Tous les matins, je me réveille au son de mon réveille-matin fait au Japon.

Je pose mes pieds sur mon tapis de Turquie , puis j’enfile ma robe de chambre en coton du Mali.

J’emprunte l’escalier fait de bois d’acajou du Brésil.

Une fois dans la cuisine, sur le comptoir en granit de l’Inde, je me prépare un café du Guatemala à l’aide d’une machine à espresso italienne qui est faite en aluminium constitué de la bauxite de Guinée.

À ce merveilleux café j’ajoute un soupçon de sucre d’Haiti et un peu de cacao de Côte d’Ivoire.

Je mange ensuite un pamplemousse du Chili, des céréales et quelques noix d’Espagne.

J’enfile ma chemise de soie de Chine, qui a été assemblée à Taiwan, avec un veston en lin du Vietnam.

J’ajoute ma montre suisse et mon anneau d’or du Sénégal.

J’irai au travail dans une voiture allemande assemblée au Mexique, qui roulera sur des pneus italiens conçus avec du pétrole vénézuélien.

Je travaille sur mon ordinateur portable américain; je surveille la Bourse de Hong Kong, achète des actions d’une compagnie norvégienne, échange avec des amis hollandais.

Le soir, au souper, je mange une bonne baguette de pain français en l’accompagnant d’un délicieux vin espagnol et quelques fromages du Québec… tout en regardant un film marocain sous-titré en anglais.

Avant d’aller au lit, je regarderai les nouvelles pour vérifier la météo de demain et constater l’état du monde.Une nouvelle crise s’est installée au Kenya, puis a été déclassée par la sécheresse au Mozambique et le cyclone au Myannar, ensuite un tremblement de terre en Chine.

Des enfants vont à la guerre au lieu d’aller à l’école.

D’autres meurent avant même de marcher.

Et moi je prends un bon verre d’eau, non accessible à 1,2 milliard de personnes, et je retourne paisiblement dans mon lit, sous une couette faite avec des plumes d’oies  qui volent au dessus de quels pays ? Et une autre journée … demain.

Derrière tout ce que possédons ou presque, il y a des visages de femmes, d’enfants et d’hommes qui vivent aux 4 coins de la planète. Par le fait même, nous avons un lien direct avec leurs conditions de vie. J’espère que ce texte vous aide comme il l’a fait pour moi à réaliser le pouvoir que nous avons en tant que consommateurs.

Étiez-vous conscients de cette réalité?

Source; Le grand mensonge vert, Jean Sébastien Trudel et Kathy Noel. pages 102-104

Because;

 “Hard work pays off in the future, Laziness pays off now.”

Steven Wright , American comedian

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There is a time for every thing. A time to work and a time to rest. This week end should be a time to rest as much as possible. Have a great week end.

“Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.”

 Anne Frank

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Most of us know exactly what has to be done and when, but sometimes we just don’t do it.  Why?

I have some important papers that I know I should put away, and I know I should have put them away many months ago. Why?

I’m the only one who knows about it, I procrastinate and I’m being lazy with this task. Why?

Because I prefer to do more exciting things… this week-end, I’ll put the papers away. I know I should have done it a long time ago and I know I’ll feel better after it’s done. It will give me satisfaction.

This is an example that is not very important, but my question to you is the following;

How many things or tasks in your life are left undone or unfinished because of plain laziness?

If there too many, what will you do about it?

“To lose patience is to lose the battle”

Mahatma Gandhi

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We don’t always have to be or look impatient to lose patience.

When we give up on something or on someone, we lose patience.

When we procrastinate with a task or a responsability, we lose patience.

When we avoid doing what we must do, we lose patience.

It is so easy to lose patience because we rarely suffer the consequences of our procrastination right away; if we did, we would modify our behavior immediately.

The more we do what we must do when we should do it, the time will come that we will do what we want  to do when we want to do it.

