Strength lies in Differences!!

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Rod's World

Here in Australia our Prime Minister has announced changes to the Citizenship test, that applicants must meet Australian Values. When asked what he meant he could not explain. I live in a council area that has 153 cultures residing in it, which of these meets Australian values?

There were six new requirements introduced.

All applicants are required to pass a stand-alone English test, involving reading, writing, listening and speaking;
Applicants are required to have lived in Australia as a permanent resident for at least four years (instead of one year at present);
Citizenship test will be strengthened with new and more meaningful questions that assess an applicant’s understanding of – and commitment to – shared values and responsibilities;
Applicants will be required to show the steps they have taken to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community. Examples would include evidence of employment, membership of community organisations and school enrolment for all eligible children.
An applicant can fail the citizenship test only three (at present there is no limit to the number of times an applicant can fail the test);
An automatic fail for applicants will be introduced who cheat during the citizenship test.

So how do we devalue others, One way I suggest is saying our values are more important than theirs. Lets go on a values journey:

1. These new rules seem to be saying that speaking one language places you higher on the pecking order than another.

2. Each person is of value, don’t debase them by saying they don’t fit in: How Could Anyone.

3. Surround yourself with kindred souls, those that decrease it need to go.

4. When you see that you being of value is what people remember about you when you pass, not your houses and cars. They also don’t remember your nationality: I lived.

5. What have you sacrificed in your life for others? Would you give your all?

6. How amazing would life be if we lived it like this: I’m Going to You.

7. Our PM is trying to revert our country back to the 1950’s when our country existed under the archaic White Australia policy when the indigenous people were not even recognised.

8. Arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history. Samuel Johnson points to the value of showing gratitude by praising others for their actions: Love Divine

9. I find it hard to believe that your values are based on the language you speak, and the job you do. Life is not that simple.

10. In that five minutes it takes to destroy your good name, were you following your values: Family Portrait.

11. Our government has definitely forgotten this with their new changes.

12. Have we forgotten the value of the other 152 cultures I share the land I live on with: Run and Hide.

13. All the beautiful , wonderful diverse ways we inhabit the planet can not be bombed away, destroyed by war because they are the planets heart and soul.

14. Why are education systems going down the road of producing clones when our world need more and more creatives with the every changing technologies? Maya Angelou puts it well: Express Yourself.

15. Our new citizenship test does obviously not follow this formulae.

I teach English to three Chinese mothers and work at the Darebin Intercultural Centre, our motto is Where Cultures Meet, Explore, Grow and Celebrate. So I ask our prime minister to take this on as Australian Values, not English tests and proof of employment.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

A Gold Coin to a Cat!!

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Rod's World

Luma Mufleh (born March 1, 1975) is founder and director of Fugees Family, Inc., (“The Fugees”) a non-profit organization devoted to working with child survivors of war. Mufleh founded Fugees Family in 2006 and is currently head coach of the Fugees soccer teams.

In the book Mistakes I made at Work Luma makes the statement – I’m always pushing our teachers: How can we create an environment where everyone feels capable? This is totally against the base of the education system of my country, Australia. It is purely rote learning to get a score to get into uni. The great teachers battle against this, trying to have kids see that education is about feeding their passion and going out and fulfilling them.

So how has capability shown up over the centuries? Lets travel down that well worn path:

1. Napoleon Hill (born Oliver Napoleon Hill; October 26, 1883 – November 8, 1970) was an American self-help author. He is well known for his book Think and Grow Rich (1937) which is among the top 10 best selling self-help books of all time. Hill’s works insisted that fervid expectations are essential to improving one’s life. Most of his books were promoted as expounding principles to achieve “success”.

2. What were you going to be when you grew up? Are you doing it. As children, we believed in our capabilities. What is our society doing that we belittle them through our education system: Astounded.

3. I hope they mean everybody’s god, here are some facts regarding gods

Using the ratio of current population to the total number of people who have ever lived, we get an estimate of 63,000 religious groups throughout human history. (Only Homo sapiens’ religions are being considered. It may well be that other hominids believed in god or gods, but it would be pure guesswork to estimate the number of gods they believed in.)

