About the author of the book

Michael Matherson, Mark Morgan Ford are the same person - interesting that people still have pen names in the internet age. Michael has written 10+ books and hundreds of essays. He was the founder and a regular contributor to Early To Rise until his retirement in 2011.

Quick summary

Ready, Fire, Aim is Matherson's tenth book. It focuses on growing a business all the way from start up to 100+ million in revenue per year. The focus is on how to break through 4 specific glass ceilings that businesses typically face as they grow. The book provides an interesting combination of research, personal experience (which he has a lot of), and practical ideas that you can apply today.

My thoughts

I run a small business with less than 5 staff so I wondered how this book would go. Specifically because it is pitched at large businesses getting larger. An excellent book but written with a focus on large economies. What I mean is, the first stage of growth in this book covers up to 1 million in revenue, the second stage covers up to 10 million. For a country like New Zealand, this is about as big as we get! Well that's not really true is it. But a 10 Million dollar business in New Zealand is a big business. So maybe it's just my thinking (which it likely is) but growing to be a 100 Million + business in New Zealand is out of the each of most. However, I think the thing I enjoy about these books is that it makes me think. It stretches my understanding of what the world considers big - this a good thing.

Because the book covers sure a huge range of business size, it was tempting to think about stopping after the chapters I related to. However, I've learnt a lot about how bigger business should behave, and how they tend to get stuck in ruts. I learnt a lot about approaches I hope I will get to take in the years to come.

I was actually surprised that in every chapter I found something I felt I could apply. Even in the chapters on business of 100+ million in revenue. So if you are willing to listen, you will find a gem in each chapter.

Recommended to:

• Anyone in commercial business. specifically marketing or product staff
• It's not very applicable to local or central government
• Small business will find lots of useful ideas in the early chapters

Pros

• Lots of practical ideas that come down to the strategy level (they don't get to the tactics)
• The advice would be applicable for any product-based business immediately
• Something for all business of any size
• One of the only business books I've read that goes beyond the start up, or small business stage
• An excellent combination of personal experience, research, and practical strategies

Cons

• The practical advice doesn't get down to the immediate tactics of "put down the book and do these 5 things right now"
• The book is written to focus on an American economy which is so much larger than anything we encounter in New Zealand. This makes it a bit hard to get your head around for how to apply. However, it wouldn't take long to translate the numbers to equivalent figures for your country and then it would apply without a problem.
• The book is written to focus on product-based businesses. So service-based businesses get left out. However, i think the ideas are still very applicable. 

Here are 3 quick tips or things I've learnt about finding a mentor in any area of your life

1) Look for someone a few stages on from where you are right now

I've always found that the best mentors in my life are the ones who have been there, done that a couple of times. For example, if I was looking for mentors for my business I would look for someone who has had a couple of businesses, maybe a couple of failures, and who has grown a business or two past where I'm aiming for.

As a small business with less than 5 staff, I don't think it would be overly helpful to look for another small business with less than 5 staff to mentor me. Now let me be clear that there is a LOT of benefit for talking with, and sharing joys and struggles with other businesses my size and stage. But I wouldn't be calling it a formal mentoring relationship.

2) Tell them why you want them for this area of your life

This actually has two benefits - 1) It makes you think about why this person is actually right for this area 2) It tells the potential mentor that you've actually thought about why they are best

I've been on both sides of the equation as a mentor and a mentee and I can tell you that when someone comes to me and asks for me to mentor them I always get a little nervous about what I might have to offer. Most people I've meet aren't sure if they are really doing life as well as they could. So when you ask them to mentor you they wonder if they have anything to offer. You can help them realise that they do by thinking about what they are good at, and what you want from them.

3) Make it easy for the mentor

One of the most important things I ever learned about making a mentoring relationship work was something one of my favourite mentors said to me "Hayden, this mentoring relationship is your responsibility. I'm a busy guy and I won't chase you for a meeting. If you want this to happen, you need to make it work."

If you really want to get the most out of your mentor, make it easy of them - as easy as possible. I find this easy to do with three simple steps

• Book a meeting at least a week in advance to give them time and work around their schedule
• Have a topic or question ready
• Don't waste time with a meeting if you aren't ready, don't have a question/topic, or haven't done your home work from last time.

I have been at a conference over the last couple of days and the thing that struck me is that I have a belief in the bible and what it says - I do actually believe it. But I don't seem to have the faith to always follow that through. Now that is an interesting place to be if you think about it. How can you believe that something is true but when push comes to shove you aren't sure if it will actually happen? perhaps that means I don't really believe at all? The way I see it is like bungy jumping. I believe it is safe because I've seen people do it and I don't hear about injuries but you still won't get me doing it because I don't feel safe. I would encourage someone to do it if they wanted to but I never will.

I think I've figured out that faith is a journey.

So if faith is a journey, then I must have a journey that I'm going on. How do I know how far along that journey I am? How do I tell what the next part of the journey is? and if I could take the next step before I was forced too, what would it be?

I've taken a couple of steps recently that I know in my head are the right choices but they put me well outside of my comfort zone. I would tell you that I have done this in faith but honestly I'm not sure I ACTUALLY have the confidence that it's going to work out. So I'm not sure if I can call it faith. It's a strange place to be - between belief and faith. I'm not even sure how I describe where I'm at right now. I'm going to call it a faith building exercise.

Rich and I had finished work for the day and while waiting for the bus, got talking about our weekend. Rich asked me if I went to the Street City Church on Sunday night and how I found it. We got on the bus and sat opposite each other on the bus as it was pretty full. We carried on talking over the isle about the respective sermons we had heard and the impact they had on on us. We carried on talking about church and God for most of the trip home.

When a lull in the conversation arrived, the girl sitting next to Rich asked what church we both went to. Rich replied with each of ours and immediately as Rich said his, a man sitting across from Rich erupted with disgust at the Church Rich attended.

The crazed man proceeded to yell at Rich and asking him questions with no space for the bemused Rich to answer. When the crazed man was finished he closed his eye, shock his head and said something to the effect of "I wasn't going to say anything and now I'm not going to talk about it". Rich started to offer replies to the questions that had been asked of him. The man just talked straight over the top of Rich saying "No, nope, I'm done talking about this" and then after a second he carried on asking questions and making statements that Rich wasn't allowed to answer!

To Rich's credit, he didn't get upset but just smiled to himself while trying to start a conversation he was clearly being denied of.
I snapped at this point and got my loud voice on saying "Oi, are you going to let him (Rich) talk?". The crazed man then addressed me with a range of questions that I ignored while I raised my voice and asked the man if he would talk with Rich again. The crazed man told me he would NOT have a conversation with Rich but wouldn't give a reason why.

The poor girl sitting next to Rich looked a little shocked and laughed a little as she watched what her question had led Rich into ensued. Conveniently all three of us, Rich, the girl, and I all got off at the same stop. We all laughed and had a quick chat about her being new in town and wanting to find a church. Without being interrupted, Rich and I told her about some of the churches we know. Hopefully she wasn't put off by the crazy man and maybe, just maybe we will see her sometime.

The thing that stuck out to Rich the most was his comment "...if he's (Rich) strong enough in himself he can take it..." Well yes Rich and I might well be strong enough in our views to handle it, but I don't think our other passengers on the bus are strong enough in their life views to not realise you're a bit of a nob.

We drove into central Nelson and found an awesome café full of old farming and settler type things e.g syths, old cart wheels etc. Finding the couches were all taken for the moment, we setup shop at a table and waited until a couple that looked like they were about move finally left. I think we hung out at the café for about an hour.

When it was nearing 5:30pm we left the café and headed to ‘The Boatshed’ down at the waterfront. It was a classy joint she picked. It was one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been in for a while. We order a bottle of Pinot Noir and laughed most of the night, and had a couple of good deep-ish conversations as well. Towards the end of the dinner fireworks started out on the harbour. So we had dinner and a show. The fireworks were a little average but it was still great to be in a prime position to see them. Dessert followed the fireworks. We had planned to go back to my cousin’s place for Lemon Meringue pie cooked by my Granny so we didn’t want to spoil that by having lots of desert at the restaurant. We ordered a sticky date pudding for the two of us.

While she went to the bathroom, I took the opportunity to pay for the meal. When she came back, we finished the pudding and headed out for a short walk along the water front. It was fairly cold so we didn’t walk for long.

The night was drawing to a close and it was time to head back to have more pudding and coffee with the cousins and Granny. I must say, this girl was brave for coming along. Who would want to meet a guys cousins and Granny on a second date? That’s a little crazy, but then again it was a crazy adventure the whole way along so I’m not really surprised.

Gran’s Lemon Meringue pie was brilliant as always. We had a few laughs with the family and the night was over. I walked her to the car, gave her a hug goodbye, and let her go on her way. We agreed to stay in touch, and with that my two day whirlwind trip to take a girl I had never meet out on a date was over.

Now the part you probably want to know - what has happened since? The short answer is nothing. I got an email that Tuesday saying ‘lets just be friends’ and that is ok with me. She is a lovely girl and lives far away. She has also just come out of a relationship and isn’t interested in anything more. That's ok with me. These things rarely end up the way we think.

At the end of the day, I was taking an opportunity to have an adventure. I had a great time. She was absolutely lovely. I’m very lucky to have been given the opportunity to take her out.

