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.

Breath in Experience, Breath out Poetry.

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Rod's World

I recently attended the most transformational training week of my youthful 64 years. It is commonly known as ISTA, short for the International School of Temple Arts: Here’s the Link. In my over 350 blogs I normally write about books on a possibility, one of the other participants asked me, You aren’t going to write about this, are you? As one of the agreements is to only share your experiences, here I go.

Some background from the source:

We live at a unique and critical time on earth. At the same time as we are faced with incredible challenges to the survival of the diversity of life and consciousness on our planet, we are experiencing an incredible awakening of human potential. Not only are new energies emerging but for the first time in history, the wisdom heritage of all our cultures and traditions is available for integration just as it is most needed.

There have always been temples and mystery schools on earth where the deep teachings on sexual and spiritual wisdom were practised, developed and taught. These centres were often the hidden cause for the advancement of civilizations. Now we have a global civilization and these temples are once again emerging into the light, blossoming like chakras and Nadi points as the light body of the earth is awakened and energized.

So what has society said about transformational experiences over the years, lets take that journey:

1. What our logical mind wants to do almost instantly, explain it away.

2. We all took the opportunities that were offered during the week to the levels our identity would allow a change in: Changes.

3. I received the gifts of Massive trust and energy from the Earth as I walk on this new planet.

4. The ISTA community, you join after spending a week in the field. Prior to that your already I have done ISTA friends will just hug you when you tell them you are going to do it: You Belong With Me.

5. To me, my priceless moment was witnessing a process and looking out over the field and realising there was nothing wrong going on, just total trust.

6. One of my top ten, have learnt so much off this beautiful spirit: Let It Go.

7. Integration time.

8. Albert Camus was a French philosopher, author, and journalist. His views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. He wrote in his essay The Rebel that his whole life was devoted to opposing the philosophy of nihilism while still delving deeply into individual freedom. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44 in 1957, the second youngest recipient in history: Going Under.

9. Much easier after ISTA.

10. Certainly, the journey I took has me much closer to this place: I Was Here.

11. I am so looking forward to where this new trust and energy will take me, and I don’t really care that I don’t know.

12. Back to ancient China for this one, so many of our hearts are now travelling this path: Listen to Your Heart.

13. And the ability of our skilled facilitators, Stephanie, Sean and Elaine.

14. Could my new energy take me here, Who Knows: Africa.

15. And we certainly did in that beautiful space known as the ISTA field.

The two main takeaways I received are an increase in my trust of myself and others to the Nth degree and an energy emanating from the earth that feels volcanic in nature and a sense I do not know what my future will be, and that’s a great thing.

Today’s playlist has some classic sings and songs. We begin with Mr David Bowie then one of the great pop divas Taylor Swift. A musical number from Frozen follows, then some great rock from Evanescence and her highness Beyonce. Two older memories from Roxette and Toto close out the list: Breathe in Experience, Breathe out Poetry.

Remember to show Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until we meet again, my dear friends.

The Power of Hope!!

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Rod's World

I haven’t written a political blog for a long time but I am reading the inspirational story of Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre here in Melbourne, Australia. The ASRC, as it is known is a refugee centre which receives no government funding who assists refugees who have nowhere else to go as there are people placed on our streets with minimal or no funding at all due to the harsh immigration policies of our federal government towards asylum seekers. Today, they are the largest independent human rights organisation for refugees and people seeking asylum, delivering more services on the ground than any other independent asylum seeker organisation in the country. Our work on the frontline with people seeking asylum informs our practice and enables us to effectively advocate for, and alongside people with lived experience.

The Official title of the book is The Power of Hope or: How Community, Love and Compassion can change our World: Link to buy it. It is the amazing tale of how Kon, himself from a refugee family in Australia came to set up this amazing organisation that has helped thousands of refugees survive in a country that has made the words asylum seeker dirty words.

So what is the official definition of the term Asylum Seeker, here it is: a person who, from fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, social group, or political opinion, has crossed an international frontier into a country in which he or she hopes to be granted refugee status.

