Don’t Count the Days, Make the Days Count!!!

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Rod's World

I just spent the weekend crewing on The Essence School’s Warrior Rising retreat. It was excellent: Living As Essence.

I walked into an initiation without hearing about the intent of it as I was in the kitchen, I later found out it was Pain to Power. The premise was you paired up with someone and shared the essence that empowered your life force and of they saw you were not present to it they pushed you to the extent you had agreed to on a scale from zero to ten, zero being no touch and ten being full-on. I chose five as I felt that was about what I could take and deliver from my 65-year-old body. I started with the essence of Resilience and with each blow got to see that there was more to it, by the end it had become: Resilience, Power, Unstoppability and Strength. During another exercise, it morphed into Unstoppable Resilience.

There are simple truths we sometimes misinterpret as uncalled for pain, here they are:

1. The route to your destination is never a straight one – We take questionable turns and get lost.

2. Real friends won’t ask you to changes who you are – The right people for you will love all the things about you that the wrong people are intimidated by, and they will empower you in them.

3. Cheating is a choice, not a mistake, and not an excuse – They trusted you much more that you deserve.

4. The past can’t hurt you anymore – not unless you let it – Forgive and move on.

5. Adversity will come to every person at some point – You can’t change the hand you were dealt, just how you play it.

6. Sometimes things fall apart so better things can fall together – When things fall apart, consider the possibility that life knocked it down on purpose.

7. Someone else doesn’t have to be wrong for you to be right – Keep an open mind. The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you didn’t know.

8. Everything has just been the way it needed to be – In life, we do lots of things. All of these things, positive and negative have taught us important lessons.

9. Silence is often the loudest cry – Sometimes what a person needs most is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

10. The difference between where you are and where you want to be is what you do – What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.

11. It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not – Judging yourself is not the same as boing honest with yourself.

12. Right Now is the only moment guaranteed to you – Smile through the hard times, even though it doesn’t seem to get any better.

There should be some great quotes on overcoming pains, lets have a look:

1. Back to the Ancient Roman Empire for this one, The first major Roman poet to begin his career during the reign of Augustus, Ovid is today best known for the Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria (“The Art of Love”) and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology.

2. We don’t use the ordinary moments of our days to tell as dinner stories when we overcame something: Moments.

3. And stronger!!!

4. A classic of the pain to power genre: I Want You To Hit Me.

5. Sing the Light Electric, free yourself.

6. Push me harder from your friendship: I Stand Alone.

7. Deaf and blind from the age of 19 months, Helen Keller definitely has the right to speak about this. She was a suffragette, pacifist, radical socialist, and a birth control supporter.

8. It is all fuel: Blank Space.

9. It never ever lasts forever.

10. Insert your word in this for God, Gaia, The Universe, Allah, The Buddha whatever takes your fancy: Bring Me To Life.

11. In the overcoming of it, there lies the growth.

12. For Joy, insert Power: Roar.

13. Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer, and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the historical leading figures of the Romantic movement of his era.

14. There’s a fine line between…: Pleasure and Pain.

15. And our final powerful lesson for today comes from Private Benjamin, AKA actress Goldie Hawn.

So just live, make mistakes, make memories, and take chances. That is how I am spreading my ethos around the planet, if you need a reminder it is Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.

The playlist for today is kickass rock and pop divas, from zero to ten in styles. We begin with Tove Lo, some Spoken word from The Fight Club, then we rock out with Godsmack. Taylor Swift takes us back to the world of pop. Evanescence then powers it back up. Penultimate is more pop from Kate Perry. We finish with one of my favourite Aussie rock anthems by the Diviynls: Don’t count the days, make the days count.

Remember you can get my blogs direct to your email by registering on the right-hand side of my page. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

You will be Somebody’s Ancestor – Act Accordingly!!!

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Rod's World

Interculturalism refers to support for cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures. Interculturalism involves moving beyond mere passive acceptance of a multicultural fact of multiple cultures effectively existing in a society and instead promotes dialogue and interaction between cultures.

“Multiculturalism” is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious, or cultural groups and is manifested in customary behaviours, cultural assumptions and values, patterns of thinking, and communicative styles.

Where I work, The Darebin Intercultural Centre in Preston, Australia, the first ethos was chosen by the Darebin Council specifically because multiculturalism was being given a bad name in the media because of supposed self-segregation of cultures creating cultural ghettos, this was not necessarily true but mainstream media have never let that get in the way of a news story that sells papers or attracts viewers.

This is where I created my life ethos: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included and my Facebook Group, Interculturalism from, the group’s purpose is to spread the possibility of dialogue between cultures and positive examples of this: You can join here.

How do we create this in our lives, here are a few ways to give it a go suggested by my friend Marc Chernoff:

1. Never let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.

2. Tell the negativity committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up.

3. Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.

