2010 is almost over, but not yet

2010 is almost over. Soon we will start a new year. Try to come up with some resolutions. Dive head first in weight lost programs, muscles building training, cleaning your house, reading more, saving some money or whatever your resolution may be.

But, we're not there yet. 2010 is not over yet. And before it end is a great time to remember what are your 2010 resolutions. Did you met them? If you did, congratulate yourself! If not, will those be on your 2011 resolution list? How many years have you postponed that resolution?

Before 2010 is over is a great time to think about your past 365 days and find out all the things you are grateful for. List them all. On paper. And say thanks to the people who did actions you are grateful for.

A full year of gratefulness is a lot. There's a lot to think about. It's easy to forget some of the things that we're grateful for. My better half always tells me she likes to clean up right away (probably hoping I'd do the same) because if it piles up then we need to take a full day to do some cleaning and that's no fun.

The same can apply to anything. Don't wait for me to remind you again in 365 days to be grateful about your surrounding. Do it at the end of everyday. Even make this your new 2011 resolution if you want.

List all the things you are grateful for.

On paper.

Keep it.

My Favourite Time of Year by The Florin Street Band

Here is a great Christmas song I found recently. I love the Victorian theme and the snow falling, it's all just lovely. The video quality is excellent, put it full screen in HD if you can. (I'm not sure you can in the blog, if not go on Youtube)

May it bring a little magic in your hearth!

Quotes - Ghandi - Present, Past, Future and Speed

Last week was a very busy week for me. That could explain why I did not blog. But then again there is always a way to do things you want to do, so no excuses for me. I can't repair the past, the only thing I can do is decides what I can do now that's the best. So, lucky you will get two quotes in a single blog! Wicked!



Both quotes relates to the present, past and future. Not only about what you do now but how you are feeling now. Next to my kitchen table I have this little box full of Zen Cards, visitors pick a random one when they come to visit me. Once in a while I pick one too. Here's what one of them told me...

"The past is over. The future will never come. Now is the only moment that will ever exists. Therefore, live each second to the fullest"

Making the most out Now is key to a happy, blissful, life. Let's say it's raining right now. What point is there to think about yesterday's bright and sunny day? Or wait for tomorrow to make plans just because the weather network says it should be sunny? (We all know how reliable the weather people are!) Now, it's raining and what can you do to make the most out of it?

The next quote comes from Ghandi. I'm not sure the context in which he said it. When I first read it, I immediately had an interpretation for it and ever since its become one of my favorite quotes.

"There is more to life than increasing its speed."

- Ghandi

Have you ever heard somebody say: "Can't wait for the weekend, this week is never ending!" or anything like that? You know that if you always wish it was the weekend at the age of 50 you will have waited 34 years of your life for now to be the weekend? The point is, don't wait for something better to come. Life is meant to be lived now, not in a few days.

I hope you are all living a wonderful road to the holidays.

Traditions

Christmas is coming. There are a lot of traditions around this time of celebration. Traditions that comes from so long ago that we tend to forget the reason why they started or even why we still do them. In the weeks to come I may talk a little bit about those traditions but today I want to stick to why we keep doing traditions in general.

When you do something, ask yourself why you do it.

If the answer is something like "Because that's what people do", "Because it's the way it is" then you need to think a bit harder and find a reason for yourself. It doesn't need to be profound or historical or event related to the event itself. Sometimes simply "Because it brings me joy" is a much better reason for doing something than to do it because everyone else does it.

Think for yourself. See what birthdays, holidays, events or ceremonies brings you and only. Don't try to transpose your own reasons to others and others reasons to yourself. Some people may do something for historical reason, knowing their grandfather was part of some old ceremonies can be fulfilling to somebody. Someone else may simply like the social interaction that happens during a certain event without any historical attachments. There is no right or wrong reasons to enjoy traditional events, there is only your own reasons.

Quote - Age Is All About Stairs

This week, for my first quote after I officially launched my blog, I have a quote that I don't really like. Why post it then? Because, in my "About this blog" section I mention the surprising power of quotes. How just a few words can change someone's life. I absolutely don't remember where I read this one, and I'm not even sure of the wording but it goes something like this:

"You're age is not counted in years but in how many steps you take when going up the stairs. One or two at a time."

I get the point. Your age does not matter as long as you are healthy and do things to stay healthy. I still don't think it's the most profound quote out there.

But since I've read this quote, I go up the stairs two at a time. When I catch myself climbing one at a time there's a voice in my head saying "Come on, you're not that old already" and I pick myself up and go up two at a time.