How does the world speak about these two words, let’s have a look:

1. There are those rare people who have existed on earth who can hold values as high as these, Martin Luther King was one of them.

2. Labels are used to make people forget this, especially by mainstream media and governments: Human.

3. There is not a choice between staying behind and taking a bullet and getting on a rickety boat to seek asylum.

4. Often a family has to decide which member of a family to send to seek asylum as they cannot afford the exorbitant rates that money grabbing people such as boat smugglers demand people to seek safety, how would you feel if you had to leave your daughter behind.: The Best Day.

5. There are people running our country who have this fear and shame in their policy decisions.

6. There is a particular minister, Peter Dutton, who is digging a very deep grave for the reputation of our country worldwide: Set Fire to The Rain.

7. The two largest words say it all really, Human Rights.

8. This statement from ancient Greece sums up how mainstream media reports asylum seeking in our country these days: Believe Me.

9. Especially if your destination was Australia by boat, it means 5 years in a detention centre, including your children.

10. Especially if they are a fascist right-wing government as holds sway in Australia regarding asylum seekers: Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay.

11. Considered the founder of modern nursing, Florence has captured truly where our government has taken the boat arrival discussion in our country.

12. Kon has transformed a lot of ordinary Australian into non-spectators regarding the human rights of the people who are besmirched as boat people by our mainstream media courtesy of the evil media magnate Rupert Murdoch: Get Up, Stand Up.

13. Had to sneak in the worst long-term refugee cruelty, seeing Israeli snipers deliberately shoot children brought tears to my eyes, and I do not cry.

14. And what can we do about it, this group of school children spent a night in this cage to show their solidarity and disgust for the situations on the islands where children are held on a long-term basis: Who I Am.

15. Warsan Shire is a 30-year-old British writer, poet, editor and teacher, who was born to Somali parents in Kenya, East Africa. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize, chosen from a shortlist of six candidates out of a total 655 entries. Her words “No one leaves home unless/home is the mouth of a shark”, from the poem “Conversations about Home (at a deportation centre)”, have been called “a rallying call for refugees and their advocates”.

So I will finish with Kon’s words on the back cover of his book: “I hope you take from this book the message that we all matter. That there is a place for all of us. That once we know our own voice, live the values close to our hearts and follow our dreams, we can be unstoppable. Hope is only exhausted if we forsake ourselves, otherwise, no one can take our hope from us. It is both our sanctuary and our destiny to live a life with love, belonging, connection and community.” Thank you Kon Karapanagiotidis, you rock!!

Two classics amongst the songs today, we begin with the fine voice of Rag N’ Bone Man, two pop divas follow, Taylor Swift and Adele. Then a rapper new to me, Fort Minor. The superb Otis Redding and Bob Marley finishing with the Disney interpretation of Natasha Bedingfield. Here’s the playlist: The Power of Hope.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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.

When I am sad I eat Chocolate!!

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Rod's World

” I recognise my anger and I honour my reaction to the darkness. I know my true power lies in my capacity to be the light. I call on the energy and thoughts of love to pour through me and inspire me to take action from a place of true power “. This powerful prayer is from Gabby Bernstein’s The Universe Has Your Back, it comes from Step 2: Remember where your true power lies.

I think that what we have to offer the world comes from our remembrance of it. If we are eternally sad, that’s how the world occurs for us. Why not be curious in our remembrance of events. How they affected us, why they made us joyous or sad, we have examples of them all.

Let’s strap on our memories and go on the journey:

1. I remember a drive from San Fransisco to Los Angeles down the coast road on a foggy day. We picked up a hitchhiker going to his Narcotics Anyomous meeting. He was a local and took us to all the places people didn’t know about. The connectedness to the people and the area was remarkable.

2. This song was number one in our country for a lengthy period: Beautiful People.

3. Imagine if you walked the streets doing this, what a difference a day would make!!

4. There is that really bad 90’s Arnie movie End of days. I can remember moments for decades ago, and forget what I did last weekend: Moment of Clarity.