Thank you to the young miss that let me have a couple of her evenings - you were a lot of fun.

She arrives at my cousin’s house and she is as pretty as in her photos. Tall, blonde, and sporty with a great smile. We go to a restaurant close by. It’s a very nice place. Great wine and huge plates with tiny delicate food. We hung out at the restaurant for a couple of hours talking about all sorts of things. It was a nice evening. When the staff were well and truly closed, and had setup for the morning, we decided it was time to leave. Walking out the door I spotted a great looking water fountain across the road. It was shooting water straight up from the ground and I wanted to play in it. She was good with the idea so we went across and jumped around in the fountain. I was the only one that ended up wet – right down the front of my jeans. It looked like I had pee’d my pants which made us both laugh. She didn’t get wet at all.

After playing in the fountain, and getting wet, we noticed the bar next to us had karaoke going and it was sounding awesome. She looked at me with an inquisitive adventurous look and said

“Wana check it out?”

“Heck yeah!” I laughed while looking down at my wet pants wondering if anyone would notice.

Lucky enough, the bar was dark (aren’t they all?) and no one noticed. As we walked in there was a short, squat, bald guy singing Sweet Home Alabama while bleach-blonde slightly tubby woman danced seductively with on each other, if you can all it that (eeewww). We had clearly joined the ranks of the local bogan bar. We laughed and headed to the bar for a beer.

The night ended at 11pm when she dropped me home. It was great evening and I had a heap of fun. I can’t speak for her, but I know it was a well worth taking the opportunity. The trip to Nelson to go blind date with a random girl had been a success in that I didn’t behave like a total arse, and I don’t think embarrassed her or myself.

So I had a good night and so ended date one of two. There is also a funny story about getting locked out of my cousin’s house but I’ll post about that after I’ve finished this story.

I got a txt from her later that night saying she had work to do during the day on Friday but was keen to hang out again tomorrow night. So we set up for another dinner on Friday.

The next day, Friday, I worked from the dinner table at my cousin’s house. Then checked in with my sister and her fiancé who wanted to check I hadn’t made a total arse of myself. They agreed I had conducted myself ok.

In the early arvo I heard from the lady. She was keen to have dinner and gave me a couple of options of Thai or a really nice place on the waterfront. I liked the sound of the waterfront.  She would be free at 4pm and would pick me up for coffee, then we would head for dinner.

She arrived at 4pm and we set out for the second date…

[To be continued]

Okay, so I’m starting to freak out a little bit now. First I set a limit for the plane tickets -  that I didn’t think I would be able to get - now I have them for less than my budgeted amount, and I’m seriously thinking about going to Nelson to take a random girl out for dinner – what the heck!

I called my sister (who is flatting with the girl), and Kate’s response was “...that would be so awesome and funny, but it will totally intensify your friendship. It might make things awkward.” She had a point. Then I called Kate's fiancé Chris and asked him what he thought. He said, “Get on a plane and go! If nothing else, it will be a great story.” So with that, I decided to call the lady and tell her I’m calling her bluff and that I’m going to turn up and take her out for dinner.

I don’t normally get nervous but I was calling a random woman who I hardly know at ALL, and I had no idea how she would take this phone call. She answered the phone and I explained that I was calling her bluff and was coming to Nelson to take her out for dinner. I told her that my Granny and cousins are all there in Nelson and I'd like to see them as well - so I had three great reasons to visit Nelson.

She laughed at the idea, told me I was crazy, laughed some more, and agreed to go out for dinner on Friday night- if I went. She couldn't do anything that night (remember this is Thursday) because she had a ‘daddy-date’. (Side note to all men: never get inbetween a girl and her Dad. It’s a bad idea for SO many reasons).

We finished our conversation and I headed back to the office. To be honest, I was expecting her to get off the phone, talk to a mate, and freak out. My thoughts went: “...any moment now I’ll get a txt saying that she's actually a bit freaked out and maybe I shouldn't come because she doesn’t know me well enough…” I would have understood if she had done that – let's be honest here, it was a crazy idea to fly to another city and take a girl who I’ve never met before out for dinner. But to my surprise, that didn’t happen. In fact, when I got back to the office I got a txt that said she would be finished with her daddy-date by 8, and if I was in Nelson we could do desert and wine afterwards. Ohhh how happy I was! I laughed at the whole situation and jumped online to book tickets.

The next few hours went like a blur. Booked tickets: 4pm. Went home to pack my bag: 5pm. Got on the plane: 6pm. Landed/picked up: 7:30pm. Coffee with cousins: 8pm. Lady picked me up: 8:30pm.

Ideally I would have preferred to pick her up, but I didn’t have a car, and I also didn’t know the city or her location. So I was happy for her to pick me up this time.

[To be continued...]

This is a story about an opportunity that I took "once upon a time" in my life. I’m recording it for no other reason than that it’s a good story, a moment I will remember, and a story to share with others in years to come. This is my recollection of events, and I’m happy to be corrected if I remember wrong. That said, let the story begin…

I was talking to my sister on the phone one beautiful Tuesday evening, and as we chatted about what was going on this week she said, “I have two gorgeous new flat mates – you should marry one of them!” Laughing, I said “Sure, why not?” At the same time I heard a woman’s voice in the background say, “Kate, who are you talking to?” “My brother,” said Kate. Then the woman yelled out “Dibs!” Kate laughed and told me, “You’ve just been bagged. Here, talk to this girl!” So the phone was passed to the lady who ‘baggsed’ me and we chatted for a few minutes about what each other does etc. We had a good laugh, teased each other a little, and at the end of the phone call the woman said, “I feel like I know you well enough to add you on Facebook” - and so she did. When I got the chance to look through her photos, I quickly realized she was very cute – beautiful in fact.

The next day (Wednesday) I got a Facebook message from this woman that said: “Where are you taking me for dinner tomorrow night?". I laughed to myself and made a quick call to a friend in Nelson – where this woman was at the time – and found a highly recommended Indian restaurant. I suggested I take her there, which she thought that was a great idea...“I like it, pick me up at 7:30pm!” she wrote back.

I laughed; I’m sure she did as well. Ahhh the fun of flirting on Facebook - but nothing was ever to come of it. The next day (Thursday) I was having a coffee with my good friend, and I told him the story of the beautiful Christian girl who had asked me to take her out to dinner. My friend looked at me with an open mouth and said, “Dude, why are you not down there taking her our for dinner?!” “No way man! I only just got introduced to this girl. I can’t turn up and take her out. That would be creepy!” I said. "Dude, you’ve got a gorgeous Christian girl asking you to take her out for dinner – get on a plane today and call her bluff. If you can get cheap tickets, you should totally go. Just set a limit on how much you're willing to pay for plane tickets, and if you can get them for less than that amount, you have to go,” my friend argued.

So I set a ticket limit of $400. Now remember that I was trying to buy tickets on the day of the flight, to a small New Zealand town – these are NEVER cheap even when you book weeks beforehand, let alone on the day and less then 5 hours till the flight leaves. But I got on my phone and checked flights and prices – lo and behold, I could get tickets for less than my $400 budget. My friend just laughed and said, “Looks like you're going to Nelson tonight, mate!”

[To be continued...] 

“Because, that’s the thing about love, really. No one will love you how you want to be loved, they’ll love you in the only ways they know how. Life throws everyone down drastically different paths so how can we expect everyone to love in the same way? The person you’ll spend your lifetime with will love you in their way and you’ll love in yours, and maybe you’ll meet in the middle and it’ll last. None of us know what we’re doing, you see, we’re just fumbling for matches in the dark. If you’re lucky, you might eventually just strike the right one.”

“Because, that’s the thing about love, really. No one will love you how you want to be loved, they’ll love you in the only ways they know how. Life throws everyone down drastically different paths so how can we expect everyone to love in the same way? The person you’ll spend your lifetime with will love you in their way and you’ll love in yours, and maybe you’ll meet in the middle and it’ll last. None of us know what we’re doing, you see, we’re just fumbling for matches in the dark. If you’re lucky, you might eventually just strike the right one.”

This just makes me laugh every time I look at it. The sentiment in this is just so true. Being successful at something is supprisingly hard - not because it's hard to be good at anything but hard because suddenly you have to do more of it, or more often. I run a business that does it's job very well and as a result I work almost around the clock. Yes, I'm in control and could change that but lets be clear that I'm not complaining here - far from it, I love my life and working hard.

I dont think anyone who sets out to do something like run a business realises just how much of a pain in the butt it can be when you are doing well. I certainly didn't, and neither did the business friends of mine. I keep telling people that the great thing about having your own business is being able to work whenever I want. If I only want to work 2 hours today - so be it. The reality is that I have all the time in the world, to work every waking hour I have hahaha. If you've been in business you will know what I mean.

The observation made in this image just makes me laugh because I think most business people have thought this as some point. I dont always feel like I'm succsessful and over loaded with people wanting Leftfield Interactive to do work for them. But on the good days, when I finish work at 4am (like today) I do wonder about the benefit of being good at what I do.

This image comes from http://gapingvoid.com/ (14 June). It's from the very funny Hugh MacLeod.