4. You look the best when you wear your smile. There is no beauty like the one that comes from inside you.

5. Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting. It means you choose happiness over the hurt.

6. Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness.

7. Someone else is happy with far less than what you have.

8. You are always free to do something that makes you smile.

9. Talk about your blessings more than you talk about your problems.

10, Stop looking at what you have lost, so you can see what you have.

11. Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

12. if you don’t like something, change it. if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.

13. Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.

14. The more you love your decisions, the less you need others to love them.

15. A bad attitude is like a flat tire, you can’t get very far until you change it.

16. Just because it doesn’t last forever, doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth your while.

So what has the world said about the melding of cultures, here are a few of my favourite things:

1, Nelson and I have the same dream.

2. Parenthood 101: Love Liberates.

3. 7 Billion unique personalities, all living on the same planet, all human beings.

4. They say the quickest way to cure racism, is to travel. You quickly realise that we all have one commonality, our humanness: Wide Open Road.

5. Catherine said: In today’s society, change is constant. Although change has always occurred in every society, today it is much more rapid, due to technological advancements and a global market.

If you resist change, you will face challenges on a daily basis. If you consciously refocus your attitude to see the benefits of change, your outlook becomes positive and life becomes easier.

6. There is no planet B, we need to remember that and work together as one human race: Let’s Work Together.

7. Not just to get the 9 to 5 drone job.

8. God, Gaia, Buddha, Allah: They did not take sides, their language was universal love: One Love.

9. Perhaps it would have been better if we were all born deaf and dumb?

10. This is powerful: Human.

11. If a Nobel Prize winner can do it, we can as well.

12. In April 2009, Entertainment Weekly listed Spencer as among its “25 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood.” Was she being funny when she made this statement?: Labels.

13. Doe Zantamata is an author, artist, and photographer. In addition to the Happiness in Your Life book series, she also creates and designs poster books of different titles, including “Happy By Nature,” “Old Children, A Book for “Adults”,” and others. Doe has been writing since before she could tie her shoes.

14. Says the man who transformed the ugliest example of racial bigotry on the planet: Nelson Mandela.

15. Our final lesson, each person is unique, but they are still a person. Have a chat and find out about them, anything else is a judgement.

To me, curiosity about each other promotes dialogue and interaction between cultures. the quote: Become friends with people who aren’t your own age, Hang out with people whose first language isn’t the same as yours, Get to know someone who doesn’t come from your social class, This is how you get to see and know the world, this is how you grow sums it up pretty well for me. I’m going to give more time to spreading Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included in 2020, hence this blog.

We begin today’s playlist with Spoken Word by the majestic Maya Angelou, then an iconic Aussie band, The Triffids. Back to the Woodstock generation next, with Canned Heat. A medley from Bob Marley sends Love out into the Universe. Rag and Bone Man points out next what it is to be Human. Pop Diva time with Rachel Platten and we finish with The Specials: You will be Somebody’s Ancestor – Act Accordingly!!!

Until we meet again across the airwaves, my dear friends.

First You Dream, Then You Do!!!

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Rod's World

Had a busy weekend, attended a potluck 40th Friday evening, a commitment ceremony Saturday, and a Warrior of Love training day Sunday. This gave me a lot to choose from to write about. I have chosen to write about the growth conversation I had with a vital young thing at the potluck. She seemed to just be reaching out to begin her growth adventure but was not sure what direction to take. I gave her some of my worldly advice and left her with that. I suggested that life was about taking chances and seeing what worked out for her.

My friend Marc says the following: Life is about taking chances. It’s about doing something you initially thought you could never do. It’s about being a little bit crazy. following your heart, and not worrying about every detail of what everyone else thinks. And above all, it’s about learning to love who you are and what you have.

Here are his 12 things to start caring about on your journey:

Start caring about your own happiness – It’s important to make people happy, but you have to start with yourself.
Start caring about your goals and dreams – If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders.
Start caring about how you invest your time every day – There might not be a tomorrow, not for everyone.
Start caring about how you think and what you think about – In your quiet moments, what do you think about?
Start caring about how you treat yourself – Your relationship with yourself is the closest and most important relationship you will ever have.
Start caring about how you treat others – Live so that when the people around you think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.
Start caring about how others treat you – Choose your relationships wisely.
Start caring about your health – Exercise to be fit, not skinny.
Start caring about your education and personal growth – Achieving higher consciousness comes from your commitment to personal growth.
Start caring about doing the best YOU can – Don’t worry about what others are doing better than you.
Start caring about all the wonderful things you have right now – Learn to appreciate the things you have before time forces you to appreciate the things you once had.
Start caring about this moment we call ‘life’ – This moment is your life, don’t miss it.