No matter what you do, time marches on at its own pace; tic, toc, tic, toc and there’s nothing you can do to change that .Time is a great equalizer; it runs at the same speed for everybody, rich or poor, jet pilot or snail farmer. You can’t manufacture time, you can’t reproduce time, you can’t slow time down or turn it around and make it run in the other direction. You can’t trade bad hours for good ones, either.

What you can manage, however, is your attention. Attention is a resource we all possess. Your attention reflects your conscious decisions about which activities will occupy your time. You are where your attention is… not necessarily where your body is.

The first step is to precisely understand your priorities. There’s a big difference between managing your attention to accomplish priorities and checking off items on your to-do list. Our natural tendency is to do what is fun, convenient, or absolutely necessary at any given time—but your true priorities may not fit into any of those categories.

So, here’s a question to ask yourself, “If I could accomplish only one thing right now, what would that one thing be?”

Your answer will quickly identify your top priority, where you should be directing your attention.

Life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. 

You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew.

Seek, not to find out who you are, seek to determine who you want to be.

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In the book, the 50 th law, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson said that 50 Cent is a character that he created and that very soon he will destroy it to replace it for another one.

Imagine destroying a successful project or product before the market actually destroys you. I think that Curtis Jackson is very “street smart” and has a good sense of business . He is very pragmatic and he understands what it means to take control of his destiny.

Oh by the way, what will you create for yourself?

What I CAN Change!

• You can’t change your entire life, you can only change your next action

• You can’t change a relationship with a loved one, you can only change your next interaction

• You can’t change your entire job, you can only change your next task

• You can’t change your body composition, you can only change your next meal

• You can’t change your fitness level, you can only start moving

• You can’t de-clutter your entire life, you can only choose to get rid of one thing right now

• You can’t eliminate your entire debt, you can only make one payment, or buy one less unnecessary item

• You can’t change the past, or control the future, you can only change what you are doing now

• You can’t change everything, you can only change one, small thing…and that’s all it takes

 What will you change today?

“What a wonderful life I had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner”

Colette

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Life is not always easy! Sometimes, life throws a curve at us and we have a hard time dealing with it.

This is why it’s important to remember our blessings, especially when things don’t go our way. Because, most of the time, even when things are not as good as we’d like, there is still a lot going well. It’s important to take the time to be thankful EVERYDAY for the good things in our lives.

In 1985, I had a car accident and I was immobilized without being able to walk for about 6 weeks, then after I had to go to physiotherapy for a couple of months. That was the bad side of the accident. The good side of it is that for the first time in  my young life, I took the time to read good books and spent time all alone away from the distractions of the world. Time to ponder upon what I was going to do with my life.

This was the beginning of a process of introspection that lead me to question constantly what I was going to do at almost every moment of my life. As Socrates once said, “A life not examined is not worth living”,  from now on, I would question myself and question others continuously. I would start to doubt common beliefs and confront them. it was not because everyone said something that it was necessarily true.

As we question ourselves and others, it is tempting to become sarcastic, but this is when it’s important to take a long-term perspective and realize that something bad in the short term might turn out to be a good thing in the long run. Many curses are opportunities in disguise. It’s up to us to learn how to recognize them.

Everyday we must look at the good things in our lives even when everything seems to be hopeless.

Everyday we must count our blessings and try to minimize our sorrows.

This is one of the ways to appreciate how wonderful life really is.

Will you count your blessings today?

“Start living now. Stop saving the good china for that special occasion. Stop withholding your love until that special person materializes. Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift”

Mary Manin Morrissey

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It seems to me that Natasha Richardson had almost everything going for herself. She seemed to be happily married to Northern Irish actor Liam Neeson. She had two sons. She came from a famous British family of actors and actresses. I assume that she was financially wealthy. She left this world unexpectedly at the age of 45 (16747 days).

On 16 March 2009,  Natasha Richardson sustained a head injury when she fell while taking a skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resortin Quebec, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) from Montreal. The injury was followed by a lucid interval, when Richardson seemed to be fine and was able to talk and act normally. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. Refusing medical attention, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur,Montreal, in critical condition and was admitted about seven hours after the fall. The following day she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospitalin New York City, where she died on 18 March. An autopsy conducted by the New York City Medical Examiners Office on 19 March revealed the cause of death was an “epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head”, and her death was ruled an accident.