The modern dominant (that is, have the most adherents) religions are monotheistic, but they are few in number. Wikipedia lists 309 Hindu deities. The ancient Hittites claimed to have 1000 deities in their pantheon. So for a rough estimate of the average number of deities per religion, we’ll take the average of these 3 figures, giving 440 deities per religion.

This gives an estimate of Gods = 28,000,000.

4. Kurt Einstein is definitely not Alberts son, but delves in the same area as his quotes. Its a bit like choices we make based on fear versus those of love of life: I’d love to change the World!!

5. Another by the great philosopher, Unknown. This quote reminds me of circling the wagons to defend yout life against the Indians in Western movies.

6. How old were you when your beliefs took over from your capabilities, I reckon I was about four. Before then I could save the planet because I was Superman, sorry about the Fanta ad.: What Now.

7. Hold the press, my first ever Donald J. Trump quote. Is this Fake News?

8. Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the “moral” (meaning, in modern terms, psychological) and political aspects of war. He believed in European Enlightenment , this quote is definitely from that school of thought: Hot and Cold.

9. 7,000,000,000 unique capabilities walk this planet. Make yours as might as it can be!!

10. Very similar to the ethic if someone asks you to do something, say yes and learn on the way. Gandhi must have done this time and time again in his pursuit of freedom for India: Beginnings.

11. Do you know those people who can do anything. My brother in law was like that. He used to buy piano’s off Ebay, when he found out how much it cost to tune them , he googled it, and became a piano tuner.

12. Over the years, the slender, bespectacled Holtz has become known for his quick wit and ability to inspire players. He led six different American Universities to football titles. I think he spoke from mastery of the subject. That Fanta ad again: Irreplaceable.

13. One of the more profound proverbs I have ever read.

14. Surprising that one of the great singer songwriters would make this statement. I love pop divas,so I agree wholeheartedly: Don’t Cry for me Argentina.

15. At One Roof, the work co-op I hang around there is a statement, Jump off, and learn to fly on the way down. Learn as you go, and never stop learning.

Remember your capabilities as a child, the dreams, your imaginary friends, dragons and unicorns, you can walk on the moon.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends

Seize the opportunity by the Beard!!

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Rod's World

It’s seems quite a silly statement, seize the opportunity by the beard but how do we deal with opportunities in our life? Do we say the following prayer: ‘Thank you, Universe, for helping me see this obstacle as an opportunity. I will step back and let you lead the way” or do we jump in with both feet yelling go for it. Both methods have their merits but let’s have a look at what the universe has to say about it:

1. They say dreams are useless without actions, Milton Berle points to the same thing here. As the host of NBC’s Texaco Star Theater (1948–55), he was the first major American television star and was known to millions of viewers as “Uncle Miltie” and “Mr. Television” during TV’s golden age.

2. We have the opportunity to change our life moment to moment. Often fear stops us doing it. have a guess what people talk about on their death beds, Regret at what they did not do: When You’re Gone.

3. They don’t remember you for your possessions, they remember you for the feelings and the experiences. Don’t miss out on them.

4. If you make a lot of excuses in your life, time to check your integrity register and how much you take the opportunities that present in your life: No Excuses.

5. This quote is probably over 100 years old. Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded SUCCESS magazine in 1897. His writings discuss common-sense principles and virtues that make for a well-rounded, successful life. Many of his ideas are based on New Thought philosophy.

His first book, Pushing to the Front (1894), became an instant best-seller. Marden later published fifty or more books and booklets, averaging two titles per year.

6. Onlookers do not take their opportunities: Safety Dance.

7. Very similar to there are no mistakes, it’s all on the comprehension.

8. 10,000 light bulbs, enough said: Opportunity.

9. Michael S. Hyatt is an author, blogger, speaker, Hyatt now writes and speaks full-time. He has written seven books, including New York Times Bestseller Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World.