So what have people said about their growth paths over the centuries, lets have a look:

1. This is when fear is a positive in your life.

2. Boats are not built to stay in safe harbours, neither are you: Around The World.

3. Audrey was much more than just a great actress, In December 1992, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

4. Best known for his hierarchy of needs, Abraham Maslow calls out for us to choose growth and overcoming fear by moving forward again and again: Ours.

5. The knot explains a lot.

6. Will people come on aboard your form of contagious?: Fight Song.

7. We go back to the 18th Century for this powerful insight from the third POTUS.

8. How is your journey unfolding, don’t give your dreams up: Don’t Stop Believing.

9. A great word that hangs out with I’m Possible.

10. There are several quotes that say this, Boom!: To Live And Die In LA.

11. Its an inner and outer journey.

12. You can’t stay there anymore: Time to Grow.

13. Breathwork is very supportive on the journey I have found.

14. Our second POTUS for today’s blog: Happy Birthday, Mr President.

15. And for our final lesson, we hear from one of the world’s most powerful women . Ginni Rometty’s tenure as IBM’s CEO has been marked by noteworthy awards, including by Bloomberg’s 50 Most Influential People in the World, Fortune’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business”, Time‘s 20 Most Important People in Tech and Forbes’ America’s Top 50 Women In Tech.

Unfortunately, sometimes, just before you take your first step on the journey to pursue your dreams, people around you, even the ones who deeply care for you, will give you awful advice. It’s not because they have evil intentions. It’s because they don’t understand the big picture – what your dreams, passions and life goals mean to you. They don’t understand that, to you, the reward is worth the risk. Enjoy the Journey.

So as Steve Jobs said ” Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living within the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Today’s playlist features rock bands, pop divas and rap stars. We begin with The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, then Taylor Swift and her fellow pop diva Rachel Platten. Journey next then over to rap land with Tupac and Lemar. We finish with Marilyn Monroe: First You Dream, Then You Do.

I was checking my stats recently, I spread my ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included across 128 countries last year. I’m on a strong growth pattern to having it being the world paradigm. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

Sometimes You Have To Fight For The Things!!!

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Rod's World

The end of a decade, you have done some amazing things, you have done some stupid things and you have done a lot of basic, ordinary things. What would you like to have said to your younger self if you could travel back in time to give yourself some advice about life?

Here is a list by my friend Marc Chernoff called Lessons Life Taught Us that will make you think:

Spend more time with those who make you smile and less time with those who make you feel pressured to impress.
Laugh at stupid jokes. Apologise. Tell someone how much they mean to you. It’s the small moments that make life grand.
Life is way more enjoyable when you stop being trying to be cool and simply focus on being yourself.
Complaining is like slapping yourself for slapping yourself. It doesn’t solve the problem, It just hurts you more.
Learn to adjust the sails of your life to unpredictable winds, while keeping your focus clear on your destination and keep sailing until you get there.
Freedom is the greatest gift. Self-sufficiency is the greatest freedom.
If you want something in your life you’ve never had, You’ll have to do something you’ve never done.
Your health is your life, keep up with it. Get an annual physical check-up.
Living a life of honesty creates peace of mind, and peace of mind is priceless. Period. Don’t be dishonest and don’t put with people who are.
Forgiving yourself is far more important (and difficult) than getting others to forgive you.
There are few joys in life that equal a good conversation, A good read, A good walk, a good hug, a good smile, or a good friend.
Laughter is the best medicine for stress. Laugh at yourself often. Find the humour in whatever situation you’re in.
Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad, It just depends on your perspective.
You’re not alone. Everyone has problems. Some people are just better at hiding them than others.

So what does life say about the lessons we learn over our journey, let’s have a look:

1, Don’t waste time on those quick to judge and not take the time needed to find out about the real you.

2. Going out your front door each day is an inherent risk: Mine.

3. I have had periods of both, I am called the beautiful man.

4. Karen Salmansohn came out of advertising to create the popular salmon.com due to the awful ongoing mispronunciation of her name. People used to joke that she couldn’t drink a glass of water without it spurting out the knife holes in my back – because there were so many jerks and “drama llamas” in the ad business: My Immortal.

5. Better known by his pseudonym “The Colonel”.

6. For each their one: Oh My God.

7. I know which I prefer.

8. From the world’s most popular quote writer, Ms Unknown comes this insightful piece of wisdom.: Walk a Mile.

9. What a great name.

10. They are very special, these people, as it says do not let them go.: Time of My Life.

11. I just love this image, I have used it before.

12. in the early 1960s, Rohn was invited to speak at a meeting of his Rotary Club. He accepted and, soon, others began asking him to speak at various luncheons and other events. In 1963 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he gave his first public seminar. He then began presenting seminars all over the country, telling his story and teaching his personal development philosophy until the time of his passing in 2009.: Run The World.

