doors is love

197 | 365 BMZ X1 Launch

We had a BMW X1 launch in the vacant lot across from us, and they set up a huge tent and Pumice catered it.
 
The next morning I wandered over and looked at the new car. It reminded me about needs and wants. I neither need nor want a BMW X1. Some people will even think they NEED an X1.
 
It’s interesting how our needs change the more money we have. A person living without clean water, probably sits in the 92% of the world that don’t have a car at all, let alone need one. Their needs are a lot more basic.
 
A solo mum in NZ, needs a cheap but reliable car. A businessman like me who travels a lot needs a safe comfortable car. A richer person with cash to spare needs a BMW X1 to enable their status.
 
What I NEED is more what I want, and is not a need at all.
 
Need is a word we use often.
 
A word we over use.
 
‘I need this’ usually means ‘I want this’. Not the other way round.

194 | 365 Changing Conditions

On Sunday, conditions at the beach were gentle. It was low tide, with a light swell and small waves. There was plenty of room to make sand castles and bury kids in holes.
 
The next day it was high tide with a sizeable swell and the waves were crashing hard and sliding all the way up the beach to the sand dunes. There was no room to play or anywhere to relax.
 
I pondered how life can be like this. One day its gentle, plenty of room to play and relax, then suddenly, overnight it can change and things feel like that are crashing down around us, with no room for movement.
 
What surprises me the most, is when I have calm periods I forget that they don’t last forever, or when I have heavy crashing periods I forget calmer times will come.
 
Yesterdays conditions, like the surf , may be a completely different from today.
 
[194 | 365 – Changing Conditions – The family wade in the water as surfies watch the impact of the large swell and high tide]

186 | 365 Kids Play

Not many parents slide down slides or swing on swings or spin on spinny things at the park.
 
Most parents behave like old people. Most of the time we do as well. But when we swing or slide or spin with the kids, they get a kick while all the people we don’t know smile and wish they could do the same.
 
[186 | 365 – Kids play – Karina has a slide with Talia]

185 | 365 Balloons over Waikato

It’s interesting how sometimes the desire to capture a moment on camera, causes me to miss the moment in its essence.
 
Like trying to take a good photo of balloons and missing the opportunity to look up and take in beauty of the day, the sounds, the fun and the sights.
 
Missing the moment.

I think in many ways, we do that often.

[185 | 365 ‘Balloons Over Waikato’ - Early morning and late night at the Balloons]

179 | 365 - Hamilton 400 start line

“Vibrant, diverse and thriving - Hamilton combines all the vigour and energy of a bustling city with a relaxed, easy lifestyle.” … Well at least that’s how the Hamilton City Council website describes it.

But wait there’s more… “From the majestic Waikato River to the spectacular Hamilton Gardens to lakes, walkways and golf courses - Hamilton provides the perfect environment for leisure.”

A perfect environment for leisure, are you kidding me? A walk in the park, is just not the same as slow walks down sun clad golden beaches. I’m a Tauranga boy at heart, there is no escaping it.
 
Never fear, V8’s are coming. The city is being turned into a racetrack for the annual Hamilton 400 street race.
 
[179 | 365 – Hamilton 400 start line – This is a shot I took as I drove down Mill Street]

169 | 365 Candle in the Dark

As a teenager lighting and sound were my thing and I can remember attending a course with a renowned lighting designer for the performing arts, whose name alludes me.
 
At one point during the course we had to create mood for a tent scene on the stage using lighting effects and one single candle.
 
Having that one candle on the stage made the design difficult to say the least. In a pitch black theatre, where you literally can’t see your hand if it is an inch from your face, a candle is exceptionally bright. The light it generates can’t easily be softened or turned down. People sitting in close proximity of the candle were illuminated by its presence alone.
 
20 plus years on, I can still remember a lot that I learnt on that course, about how the eye works, about how we see black and white in the moonlight, about creative license, and about how bright a single candle can be.
 
Every now and then you meet people who are like candles in the dark. Every now and then I meet someone whose flame burns so brightly in the dark patches of this world that it lights up everyone around them.
 
If one small flame can make a difference, maybe I can as well.
 
 

160 | 365 Balance

10 years ago today a great challenge was before me. On one hand I was compelled to care for my wife in labour with our first child. On the other hand was my desire to watch Team New Zealand defend the America’s cup. Trust me, balancing the two, while at a hospital is very difficult.
 
Today that baby girl is 10 and she too is balancing. Only her balance is physical on an imitation Rip-stick. I tried it out tonight. Trust me, balancing on two wheels is very difficult, particularly for an old guy like me.
 
Yesterday I was speaking to a person who used the term “work-life balance”. It’s a fascinating term. Work-life balance almost implies that you work and then you have a life. Life is far more complex than just work or life. Sports, family, children, finances, churches, work, friends, exercise, relaxing, entertainment, hobbies and the list goes on.
 