10. I love the scraggly haired man known as Albert, he points out where to look for the opportunity, in the middle of the difficulties in your life: Dumb Things.

11. How do you start your own airline, music company, chain of fitness centres? Do this!!

12. Read the red letters: Right Now.

13. When you mind is saying No, go to your heart for the answer.

14. I thought this was a silly analogy. Lewis McDonald Grizzard, Jr. was an American writer and humorist, known for his Southern demeanor and commentary on the American South: Kerry’s victory song.

15. Cameron Diaz was named the highest-paid actress over 40 in Hollywood. As of 2015, the U.S. domestic box office grosses of Diaz’s films total over US$3 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $7 billion, making her the second highest-grossing U.S. domestic box office actress (after Scarlett Johansson).

So how do we see life, as something to survive or a grand opportunity, we have the choice on a day to day basis.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

She believed she could, so she Did!!

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Rod's World

I met the new police inspector for our region at an interfaith celebration last month, she is a 28 year veteran of the force and specializes in Social Justice, Kelly has renamed her team Dynamic Darebin. I like it a lot, when do we declare something as dynamic in our lives? Are our relationships dynamic, our finances dynamic, our careers dynamic.

Let us have a look at what people have said over the years that they find dynamic:

1. Mahesh Sharma is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was elected in the Indian general election, 2014 from Gautam Buddha Nagar. He is a physician by profession.

If you wish to fulfill your ideas do not wait around.

2. From the prolific philosopher, Anon. comes worldly advice people will not be lead by you if you are not seen as dealing with them on a day to day basis: If You’re Out There.

3. Uneeka Jay is an award-winning speaker, personal consultant and the founder of Rewrite 365 LLC. Uneeka has over 20 years of progressive leadership experience in companies with revenues up to a half billion dollars. Using that experience, Uneeka effortlessly walks women through the process of rewriting their lives by refusing to settle. Rewrite is more than a brand for Uneeka; it is her life story. Finding herself pregnant at age 16 and on welfare, she refused to allow statistics define her future. She identified her Hatements (things preventing her from living her best life) and removed them one by one to achieve her goals. Uneeka lives her mantra; settling is not an option.

4. Your time is now, you are neither too young or too old: The Climb.

5. My friend and mentor Arion said he liked it when I laughed, that it was new for me. I gave up a long time ago when my life was endangered. I feel dynamic when I do it.

6. I think the person who takes a job in order to live – that is to say, for the money – has turned himself into a slave _ Joseph Campbell. Finally it’s never about the money: If we ever meet Again.

7. However you do it, via keyboard or artistically by pen and pencil, remember they cannot get it out of your brain once you have passed.

8. When do you feel most dynamic? Doing your 9 ot 5 or doing what turns you on: Surprise, Honeycomb.

9. Start Young!!

10. Lolly Daskal is founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world. Based on a mix of modern philosophy, science,and nearly thirty years coaching top executives, Lolly’s perspective on leadership continues to break new ground and produce exceptional results. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World: Brave.

11. Being dynamic also means standing up for your truth, nor pretending to like others.

12. Remember those times you thought, Why Me? And it turned you in a new wonderful direction in your life, keep on keepin on: Everything happens for a reason!!

13. And aren’t we glad he followed his own advice.

14. This is such a beautiful ethos, may all creatives follow it: Heart of Gold.

15. Matthew Kelly (born July 12, 1973 in Sydney, Australia) is a motivational speaker, author, business consultant, and founder of Dynamic Catholic. He is a founding partner at Floyd Consulting, a management consulting firm whose clients include more than 35 Fortune 500 companies. His lecture topics include identifying negative routines and actions in daily life, and the value and positive inspiration of Catholicism on everyday life.

So for me I feel dynamic when I am blogging and teaching English to improve relationships between the cultures in Darebin, we have 164 different ones.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

People are your Assignments!!

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Rod's World

You are always being guided, even when you don’t feel like it. It comes with being part of the human race, a unique human being. We are all in a large classroom called Earth and the people you choose to know and even those we do not give us our assignments in life. How often do you become frustrated with our political leaders even though we have never met them?