13. Life has both Shadow and Light in it.

14. This reminds me of the African philosophy of Ubuntu: ‘A person is a person through other people’ strikes an affirmation of one’s humanity through recognition of an ‘other’ in his or her uniqueness and difference. It is a demand for a creative intersubjective formation in which the ‘other’ becomes a mirror (but only a mirror) for my subjectivity. This idealism suggests to us that humanity is not embedded in my person solely as an individual; my humanity is co-substantively bestowed upon the other and me. Humanity is a quality we owe to each other. We create each other and need to sustain this otherness creation. And if we belong to each other, we participate in our creations: we are because you are, and since you are, definitely I am. The ‘I am’ is not a rigid subject, but a dynamic self-constitution dependent on this otherness creation of relation and distance.: Ubuntu.

15. And for our final lesson………

And to take Self Love into 2020 here are some questions from Marc:

If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?
Why are you, you?
In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self?
What’s something you have that everyone wants?
What’s something Nobody can steal from you?
What has the little voice in your head been saying lately?
What makes you feel incomplete?
What’s something new you recently learnt about yourself?
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
What promise to yourself do you still need to fulfil?

For the final list of the decade, I have returned to some pop divas and an all-time classic. We begin with Taylor Swift, then rock out to Evanescence. Across to Malta for Ira Losco. Then Joe South followed by Dirty Dancing. Beyonce is the penultimate number and we complete with all things Ubuntu: Sometimes You Have To Fight For The Things!!!

Life teaches us many lessons, one of mine is that Love and Respect For All, Everyone Included answers question two and three above. Until next time we meet in the new decade, dear friends.

Be Curious, Not Judgemental.

Posted on December 27, 2019 by Rod's World

Someone asked me recently, “What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you.” It’s like they are asking do other peoples opinions decide what you do in life. Truth be told, nobody has the right to judge you. People may have heard your stories, but they can’t feel what you are going through, they aren’t living YOUR life. So forget what they say about you. Focus on how you feel about yourself, and do what you know in your heart is right.

My friend Marc Chernoff’s list gifts us ten things to do for ourselves even if others judge you for it:

1. Take care of yourself.

2. Do what you know is right, for YOU.

3. Follow your own unique path.

4. Lock yourself away from the world and work on your goals.

5. Adjust your goals and dreams as life changes.

6. Forgive those who have wronged you.

7. Show everyone your love and kindness.

8. Stand up for others, even if it’s the unpopular thing to do.

9. Fight through your failures.

10. Keep your head held high and keep on smiling.

As Jack London once said, “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist”. so why do we take notice of how people judge us, and what has society said about judgement over time:

1. How would the planet operate if we all did this?

2. Remember when you are pointing a finger there are three pointing back at you: Only God Can Judge Me.

3. Judgements are normally instant before you know anything about a person or situation. Show some kindness and ask what is happening for them.

4. Everybody’s life changes each chapter. Learn the full story before you make your decision.: It’s my Life.

5. Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born writer who emigrated to Ireland and was best known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. Early in McCaffrey’s 46-year career as a writer, she became the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the first to win a Nebula Award.

6. To each, their own: Judge Not.

7. As you are about to do it, remember how it felt last time it happened to you.

8. Each of us has our own deadly sins, mine are chocolate and icecream: Sinnerman.

9. Brene has something to say about it.

10. Very difficult to do I have found: Hallelujah.

11. There are 7 billion unique individuality types on the planet, remember that.

12. His Holiness rocks: One Love.

13. Mother Teresa was known for getting in people’s faces, she does not hold back here.

14. Two Bob Marley songs and this fantastic anti-judgement quote: Creep.

15. And for the final lesson, what would it take you to get to live your life from this premise?

Every new day is a chance to change your life. Work on making life all that you want it to be. Work hard for what you believe, and keep your dreams big and your worries small. You never need to carry more than you can hold; just take it one day at a time. And while you’re out there making decisions instead of excuses, learning new things, and getting closer and closer to your dreams, know that there are others out there, like me, who admire your efforts and are striving for greatness too.

There are some giants of the music scene on today’s playlist. Two songs by the same artist but both not done by him, one is a cover. Tupac leads off, Then to the world of rock and roll with Bon Jovi. Bob Marley’s first-ever single follows. Then, two giants, Nina Simone and Leonard Cohen, both recorded live. The penultimate number is a cover of Bob by Playing for Change and we complete with Radiohead: Be Curious, Not Judgemental.

I have found as I become less judgemental I come closer and closer to living my life ethos – Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included. Until we meet again my dear friends.

Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk!!!

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Rod's World

It’s the festive season and the end of the year, and notably the end of the decade. My social media newsfeed features many posts talking about living in the now and not regretting your past life. I acknowledge over the past ten years I have been in many different places. It began in psych units for the first four years then a miracle cure via the love my siblings showed me stating That they did not care how much I hurt them and myself, they would still love me unconditionally. Enter the Conscious Community of Melbourne via the Rainbow Bridge 13:13:13 retreat in Gunnedah in the shire in December 2013 and my miraculous recovery journey began.