For me there is a continual struggle to balance all of the facets of life. Not just work and everything else. Maybe, we have the wrong term. What if instead of teaching people to have work-life balance, maybe we need to teach people to have “whole-life balance”.
 
Whole life balance I suspect is harder than balancing a wife in labour and the Americas cup, or an old guy riding a rip-stick.
 
Whole life balance. Provocative?

159 | 365 - Bright Light

You know that experience you have when you first turn the light off and everything goes pitch black. Then slowly, over a period of time, your eyes adjust. This process is called night adaptation. It takes roughly 8 mins to half adapt to darkness and around 30 mins to get full night adaption.

Once our eyes are adjusted. We can walk around with very little light as though it was daylight. We get used to walking around in the dark, and the night feels very bright.

Suddenly someone flashes a bright white light towards our eyes for less than a second. In that second our night adaptation is destroy completely and it will take a further 30 mins to completely restore it. We start fumbling around in the darkness again, wishing it were really daylight.

I took this photo yesterday morning. The bright light is not the sun, it is a street lamp that illuminates small exposed patches in its vicinity, while still casting deep shadows into the darkness. Dawn is breaking in the background. Daylight is coming.

Here’s the point. How bright a light will I be to the people around me? Will I be a bright white light that has significant radical impact? Or will I be like the streetlight, an artificial light that illuminates small patches while leaving deep shadows?

156 | 365 - Running

“So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadow boxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what I should.” – Today I ran 5 km’s. It’s been a while and it was hard work. I had to keep setting small targets. I’ll run to this corner, and then I’ll run to these shops. All the while I had the end goal of completing the run in mind.
 
As I was running I was thinking about how hard work life can be. Paul talked metaphorically about running with purpose in every step. Sometimes the goals we are called to, seem so unattainable and so distant.
 
It is easier to give up.
 
To stop running.
 
It reminds me that I have to set small obtainable targets and run with purpose to each one. Then move to the next target with purpose.
 
This is how improvement comes, how perseverance comes.
 
Then we complete.
 
We finish.
 
We win!

148 | 365 - 'Roundabout of Life'

A roundabout. Have you ever been a passenger in car when they decide to just keep going around and around a roundabout? You fly past exit after exit and just end up in the same place. With each rotation you feel both fun and sickness.

A roundabout. That’s what life feels like sometimes. It feels like you work exceedingly hard on this one big project or problem and then end up right back where you started. Doing the same thing again and again.

And again.

There are exits for sure, opportunities to succeed, to love, to step out. Opportunities bring risk and danger, so most of the time we just stay on the roundabout of life, with this strange fun, sick feeling.

I’ve thought a lot about Carpe Diem in the last few weeks. ‘Seize the Day”. I’ve been trying to make something of relevance, of importance, happen every single day. It doesn’t matter how small it is, I make a change for the better. It’s hard, but it helps me feel like I am moving forward, not being stuck on the roundabout.

When we do something small each day, soon big things happen. And we look back on our days and see progress, not just more of the same.

I took this picture on my way home from a meeting at 10:30pm. I hadn’t taken a photo yet. But at least the day was NOT a roundabout day. It was a day of small steps.

And I've regretted it the rest of my life.

There she sat taking in the sights and sounds of the Pacific Ocean breaking against the sun soaked sand below her. A son or son-in-law, or just younger man who cared, had wheeled her to the top of the sand dunes where she admired the ocean in a way all of us have throughout our years.

My daughter and I approached from the beach, sand clinging to our feet, smiles locked to our faces.

As we walked past her we caught just the briefest part of woman's conversation. The slightest hint of a deeper conversation she was having with the younger man. A story was being discussed that was both sad and profound.

"I really wanted to go, but I was just that little bit tired, and I've regretted it the rest of my life," she said.

I heard no more than those words. I have no idea what she regretted, but she could have done it, was tired and now will regret it, possibly until she dies.

As I strolled away, I loved the way she said those words, and the words washed over me. I wondered what things will we choose not to do. Because we are tired or can't be bothered, or just because...

What things will we live to regret.

I hope that her words will echo into my life. I hope they will impact my relationships and my time.

"I really wanted to go, but I was just that little bit tired, and I've regretted it the rest of my life."

Tiny drops of energy...

I have often heard of a bucket or tank being used to describe energy in life.

At the bottom of the bucket are leaks, small drips that drain energy, reduce it.  If my bucket gets to empty, completely empty, then my passion dies, drip.

I stop enjoying life, drip.

Or worse, I become a DRIP.

If the bucket is full, I bounce around the world. On fire. With passion.

If life is like a bucket of energy, it would be good to know what builds into it. And what reduces it.

So I started to focus on reducing the leaks, patching them up, stopping the drain of energy. With hindsight I see that it doesn’t solve the problem at all. If my energy is all but gone, stopping the leaks just slows the process of turning into one giant drip.