So who do we choose as our most personal assignments? Often it is our family, as they are in our lives the longest, even though it may be at some distance later in life. So let us take a journey through our assignments:

How many people have you met in your life, when you have thought, OMG, I am so glad I am nothing like them. They are there for that exact lesson

2. Joel Scott Osteen is an American preacher and televangelist. He is the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Church, in Houston, Texas. Osteen’s televised sermons are seen by over 7 million viewers weekly and over 20 million monthly in over 100 countries. He gives you some sage advice as how to handle fear as an assignment in this quote: Fear and Love.

3. Number ten is the only one you can read clearly, that’s enough.

4. Listening to your mind, trying to work out what others want to hear is not the assignment. Deep down in your soul is what you have to say: Shake It Off.

5. The old 24-hour formulae, we all have the same time in a day, so each of us has the chance to inspire others with our actions.

6. Self Love first is the prime assignment, hard to give it away if it is not part of our inner being: Stronger.

7. This is why the idea of war is corrupt as an assignment, we need to end it ASAP.

8. The second evangelist today, Myles Munroe is slightly more controversial for his stance against gay rights. He is also the author of over twenty philosophical and biblical books. I like this quote though: Ride on Time.

9. This falls in the category of don’t listen to people’s words, watch their actions. Dreams without actions are very shallow.

10. What if all mothers had told their children this, what a different world we would live in. Motherhood is a vital assignment: Imagine.

11. Sometimes assignments with each other can be frivolous, this is one of them, or is it?

12. I am finding it easier to recognize the latter these days, It’s worth the effort: Adventure of a Lifetime.

13. Confucius’s principles had a basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives. He also recommended family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself”, the Golden Rule.

14. Jean-Luc Godard once wrote, “Robert Bresson is French cinema, as Dostoyevsky is the Russian novel and Mozart is German music.” Two of his films were listed in Sight and Sounds 100 greatest film ever made: Invisible.

15. And here is your final assignment, remember it as often as you can.

Remember to work on at least one new assignment AKA personal relationship a week, it will transform your life!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Opportunity looks like a Bald Woman!

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Rod's World

The title of this blog is a famous Spanish quote, I don’t think you are meant to know what it means straight away. Pema Chodron writes in her beautiful book When things fall Apart ” When things are shaky we are on the verge of something “. The usual advice for coping with pain and suffering is to sweeten it up, smooth it over, take a pill. But distraction only makes you miss opportunities for happiness – when the courage to live in the present can bring clarity, and even spiritual change…

Do you call your mistakes opportunities? I try and live the ethos there are no mistakes, everything is a gift. It is not easy, we are trained from an early age to blame things we do not want in our lives as mistakes. let’s have a look at the world of opportunity:

The author of the classic Think and Grow Rich, one of the top ten self-help books of all time, Napoleon Hill was one of the pioneers of the industry and is widely quoted by current gurus such as Anthony Robbins and Zig Ziglar. Here are three more of his well-known quotes

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

2. Beginning his acting career at the age of 12, you do not expect to see a quote by the man known as Mr. Television be listed among the great philosophers. Yet, this beautiful quote is fully deserving of it: Break on Through.

3. I don’t usually use quotes that feature the word, God, as I am a Gaia sort of dude, but I listened to a speech by a born-again Christian last night. In it, she related as a fourth generation Christian she saw God as being about kindness, can’t disagree with that.

4. Would you like a million dollars, you just have to fly unaided to get it. Do you accept the challenge? I’m your man.

5.Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He was fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

6. Are you a Yes or No kind of person? Just Say Yes.

7. What was that movie, Jim Carrey say yes to everything in? I can’t remember the name. But, yes it certainly challenged his limits and changed his life.

8. My favourite cigar smoker also said when they suggested cutting the arts to spend more on defence, then what would we be fighting for: Art for Art’s Sake.

9. They say you create a new world with the decision to turn left or right. My friend met his beloved when he bumped into her turning right, what if he had gone left?