The knight walked aimless and uncomfortable. Unsure of where he was going, and unsure of what to think. The path that both his mind and body took was perhaps not the best. But then what is the right path? Is there ever a right path, or is it about the decisions we make along that path that make it right? Robert Frost took the path less travelled and to him, that has made all the difference but I wonder if it wasn't really about the path, but the choice he made. Surely a path, in and of its self holds no morality but the intent with which it is engaged makes all the difference.

Unfortunately for the young wounded knight, the intention with which he now travelled this road was not one of redemption but more of escape. Actually it was more than that fore the Knight had already escaped the danger that initially wounded him. Now he was running future from the source in an effort to escape the pain. The young prince hadn’t realised yet that the pain was within him and emanating from the wound he refused to addressed and wouldn't allow others to help with. Pressing on into the heart of the forest, the knight hoped the pain would leave him - but it didn't.

The world sighed and wondered why humans did this to themselves. Why did they eternally try and run from themselves? For creatures that usually possessed the ability to logically consider and react, Humans also seemed to be the only creations that also tried to leave themselves behind. Other creations didn't exhibit the same tendency to run from themselves - sure they would run from danger or threat. They would leave an area if beaten in a fight but this was always because of an external factor. Humans were the only ones that found themselves to be a threat to their own existence and wanted to run from themselves. How odd these human beings are, the world thought. And the world was right.

As the knight moved through the forest, so too did his mind. It wondered through the past adventure from his training through to the recent ‘attack’ of the Raevac in the forest – or was it an attack he wondered… at any rate the young prince wasn’t going to stick around and find out.

The mind is a wondering creature, much like it’s human container in which it resides. A mind will wonder seemingly aimlessly unless it’s kept in check. Like a dog walking out the gate and down the road – a mind may not seem like it has a destination in mind but it knows that it’s on the move and heading in a consistent direction yet it knows not where it will stop.

So wondered the knights mind into a dark forest of it’s own. It wondered past fights and remember battles it had failed in and it wondered if the battle had been lost because of it. The mind meandered through the low-lands of rejection by the princess in the tower and it dwelt in the shade of the “what if” tree where it considered all the things it should have said that might just have made the princess see the knight differently. As the young knights mind strolled unchecked it took the young knight to a place where he felt very third rate, not just second rate but below that. Where others were first-rate and succeeded in life, second-rate knights won some and lost some but overall came out on top. But the Prince felt third-rate – That place where… well it’s a hard place to describe and the knight couldn’t put into words what that place felt like. It was similar to when you were at school and being picked for a game. Your friends would all line up and the two captains would take turns choosing the best players and slowly everyone would be picked before you. Usually you would finally be picked reluctantly and added to a team. But this time the prince felt like he hadn’t even been picked – one team had decided they would rather play with one less player than to have him on their team. The knight figured it was better to leave the game and stand on the sidelines, but as his mind wondered more be begun to think it would be better if he didn’t stay to watch the game because it hurt too much.

When there is such a burning desire to play the game and be good at it, but you simply aren’t that good – what do you do? You can practice and practice until you are good enough but while you practice, so are the others and you all increase in skill and find that you are still last to be picked or worse, not picked at all.

The young knights mind and feet continued to wonder unchecked while the knight focused on the pain in his chest. He didn’t know how long it would take for the wound to heal but he was determined to diminish the pain so he kept walking ignoring the growing pangs of hunger and the internal warning signs that danger was immanent.

"What are you doing?” cried the Knight

"Let go, let go, let go,” he yelled

Human can't help but react to paint - it's only natural to want to stop pain. Sometimes the pain we feel is more acute when we are actually being healed than the dull throb of an infection that grows slowly. A cancer, for example, may not feel painful at all but the surgery to remove it does and so patients are made unconscious while the healing takes place.

The knight’s reaction to the pain he felt overcame his mind and suppressed his ability to consider what the Arenac was doing. I can't say I blame the young knight - who wouldn't associate pain with someone who has their hands around the very spot that hurts so much. I can understand the knights desire to be freed from the Raevac. If only the knight knew the good that would come from letting someone else help... but he didn't and so the Raevac stopped.

In the dark edges of the forest a wild set of eyes flashed briefly. They didn't go unnoticed to the Raevac. Who knows who or what the eyes belonged too. Whatever they were, it made the Raevacs heart quicken - which is a rare occurrence. The eyes meant trouble that even a Raevac didn't want to deal with. Realizing the young prince was distressed and probably wouldn't sarcoma to reason, she lifted the princes head and smacked it short and sharply down on the ground beneath him. The knight passed out and stopped his noise.

Before removing the knight’s chest plate, the Raevac lit several other touches and placed them around the wounded prince to keep the eyes at bay - at least for a little while longer.

In the dark of the forest the Raevac worked fast and with excellence. She removed the knight’s chest plate and dealt with the wound to his heart. From experience, the Raevac knew the issues involved with the damage of this kind of wound. She pushed the arrow through the other side of the knight’s chest, which pulled a bandage into the wound. In time the foreign debris was removed and the wound was closed, not healed - but closed.

With her work complete for the moment, the Raevac sat back and waited for the knight to come too. She waited near by to assist if needed but she didn't expect to be thanked. She knew too well that the young prince would remember her as the one that was 'attacking' and then knocked him out. She waited to help but knew she would not be welcomed.

The Raevac sat back against a tree. Her eyes stung and she closed them for a short moment to give them a break. When she awoke the knight was gone, or very nearly gone. She could see a light moving off into the heart of the forest. She couldn't actually see the prince but judging by the slow moving light, and the missing light torch from the edge or her circle, she guessed it was he.

With no thanks, the knight had come-to and made his way off into the forest he didn't know.

'Humans' can be so unappreciative' thought the Raevac.

A the Raevac watch the light fade, she held on to the knowledge that she saved the princes life and one day he would appreciate it. She knew she had preformed a life saving task, and just in time it seemed. The wound would heal nicely and the knight couldn't have asked for better surgeon for a battle wound. But what does the world care about how well we do? What does it mean to the earth if we succeed or fall short? Does it ever stop the sun from rising and falling? Does the Moon call a halt to time when it sees a lone prince down?

With several thousand years of recorded history to stand on, I believe the answer is no. The breaking of a soul doesn’t factor in the daily considerations of the world at large. But it does to the creatures around it; and so too for the Raevac right where she was. The young prince moved off with the light. The same light the Raevac had lit to help save the knights life now becomes the same light that leaves the Raevac behind.

The eyes had left the Raevac behind; they too moved off behind the light...

Dreams have a powerful way of highlighting the wants and desires of the heart. They facilitated the imaginings of a wild heart that has until now been bound in reality. In a dream you can live through the most fantastic and horrifying scenarios. The prince was dreaming of a life better lived. In his dream he had managed to rid himself of the two things that had caused him the most pain for the longest time- his heart, and himself.

In the moments that passed for the knight, he lay there and dreamed with a broken heart of a life he wish he had.

Why are hearts so uncontrollable? from where do they get their ability to deny and ignore all the realities around them? They cling to hope which should have logically long left these shores. A heart is the most wild thing the world has ever encountered. There is no stopping a heart when it sets its way; Neither bricks nor brilliance can dissuade it. There is nothing that can confine a heart that has known freedom before and yearns to have it back.

Their is nothing as beautiful as a heart set free to be all it was destined to be, and nothing more disappointing than a heart which has never been allowed to really live. A heart is a lot like a captive bear, elephant, or other animal chained from birth. The animal which is bound from birth learns early that it simply can not be free from its bonds. Later in life it won't bother to test the thin chain. So to a heart bound and suppressed from birth never really lives the way it somehow knows it could.

The knights heart had lived free once before and now felt and constraints of reality it simply would not accept. Sinking into the moss would never be enough for this young heart and somewhere deep inside the knight, it began to stir. Even as it realised it would have to leave the dreamworld for the constraints and pain of reality which would immediately enveloped it. The Knights heart cried out to the young prince. It cried for freedom, I cried out for revenge, it cried out for a life that was not finished.

And so, like all things, dreams never last forever. The young prince was called back from his dreamland by his own heart. As strange as that may seem, the knight had relented and very nearly given up but his heart, the very thing that was most damaged, would not let him give up on the account of it. his heart refused to be the reason the young prince never carried on. His heart pulled him from the place it so desperately wanted to be.

Hearts have a bizarre ability to see things for the value they really have. The knights heart was not content to live someone else's dream. It wanted life, and all it had to offer. the young princes heart had set its way to live it's own adventure and nothing would stop his heart from achieving all it hand inside it.

The Knight stirred in his moss mattress. The moss reached up around the young prince as if to call him back to the dream. But it was to late for the moss. Pain gripped the knights chest again and he called out as the shaft of the arrow gripped on the inside of the Armour and let go. the knight was alive again and the Raevac moved in...

The Raevac watched the young prince sit in the dampend moss undergrowth of the forest. Not the cleanest place to sit but for right now it was perfect. The knight leaned back into the soft earth and removed his helment, turned it around a looked at it. The lower part of the right neck guard was dented, the plum was full of foliage, the pin that held his visor onto the right side was lose and not holding the visor in place well.  The first  thought that ran through the knights head was how much of a disgrace his armour was, then the second thought followed quickly "I don't care, no one cares what my armour looks like. I'm in the middle of a forest where I'm meant to be 'being a knight' and I've stuffed it all up. What the heck does it matter now what my armour looks like? It can't protect me against the very thing that will cause me the most damge - myself"

Sitting the in warm black under growth the prince began to recount his experience. The training he had received, the battels along the way, the dragon, the castle, the princess, and now the forest. For the first time in a long time he felt safe here. His whole life he'd been told the the dangers a forest could hold; How he should watch out for traps, wild animals, bandits etc. The Forest was meant to be a dnagerous place yet he felt safe here compared to the 'safer' world he had just left.