Of course, what a drip I am! So I focus on filling my bucket. I start searching for a tap, or a fire hose. A quick refill.  Anything instant.

But it too is allusive.

Then today as I try to take pictures of water drops in the rain. I realise energy comes one drop at a time.

Drop,

Drop,

Drop.

Once you have more drops coming in, that drips leaking out, your bucket starts to fill, your energy rises.

I’m sorted now of course. Most lakes and rivers are filled one drop of water at a time, I just need to hunt for drops, not drips. I would prefer steady rain of course.

Then it hit me. As my energy drips away, as my bucket gets empty, I become more of a drip. Then, I can become a drip to other people. I start draining their energy.

I realised that I need drops of energy, so that I can give drops of energy.

And I need to give drops of energy, so that I can get drops of energy.

This week I resolve to go in search of drops of energy.

What will I be doing in 15 years time?

Interesting question isn’t it? I often struggle to know what I will be doing next week, and in moments of absolute brilliance, I might do some top level thought into next 3 – 5 years.

I’m skim reading a book called “Total Leadership” at the moment and one of its exercises is to write down what your life and leadership will amount to in 15 years.

15 years is a long way away.

In 15 years, I will have been married for 27 years!

In 15 years, my eldest daughter will be 24!

In 15 years, I don’t want to be doing the same things I am doing now.

In 15 years, I want to have made a significant impact on the world.

It is an interesting think about 15 years from now. I have never done it before, but I sense that it will help give perspective to the small issues I currently face.

Metaphorical mountains

I was chatting with friends this week about mountains

Metaphorical ones.

Those huge obstacles in front of us. Projects, struggles, illnesses, financial problems, relationship issues … things that seem too BIG to handle.

We were discussing about how we often cry out to God and ask him to pick them up and through them into the sea. To make them go away.

And yet we need to climb mountains. They are good for us and through them we learn heaps and are cultivated and grown.

The problem with mountains is often the obstacle in front of us, is the issue of the moment.

We forget about what the view from the top of the mountain will be like.

We forget the satisfaction that comes from making it to the top.

We forget that climbing mountains is worth it.

We just see the obstacle!

Maybe when we remember how good the mountain can be for us, we will stop asking for it to be taken away, be thankful for it.

Maybe we will then focus on the more important task of getting to the top.
 

Summer Reading.

Took a few books away with me to read while at the beach. As normal, took too many books with me. Will post a summary, maybe, once I have read them.

• The Appeal - John Grisham
• Constructing Artistic Integrity - Kim Barbour
• The End of Charity - Nic Frances
• Jesus wants to save Christians - Rob Bell & Don Golden
• Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell
• Growing Great Girls - Ian & Mary Grant
• View from the Summit - Sir Edmond Hillary

Varying topics and reasons for reading. Will be interesting,

vividly live...

Death is more universal than life;
everyone dies but not everyone lives

- Alan Sachs

Mowing the lawns ... oh JOY!

One of my earliest childhood memories is chasing my father around the lawn with my toy lawn mower. Not surprisingly this wore off in my teens when I was forced to actually mow the lawns with a crappy old lawn mower that you had to start with an electric drill.

Nowadays I actually like mowing my lawns. (You will notice I said my lawns; I probably wouldn’t enjoy mowing your lawns.)

Mowing my lawns brings some form of escapism and satisfaction. I plug in my MP3 player, zone out and get an uninterrupted hour to myself.  The satisfaction comes from completion, the finished product, and it looks good.

Over the weekend I was mowing the lawns and Jayden woke up and decided he would take his plastic lawn mower and “help” me mow the lawns.

He starts by zig zagging all over the place, bouncing around like a rabbit on steroids. At first I think it is cute and it brings a smile to my face. After a while it becomes outright dangerous as he cuts in front of me and instigates lawn mower head on collisions.

My frustration starts to set in. Not because it is genuinely dangerous but because he interrupted my routine, my thoughts, MY time!

I start to get annoyed, and at that precise moment I miss the point of life.

Jayden was having fun, enjoying life while his old man was selfish, grumpy and annoyed. The five minutes extra it took to have fun with my son, was just 5 minutes I would spend on the couch later that day.

I was reminded that I need to be joyful. To delight in everything. In all things. To make my sons day. 

Joy, afterall, is something God wants us all to have.

Strangely, the times I have the least joy seem to be the times that I am self-centered and concerned more for my problems and myself. My needs become more important that the needs of my son or my family or my friends ... or ... people!

In order to live vividly we need to take every opportunity to experience joy.

So ... What if I focused less on myself and more on bringing joy to those around me? What would happen to me if I did this? Would I experience more or less joy?

Without you...

Without each individual drop of water there would be no puddles, no streams, no rivers, no ocean, no life.

You may feel as significant as a drop in the ocean, but without you we are nothing.