Over those six years, I have had many regrets but this piece of prose from my friend Marc Chernoff sums it up pretty well:

“When the deepest part of you becomes engaged in what you are doing, when your activities and actions become gratifying and purposeful, when what you do serves both yourself and others, when you do not tire within because you are pursuing the sweet satisfaction of your life and your work, you are living your life the way it is meant to be lived.”

Of course, you will have regrets, but it is how long you hold onto them that matters. Marc lists 17 decisions that can affect you in this area:

Not loving what is.
Waiting and waiting and waiting.
Changing who you are because others have changed.
Letting heartache define you.
Running away from problems.
Being ungrateful.
Allowing long-term anger to occupy your heart.
Believing that beauty looks a certain way.
Letting your expectations run rampant.
Disrespecting others.
Disrespecting yourself,
Putting up with unfaithful friends and lovers.
Rushing Love.
Neglecting your most important relationships.
Trying to control every last detail about everything.
Never taking risks.
Giving up on YOU.

So, lets have a look at what we human beings say about the power of regret:

1. Congrats, you made it through. Next small step forward.

2. It may be as simple as turning left instead of right and missing out on bumping into the love of your life: Money Changes Everything.

3. From the world’s greatest philosopher Ms Unknown comes this-worldly insight as to why people have come into your life.

4. But we all have those doozies!!!: Why Did You Do That.

5. Yes, it was!!!

6. Our education begins on the day we are born and we graduate on the day we pass: Falling In Love.

7. I relate this to my drugtaking period.

8. Where does falling in love fit in here: Everything Has Changed Now.

9. Mine is bungy jumping in New Zealand.

10. Regret is like the mud in a pigpen, for wallowing in: Bring Me To Life,

11. A writer of words, a poetic soul, an emotive expressionist, Ranata Suzuki is a poet and quote writer whose eloquent words form with painful clarity the sad yet beautiful world of the broken heart.

12. And yes, there is an official description of the mood: No Regrets.

13. Shadow and Light travel together to give you the complete experience.

14. Time to move on down the road: Moving On Down The Line.

15. And for our final lesson, that big white-haired dude in the sky has his say.

Sometimes life doesn’t give you what you want; not because you don’t deserve it, but because you deserve better. No matter how many times you break down, there should always be a little voice inside you that says “NO, you’re not done yet! Get back up!” That’s the voice of passion and courage. Life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel; but you are well equipped for it as long as you tap into your talents and gifts, and allow them to flourish.

Today’s playlist contains some Alan Watts wisdom and several certified legends of the music scene. Cyndi Lauper leads out, Lady Gaga is next from that film. Alan’s wisdom follows, then a beautiful duet from Kate Perry and Ed Sheeran. I sneak some rock in with Evanescence next. The penultimate track is by the Walker Brothers and we complete with Roy Orbison: Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk.

Let’s learn from our regrets and conquer them so that Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included can flourish on the planet. Until we next meet, my dear friends.

Every Person’s Map of the World is Unique as Their Thumbprint!!

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Rod's World

This quote finishes with the following – ” There are no two people alike. No two people who understand the same sentence the same way…So in dealing with people, you try not to fit them in with your concept of what they should be.”

I relate this to the fact we are all born with a Superpower to gift to the planet but over time we are trained out of them to fit into society. Remember as a child when you ran around enacting them, what happened? I think we go through a period where we forget it, and at some stage in our lives many of us take the actions to recover them, this may not be an easy path but it is truly worthwhile.

My superpower is to have Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included to be present in interactions, on the person to person level to a world scale. I was at an event on the weekend helping set up when a woman asked me to help unpack her car. I was called to ask her what was her superpower, she replied she hadn’t really thought about it. This woman helps create the largest women’s gathering in my home state of Victoria if not Australia. So it sort of shocked me that she did not see this as a superpower as I imagine the 3,000 plus women who attend the event certainly would.

I have found my friend Marc Chernoff’s list 12 Things you should be able to say about Yourself useful in having mine present on a daily basis, here it is:

I am following my heart and intuition.
I am proud of myself.
I am making a difference.
I am happy and grateful.
I am growing into the best version of me.
I am making my time count.
I am honest with myself.
I am good to those I care about.
I know what unconditional love feels like.
I have forgiven those who once hurt me.
I take full accountability for my life.
I have no regrets.

So what does society say about our superpowers, let’s have a look:

2. Lena overcame the colour and sex barrier that has existed in the comedy industry in America for eons to win an Emmy for her writing.

2. It is said that the minute you become a parent, your superpowers multiply tenfold, the above quote supports that: Baby Bielanko.