As the knight sat pondering the world, that very same world kept moving oblivious to the knight. And why should the world care if the knight was tired, sleeping, relenting, releasing, removing himself from it. In the soft shadow of the forest, the world couldn't see the knight as he lay. the world didn't notice the wound deep in his chest. I'm sure it's not that the world doesn't care, it's just that there is so much else going on that the world couldn't do anything even if it did know. Mother earth would craefully accept the young prince back should he chose to return but otherwise it had the rest of life to get on with.  So the  knight  sat there and bleed back to where he had first come.

On the outside of his armour there was a small pucker and hole where the arrow had struck. The physical damage on the outside was little. Nothing a hammer and small patch couldn't fix. the armour itself would be back to knew and stronger in that place that ever before. But it wasnt the armour that was the problem now, it was the wound beneath the armour. The knight has since broken off the penetrating arrow, or at least it appeard that way from the outside. The truth was known only to the knight who still felt the pain everytime he breathed. The remaining shaft of the arrow lay deep in his heart but causing pain and holding damaged flesh in place. as he deathed the sahft would scrap against the inside of his armour. The young prince wasn't sure whether to pull the remaining arrow out and free himself from the infliction, or if pulling the shaft out would pull with it damaged fleesh and tear away at vital little healthy heart that was left. He began to care less and less as the soft moss molded to his body. Lying back, he positioned his chest plate as far away from the wound as possible so it would not rub. He closed his eyes and left for another world.

The Raevac just watched as the knight drifted away; possibly the only one who knew what was happening, possibly the only one who could help, and the only one that knew that the night needed to choose before the Raevac chould help. The Raevac poised ready to help, waiting for a sign of need, waiting to see if the young prince would make one last effort to repeal the pain and make his choice.

As the knight travelled on his way, dust, most, leaves, and other debris from the wilting forest began to cover him, just a light dust at first but it gathered more and more. The knight could feel it starting to cling to his damp skin. It didn't feel good.

Our prince wasn't doing very well. He'd been part of a fairly rough adventure so far, not that this was a bad thing. Adventures aren't meant to be easy or safe really. I don't think many people would go on them if they were. A good adventure has a huge dose of the unknown in it, and hopefully that means challenges and risks. But when people think about going on an adventure I wonder how often they consider that the risks might actually be hard to deal with? That threats are often not happy things, they are nasty and painful. And that human beings, no matter what we say, don't really like to much uncertainly in our lives.

It didn't seem like such a fun adventure to the young prince now. In fact he was wondering what the heck he was actually doing at this point. The adventure was meant to be to find the girl, rescue her, and live happily ever after. Why hadn't it worked out that way? Where the heck had this adventure gone wrong? Maybe, he thought, he should have just picked the first tower he came across, busted down the door, knocked the princess out cold, carried her back home, and lived happily ever after. It certainly would have saved all the pain and confusion he was experiencing now. He breathed a deep breath and felt a surge of pain shoot from his wounded chest down his right leg.

The forest, while dark and dead, seemed familiar and peaceful. The young prince felt at home in the withering, resigned forest that wanted to grow but couldn't. He sat down and thought about how comfortable he was there. Maybe this is where he should stay. He didn't want to go home again now that he had stuffed up the great adventure. Maybe he could make a home for himself in the forest.

And so the knight began to relax and rest for the first time since before he had entered the dark valley. Perhaps it was the physical exhaustion, maybe it was the dark light that made his body think it was time to sleep, or maybe the forest impressed upon him its resignation. What ever it was, the Raevac was not pleased. "This isn't good. This isn't a good place to get comfortable right now. This lad needs to keep moving" thought the Raevac.

I was having a laugh with some friends about the three-second-rule - you know the one about how long food can be on the ground before you can eat it? yeah that three-second-rule.

We got talking about all the things that maybe you shouldn't bother ever picking up again like icecream, chewing gum, iceblocks, and anything liquid that's spilt on the carpet.

I think more boys observe the three-second-rule than girls do although I do know some awesome ladies that will eat food off the floor anytime (I'm thinking of you Ange Walker).

Eating food off the floor has it's pros and cons. On the one hand, you are more likely to pick up some gross bug and get sick but at the same time you could boost your immunity to those same bugs and not get sick when others do. Maybe eating food off the floor actually helps make you stronger in some cases? that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...

Sometimes when I've dropped food on the ground I dont bother picking it up again - it's too far gone especially if it's liquid... even I think that's yuk. The older (and wiser?) I get, the less I eat of the ground. I've got more picky about the three-second-rule and how I apply it.

I'm glad God doesn't follow the three-second-rule. When I've fallen down, I've been on the ground a lot longer than three seconds. I'm glad God didn't give up on me.

The Moleskine, though, made its way into my pocket or backpack all the time, because of one simple use I found for it: a list manager. Not a list of things to do, or people to call – different lists. The Moleskine is my perfect list-manager, and that’s all I use it for.

That said, I’ve also discovered how useful it is to keep a small number of lists both updated and handy at all times, for a whole variety of uses. Here are nine lists that can be enormously helpful to all of us, if kept both current and accessible. Keep them wherever you like (for me, a Moleskine), but make sure you keep them.

“Things I Want”

Every year, people I know ask me what I want for my birthday, or for Christmas, or just because they love giving me gifts (that last would would be nice, huh?). Usually, I have no idea what to tell them. That’s why I’ve started keeping a list of things I want – every time I hear about or come across something I’d like to have, no matter how big or small, it goes on my list.

If I get it, or don’t want it anymore, it goes away. It’s simple, but having this list gives me a running tally of stuff I actually want, so I’m not just telling my family and friends “anything’s great, seriously…” and then pretending to like what I get.

“Gift Ideas”

This one’s on the opposite side of gift-giving. If I think of something that would be a great gift for a person I might some day buy a gift, I write down something like “Mom – Rollerblades.” That way, when my Mom’s birthday comes up and I realize I haven’t been paying attention for a whole year, I’ve got some backup ideas. This one, more than all the other lists here, has come in handy over and over in my life.

“Got a Minute?”

We all have things that we’d like to do, but that aren’t required of us and that have no consequences whether we do them or not. I keep those things in my “Got a Minute?” list. If I have some free time with absolutely nothing to do, I’ll take a stab at something on my list. If they don’t get done, it’s not a big deal – it’s full of things I’d like to do when there’s nothing better or more important to do.

“Watch, Read, Listen”

Another critical one for me, as a music and movie junkie. If a movie gets suggested to me, or I’m told I absolutely have to hear a particular band, they go on the list. If I have some time, I’ll go through the bands and see if there’s anything good. If I’m in need of another book, I try to pull one from my list rather than just reading whatever’s nearby. These lists are populated by friends, blogs, and any other source you can think of, and they’ve provided me with a ton of great movies, music, and books.

BHAGs

BHAGs, or Big Hairy Audacious Goals, are an important thing for anyone to keep updated. These are goals that are way beyond what you think is possible, and are things you’re constantly keeping in mind with every decision or choice you make. For most, these goals are career-based, but they don’t have to be. What do you want to do, or be, or accomplish? Keeping this list handy will help keep you centered and focused in all things you do.

Bucket List

We’ve all heard of bucket lists before – lists of things to do before you die. These might overlap with the BHAGs list, but not necessarily. For instance, “spend a night in jail” is proudly on my bucket list, but I wouldn’t exactly call that a goal. Keep a list of things you want to do – need to do before you die, both to help you get them done and to help you figure out what’s important. If “go to New Zealand” is on your bucket list, it’s worth saving for rather than taking a less-awesome trip somewhere else.

“Don’t Forget”

This is a list for random, momentary stuff that you need to remember – but not remember forever. Things like “new guy at work is Jim” or “mail taxes” go on this list – review it periodically (I check mine every morning) and get rid of whatever is done or that you actually know. Hopefully, after a week, you’ll remember Jim’s name, and not need it on the list anymore.

Great Ideas

Have a great idea for a business? Thought of a brilliant invention? Write it down. Maybe you won’t do anything with it, maybe you will – either way, having a list of your best ideas is a great way to both stimulate more great ideas, and to give you something to impress the boss with the next time he needs someone with great ideas.

Grocery List

Obvious though it may sound, too many people still don’t keep a grocery list. Or, like me, they keep one and then leave it at home. The usefulness of an always-available and always-updated grocery list is twofold: one, it gives you a place to put “Orange Juice” when you run out of Orange Juice, thus keeping you from either not having it, or buying altogether too much because you couldn’t remember how much you have at home.

Two, it prevents you from buying things on impulse, or because you’re hungry – grocery shopping while hungry is dangerous. Keep a list, buy only the things on the list, and odds are you’ll eat both healthier and cheaper.

I’m a listing fanatic, keeping lists that far outnumber just the ones above. But those nine are the ones that have proven critical to saving me money, keeping me fresh with good ideas, and always knowing what to do or spend my money on in relation to what I want to be and do.