5. I was born in the 1950’s. Lots of truth to Brue lee’s statement. I remember the people I know and not many others who did not live a life worth remembering.

6. What memories live in your heart. then can be from your childhood or yesterday, they say time is a made up concept anyway: Memories of a song in my Heart.

7. My friend and I went on a cricket trip in the 80’s to Sydney, 1,000 kilometres away. He met our friend’s sister, fell in love and moved to Sydney three months later.

8. I have this vivid memory of Ken, the American Vietnam veteran who rescued us from the bush in New Zealand after our two-day hike in the mountains went bottoms up: I Remember You.

9. How often does this happen? Besties one day demoted to part of the pack six months later.

10. Is this the ultimate state of being? I use giving and receiving, better at the first, not so great at the second: Giving and Getting

11. People remember what you do, not what you say. A powerful memory.

12. Memories are made of this, but your future isn’t/ Fulfil your dreams: Follow The Sun.

13. Whilst writing this I received the phone call from one of my sisters I had been dreading. My beloved brother in law passed from cancer last night.

14.Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described her as “that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”. Lessing was the eleventh woman and the oldest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature: I remember when I was Young.

15. And this is the place our memories live.

So as the phone call shows, your memories can change instantly, hold onto the great ones.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Nature is pleased with Simplicity!

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Rod's World

Sometimes we feel that we have just reconnected with a truth we’ve always known and that if we could just know more about it, our life would be delightful and rich. I call it reconnection with your soul. It takes letting go of many of the things that clutter our lives in the hectic busyness of the modern world.

How do you reconnect with those simple things that used to please you as a child? Let’s have a look at what the world has to say about it:

1. One way I find works is to reconnect and recommit to my core values, as Zig Ziglar, the iconic business coach says we can begin again and make a new ending.

2. I ran into a friend I had not seen for five years in a hat shop in Leningrad. What reconnection brownie points were taking place for this to happen: Fate.

3. From one of the world’s greatest philosophers, Master Unknown comes a beautiful quote about how and why we reconnect.

4. Throw out those judgments and the chance of reconnection being able to come to the fore is much more prevalent: Connection.

5. Laurie Colwin (June 14, 1944 – October 24, 1992) was an American writer who wrote five novels, three collections of short stories and two volumes of essays and recipes. She was known for her portrayals of New York society and her food columns in Gourmet magazine. This is great advice she is offering.

6. This quote is a recipe for reconnection with our souls, I think it is essential: One Human Race.

7. I have a special one of these, a mate I met at a retreat four years ago, Michael, you rock my soul.

8. Beautiful image for a beautiful practice: The Best of Me.

9. How did we survive with these relatively new words that have been added to our dictionaries? What’s a dictionary, is that spellcheck or google it?

10. Co-founder of the online sensation, The Huffington Post. Arianna points to the power of meditation and contemplation in reconnecting with our inner selves: Beautiful.

11. the opening lines from the all-time classic song, The Sounds of Silence. We need to reconnect with all of us for it to truly work out.

12. Go for it, email me the results to rod.williams13 @gmail.com: Never Grow Up.

13. How difficult is this living our distracted lives?

14. Wayne Walter Dyer (May 10, 1940 – August 29, 2015) was an American philosopher, self–help author, and a motivational speaker. His first book, Your Erroneous Zones (1976), is one of the best-selling books of all time, with an estimated 35 million copies sold to date: Make peace with your Ego.

15.And finally, remember to have a healthy relationship with this intrinsic part of your psyche.

It’s time you had an extraordinary relationship with your nature. Inner and outer, we need both.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

It was not in your Textbooks!!

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Rod's World

I love TED talks. 18 minutes of possibility and passion. I’m reading a book called Talk like Ted, because, yes, I have a deep wish to do one, it’s on my bucket list. Titanic explorer Robert Ballard in TED 2008 started his talk with ” Everything I’m going to present to you was not in my textbooks when I went to school. ”

So I ponder why education departments hold so stringently onto outdated technologies and teaching methods as the above statement changes at a more rapid rate. here’s his TED talk: Exploring the Oceans.