3. This is what Sylvester wrote about the journey: After being ejected as collateral via my parent’s breakup; After being lied to, cheated on and subtracted from all equations of love; I determined that things were not adding up any more. I knew that I deserved to be loved every day, not only with words but with actions. I found a great deal of power in learning about love. I had been confused this whole time as I believed what we were all taught to believe as children – that love was something you find inside of another person. This journey allowed me to heal, forgive and accelerate my life towards love. Our journeys have different titles but we are all out here walking together toward the same goal. People with different skin tones, speech variations and socio-economic status all deserve love. This is The Dear Queen Journey: A Path To Self Love.

4. How could I write on Superpowers without using a Stan Lee quote: Stan.

5. And this is when your superpowers are most powerful.

6. The superpower of true Love: Unconditional Love.

7. This is very rarely thought of being a superpower that is needed but is incredibly powerful for the kids involved.

8. Pharrell did it with this amazing song he wrote: Happy.

9. It’s not in the wearing of a cape.

10. Mahatma points out why we need our superpower at times: I Stand Alone.

11. As I said my superpower is Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included, What’s Yours?

12. From one of the people using her superpower for the good of the planet at the moment: Thinking Outside The Box.

13. For your superpower, you get to write the manual.

14. Stan reveals the answer to what is the greatest superpower: Get Lucky.

15. And for the final lesson, is who give our superpower purpose, look in the mirror!!!

Life is not complicated, We are complicated. When we stop doing the wrong things and start using our superpower to do the right things, life becomes simple.

The playlist begins with today’s unknown artist Monica BieLanko then some Eminem. Donna Summer and Pharrell Williams lift the mood in the next two numbers. Godsmack squeezes out some hard rock before the penultimate number by Ben Lee, finishing with the funk of Daft Punk: Every Person’s Map of the World is Unique as Their Thumbprint!!

So, I have revealed my superpower to you. In having you ponder yours I am sure that mine: Love and Respect For All, Everybody Included will make a huge difference on the planet with the support of whatever you reveal for yourselves. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included!!!

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Rod's World

Today I write about my Why: it’s expressed in the title of this blog. I write all of these blogs at the Darebin Intercultural Centre in Preston Australia a placed that healed me after six years of a mental health crisis that included six psych unit hospitalisations totalling a period of six and a half months, my advice, never let this happen to you.

In our brochure our ethos is explained, it is as follows “Where difference is acknowledged, explored, understood and celebrated. Darebin Intercultural Centre aims to foster respectful and constructive interracial, intercultural and interfaith relations between and amongst people who live, work or play in Darebin. The Centre is a dedicated space for Intercultural development, dialogue, engagement, participation and celebration.”

How did I end up here? After working for Centrelink, a government agency who deals with the unemployed, the disabled and the elderly, read the people who others want to forget exist for 14 years I ended up being dismissed never to work again after being Manager of the most chaotic Newstart section in Melbourne ending my career doing filing because I did not listen to what my heart and body were saying to me, which was, Get the Fuck out.

I spent about two years lying around my flat believing what they had said when I saw an ad in the local newspaper: Free Colombian film night. I was drawn to this as South America is one place that is on my bucket list. I fought against my social anxiety and went to the Darebin Intercultural Centre for the film.

When I arrived there was an incredibly diverse crowd of cultures just hanging out together being friends. It spoke to my heart and to this day I do not know what gave me the courage to ask the manager Inaam did they need any volunteers. I do not know why she replied yes, as they had never had any before.

Over the following five years I have done many things and at the moment being an English tutor three days a week, my dear old dad, if he was alive would be very proud because he always wanted me to follow in his footsteps as a teacher up until the day I was expelled at the end of Year 11 for non attendance as I hated the formal school system.

I feel that my friend Marc Chernoff’s list called 10 Actions That Always Bring Happiness speaks to my joy of being involved with the Centre:

1. Appreciate how much you have.

2. Focus on things that really matter.

3. Define your own meaning in life, and pursue it.

4. Embrace life’s challenges.

5. Find the balance that allows you to be who you truly are.

6. Love your body enough to take care of it.

7. Limit your time with negative people.

8. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

9. Set a good example.

10. Accept what is, and live for the possibilities that lie ahead.

I chose to learn about new cultures as the way of empowering my intercultural journey, but what does the planet say about it:

1. No words really needed.

2. Travel is a great way to discover new cultures. Be careful you may fall in love with one, and never leave: Greece – The Best Love Song.

3. You have to open your eyes to let love in.

4. Live your life to the full, A Ho: Loving Life.

5. In December there is something to celebrate every day, not just Christmas. My favourite is December 30th: National Bicarbonate of Soda Day.

6. This is why I love our Centre, I am always learning new ways of these things being expressed: Where Is The Love.

7. Vironika Tugaleva is an award-winning author, poet, spoken word artist, life coach, wanderer, visual artist, vocalist, and seeker of beauty in all its forms.