10. A 20 year NBA player, Kobe also said – I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot. Negative or a small thing, take the opportunity: Scale Down.

11. Khalil can be obtuse to the extreme, after reading his quotes you will have expanded your knowledge.

12.Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded SUCCESS magazine in 1897. His writings discuss common-sense principles and virtues that make for a well-rounded, successful life. Many of his ideas are based on New Thought philosophy.

His first book, Pushing to the Front (1894), became an instant best-seller. Marden later published fifty or more books and booklets, averaging two titles per year: Seize the Day.

13. There’s that famous story that most people on their deathbed talk about what they regret having done, don’t be one of them.

14. The curly haired wonder, Albert Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers along with over 150 non-scientific works. He took his opportunities: Taking Chances.

15. How many people shut the world out with headphones these days. I relate to you a story I heard from a Hazara refugee in our country who has made the decision that every person he meets is an opportunity to improve his English. He started talking to the person next to him on the tram and the elderly person sitting opposite asked if she could join in. She offered Haid and his family their beach house for a week and have become good friends. How many opportunities do we miss by making the judgement they wouldn’t talk to us.

Knock, Knock – Who’s there?

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Not All who Wander are Lost!!

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Rod's World

The Universe speaks in mysterious ways. We have many patterns during our life. Having the same ones we had at four when we are forty can be dangerous or freeing, dependant what area in life we are using them. Sticking to set patterns can hold us back in fulfilling our plans and dreams, Einstein said – “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

Do you know what your patterns are and do you strive to change them to better yourself on a daily basis, Let’s have a look at the power of patterns:

2. I used to have the pattern of going to bet at 2 a.m. and rising at 10 a.m. When I took up the habit of going to the gym at 7 a.m. I had to go to bed many hours earlier.

2. Migrating to the United States in 1938 to avoid discrimination as she was part Jewish, Lotte Lehmann holds the distinction of being the only person with a misspelled star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it was spelled, Lottie. She was a fabulous opera singer as well: Auf Flugeln Des Gesanges.

3. Let it Go, Let it Out, Let it all Unravel. Let it Free and it can Be a path on which to Travel. Leunig’s great ode to pattern breaking.

4. Constantly disrupting is what achieves the breakthrough, doing it for a day doesn’t hold water: Breakthrough.

5. As we are going through another revolution with the introduction of robotics mature people will have to take this on as many jobs disappear.

6. Do you have a fall/autumn season for your patterns, or do you hold on to the dead leaves, sorry about the golden arches: Send my Love.

7. I asked Tuli Kupferberg once, “Did you really jump off of The Manhattan Bridge?” “Yeah,” he said, “I really did.” “How come?” I said. “I thought that I had lost the ability to love,” Tuli said. “So, I figured I might as well be dead. So, I went one night to the top of The Manhattan Bridge, & after a few minutes, I jumped off.” “That’s amazing,” I said. “Yeah,” Tuli said, “but nothing happened. I landed in the water, & I wasn’t dead. So I swam ashore, & went home, & took a bath, & went to bed. Nobody even noticed.”

8. If I use the term the vicious circle for this quote will it give away what modality I studied in the 1990’s : Same Old Love.

9. Then some patterns are worth keeping, these are some of them.

10. Louis Hay wrote her first book at 58, she lived and still lives the above statement at the ripe old age of 90: Unwritten.

11. What is the most Fabulous thing you have ever done, for a lot of people it is having children. As I have not done this, running the Moscow Peace marathon the year before the Berlin Wall came down is mine.

12. This quote certainly gets into what holding on to what we know works to survive costs us, Time to attack: Teardrop.

13. Marshall Rosenberg, the creator of Non Violent Communication has helped thousands reduce their resistance to using negative means of relating to the people in their lives.

14. Bruce Lee studied life as much as he did martial arts. There are hundreds of quotes you can find all over the internet attributed to him. This one is a particularly powerful one: Living In The Moment.

15. García Márquez started as a journalist, and wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo (the town mainly inspired by his birthplace Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude.