This is reposted from lifehack.org

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hawkes-bay/475815

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I thought this may be of interest to a few of us. We don't often get catastrophic earthquakes in New Zealand, but it always helps to know what to do. And perhaps you can pass this information onto loved ones living or travelling overseas.

I've been wondering for a few years now if we every really get on top of life. The more I live, the more I find out there is so much going on out there in the big wide world that I will never keep up with it all. Even in the industry I work in things are changing every hour it seems. But it's not just in my vocation that I find I don't seem to be able to get on top.

I'm not talking about feeling out of control or that the world is closing in on me. I feel more like I'm surfing a wave but I don't control the wave. I love being on the wave and taking every moment to love it, but I'm aware that I don't have control of the wave - I'm just going with it.

Another way of looking at it could be that life is like a hot air balloon and I'm in the basket below. The Balloon is pulling me up and I'm just go with it. I'm happy about that because I'm in the balloons basket that I obviously go into, and I have some control over the flames that heat the air to make it rise, but really the balloon is going up and taking me with it. I'm not pushing the balloon up.

So I wonder if I will ever really get on top of life. Watching a few of my friends in different stages of their lives is interesting because it highlights to me that they aren't on top of it either. I was watching a married couple with a toddler and how they were always trying to keep up with him. Did they have everything they needed for the day out, is the yard gate shut, where is he now, does he need to be feed, has he had a sleep, heck where is he NOW? They are awesome parents but who can really be on top of a toddler? Seriously, who is ever really on top of life when they have kids who are growing, changing, and challenging you ever step of the way?

Then I got thinking about the toddler - maybe he is on top of life? What I remember of being a kid is great but I never felt like I was the one in control. I was always told what to ware, what to eat, when to sleep. I remember thinking 'when I'm grown up, I'll do what I want and sleep when I want and eat all the McDs I want'. I don't think the toddler was on top of life either.

My beautiful sister is getting married to an awesome man at the end of the year. They left themselves a whole year to plan the wedding and we all feel like we are racing just to keep up with the time schedule of the wedding at the end of the year. Their wedding will be great and they aren't in any rush, but once they set the date and the clock started counting we all felt like it was taking off and we had to keep up. Do we ever really get on top of life?

Maybe we shouldn't bother trying to get on top of life. Maybe trying to control life is an impossible idea in the first place given that the world is changing all the time and we can't possibly keep up with all the changes. Maybe the best plan is to stay standing up on our surfboards and having a good time while life rockets us towards the beach.

(I found these online somewhere - not my original work)

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

1 4. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the real world.

25. It ain’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.

26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved it’s full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.

27. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’

28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

29. You should not confuse your career with your life.

30. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

31. Never lick a steak knife.

32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.

36. Your friends love you anyway.

I'm a  Bass player and it's really helpful to know how other instruments do their job, especially the drums. Josh, who runs JK Drumming, has been teaching for a long time and has pulled together some stunning lessons. I'm only a begginer but I've managed to get my head around the basics of several different beats just by watching the lessons.

There are lessons for begginer to advanced, and in a varitey of styles like Jazz, Funk, Rock etc.

I'm definatly not a drummer, so you will have to check the site out for your self. Go take a look. I hope it helps

http://www.jkdrumming.com/

There was once a knight, well he was a knight but he was young, first years out of knight school. Ha-ha get it night school Knight School... So anyway, our knight was a great fella. Even though he was young and had only been in a few battles, he had gained the wisdom and strength to survive.

In the days our knight lived in, many terrible things had been done to lots of people, especially beautiful young damsels. Some of these young damsels had been taken away and locked in towers. Often, these towers were very old and dangerous places. Some even had dragons that lived around them who were told to guard these damsels, so that no one can ever get near them. The rumour amongst the knights was that these beautiful women were the best that ever existed. I don't mean just physical beauty; these were women with whom no women from any other country could compare (at least thats what the knights believed). These women were smart, elegant, captivating, intelligent, dedicated girls who had been taught by the best. Perhaps that's why they had been locked up; maybe they were seen as threats.

The knights were often exhorted to take on the most dangerous and challenging adventure that there was the rescuing of one of these beauties from their towers. Now this was no mean feat! First he must find a tower with a beauty just waiting to be rescued. Once the tower was found, the knight would often have to travel great distances to get near the tower (always in some really deep valley, or on a titanic mountain). Our young knight thought about the wisdom and beauty of these damsels and realised that there was a lot to be gained from such an adventure; but being so young, he had no idea how to find one or where to look. There were many older, wise knights that had already been on such an adventure and they had many wise things to say. They offered to guide and help the young knight prepare for such a journey. But all of them said that in the end the young knight must embark on this adventure alone, and walk the path knowing that he was loved and cared for at home but that that was all he could take for support.

So after many years of waiting and preparing for the adventure to rescue a trapped princess, the young knight set out. The trip would take several months at the shortest and many two years or more at the other end. He knew there would be many battles to fight along the way, many lonely cold nights. Several times he would see other knights that had died along the way, there was nothing that scared him more than seeing a knight that lay in the middle of a sunny field but had been killed. Sometimes there was not even the sign of a battle or fight at all. It just seemed that these knights had died of nothing more than an abandoned heart. These others knights had simply found the first part of the adventure to hard. The young knight wondered why that was as this was meant to be the easiest part of the adventure.

After several months the knight, who was gaining more understanding and wisdom by the week, came into view of valley that held a very precious princess. She was more precious than any other that had been known before her, and than anyone could foresee coming after. Because of her captivating life, she had been locked in the deepest, darkest valley that anyone had ever seen. In fact, the valley was so steep, rough, and deep that no light ever shone down onto the tower, which stood hundreds of meters below. The young knight looked over the edge and could see no way down. There were sheer cliffs on both sides, and the gorge stretched for miles. This problem was huge, but still, it was only one of many that the young knight had overcome through the past months. Sometimes the problems needed a very gentle approach and some time. Then again there were situations that need a deep commitment to jump in with both feet. This was certainly a problem, but the knight found the means needed to scale the walls.

The next part was the dragon. Our young knight had found his way down the walls and discovered the remains of many a knight. Some of the armour had claw marks from the dragons. They looked like they had been torn open like a can opener wound. But the thing that caught the attention of the young knight was that some of these knights had arrows through their armour. This was most curious as there was no one around here and the only people that ever came here were knights travelling alone. Who could have shot these arrows at the knights? Our young hero decided that these arrows must have been wounds that had been sustained the in fierce battles when trying to get to this place. Still, the young knight thought that he should remember this, as he was always taught to be attentive to his surroundings and the stories that dead men do tell.

The dragon proved vicious and nasty - he had particularly bad breath that smelt of rotting flesh. As the young knight fought the dragon and finally beat it back to the point where he could finally kill the beast he remembered a wise saying that he had once been told by his mentors - "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." He looked into the face of the dragon as it lay battered and helpless. The dragon spoke and made a pact to spare his life, and the knight granted the request. They agreed to allow mutual passage away from this horrible valley where the dragon had been guarding the princess for so long. As a token of his appreciation for sparing his life, the dragon spoke of several different paths that could be taken to the tower; he also guided the young knight past several pitfalls that had been well hidden in order to trap anyone that got past the dragon.

Our hero survived and made it up to the tower. Upon reaching the top he could see the door that leads to the princess room. The lock on the door was very strong, yet with the long years it had rusted to the point where it would simply fall open with the swing of his sword. The young knight took a moment to thank the Lord for all He had brought him through, to thank God for the blessings that had been bestowed upon him, and also to ask for the wisdom to treat this beauty with all the respect and grace that such a princes of the most high deserved.

As the knight prayed he could hear the princess inside praying. She too was speaking to God, asking for the prince of her dreams to come and rescue her. She asked for a man of daring, integrity, honesty, loyalty and many other things. As the young knight heard her pray, he thought back over the adventure he had come on and remembered all the things he had experienced and learned in the process. And while our young prince would never have thought it, he had gathered all the things this princess was asking for. But such things are never seen on the surface, they only ever really get seen on the journey back home when they are together. Such things as honesty and integrity cannot be explained or interviewed for; they are learned, and then seen in the hard times that ensue after. And so both the prince and the princess had grown into things that they were not before they began their adventures.

With a swing of his sword, the prince laid open the door. The princes looked around, saw the prince and then quickly sat down on her stool. She looked at him and asked if he would sit and speak with her a while. The young knight was both relieved and bemused. He thought to himself "Surely this fair maiden knows how hard the journey has been to get her; why is she not overjoyed that she has been rescued?" - but the knight was too tired to argue at that moment. He sat down as the princess began to unravel a long scroll. The princess began to speak and asked the prince many things about himself. As the prince spoke, he could not help but feel that he was being measured against a list. The beauty asked about the experiences he had encountered. These were not always easy for the knight to talk about. Some had been traumatic and broken his heart, others he had never talked about with anyone and had no words to describe what he had experienced. For some reason, this was not acceptable to the young princess, and the knight began to become very worried that something had gone horribly wrong in this room. As he gained his breath from the adventure he had just been on for months, he tried to explain that life was a journey and there were many things that had to be experienced to be fully understood. But the princess did not listen; she continued to look at her list.

