Don’t Dance so Fast

Posted August 2, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Common sense, relationships
Tags: , ,

Recently I came across a poem which really struck me.  It’s called “Slow Dance”, and I believe it can benefit us all.  I believe it was authored by child psychologist  David Weatherford. Hope you enjoy it!

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain, slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight? Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short. The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?

When you ask: How are you? Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores running through your head?

You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short. The music won’t last.

Ever told your child, We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die.

Cause you never had time to call and say, “Hi”?

You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short. The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere, you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race. Do take it slower.

Hear the music, before the song is over.

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Step Outside the Comfort Zone

Posted May 27, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Uncategorized
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Several years ago my youngest daughter ‘s name was pulled as the winner in a local draw we had entered. Her prize – free karate lessons for her and one other person for a year. Knowing full well her mother wasn’t going to be that other person, by default it became me.

I suddenly found myself thrust into a gymnasium with a bunch of five to thirteen year old kids running around barefoot, doing push ups, situps, and bending in ways my body wasn’t supposed to flex. Clearly, I was the elephant in the room. I was the only parent running around the gym with all these kids, as the rest of the parents watched on in good humor. Once the Sinsei got everyone’s attention, a young boy no more than eight walked to the front of the room and began leading us in our warm ups. Talk about a role reversal. Here I was in my late thirties, taking instruction and direction from a boy who looked like he had just given up eating pablum. It was a very interesting and unusual experience to say the least. But from that day forward, every class evolved the same way, except it would always be a different person selected to lead the warm ups. I was clearly outside my comfort zone, but in a good way. I had never experienced being led by a bunch of kids who knew way more than I did about what we were doing.

And how about you? When’s the last time you got outside your comfort zone? If you’re like most people it’s probably been a long time since you stuck your neck out there, and exposed yourself to something very new, and uncomfortable. And you probably have good reason in your mind for not doing so. But there are also countless reasons to get outside of your comfort zone and try something new. For starters, it opens your mind and thought process to new possibilities. For instance in my particular situation it demonstrates that age is just a number. Can adults be led by children three times less their age? Absolutely! Can we learn something from EVERYONE we meet? Absolutely, but only if our minds are open to doing so. Getting outside your comfort zone also allows you to learn new skills, new ideas and see things from a different perspective.

There are countless ways you can get outside your comfort zone. All you have to do is let your imagination wander. For instance, you can start with small incremental steps like listening to a music genre that you would not ordinarily listen to, take a different road to work, or better yet, take a vacation you’ve never done before. Explore new places, learn a new language, eat different foods, get out there and explore. You are simply one of roughly 32 billion people on the planet. Imagine how boring this place called Earth would be, if we were all the same. If we had the same ideas, experiences, and skills.

Step outside your comfort zone today and I guarantee you’ll be a better more interesting person for it.

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The Last Lecture

Posted March 27, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Education, Success
Tags: , , ,

Planning is great for taxes, investing, and vacations but when it comes to living, life is about the here and now. In the buffet of life, there are no second helpings. The way to fulfill your dreams is to go after them NOW….before it’s too late!

In all the books I’ve read and movies I’ve watched, I can’t think of a better example of this than the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. His last lecture is truly an education about what life is really about. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and watch this abbreviated version of his Last Lecture which he originally gave at Carnegie Mellon University. I’m confident after watching it you’ll want to read the book and watch the full length video.

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The Perfect Food

Posted February 26, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Health
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As our society gets more health conscious, one can’t help but notice how much food is available to us, that really isn’t healthy or nutritious. Anyone who follows nutrition at all knows that most of the food available to use these days (i.e processed/packaged food) is toxic and posionous to our bodies. When it comes to health and nutrtion, we should be eating whole orgnic foods. That is, food that does not come in a box or laden with chemicals. It is food that has not been processed. 

If you’ve ever been on a trip south to the Carribean for instance, chances are you noticed a subtle change to your digestive system while on vacation. This is because even though you may be eating cheese, or chicken, it is not the same as the cheese and chicken you are accustomed to. The cheese and chicken you’ve become accustomed to is full of chemicals, preservatives, antibiotics, and so on. The reason your digestive system acts up while on vacation is because your body is not used to eating REAL food – without all the additives.

While many people want to eat healthy, they believe their choices are very limited. After all, who wants to eat organic whole pasta every night? Fortunately, there are other choices. One such choice I wnat to share with you has been dubbed “the perfect food.” The reason it’s called the perfect food is because of its composition. This food is a complete protein with a nearly ideal amino acid balance. It is a good source of fibre, complex carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorous, iron, and vitamins B and E. So what is this miracle food? It’s called Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa).

Quinoa is actually a grain that originated in the Andes mountains and was one of the three staple foods of the Inca people. There are several different varieties available, and all are easily prepared.

The best part of this “perfect food” is that it fills you up without leaving you feeling full and bloated. Instead you feel energized, and nourished. And isn’t that what good nutrition and good food are all about?

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Domestic violence rates in Canada

Posted January 27, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: relationships
Tags: , ,

Despite our best efforts on the policing front,coupled with heavy enforcement, reported family violence rates remain stable according to the latest data. One figure that I find troubling in this article is that men and women reported almost equal levels of abuse. From my experience handling these calls, this figure doesn’t appear accurate. The majority of victims I see are female, not male!

What do you think about these figures? I’d like to hear your comments. For the full story, click below.

Rates of family violence remain stable in Canada, but fewer people report it to police.

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What does success mean to you? Take the poll.

Posted January 19, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Success
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Sleeping with the enemy

Posted January 18, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: relationships
Tags: , , ,

Has your relationship reached the point where it feels like your sleeping with the enemy? If so, how come? How did you reach this point? It wasn’t always this way. Where did the train get off the track?