My point is that you never know what's going to push you forward. You can read a book someone told you would change your life and not feel inspired. And you can be inspired by something a four year old says. To each their own signs. You don't have to look for inspiration. You only need to be opened to inspiration and it will come to you in a way you may not expect.

Welcome to my Blog

Hi! My name is Mat.

Welcome to the official launch of my Blog! I've been writing in it for a little over a month now but near to nobody knows of it's existence. Now that I tested my inspiration flow, I know I can write regularly. Since you all have a month of blog to catch up, I'll be short today. You can read my past entries for now. And I have an interesting quote this week so stay tuned!

Enjoy!

The following is a copy of the "About this Blog" section:

You'll notice the posts on this blog will be short. My goal is not to spread my point of view but rather to simply spread thoughts. Those thoughts, I hope, will be within the readers.

I'm not a writer. My first language is actually French. I'm not a believer in using complicated words and unbelievably long sentences to say simple things. So I will keep things simple.

I hope you enjoy my thoughts and quotes. I love quotes because they are short and powerful. It's amazing how just a few words can sometimes have the power to change people's lives.

Read and think. Look around you. Improve your world with actions!

Quote - Ralph Waldo Emerson- Change is Inevitable

The following is a sad, but true story.

About a month or so ago, something in me changed. And there is nothing I could do about it. At first, I thought it was only an isolated case but then I realized I had really changed. Why? I did not know. Will I ever come back the way I was? I do not know. Will I complain about it? No. Will I stop loving what I love? No.

All my life, I could chop onions without crying. Not even a tiny drop. Not even a small burning feeling. I felt like I could used onion juice for eye drops. Last September, I started chopping and that particular onion was determined to make me cry for all it's deceased onions friends that I chopped heartlessly. The onion prevailed. And I cried. Water was pouring out of my eyes. My eyes were on fire. All of a sudden, the onion eye drop did not seems like a very good idea! Ever since, chopping onions makes me cry.

"We change, whether we like it or not."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Even though my example seems trivial. It happened and that I like it or not from now on onions makes me cry. Don't think about the problem, as it says in my October 29th post, think about the solution. Wear glasses, use a Slap Chop, don't cook onions, learn to chop with a 3 foot long saber. Solutions are plenty when you put your mind to it!

Year without a Summer

Some people can't wait for it, other people dread it's arrival. Snow or White S***.

I was personally thrilled when I looked out the window Saturday morning to see falling snow. I find something magical about falling snow. The magic fades away pretty quickly when it's minus 10 the next day and my bones are freezing.

One way. to teach people that things aren't as bad as they look is to witness, read about or hear of something worst. Hey, cheer up it could be worst.


A quick search on wikipedia.org and I started to feel better. Apparently, 1816 is known as the "Year without a summer". Just imagine, it's March and the snow has not even started to melt. April, it's still all there. May, some is gone but you still wear your winter boots. June, you still need earmuffs to get out. July, the electricity bill is still sky high. August, still did not use your bathing-suit. September, you're realize you never got to use your sun lotion and it's gonna expire before next year. October... do I really need to continue describing. I'd feel pretty miserable at that time.

Winter is on our doorsteps, so what? It could be worst. It could be Winter all year long!

Quote - Productivity is the key

This week's quote will target productivity. What is productivity? Wikipedia defines it as a measure to output. The more you output, do or produce the more you are productive. It's pretty simple. When you are ask to do something, focus on doing it. When you ask someone to do something for you, focus on the outcome.

I'm not sure where this quote comes from. It's written on a sticky note on my desk at work. Corners are all curled up meaning it's been there for a long time.

"What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it."

In the end it's the results that count. In business, getting things done is more important than how. You can be sitting in a cubicle reading and answering emails as productively than if you were at home, or on the beach for that matter (Why not?). You can keep a good physical shape by working out at home with no weights and no complicated machines or you can pay for a personal trainer, a gym membership and a treadmill. It doesn't really matter how, as long as you keep yourself healthy. You can read about nutrition on the Internet or attend nutrition classes. You can read the news in the newspaper, watch them on TV or hear them on the radio. You can plant and grow beautiful roses or buy them at the flower shop but what matters is that you give them to your better half in the end.

It really doesn't matter how. How did I write this message? At home? At a coffee shop? On my cellphone? Did I hire someone to do it? It doesn't really matter, it's there for you to read and I hope you enjoyed it.