Finally the Christian princess looked up and said to the young knight, "You can not take me from this tower. You don't meet the requirements on my list." The young knight stood up and stumbled backwards, completely dumbfounded. He had experienced many surprises in his life, many unexpected battles and twists in the path he had walked, but this was not something he had ever experienced before. As he stammered, trying to ask questions, to try to explain, the princess picked up her bow and drew an arrow. Aiming at the young knight, she said, "Leave me alone and never come back to this tower! I am waiting for my knight to come rescue me. Don't even try anything with me; do you think I don't know how to shoot an arrow? Take a look outside at the many I have wounded, and some even killed!"

As the sun began to set on the story of the young knight, the world kept moving. Perhaps it didn't notice the passing of such a young and vibrant light, or maybe the world had seen it all before. Perhaps the world had stopped caring, because it too had realised that to care is to hurt and with a world so full of people and lives being extinguished before their time, the world would only be a sad place all the time. So maybe the world knew something that we don't. At any rate, we will never know because we can't ask the world what wisdom it had, more is the pity. And so the world went on and time passed. The story of knights kept being told; some of them lived and others died, because not all knights can be winners and get the girl. If they were all winners there would be no adventure, because every adventure must have risk. Why, if it weren't for the risk, there would be no thrill and no story to tell! - And so is the way of life. And along with many a brave and valiant man, our young night was mourned and missed, and then forgotten. But he wasn't dead, at least not yet

http://xkcd.com/627/

"The essence of our effort to see that every child has a chance must be to assure each an equal opportunity, not to become equal, but to become different–to realise whatever unique potential… he or she possesses."

I've been thinking about this a lot and wanting to post something about it, then all of a sudden, tonight I came across this video and I thought the stars had aligned and I had my post. Check out the vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUCfSiMB_2E

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

I love the insight that others have into the world in which they live. I'm into music but I have never thought about looking at birds in the same musical why Jarbas Agnelli does. Apparently Jarbas was looking at this collection of birds and wondered what sort of melody they would make. Se he got this picture and worked up this song.

Talented guy huh.

There is a story in the bible about Davids mightily men. 2 Samuel 23:8-12 lists three of these men. The last guy takes up a fight against the enemy in a Lentil patch. I don't know why it was in a Lentil patch but I suspect that as the army was retreating, he was running back over this lentil patch and something in him clicked. Something in him snapped as he ran over perhapes his own field, or maybe it was his friends or uncles field. At that moment he turned around and said "ok that's enough, I'm not going to let you have this field. Enemy - you've taken to much and you can NOT have this lentil patch" Of course I'm guessing at what went through his head, but something did. I wonder if it was anything like this guy in this video where he gets "mad as hell" about the way the world is going. Check this out:

Mad As Hell! Kinetic Typography from Aaron Leming on Vimeo.

In that video, the guy speaking doesn't really know what the solution is, or even who the battle is against but I do. Ephesians 6:12  tells me that "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The world, the people living all over the earth, are not the enemy. They are people just like you and I who have been sold a lie and they don't know anything else to compare that lie with. They have been sold a lie that says life is all about me and what I can get. that life is about doing what I want and that stuff will solve the gapping hole I feel inside. But that isn't the real truth. It's not the truth that will set them free. The problem is that they haven't ever heard the real truth.

So here is my challenge to you. What is it that makes you mad, and are you willing to take some risks to see that situation made better? Knowing that the world is being sold a lie, like in the first video, and that life = risk, what will actually move you to make a difference? what would it take to see a passion rise inside you until you are mad as hell and will take a risk.

To wrap this up. Jesus says in Matthew 28:20 that He will be with us until the very ends of the earth.

If you weren't sold on question of who you would take a risk for, have a think about Matthew 16:24-25
" 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

For years I have loved the winter because it means snow and the enjoyment of while sliding around on planks. I love winter, the wildness, chaos, and turmoil of it. However, I must confess that over the last couple of years Summer has been creeping up in the ranks and I'm now really looking forward to it. Usually I would tolerate summer while I wait for the winter again. Not that it's hard to tolerate summer really.

I haven't had a chance to get up to the snow much this season so I'm gutted about that and maybe I've forgotten how much I love the snow. Maybe I'm looking forward to this summer because I've had a tough winter. Maybe I'm looking forward to summer because it will be some time off. It actually doesn't matter. I'm just looking forward to the beach.

The fine weather has stared to kick in and the last few days in Wellington have been super. Ahhh Wellington is fantastic on a good day. For Sunday lunch, I sat out on a playing field with a bunch of mates, we had lunch and played a bit of sport - such good times.

I'm looking forward to fires on the beach, sand between my toes, friends and good times. There ain't nothing like talking along the beach in the warm summer air in the mid afternoon. Ohhh take me there now.

Bring on the summer. Good bye winter, I do still love you but bring on the summer.

Date	From	To	Details
3 Aug	Wellington - 6:30pm	Auckland - 7:30pm	Flight #NZ474
3 Aug	Auckland - 9:30pm	Los Angeles - 2:30pm (local time on 3 August)	Flight #NZ2
3 Aug	Los Angeles - 6pm	Chicago (O'Hare) - 1:16am (4 August)	Flight #UA504, UA258
4 Aug	Stay with Kat's sister Naomi and her husband
6 Aug	Move to Conference billets
11 Aug	Chicago (O'Hare) - 10:56am	Los Angeles - 2:40pm	Flight #NW151, NW307
11 Aug	Los Angeles - 9:30pm	Auckland - 5:25am (local time on 13 August)	Flight #NZ1
13 Aug	Auckland - 7am	Wellington - 8am	Flight #NZ405

I'm happy to admit that I'm a bit of a geek and enjoy playing around with computers and making them cooler, better, faster but my MacBook is such a joy and works so blinking well that I don't need to do anything to it.

It may seem obvious, but I'll say it anway - my MacBook is where my business really exists. All my work is on my laptop (and backed up a few places) and also in my head. I don't have an office, I have a MacBook. I work from where ever this little puppy is and I find it very hard to do much without it.

Coffee is the magical substance that doesn't really keep me up but makes me feel safe and happy all the same. I can drink it and then fall asleep straight away and I love drinking it anytime of the day or night. I can drink 9 cups and not get the shakes. I'm not totally sure what place coffee plays in my work but it's always good to have a hot cup and I'm sure it makes me more productive.

Ahhhh now this is my most favourite toy at the moment. I bought a Wacom Bamboo pen tablet. These suckers are like drawing pads for your computer. Plug it in and you can use the pen to control the mouse pointer. It gives you all the precise control of a pen and you can draw sooo much better with it. I love this gadget so much that it travels around with me more than my MacBook does. I take this to every computer I use because it's so cool.

I find my little pen tablet is much faster than a mouse and more acurate. I can work faster, smoother, and better with it. Well that's what I keep telling myselft anyway. I've never tried to prove this.

Wireless mouse

I'm all about seizing the moment. Capri diem and all that. Near where I live there is this message sprayed on a wall. I walk past it nearly every day. When it first arrived I had a good laugh to myself and thought "Yeah man, take your shot - go hard or go home". Recently I've been thinking more about this message and I'm no longer sure I think its a good message to tell people. I'm going to do my best to explain why but please remember that I do tend to seize the moment and don't often take the advice I'm about to spell out.

I think this message is rather selfish and superficial . It presumes that she might not like you enough to see you again so you should get all you can right now. It seems to put everything back on the guy and says to him "dude, this is your one and only chance, don't blow it cause you might never get another". When it comes to relationships, I think this is bad advice. Yes i know, I haven't always taken or believed this but I'm starting to the more I walk past this message on the wall.

The view this message paints of relationships isn't one of building trust and getting to know someone over time. It sends a message of 'get while the gettin's good'. How is that anyway to start a relationship? that's how people end up having a child with someone they don't even know or want to be attached to. Where is the respect and value shown to the other person, girl in this case?

If you were out with a girl and you didn't know if she liked you or if the night had gone well. I wouldn't advise anyone to just try kiss her anyway. You are likely to freak her out and then she really won't call you. Taking time to develop a relationship is never a bad idea. If she doesn't want to be with you, that's ok, maybe a little painful but in the end you don't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you either.

The flaw in this message is that it's all about the guy and the short term goal. It's not about building a long term trusting relationship which I dare say is what we do actually want.

Why do we think that we have to take hold of everything right now? why does that message resonate with us so much? I understand that it's part of the human condition to want everything now but why is that? I'm going to ask God about that when I get there.

The qualification means that I sat a test and have proved I can accurately and quickly ascertain what is happening on a website and can recommend strategies to improve the performance of a website.

So why not recommend to your organisation that you get your website looked at to make sure it's really doing what it should? Get in touch at www.leftfieldinteractive.com and lets see if we can't make your website work harder for you.

Do you know what's really happening on your organisations website? Why not find out. Get in touch with me at www.leftfieldinteractive.com

I noticed a neat little feature called 'random' signature. This seems strange, great, odd, and fun all at the same time. I wonder what sort of 'random' signature it would make for me? Maybe one time I would be Barack Obama, then another time I would be Mickey Mouse. Perhaps I might be a competitors email signature block. You could have all sorts of fun with this!

I'm not sure what the developer was thinking when they put this feature in but it's funny all the same. Yay for people just doing what they are told and adding functionality.