The New is what is taking us forward, allowing for what we know already, but it is the added bits that will make the difference.

Let us meander down the path we are being taken by the newness in our lives:

1. Oh, but for the brave experimenters, we would not have the electric light, the solar panel. The people who invented these things knew that the journey came with mistakes. That they did not have the answer instantly.

1. When I was sixteen I did not know that I would run marathons when another sixteen had passed. Or that I would run down the main street of Leningrad with the mayor in the name of Ending World Hunger: I’m not Afraid

3. 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. In addition to writing, she enjoys nature, history, and is an animal welfare advocate. She also runs a blog at http://www.thehiyL.com with daily posts.

4. What would you want to be posted on your mini whiteboard that they could use later in your life: Live Your Life.

5. One thing guaranteed life will change, be new, moment by moment. Remember this when you wake up each beautiful morning.

6. I’m old enough to remember Hawkeye from M.A.S.H. From his credits he had this not in the textbook thing down pat: Theme from MASH.

7. On this path, you have to let go of some things you have attachments to. Trust the magic.

8. A new project, travel to a new country, a new love affair. Your feelings are jolted in these situations: Feelings.

9. William Arthur Ward is one of America’s most quoted writers of inspirational maxims. His column Pertinent Proverbs has been featured in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and in numerous service club publications throughout the United States and abroad. He is one of the most frequently quoted writers in the pages of Quote, the international weekly digest for public speakers.

10. There is a quote that points out we all have the same amount of time in the day as Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and HHDL. When I posted it on Facebook my brother went apeshit. This fact can be quite challenging: Absolute Beginners.

11. Don’t think that this is at the forefront of my mind as I travel through the day, I will remember it now, though.

12. Is it a creation if you already know how to do it: Imagine.

13. From the great Paulo Coelho, one simple word – “Hello”.

14. It didn’t work that time. Start again, from little steps big things grow: Starting Something: M.J.

15. How many mistakes a day do you make?

Got a little bit off the subject on the way through, but remember, what is dominant in our society was not in the textbooks you read at school.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

There was No Peace!!

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Rod's World

One of the things I do is tutor refugees who need to Improve their English. At the moment I have very two different students. One was born in a refugee camp in India 25 years ago, yes thats right, she had been in a refugee camp 25 years. Then she was put in three detention centres by our government before being released. She has lived in a free community 4 months of her young life. The other is a doctor who was on the council of the capital city of the nation she comes from , I asked her why she left. Her reply was poignant , there is no peace Teacher, she calls me teacher. I have a sense they will both be great citizens of our country given what they have been through.

I have been thinking about that statement , there is no peace since, what truly gives us peace, is our nation of Australia we live in relative peace from war but to a lot of people They do not feel so, ramping up the threat to our nation. So I have chosen 15 wide ranging statements about peace to comment on the subject.

1. That great philosopher Unknown comes up with on of the most powerful definitions to my mind, peace belongs in our heart not the physical surrounds that we are in.

2. Peace has a few allies in making the world a better place, I love the last one Everybody not just us, no hate, no war.

3. Maura is 9, with more people of her age thinking like that I give Peace a Chance, Join in with John and Yoko.

4. Be in the Now, that is where peace lives, I resist this a lot. Need to read The Power of Now again.

5. Robert Brault is a writer of forty years standing, he points to the fact where our peace really lives, within.

6. We have all seen those silly cartoons with aliens looking on as there are explosions all over our world. Silly or Not?

7. One of the world’s great peace activists, a man who lead a nation to freedom peacefully, hits the spot with this one. Makes me think of Cat’s Peace Train.