Remembrance Day

92 years ago, at 11:00AM, the World War I Armistice was signed in Conpiègne Forrest, France,  and marked the end of fighting on the Western Front.

Today take a few minutes of your day to think about all those who gave up their lives to make your world better. No matter where you are and who you are, there is someone who gave his or her life to make things better, hoping for a better world.

I'm Canadian and people may not know much about our military efforts during the Great Wars where over 110,000 Canadians gave their lives. Here are a few links to Wikipedia for details about Canada's efforts. If you're Canadian and don't know the details take some time and read through those articles and if you are from another country, look up what your country did in the past. Knowing our past is a great way to mold our future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Canada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Canada_during_World_War_I

To finish my post, here's a video to honor Canadian Troops, close your eyes while it plays and think about all that happened and those people who played a role in bettering your world...

Rainy Days

One rainy day evokes all sorts of reactions from people. Two days in row, you can already start to feel a shift in the people's frame of mind. More than two days and all people seams to be able to focus on is water falling from the sky and the lack of sun. Of course, I'm talking generally about urban people. There are always exceptions, like you maybe or a farmer waiting for rain to juice its crops.

It's been raining for almost a week, which is a long time for this part of the world, Eastern Canada. Where am I getting at? I don't know, I just felt I had to write something. All week, I focused all my thought about what I'll be writing tomorrow for Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day depending where you live. So much that I forgot I had to write something before the 11th.

Back to the rain. As much as you will hear often that YOU are in control of you mood and the way you feel and how you react to things. There are incredible forces around us that drive our mood, like weather, traffic, people around us, the medias, your paycheck, family, friends, and this and that and the other thing... and many other things to infinity and beyond (Note to self: got to rent Toy Story 3).

With so many things bullying our mood it can get extremely difficult to stay positive. That's why the first 5 seconds of your day are so important. If you set your mind to "I'm going to have a great happy day" mode before you see the rain and all those things that could affect your mood, you set up a good foundation for your day.

How were your first 5 seconds today? What's your morning routine? Is it building a good foundation for your day? What could you change to make it better?

Quote - Cynthia Nelms - Be Happy Since No One Cares

I thought choosing a quote for the first "Quote of the week" was hard. The second week is even harder. So many quotes to chose from!

There are many things I like about quotes, one of those things is that they don't have to be deep and serious to have deliver their message. Like this week's quote:

" Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy. "

~Cynthia Nelms

Even if somebody really cares, you still might as well be happy. The bottom line is that given the choice you should choose happiness over misery. Remember that the choice is yours.

This week end, bring joy where ever you go, spread it.

I wish you all an amazingly happy weekend!

People are awesome!

Just found this video on Youtube. Sometimes pictures are better than words so just watch and be amazed at what some people have accomplished.

A word about failure

Fear of failure is something we develop as we grow up. Given two paths, people are likely to choose the safest route based on their experiences. It makes sense. To me it makes sense if both paths goes to the same place but what happen when the two choices lead to different places? The safest path may not be the best path but peoples are really clever in convincing themselves that it is. Because "What if I fail?".

What if you failed the first time tried to ride a bike? What if you failed the first time you tried to walk? What if you failed the first time you tried to throw a baseball? You tried again. And again. And again.

People who've accomplished great things in life understood that principle.

This video has been going around on Facebook lately and it's a great example why YOU should not be afraid to fail!

Quote - Terry Goodkind - Think About The Solution

There are so many great quotes. Which one to choose to be the first of my new blog? A quote from Einstein? Ghandi? Abraham Lincoln? The bible?

No. I'll post my all time favorite quote. The quote that always comes to mind when I face difficult time and mundane day to day challenges.

It's a quote from a great book by Terry Goodkind called Wizard's First Rule. Never read it? I understand, it's literally a brick. I'm a slow reader (which might explain why I like short quotes) and it took me months to read but it was all worth it for I learn to...

"Think about the solution, not the problem."

Everybody does it. "Why is this happening to me?" ... "What did I do wrong?" ... "This sucks!" ... lingering on what is happening to them. The more you think about what the problem is, the harder it's going to be to find the solution.

Next time a problematic situation arise in your life as simple as it is, stop and observe where you focus your energy.

Something to think about...

If someone does something you don't like, you tell them. If they do it again, you'll them again. Until it sticks in their head. That's a common behavior people have often more with people they are close to.

Now, if someone does something you like, do you tell them?

What if they do it again?

And again?

And keeps doing it?