Ok but to seriously think about what this would be used for, lets say I have a few different email addresses and each has it's own signature relevant to the email. I would be able to set up multiple signature blocks and pick which one to put on the email I was sending.

Lets say the 'random' function picks one of my email signatures and adds it to my email. How the heck does that help? If I'm writing a business email and it adds my personal email signature with the inappropriate for business tag line of 'Graciously sent from Lord Sanders'  (which is just a silly line for a laugh) how would that go down? The CEO gets my pitch document with some stupid signature? I'm sure that will go over well.

So how the heck does the 'random' signature function work? Beats me hahaha but it's great all the same. I'm yet to use it for anything.

Have you done something similar or been on thre receiving end?

Since tourists have stared to visit the area, the younger girls have seen that many rich people don't have long hair and have decided to break with tradition and cut their hair because they no longer believe it holds the power of life. I'm not sure what I think about it all. On one hand it's good that they are getting exposure to the world and seeing new ideas and considering them. On the other hand they are bleeding their culture right out in one generation. There will be no long haired woman for the world to see in 20 years time.

The area has a road but it's like a nature reserve or something so we have to get off our bus and board shuttle busses. Our guide warned us about the road saying it's skinny and sometimes people scream while traveling on it. I was keen and a little worried at the same time. Having seen how people drive around China I can be sure they scream for a good reason. The average driving in China would make any NZer scared, so if this road is making the locals scared, them I'm worried hahaha. I was a little let down that only one girl screamed on the way up, and a couple put on their belts (which the Chinese never do). I was hoping for a little more excitement but never mind.

The village below the terraces was great. They have a speciality food which is cooked in bamboo. You can get bamboo rice, bamboo chicken, or bamboo mouse. The later was interesting. We saw a few of the nice cook and for sale on the way to a restaurant on the walk up and they are large mice. I'd say they were more like decent sided rats and that was after they were cooked. I suspect they are very large haha. I wasn't brave enough to eat the bamboo mouse so I just had bamboo rice. It was stunning. I'm totally going to try and cook this when I get home. They just use green bamboo and cook it in an open fire.

After lunch we headed up the to the terraces. Here are a few pics in order of how I took them. Check out my flickr for all the photos.

This is the thinking panda pose

This dozing lad is risking a rude awakening I think

Can someone tell me what the Pandas below are up to? I can't translate the text ;-)

All the photos you need to see are being uploaded to Flickr. I've just added a heap. Check it out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/haydsofnz/

Poststed from the NZ Hearld

Kiwi men jump up the charts in China

New Zealand men have become the third most sought-after foreign husbands by Chinese women, a survey found.

A nationwide survey by the Chinese matchmaking agency hongniang.com shows that Chinese women considering foreign husbands now prefer men in countries which are not the wealthiest, but are less likely to be hit by the financial crisis.

The free-spending culture in rich societies like the United States is a cause for concern in these troubled times, and the respondents said they found New Zealand men to be less extravagant.

But the overall perception that foreign husbands are irresponsible in money management has also made them less attractive to women looking for security and stability.

Of the 4377 Chinese women polled between December and last month, only 16.8 per cent said "yes" to the idea of marrying a foreigner - a big fall from the 42.5 per cent of 6594 willing to marry foreign men in a similar survey done last September.

New Zealand, which didn't make the top eight last year, came third - behind Canada and top-of-the-chart Australia.

The United States fell from second before the crisis to fifth, and Japan, which was once fifth, fell off the list altogether.

A total of 68 per cent of the respondents indicated a preference for a local Chinese husband compared with 58 per cent in the previous survey.

The English-language China Daily said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers last September was the cause for this change of heart.

"This shows that with the impact of the financial crisis, women are more prudent in choosing a foreign partner, and the spending culture in Western countries worries them," said Fang Fang, a Hongniang agency spokesman.

"To a Chinese woman, a solid bank account promises real security, not an array of credit cards and easy loans - a belief shared too by most Chinese men," Ms Fang said in a CN Radio interview.

She said Chinese women also felt foreign husbands lacked family attachment, which they believed to be one of the main reasons for marriages failing.

Most popular foreign husbands among Chinese women:

1 Australia
2 Canada
3 New Zealand
4 Singapore
5 United States
6 South Korea
7 France
8 Netherlands

Giant statue of Chairman Mao at the Beijing Military museum

The Great Wall of China was...well...great! actually is was jolly fantastic. We had a mission trying to get out to the bus to even get out there. The hawkers and hustlers did a brilliant number on us. When we were walking over towards the bus stop, someone in a vaguely official looking uniform asked if we were going to the Great Wall, we said yes, he told us the bus leaves from here and they are just waiting on a few more people and then the bus will roll up and get us. The truth was that the bus didn't come past that way and they just wanted us to wait and wait until we were so feed up of waiting for the bus we would use their personal cars at really high rates. We figured out the plan sooner than they liked and we left. They followed us and started really hassling John. We got out our cameras and they all fled really fast. Evidently these ones don't like having their picture taken hahaha.

So an hour bus trip and we arrived at the Great Wall. It's not as big as I imagined it to be but then it's still HUGE. It's as tall as I expected but not as wide. Here are a few shots

Lots more photos from the whole day and all other days on my flickr - check it out

The Forbidden City is where the Emperors of China lived from about 1400 - 1911. It's a beautiful place full of strict tradition and myths. It's a wonderful testimony to history and culture. The things that happened in this place were so well tuned and planned it amazed me. I could never be an ancient Emperor because everything was so well controlled and ordered. I would just go crazy.

Lots more photos from the whole day and all other days on my flickr - check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqBsKA9kVd4 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4yGA8tRun8 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEMdA4A-km8 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbUy7v7FVIA  

Blue man also appeared inside the theme park. Kind of strange that he's here but oh well. Check him out 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIPaU5bxADM

http://www.youtube.com/Haydenofnz

Our hotel room in Shanghai is a lot bigger than in Hong Kong - I'm a very happy lad about that. The toilet and shower are made from opaque glass that you can mostly see through. Luckily the toilt and shower are seperated from the bedroom by another opaque frosted glass wall and a curtain. It's a nice room to stay in though and we have free internet. We started out in room 8333 and while checking out the room we found the cups hadn't been cleaned for a long time as there was half a mug of very old coffee with mold growing on top, so they moved us to room 8332 which was nice but the internet kept stopping working. Not usually a problem acept I have to work and need the internet to do so. They have moved us back to 8333. Yay for playing ping pong with our rooms. They are very kind about it all.

Sam and I have had a good time trying to be independant of John. We are trying our best to buy things and get around without needing John to interperat for us.

We checked out a couple of cool places today. A huge computer shopping market; this was five floors high and packed full of hundereds of small shops selling anything you can think of. This was totally focused on computers. It wasn't a general electronics market. The second market was a cell phone market that was six floors high. Now this place was awesome. Every phone and every state of legit and illigit products. Some were the real deal and cost a lot, others were second hand, some where stolen, and then there were the copies in all their different forms - high and low quality. I nearly bought an iPhone but couldn't get the guy to come down enough. Still they are cheaper than normal but I wanted one for about $400 NZD and couldn't seem to get them below $900 NZD. I had a great time bartering with everyone. I had some great deals going but didn't buy any in the end. I might do later on. It's only the start of our trip so I'm not in any rush.

I’ve just slept for 12 hours straight. We got in to Hong Kong at about 6:30pm local time, made it to our hotel at 7:30pm. I lay down for a quick kip while John sorted his cell phone and I woke up the next day at 8pm. I was more tired than I thought. The last week before I left was a little exhausting.

This is the first full day of our trip. We headed out for breakfast and John found some local place which was full of people so we thought that was a safe bet. This place cracked me up. You don’t get a table to yourself in this place. There are large round tables that seat about eight people and you are directed to just sit down at anyone with the strangers already there. Everyone was Chinese, which is to be expected, and they all took a good look at the hulking great white guy with blonde hair who squeezed into their morning world.

The food was great. I’m keen on trying as much new and different stuff as I can; however, I figured that playing it safe for my first meal might be a good idea. John ordered some local cuisine that I would probably have tried in NZ at some stage. Things like meatballs, shrimp dumplings, chicken and rice soup. It was very nice and I managed to eat everything with chopsticks – I was stoked. I really don’t want to be a tourist if I can help it. I want to experience China the local way as much as possible. I hate the idea of going to a foreign country and making them bend to my western European way e.g. asking for a knife and fork because I can’t use chopsticks.  John is great. I’m very blessed to be travelling with a Chinese national.

Oh I haven’t said already that I have no idea what the deal is with tipping people over here. The porter took our bags to our room last night and then hung around in the room for a moment and slowly headed towards the door. Neither John nor I had any idea if we should tip him or how much. We still aren’t sure.

After the mornings adventures we headed over to meet up with Sam, one of the other three guys I’m travelling with. There will be Sam, Sinclair, John, and I on this trip for most of the time. Sam and Sinclair each arrive separately and leave separately. We meet up with Sinclair in Shanghai on 17 March.

Sam’s hotel is tiny. I thought ours was bad but Sam’s was amazing. Trying to find the door to his hotel was hard enough. I’m not sure this picture will give you a great idea but it’s just a small door in the side of what looks like a closed shop. I was expecting a lobby with a porter etc but not this place

The great thing about Sam’s hotel was free wireless Internet.  I gave Mum and Dad a call from Skype. Mum wanted to know if I was safe – how cute of her. I wonder what she was going to do if I wasn’t? Maybe she will comment if you reads this.