8. I don’t always agree with Ayn Rand but this hits home: Life is Worth Living.

9. Exercise your compassion for others and their diverse cultures and build up your wing strength.

10. Strange a right-wing conservative came up with this: I was Here.

11. From the most famous of philosophers, Ms Unknown comes this power quote on the beauty of Interculturalism.

12. Abdel-Fattah studied a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law at the University of Melbourne. During this time, she was the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic Council of Victoria, a role that afforded her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about their representation of Muslims and Islam. She completed her PhD on Islamaphobia. Abdel-Fattah was a passionate human rights advocate and stood in the 1998 federal election as a member of the Unity Party (slogan: Say No to Pauline Hanson). I Don’t Like It.

13. Spiritualism explained really well.

14. From the man who refused to cut the Arts budget to fund a war, here is another on the importance of art and culture: Beasts of No Nation.

15, For our final lesson, what are we up to with our addiction to learning from Social media and not libraries.

If you want to empower others in your life. you need to start living the most empowered version of your self first, that is why finding your why in life is so important. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream, I’m 65. Believe in what you want so much that it has no choice but to become your reality. And don’t ever compare yourself to anyone else; stay focused on your own journey and leave footprints behind. My blog has left footprints in 104 countries across the planet, I find this amazing.

I have fulfilled a dream today in the playlist, I got to include a Fela Kuti song. We begin with a love song to Greece, Our unknown artist at 57,000 likes is a fine voice from Lysa. The Black Eyed Peas do that song next. Back to modern times with Justin Bieber and Beyonce. Some Aussie edification with the satiricalness of Pauline Pantsdown and we complete with my dream track from Fela Kuti: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.

So this is the joyfulness and one of the loves of my life, The Darebin Intercultural Centre where I was gifted my Why one afternoon sitting at my desk: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. Until next time we meet, my dear friends.

You are not a Pretzel!!!

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Rod's World

Just got back from a Warrior of Love Retreat, this is us at the end:

The theme was Belonging, to community and self. We did an interesting practice called the quadrant where you got to hang out in four fields – The Pleaser, The Lone Wolf, The Village and The Leader. I discovered that I am a bit of a pleasing lone wolf who likes hanging out in villages in the hope it will rub off on me.

So here is an exercise to help empower your situation :

A silhouette of a human being stands before you, perhaps a friend, perhaps a lover, perhaps a perfect stranger: They need you to connect with them, they need you to share this moment, they need you to be you – just the way you are. And they need you to respect them, just the way they are. Here are 13 practices to help achieve this:

Smile without hesitation
Give without expectation
Comfort without lying
Guide without misleading
Forgive without resentment
Rest without judgement
Notice with critiquing
Appreciating without comparing
Listen without interruption
Question without objection
Challenge without mocking
Consider without doubting
Discuss without criticizing

These exercises help you become more of the real you, what do we say about truly being you, here are some examples from over history:

1. It seems Beyonce can do a little more than making sexy Youtube videos and sing.

2. I like this quirky to be list: Mama, Weer All Crazy Now,

3. Turning down all those doubts in your head help free your heart.

4. Stay true to your school, you are its main student and you choose who the other students are: Be True To Your School.

5. You were in a unique line of one when you arrived.

6. Find your Others: Self-Care.

7. There are 7 billion people on the planet, not all of them will like you.

8. From my second favourite Buddhist master, Thich Nhat Hanh comes this powerful insight: Who You Are.

9. Two things we know will happen – birth and death, the in-between is your life to live.

10. Moment to moment your life can change, unfortunately, we do not live our lives like this for quite a bit of our lives: Lose Yourself.

11. My name is Rod Williams, my unique version of that name.

12. The philosophy of the woman who changed the Beatles forever: Walking On Thin Ice.

13. Edwin Elliot or Edwin Bailey Elliott was born June 1, 1851, in Oxford, England and died July 21, 1937, also in Oxford, England. He was a mathematician who worked on invariant theory. Outside mathematics, Elliott had many interests. Music, natural history and literature were all high on his list of hobbies. However, these were often more than mere hobbies. For example, he founded the oldest literary society in Queen’s College.

14. You are your own superpower: No One.

15. And for your final lesson on being you, being your unique self is how people can best enjoy you. If they don’t, time to move on.

fate controls a lot of who walks into your life, but you decide who you let walk out, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go. In choosing to be a Warrior of Love I am surrounding myself with people who make me a better person, and I choose who to let go of those who don’t.

The playlist today begins on the last century with Slade and The Beach Boys. We then return to modern times with Savanahh Christina and Jessie J. Some rap from Eminem next and a surprisingly tuneful number from Yoko Ono follows. We finish with Alicia Keys: You Are Not a Pretzel!!!

Learn to accept that is often not people who have been in our lives we miss but the feeling we had when we were with them. Times change, and what presences Love and Respect for All, Everybody Included may as well. Remember you can get these blogs in your inbox by filling in the form on the right-hand side. Until we meet again, my dear friends.

