Glen Of Scotland

Getting Along

A couple of weeks ago we had the video of the cat and the dolphins, now we have more from the nature world of our creatures getting along with each other, co existing, being interested, being respectful. I wonder if this will lead to changes in households and the halls of power.

First up we have a dog and a seal, you can see more photos here

Next we have a cat and a mouse, more photos here:

Finally, maybe the cutest one, a gorilla and a duckling, more here

It's just not fair!

How often do you hear or say those words! I hear them a lot and as a kid I used them a lot and as I reflect back on those times I can simplify the whole thing down to this.

Someone else got what I wanted before I did or some variation of that.

As a kid it's the things like who goes first in a game or gets to sit in the front seat of the car or gets to be the one to do something with mom or dad. I'm sure that brings back a few memories.

I didn't like it one bit and I made it known, using those famous words, that's not fair. I was resentful, jealous at times, vindictive and all those other things we do as kids (and sometimes as adults) when that happens.

I didn't realize at the time, having that reaction actually put me further away from getting what it was I wanted. In effect I lost out twice. Had my reaction been just a quick disappointment, then I would have got what I wanted faster even against the odds. Of course that doesn't change the facts that I still lost out on whatever I wanted, someone else still got it before I did.

We don't realize at the time that there will always be other moments, more things that we want. It's just that we have very narrow vision in the moment, when a broader vision is needed.

When things have settled a bit, parents can remind their kids when they were first in the past and how they will be first again, or get what they want again even bringing stories from their own past to demonstrate that.

As adults, it will be helpful to keep that in mind, at work with promotions and pay raises and in the current political, tax and other things going on around the world.

How did you react when you said these words, it's just not fair? How did it help or hurt you? Are you still acting that way today? As adults we may have changed those words to "that's not right"

 

Freedom

A few months ago a pride of 8 lions were rescued from Bolivia, where they had been circus lions and had been living in cramped horrible conditions. They  were brought to the Wild Animal Sanctuary just outside Denver, which is on my list of places still to visit.

Last week they experienced for the first time, large open space, grass and no doubt the feeling of freedom. You can see more of the photos here and read the story here. You can read more about the sanctuary here.

Have you become your story?

I recently met with a friend who I hadn't seen in over 10 years, it was good to catch up in person and it was quite informative.

This person has a very good job with a good income and is considered successful.

Yet the person I met, was unhappy, complaining, very bitter and was talking a lot about stuff that happened years ago that was still causing offense. The person told story after story about all the drama and turmoil in great detail over a period of several hours. I made my usual attempt to divert the focus away to what was going well and that was not working, I even attempted to illustrate how drama leads to more drama, that was not working either.

This person had become their story and it was not pretty.

It could be argued that if they are doing well financially these stories are not having much effect and on the surface that might be true. However part of the story was also the sleeping pills, anti-depressants and other drugs and alcohol that were taking their effect on the body and those effects were very noticeable.

There was no getting through to this person, when people are like that, they often can't hear what is being said and it often takes hitting rock bottom before they can. I just planted some seeds and hopefully some will take some root in the future.

It's an opportunity though to check in and see if you have become your story, what do you talk about when you are with your friends? Do you let them share or ask them to share what they are doing and what are they talking about?

 

Earth Day 2011

Earth day is next week  on the 22nd, and Disney will be releasing another movie to celebrate, this one is called African cats. You can view the preview here, I'm sure it will be enough for you to want to see the movie next week.

Also the Discovery Channel and the BBC have just started showing a series called Human Planet, there are a number of great video clips you can view at each web site.

While there are different problems in different parts of the world at the moment, these clips are a good reminder there is still more going well than not. What is going well is just so awesome. As another example take a look at this clip of a cat and dolphins, yes you read that correctly.

Fresh Look

Many people use spring as an opportunity to do some spring cleaning, I thinks it's a great time to take a fresh look at other aspects of your life too especially in light of recent events and developments.

Once again there has been another major natural event, the earthquake in Japan and again complaints about slow aid and assistance efforts by the authorities. (Did you see how quickly that road was rebuilt!) It doesn't matter the country, there is always some different wrinkle to these natural events that slows relief efforts. Take a fresh look at how you can help yourself should a natural event hit your area. Granted when a tsunami hits like that, there is not much you can do, for other events though there is often more warning. Where will you go, what will you eat and drink, what will you bring, what is your plan?

Several countries, states and even Harvard are finding out that their calculations for the costs of retiree health care and pension costs have been wrong resulting in significant underfunding. It's too early to say how this will all play out.

It might be prudent to check your own calculations and take a fresh look at things so you can make adjstments now.

Anything else worth taking a fresh look at?

Spring is here

In some places it might not feel like spring, we had spring, summer and winter all in a 24 hour period at the weekend. The grass is turning green, blossoms are out, birds are singing, the bears are coming out of hibernation and the spring lambs are being born. It's good to be alive, good to know nature is still functioning well and unpredictable.

Bears in Steamboat Springs

Spring Lambs in England

Today

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.

Today

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.