On his death in April 2014, Juan Manuel Santos, the President of Colombia, described him as “the greatest Colombian who ever lived.”

How are your patterns going? Allow them to wander and discover new routes to fulfill your dreams!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

It is What it Is!!

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Rod's World

They say when people break up there are three versions: Yours, Theirs and Reality as to what really happened. There are 7,000,000,000 versions of reality walking around the planet. Some are very similar as they label themselves as belonging to a religious or political belief system and this often takes away the act of thinking freely.

Life is what it is, some of it affects our reality more than other actions do. At the moment it seems to be terrorism or mass migration that is on the top of the list of what is wrong with reality. I don’t think these are new to the world as my country is a totally migratory country except for the indigenous First Australians.

What have they said about reality over the centuries, let’s go on that journey:

1. Who would have thought someone from the 18th centuries quote would be so relevant these days. As idealists, we get a little exasperated with tedious attention to prices over people, numbers over names, logic over love.

2. We form our reality and Jarod Kintz points out a practice that stains it: Inconsiderate.

3. In the great book the Fear Cure, Lissa Rankin points out there are two types of fear. one you should listen to because you are in danger and the other that are all those thinks you think will happen if you do something and never actually do.

4. Danish philosopher Soren Kieregaard was considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a “single individual”, giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment: Let It Go.

5. They say police often have trouble getting facts about what happens at a crime scene because of what is written in the above quote.

6. I wonder how many people live by this premise, I don’t think it’s a question they ask in the census: Made to Dream.

7. It took being shot for this remarkable young woman to be listened to. I think she will fulfill this reality.

8. Mainstream media seems to have forgotten this seeing the way they interpret life: I’ll Show You.

9. Andy tried many ways to change reality in the 1960’s. His works explored the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertising that flourished by the 1960s and utilize a variety of media, including painting, silk screening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best-known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental film Chelsea Girls (1966), and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966-67).

10.In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Why do we resist the latter so ferociously: Rivers of Tears.

11. Management expert James O’Toole, in a 2005 issue of Compass, published by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, claimed that Bennis developed “an interest in a then-nonexistent field that he would ultimately make his own — leadership — with the publication of his ‘Revisionist Theory of Leadership’ in Harvard Business Review in 1961.” O’Toole observed that Bennis challenged the prevailing wisdom by showing that humanistic, democratic-style leaders are better suited to dealing with the complexity and change that characterize the leadership environment.

12. How often do we fall for this, that what is said about us is the actual reality vs. what we are actually experiencing: Human.

13. It changes moment to moment, each one a new reality.

14. Or seemingly not in mainstream media. If we believed them we would think the whole world is at war or committing acts of terrorism or be dying in accidents: Don’t Lie.

15. They looked across the room and fell in love/lust. The reality struck when they tried a relationship.

So what is your reality? How do you arrive at it and when are you willing to change it?

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

It Matters not how Straight the Gate!!

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Rod's World

Well, I lost my Thursday blog as I had to leave where I was writing it and it only saved the heading when I got to it again to finish it off. I have since lost the urge to write on that subject of patience. I read this quote and it speaks to how much that mattered.

How do we decide if something matters in our life? Do we flip a coin, ask others opinions, listen to our souls and hearts, attend a mastermind meeting. I’m sure we all have our own unique way of doing it. So let’s have a look at how it has mattered over the centuries:

1. Probably her most famous quote, Katharine Graham led the Washington Post through its most famous period, especially the uncovering of the Watergate scandal in the 1970’s which caused the impeachment of Richard Nixon, the President of the United States. Watergate is now the word used for any type of major scandal in that country adding a new word to their language.

2. Do you give without expecting anything in return, from your heart, not your head? This is a different type of giving that opens other people’s hearts as well: From the Heart.

3. You lose contact with a friend, a relative passes, you lose your job. The pain is almost unbearable. That’s when it matters.

4. Harry Potter offered much to our society over its seven volumes. Perhaps this is the most important lesson: It won’t be like this for Long.