The Heart wants What It Wants!!!

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Rod's World

Another thing I have got out of Awakening Connections is the ability to feel the love being directed at me. I was at Mojo – The Dance of Connection on Saturday night for my crewing role as chai maker extraordinaire, and it felt different. There were people, particularly women who have been coming for ages who kept hugging me and kissing me at the end of a dance, some I even kissed back. I have taken on a practice to allow this love in, reciting some mantras from my friends Marc and Angel Chernoff through a practice we call Dragonspeak in the Warriors of Love, my go-to 12-month training program to empower the lifeforce that runs through each of us: Some WOL info.

The mantras are as follows, they help me love people, not judge them or ignore them:

1. The most beautiful thing is to see a person nearby smiling. And even more beautiful is knowing you are the reason behind it.

2. If I have the power to make someone happier today, do it. The world needs more of that.

3. Some people build lots of walls in their lives and . not enough bridges. There’s no good reason to be one of them. Open me up. Take small chances on people.

4. Never stop doing little things for those around me. Sometimes these little things occupy the biggest parts of their hearts.

5. Too often I underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of love – all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

6. Be present, Be thoughtful. Compliment people. Magnify their strengths, not their weaknesses. This is how to make a real and lasting difference in my relationships, new and old.

7. I don’t always need to give advice. Sometimes all people need is a hand to hold, an ear to listen, and a heart to understand.

8. Today, just be 100 per cent present with those around me – be all there. That is enough.

9. There’s no such thing as “self-made”. Someone else believed in me. Someone also encouraged me. Someone else invested in me. Someone else prayed for you. Someone else spoke life over me. I will be that someone for others too.

10. It’s practically impossible to love my neighbours if I don’t know them, and yet that’s oftentimes the case. I live in such a hyper-connected world with such limited or nonexistent connection. Remember this: Relationships matter. Stories matter.

11. In human relationships, distance is not measured in kilometres but in affection. Two people can be right next to each other yet miles apart.

12. Stay in touch with those who truly matter to me – not because it’s inconvenient, but because they’re worth the extra effort.

13. The single greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. Too often we don’t listen to understand, we listen to reply. Bring awareness to this. And listen for what’s truly behind the words.

14. Set an example. Treat everyone with respect, even those who are rude to you – not because they are always nice, but because I am ( And do my best to be thankful for the rude and difficult people too, they serve as great reminders of how not to be.)

15. Sometimes it is better to be kind than right.

16. People are much nicer when they are happier, which says a lot about those who aren’t very nice to you. Sad, but true.

17. The real test comes when I don’t get what I expect from people. Will I react in anger? Or will calmness be my superpower?

18. The way I trust people I don’t understand is a report card on what I’ve learnt about love, compassion, and kindness.

19. Be kinder than necessary. What goes around comes around. No one has ever made themselves strong by showing how small someone else is.

20. The best relationships are not just about the good times I share, They are about the obstacles we got through together and the fact that I still say “I Love You” in the end.

So how does the world talk about love, here are a few of my favourite things:

1. A required part of the recipe of life.

2. Not always loved by her critics, great people always seem to have them, the people of the slums idolised her: Is This Love.

3. Simply, Boom!!!

4. From the world’s best-known philosopher, Ms Unknown comes some worldly advice about the importance of self-love: Lose Yourself.

5. These are the people who showed up when your soul said to you, find the others.

6. One of the founders of the Black Panther movement who after exile returned to the States to become a conservative Republican and Christian, Eldridge travelled an extreme journey to discover love in his life: Blowing In The Wind.

7. Don’t look in your logical mind for love, it’s your like zone.

8. The area of life that blows away Simon Senik’s statement you have to know your why: To Love Somebody.

9. It’s in both your DNA’s.

10. And she: Born To Be Yours.

11. Sage advice from the writer of many a great love song over her long career.

12. Working on both these areas in my life: The Climb.

13. Remember to keep an eye out for this.

14. Yep to this: A Song For You.

15. For our final lesson, a short sermon on how to let love in.

So lets address loving those offensive people we find so hard to love. Marc has a trick: Mentally hug them and wish them better days. We can have compassion for this broken person because we all have been broken and in some pain at some point too. We’re the same in many ways. Sometimes we need a hug, some extra compassion, and a little unexpected love.

Our playlist today begins with Bob Marley, the king of Love in my humble opinion. The rapping out with Eminem. Some folk from Peter, Paul and Mary follows. From the same era comes The Bee Gees. We come forward to Kygo and the imagine Dragons and Miley Cyrus and complete with the soulful tones of Donny Hathaway: The Heart Wants What It Wants,

Letting love in and expressing it outwardly will certainly support my life’s ethos of Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included. Remember you can sign up to receive these blogs in your inbox on the right-hand side of my main page. Until we meet again, my dear friends.