The plan for today is to travel to the border of Hong Kong province and cross over into main land China. We essentially travelled from one end of the line to the other but couldn’t go on one train all the way; so we would travel six stops, get off, hope on the next train on the other side of the platform which was heading the same direction as the train we were on, and then travel another six stops and do it all again. The train ride was easy and uneventful. The only things I’ve round about China and now the train system is it has been designed for small people with small bags. My large suitcase doesn’t fit through the turnstiles where you swipe to get into the train stations. If you’ve been to London or on a subway you will know what I’m talking about.

At the end of the train ride we end up at customs. John has to go through a seperate area for Chinese nationals who are just visiting China and this leaves Sam and I to get through by ourselves. Not an issue really apart from the fact that we can’t read or speak Chinese and that makes it a little hard trying to figure out which one of the 70 aisles we should line up at. They are all colour coded so we just picked a colour and followed that all the way though. It was a good plan and worked well.

Once we got through customs and found John we were out into the big wide world of main land China. Immediately some guy comes up and starts talking to John and showing him a card, which I think, was a taxi drivers license. John obviously was not impressed as he flagged the guy away. The guy didn’t leave and started to walk next to john and tapping him on the shoulder. I could tell John wasn’t impressed and wasn’t going to shake the guy very well. These guys are very pushy. I’ve encountered it before in Africa. They mean well and just don’t leave you alone. I thought this was a good opportunity to use the skills God blessed me with – a loud voice and a direct spirit. So in a loud clear Hayden type voice I said ‘go away’ several people around us looked over and the guy hassling john looked a little shocked. He left very quickly hahahaha. John appreciated the help.

The next part isn’t nearly as exciting. At this point we are in a border city called Shen Zhen. We jump into the airport bus, drive 45mins to the airport, get out and check into our flight for Shanghai.

We had a little time to kill before we had to board and we were all hungry. KFC was the closest place that looked safe. The funniest part was not being able to figure out how to order what we wanted. Obviously all the menus are in Chinese so I have no idea what I’m trying to order. I can’t even tell the burgers from the drinks. Nothing is called the same over here. I did find this menu but I’ll be dammed if I know what to say to order something from it hahaha. They don’t look like what we have at home so I don’t even know what I’m getting. It was a fun little adventure.

I’m sitting on the plane to Shanghai writing this post. We have just been served our airline food. Check this out; it’s just not as good as First Class food from Qantas

They really know how to package food. I couldn’t get my jelly open. When I finally did, or when John got it open for me – thanks John, I couldn’t get my fork into it hahaha. The jelly was so tough I couldn’t cut it. John though it was rather funny so took this pic.

I'm going to post a few of these photos in blogs but not all of them. So I'm set up a flickr so you can see all the photos I've taken. Check this out for all the photos and some brief descriptions http://www.flickr.com/photos/36369308@N06/

All times are for the country listed above it

I don’t really know the three guys all that well. They seem like good lads. We all have a mutual friend and he is pulling the whole trip together so I’ve meet them through him and only hung out while we prep travel plans.

Travel vaccinations are a bit of a bummer because they are so jolly expensive. You have to pay so many people just to get your shots and then you still have to pay for the shots. I didn’t want to see the travel doctor because the consultation is so high, but by the time I’ve seen my doctor, he’s done his blood checks, and then I go back to see his nurse who will actually give me the shots; it would have been cheaper to see the travel doctor. Trap for young players I think.

Getting a visa for China is another interesting thing. It doesn’t take long, four days, but they do want to know a heap about where you are going, when, with who, and why. I guess they are a little nervous about people going to China? I’m not sure why they want to know so much. Maybe it’s incase something happens to me while I’m there and they want to know where I should have been and what I should have been doing so they know where to look? Maybe they are going to give me good travel advice about better places to see or things to do while in each city? That could be cool.

I’ll be in China for about three weeks. We travel around eight different cities while there so it will be a bit hectic – just they way I like it.

Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. It must really hurt. I wish I didn’t know the pain and could only say “that must suck” but I do know that pain… I really do know…

I’m sorry. I saw you try so hard. I watched you bounce for joy when you caught a glimpse, when you sat in the Sun and dreamed. Hearing your dreams was so exciting for me. It actually made me believe that something great might happen for you. I could almost believe and live them out with you. The passion you had for those dreams made me want to dream along the same lines. Unfortunately for me, I’m not as good at dreaming or losing myself as you are.

There was something so unique about the passion and enthusiasm you have. It’s inspiring to me. It’s encouraging to know there is still the ability in the world to dream like that.

After you have offered me such hope, encouragement, and support now it’s time for me to offer you some support. I hear how broken you are about all this. I guess it’s not an option you ever really expected to happen. I heard you talk as if there was more than just a chance, like it was all going to come right in the end. And I believe it will all come right in the end, but not like you thought it would. I guess the world has change a bit for you today and it wont be the same for a long time. It seems like the light has faded and everyone has gone home. But I promise you that they are all still there, just a little quiet right now. The world is still full of colour but it is just a little dimmer right now and that’s ok. Just let the world be for the moment – quiet, still, and dim. It’s ok to be that way for a little while.

Yes the world isn’t a fun place anymore, well at the moment at least. I feel your pain and understand completely that you don’t want to do anything or ever try again. And you know that I understand, not just sympathise. So here is my advice – take the time you need to just let the twilight do its thing. Take some time and rest in the still and quiet. Go take a walk beside a still lake and lie down in the long grass. Take some time to let it all out and come to terms with what has happened. Then you MUST move on again. It’s ok to take some time and rest but you cannot build a house there. You MUST put a time limit on this season and move off to the next season in time. I’m not saying you have to rush through, just take your time and get it all out of your system. The twilight is a good thing but it doesn’t and shouldn’t last forever.

That’s about all I have to say.

“Why is it that people always ask ‘what do you do’ when they first meet someone? Why don’t they ask about who that person actually is rather than just what they do

I thought that was a good point. Why do we evaluate people based on what they do rather than who they are? I guess it’s because it’s easier to evaluate where someone fits in the world and then that gives us a reference point to start a relationship. Once we know what sort of ground we are both standing on, only then can be go for a walk as such

“Ummm… what do you want to know?

I could ask them to “tell me about yourself” and see where that goes. Actually that might work well because then they get the chance to say what ever they would like me to know about them first

My Mum isn't well at the moment but that's not really news to anyone, or maybe it is. Depends on who reads this blog, I'm not sure anyone does these days which is partly why I'm going to post it here. Funny posting a public blog that you don't expect people to read. It's like posting into the abyss of cyberspace. Out it goes and hangs on the edge, within reach but facing out. Maybe I feel the same way and that's why I feel compelled to post it. Agh well on with the real blog…

Sometimes I feel like people want me to be sad. They just look and wait for something to happen. They ask the same question all the time "How's your Mum doing, how are you doing?" I actually don't have an answer for that question. Not because I don't have feelings but…I don't know… life goes on I guess. To me, it's like asking "How was breathing today…" and I think to myself "Well shucks it was fine, I didn't think about it". Maybe that's not the right thing to think. Who knows.

But what do I actually think about it. Does it bother me that Mum has a life threatening illness? Am I bothered that I'm not there to help? Well yeah it does a bit but not as much as it did when Dad was sick with his mystery illness (which is all fine now and they found out what it was). So here is how I'm honestly, and I really mean honestly thinking about it. I believe that this is just a small issue and I have a big God. I believe that he is in control and that He cares and loves my Mum more than anyone could. I believe that He is feeling the pain that Mum and Dad are, He understands my sisters fear and he grieves for us all in that way. BUT I don't believe that God is scared, He's not worried, He's not even concerned. My God knows the deal and He's on Mums side more than anyone can be. He loves Mum and He's not scared or fearful. God is happily in control and I really believe that He is HAPPILY IN CONTROL. How could I not believe that when the Bible is so full of His provision, promises, peace and so many other things.

I believe God and His word. He has always been faithful to me and my family. Honestly I haven't even considered doubting Him. There is nothing to doubt. God is in control and He will have his way when it's all said and done. And there is no one better to be in control and having His way. I mean seriously who else could you possibly want in control or this? George Bush? Helen Clarke? Elvis? Hahahaha.

The one thing that does get to me is when people ask how I'm doing, and I say fine cause God's got it. And they say "wow you sound so upbeat about it all" Heck what do you expect from me? Do you expect me to change my tune because something dumb happened? Do you really think that I'm just faking this belief in God thing? Are you all just waiting for something bad to happen so I can throw in the towel and you can say "I knew it, he didn't really believe it all" Well I have sent his Son Jesus Christ to earth so that I could be saved and have a personal one-to-one relationship with Him. I believe in His word the Bible and I believe what it says about his nature being caring and loving. I believe that He is worthy and trustworthy. And that all means that I believe and live Ps 118:24 "This is the day that they Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it"

2009 feels good so far. It’s like a big rolling sea but there are no white caps right now. I don’t feel like I can control where my boat is going right now; I’m not concerned about it though. I’m rolling on the swells and keeping an eye out for what might be on the way – good or otherwise.