8. A disturbing image with a powerful message. Yes its up to you to be a Rider of the Storm

9. MLK, in my favourite top ten speakers, I listen to him regularly, his passion for peace was extraordinary.

10. To one of the young things who have replaced Martin Luther King, the youngest recipient and possibly the most deserving winner of the Nobel Peace prize. Malala speaks the words of peace for her generation.

11. Closer and closer, the world is becoming a smaller place, may we use the words above in our recipe.

12. I’m sure each parent wishes this for that bundle of joy they hold in their arms as they raise them with love. A question though, How does war replace this scene later in Life?

13. One of John Lennon’s more obscure Peace quotes, but a chance to listen to You’re not the only One.

14. Yes a cute dog photo peace quote, works for me. Who is Antsy McClain, watch this: Living in Aliminium.

15. And finally a Sacred Meditation to complete with, may there be peace in your life and the world.

Namaste until next Thursday my dear friends.

Rod Has a Way with Words.

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Rod's World

I recently have been become resistant to a growing power within me. I went through a process with my mentor Arion Light the other day and he asked me where I was resisting it most. I answered in having my new business be a success My website.

Life is based on a premise for me that to change one must be willing to step forward or your life will keep teaching you lessons until you get them. I had worked in Federal Government service until my heart told me to to leave and I did not listen and was retired never to work again.

During this time I have kept up my knowledge of editing in all its facets as I was an editor of a National Development journal back in the early 80’s. I have had a love of words my whole life and am very good at expressing them even to the point of getting my cigarette money at high school by writing other peoples essays for them. So in retirement my friends who run businesses said why don’t you start your own as they were willing to pay me to do what I was doing for them for nothing.

So what does Power mean to us, I have chosen 15 rather different quotes on the subject, lets begin our journey.

1. Knowledge gives you power when you are partaking in interactions on a daily basis, but if you have no enthusiasm for the subject the power involved tends to wane over time.

2. My business started off with a flourish, I am now working on my determination to keep going in the face of no results from my actions.

3. The only thing that is certain is our life that is it will change, we have to realise at times our mind will not want to do this as it will be uncomfortable and what our mind loves most is being comfortable.

4. In the process I mentioned at the start of this blog, Arion asked me to look at what I was no being passionate about that I loved. I think Midnights Oils Power And the Passion expresses this the best for me. Surprisingly the lead singer Peter Garrett succumbed to the power of becoming a federal politician and gave up many of his passions.

5. You cannot locate real power outside yourself, this is a lesson well learnt by many after seeking it through their career status, their amount of possessions and then they reach a point of dissatisfaction and begin the journey within.

6. Abraham Lincoln February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy. He was one of the great examples of what a man can do with power if they do it with character.

7. Power is defined as follows:

Someone with power has physical strength or they’re in control of things. So a weakling who’s in charge of a business still has a lot of power.

Power comes from the Latin word potere, which means “to be able.” But things with power are much more than able — they’re able to exert a lot of force. “The powers that be” are those who hold authority, and “the power behind the throne” refers to the people who exert influence without being formally in charge. When used as a verb, power means “to supply with mechanical or electrical energy,” as in a nuclear-powered submarine. It is not very useful if you are going through life asleep.

8. “Do I dare Disturb the universe?”
― T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems sums up what governments do not want people to know, that they really do have the power if they are willing to take it.

9. Jimi Hendrix only lived to be 28 years old, he was one of the magic bus people along with Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, iconic figures of their time who sang and spoke about the greatest power being Love. Here is Jimi’s opus to it Power of Love.

10. Reclaiming your Power can return you to being back on track in all areas of your life, in owning that you are off in one and doing what is needed to restore balance you are actually working on all areas.

11. When you stand in your power, your Sparkle shines through. All the colours of the rainbow included. Sparkle was a film made in 1976 and remade in 2012 that was a huge success with African American audiences loosely based on the life of Diana Ross and the Supremes Filmclip.

12. The halls of Power are not an easy climb for Women, on the way there they have many bricks thrown at them, its what they do with them that leads to the final result.