Chances are, the train started going off the track the day the relationship began, or the day you said ” I do.”   Zig Ziglar says,  many people spend more time planning the wedding than they do the marriage. We go to painstaking efforts to make sure we have the right date for the wedding, the right dress, who will cater the food, what the bridesmaids will wear, and so on. Yet sadly, many couples couldn’t tell you whether or not they value the same things, or have similar life goals or plans for raising a family, or even if they have the same religious beliefs. Which is probably why the national divorce rate continues to hover in the 40% range (Canadian statistic – Vanier Family Institute).  Although the divorce rate is not rising (contrary to popular belief) I ‘m not sure if that’s because more people are living common-law and not getting married, or becasue those who do marry are in fact staying married. Based on my experience, I believe relationship failures as a whole are on the rise. People are simply having a hard time making their relationships work, and for good reason. Blended families often lead to conflict among teenagers from the now joined couple. Work schedules and family life are more hectic today than ever before. And most importantly we aren’t taking the time to nurture our relationships. Just as a garden will never grow nice vegetables if we don’t take the time to plant the seed, water it, and fertilize, nor will our relationships succeeed without the same attention  required of them.

Have a look at the list below for the top reasons why couples separate or divorce (according to the Vanier Institute). If you can identify your own  relationship with any one of these reasons it may be time to stop the train and make sure you’re on the right track. Or, you may need to get on a totally different train.

Top 5 reasons couples separate or divorce:

  1. Different values and interests
  2. Abuse — physical and emotional
  3. Alcohol and drugs
  4. Infidelity
  5.  Career-related conflict

Source: Vanier Institute of the Family

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Guns don’t kill people!

Posted January 11, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Common sense
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The recent shooting in Arizona has once again spurred the great gun debate. Let’s get this straight once and for all…..guns don’t kill people, people kill people! Blaming the gun for this incident is akin to blaming the Honda Accord for running somebody over and killing them. Unless there was some type of mechanical failure (i.e. in the brakes), I would suggest it’s not the car, it’s the driver. Or in this case, and many other similar cases, it’s not the gun, it’s the shooter. Even Sarah Palin is getting blamed for this shooting because of the cross-hair images on a map on her website. Give me a break. When are we as a society going to put the blame where it belongs – on the shoulders of those responsible. We are ALL responsible for ourselves and our actions, and trying to convince ourselves otherwise is totally detrimental to our society.

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It’s Not About You!

Posted January 10, 2011 by Greg Smith
Categories: Communication
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Imagine you’ve just made a speech or presentation to a group of people. As the speaker, what do you think is the best possible response you could receive, following that speech? Most people will incorrectly say, “Applause, or a standing ovation”, and that’s the reason for this article. While applause is nice, it’s not for you, it’s for the audience. The audience customarily claps to show their appreciation. It’s the polite and proper thing to do. Just because their clapping doesn’t mean they enjoyed or appreciated what you had to say. The applause is for the audience, not for you. If they don’t clap, it creates an awkward silence, and makes the audience feel uncomfortable. To avoid feeling awkward and uncomfortable they simply clap for everybody. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself the next time you’re at a function or live show. Even the crappy comedian gets a nice polite applause.

As a speaker, the absolute best thing you could possibly hear after making a speech is when somebody says to you, “I felt like you were talking directly to me” or, “I could really relate to what you said.” One might wonder as I did when I first heard this, why this is important? When somebody says this to you it means that you CONNECTED with them on a personal level, and that’s what communication is all about. Anytime you speak to a group, you are really just speaking to a gathering of individuals. They all have their own minds, opinions and ideas. When they tell you that you connected with them, you have truly succeeded as a speaker. Communication is like plumbing, connections are the key!

Naturally the question that follows is, “How do I connect with them?” There are many ways you can connect with an audience, all of which require effort, and preparation on your part. One of the best ways to connect is by finding out what frustrates them. For example if you’re talking to a group of airline pilots, try and find out in advance some of the things that bother them, or keep them awake at night. Then talk about those frustrations in your speech, or craft a story around them. The idea here essentially follows the age old principle taught by Dale Carnegie, “You can make more friends in two months by being interested in other people, than you can in two years trying to get others interested in you.”

Good communication is not about you, it’s about them!

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Copservation

Posted December 22, 2010 by Greg Smith
Categories: Uncategorized
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Last week at work I was dispatched to an animal complaint where a deer had fallen through the ice and was struggling to get out of the water. When I arrived on scene, there were several vehicles on site all hoping to be able to do something for this deer. Initially I took out my long gun to see if I could dispatch the deer but it was too far out of range. And every time the deer would make progress towards shore, it would turn around and go back the other way towards the open water. We placed a call to a neighboring fire department to see if they could help out with their hovercraft-type rescue boat, but that was also ruled out of the equation. Eventually, I determined there was nothing else we could do and left the scene. As the day passed I continued to drive by and check on the deer’s progress. Each time I went by, I got flagged down by other motorists who after seeing the deer for the first time had stopped to see if they could help. And each time I would tell them, “I’m sorry there’s nothing we can do.” In short, it all came down to the Circle of Life that was summed up so nicely in the Lion King. Nature had to take its course. Whatever would be, would be. But in the end it got me thinking. What kind of world would it be if humans cared as much about one another as they did for this stupid deer? I would hazard a guess and say I would probably be out of a job if people cared about others in the same way. What a sad statement for humanity. Hopefully, one day we will reach that level of compassion with one another. What do you think? Do you think it’s possible? Send me your comments, I’d like to hear what you have to say on this.

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