5. In my Desire Map Planner by Danielle LaPorte which is subheaded What I will do to Feel the Way, I want to Feel there is a daily question about what are you going to stop doing. I had never thought of adding this to my daily routine. It opens so much space for what does matter to fill it in.

6. Why do people grow up and hurt each other? We come out as a bouncing baby. Judd Nelson, one of the 1990’s Hollywood Brat Pack, along with Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy asks a very relevant question that matters: Why is it So Hard.

7. Sometimes we lose direction in life and focus on what others are doing. It can make a difference but essentially it is what you do for yourself and with your time that matters.

8. Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down. When will you jump off the cliff and what for: Speak Now.

9. I once wrote the following statement on my Facebook page: We all have the same 24 hours as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. My brother went apeshit. How do you react?

10. Spreading what matters in life also spreads Positive vibrations. Only one song and one artist can be used in this situation: Positive Vibration.

11. Even if you have to forgive your father, your remembrance of him is what makes the relationship strong even after he has passed. My father was a beautifully kind gentleman.

12. If it touches your heart it will always be remembered as a special moment. You may even have smiled: Blue Skies.

13. They say that on their deathbeds the thing most people regret is they did not do more things in their life. They let their common sense talk them out of trying things. Don’t listen to it.

14. I also posted a picture of an 80-year-old yogi and of another 80-year -old on crutches and with a walker. Same sort of reaction as my brother: Always on my Mind.

15. There are no Francis Bailey’s famous enough for Wikipedia but this one must be leading an exemplary life to be included in Google Images, just not quite famous enough.

So how does it matter to you, when do you stand up, and with who?

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

I like walking in the Rain!!

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Rod's World

What is your favorite fresh thing, one of mine is walking in the rain!! Being washed clean by Gaia, given a new start!! As we have more and more fresh things taken away from us and given processed experiences how do we claim back our fresh moments?

It is probably in our childhood years we experience freshness on a day to day basis. Running from one adventure to another, being excited moment to moment. What does the world have to say about being fresh in our lives, let’s have a look:

1. To experience all that occurs in your life allows each moment to have a freshness to it, a sense of adventure.

2. Ready, Steady, Go. It’s time to begin today’s new adventure: Tomorrow.

3. Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf of stopping and starting over again. Remember that he is not real, only made up in your thoughts.

4. There is that saying if you have never failed at something you have never really lived. Life is not meant to be easy at all times: Better.

5. Laura Ingalls Wilder February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer known for the Little House on the Prairie series of children’s books released from 1932 to 1943 which were based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the television series Little House on the Prairie was loosely based on the Little House books and starred Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls and Michael Landon as her father, Charles Ingalls.

6. They call them cubby holes because if you stay in them you never grow up to have fresh starts: Try.

7. Fill in the Blanks, how you do this is your choice, A fresh start or the same old drudgery.

8. I listened to a great podcast this morning about not planning to begin a new venture three months in the future because it will not happen, get started and begin it now was the message from the podcast: Lay me Down.

9. We have an opportunity to change the ending of the story of our life moment to moment: go left instead of right, catch the no 96 tram instead of the 86.

10. Do you rise up in the morning or get up with no purpose for the day? Each day has a brand new bright opportunity if you allow it to Rise.

11. I love Lao Tzu, he can write ten words and you can ponder them for the next month.

12. My beautiful sisters, Ruth and Jann can probably relate to the freshness of their friendship over the years, they may have even been to Spain: Never shout Never.

13. Henry S. Haskins (1875–1957) was a stockbroker and man of letters. His aphorisms were edited and published anonymously with an introduction by Albert Jay Nock in 1940.

14. I spent the weekend next to the Yarra river in my home city of Melbourne, Australia at a retreat centre. Being near the water, the trees, the birdlife and in the fresh air invigorated my soul: Aloha Ke Akua.

15. Whose life are you living, the life your parents told you to live and you got trapped by the money. Listen to your soul, it’s time for a fresh start.

Fresh has so many interpretations in our world. If it has numbers next to it it is not fresh. Think that if you know the person who made it or grew it then it probably is.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.