13. Many people fall by the wayside when it comes to the abuse of the power they have been gifted by their position. They did not handle the responsibility that came with the position, something I feel a bit in my business , I am learning to provide the level required.

14. John Ray was an environmentalist from the 16th century, he is best remembered for this quote around the power that comes with being considered beautiful.

15. The Power stance is part of a TED talk by Amy Cuddy that 32,154,177 have watched so it must be very informative on the subject of power : Amy’s Ted Talk. Hunched shoulders are not a sign of power

My gifts to people from my business are Proof reading, Website Polishing, Copy Editing, Slogan writing and Research. Contact and Like my Rod Has a Way with Words Facebook Page.

Namaste until Monday my dear friends.

On the Road Again!!

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Rod's World

One date late, I was on a Monday op shopping journey with my sister from Tasmania who was over for the week and my regular Tuesday companions my Melbourne sister and my eighty eight year old mum.

I came to work and saw the headline ” My Journey, My Lucky Country ” an entirely different sort of outing, a refugee tale. It made me think what did the word journey mean to an individual was it one of the road, an inner journey of the body and mind, time spent with friends or an entirely different interpretation.

The 15 quotes I have chosen cover many different takes on it, so lets begin our journey:

1. Dr. Steve Maraboli is a life-changing Speaker, best-selling Author, and Behavioural Science Academic. His quotes and videos have become a social media sensation, being shared by millions across the globe and earning him the designation of, “The most quoted man alive.” On journeying he states that one needs to let go of what occurred yesterday to release the beauty of today’s.

2. Rainer Maria Rilke was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, travelled extensively throughout Europe, including Russia, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and in his later years settled in Switzerland—settings that were key to the genesis and inspiration for many of his poems, yet he believed the main journey was an inner one.

3. One of the great hits of the first great musical festival Woodstock was Canned Heats epic On the Road Again Canned Heats anthem to the Journey.

4. Ernest Hemingway , winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature, had an amazing life’s journey. Married four times, he reported from the Spanish Civil War and was present at the Normanby Landing and the liberation of Paris during World War Two. He certainly lived the ethos of his above quote.

5. In these hectic times of Internet, Facebook and many other forms of Social Media, the journey often feels more like a race. Try to slow down and find the joy that is available on the journey of life. Remember to smell the Roses.

6. How often are we reminded that the journey is not always on a straight lineal path. For me it has been mental health episodes. What have been your falls?

7. My brother left our family home and travelled to Western Australia without notice at the tender age of 17. My parents at the time did not understand this at all. I think we all have incidents in our life’s journey that are not understood by others. They are not meant to be. Its our journey and we mostly know why we are doing it.

8. All the books we are read as children have a happy ending. Yet in our lives this is not always the case, we have much more interesting stories to tell from our journey.

9. “Harness the power of today. Seize the blessings of today! Make something happen, enhance your life, make someone laugh, help a friend, love, love, love!”

10. I have been training myself recently to be in the present, it is quite remarkable how different your experience of life is when you exist from this paradigm, all experiences are more enjoyable.

11. If the Earth formed at midnight and the present moment is the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans have been around since 11:59:59pm—1 second. And if human history itself spans 24 hours from one midnight to the next, 14 minutes represents the time since Christ. This put our lifetimes in perspective, remember to enjoy the time you are here.

12. Big Tony point out that to be able to experience a journey you must begin it. Many people choose to never do this.

13. Many people just a few years older than me have been passing recently including a good friends father totally unexpectedly. Don’t forget the people in your life who mean a lot to you. Assuming they will be there tomorrow is just that, an assumption.

14. That’s what friends are for Dionne Warwicks divine tune on the subject.

15. And finally Snoopy has the last say, Lets bring in Willy Nelson as well On the Road Again, to me this is so true. My friends and family have been the best part of the journey.

So how ever we travel our journey, as an entrepreneur, a Nine to Fiver, a sporting hero, a stay at home mum all the advice seems to be enjoy it as much as you can because we are here for a short while.

Namaste until Thursday my dear friends.