Source Wikipedia, January 14, 2011

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Does this make you realize how fragile your life really is?

If your answer is YES…

Start living now!

I hear you say “Why?” Always “Why?” You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”

George Bernard Shaw

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This is the reason why we talk about George Bernard Shaw; he dared to say WHY NOT?

How many times in our lives did we say WHY and the main reason was our concern for the opinion of others?

How many times we did not dare SAY THE THING or DO THE THING because of fear or timidity?

Benjamin Franklin used to say ; “Do something worth writing about or write something worth reading if you don’t want to be forgotten an hour after your death.”

Will you dare say WHY NOT ?

How do you measure your quality of life?

He or she who dies with the most toys wins.

Really?

Who really cares about your big screen plasma or HDTV?

Who really cares about your new  luxury car?

Who really cares about your Lululemon yoga outfit?

Who really cares about 67 pairs of shoes?

Who really cares about your oversized 5000 square feet house?

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How about living each day like if it was the last one?

What about looking for new and exciting experiences?

Oh, I hear you say…am I being too selfish and hedonistic?

Fair enough!

How about giving your time to help someone in need?

What about sacrificing some time or personal pleasures for someone else?

If you are  measuring your quality of life according to other people’s expectations,

I think that you are heading for disapointment…

In contrast…

The people of the remote Himalayan country of Bhutan were recently rated as having the poorest quality of life of all but one other country in the world.

After all, their average annual per capita income is only $500. Ironically, however, when you have the privilege to visit the country, there are no beggars, only beautiful, snow-capped peaks, virgin forests, and clean air.

The crime rate is extremely low, no one is in a hurry, and there is a strong sense of community. You might almost think that instead of depending on their belongings to entertain them, they’ve learned to enhance their lives by building relationships with each other.

External link for Bhutan…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan

Be careful to avoid the trap of, “the more you buy, the more you need.” Because oftentimes then the more we think we need, the more unhappy we are with what we have. So, before buying those new golf clubs, stop and think. Will that $2000 bring you more happiness through a bag of irons, compared to a few days off with your family, or as a donation to someone who might need it, or a person who is trying to make a difference?

It’s your choice. It’s how you measure it!

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”

Pablo Picasso

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Child with a dove

If you dream of becoming an artist; a painter, a writer, a musician, an actor or an actress; what prevents you from using your free time to get started?

All of us have some free time. I know  most of us will tell others how very busy we are. The truth is that we are very good at making excuses.

I’m too tired…I don’t have money… I’m too old… I’m too young…My spouse won’t let me… It’s too expensive to take lessons… fill in the blank here ________________with your own excuse…

How can some of us spend so much time watching TV, complain about our problems or gossip about others? 

Why is it that some people seem to find the time to do things that they really care about for themselves or for others? 

Each one of us have spare time to pursue our dream.

All we have to do is…to actually start.

Do you agree with me?

No!

The main reason we feel this way sometimes is because we live according to other people’s expectations.

We forget ourselves when we try to match society’s standards of what is right, what is success, what we should be doing…instead of remembering our childhood dreams and fantasies.

But, when we make a conscious effort to focus on some of our dreams and spend less time living according to our society’s standards, I believe we can drastically improve our quality of life.

It is however a conscious choice and a daily discipline to live this way.

Will you give it a try?

Here is a lesson in leadership from a crazy dancer…

     We convince ourselves that life 
will be better after we get married, 
have a baby, then another. 
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough 
and we’ll be more content when they are.

After that we’re frustrated that we 
have teenagers to deal with, 
we will certainly be happy 
when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete 
when our spouse gets his or her act together, 
when we get a nicer car, 
are able to go on a nice vacation, 
when we retire. 
The truth is there’s no better time 
to be happy than right now. 
If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. 
It’s best to admit this to yourself 
and decide to be happy anyway. 
One of my favorite quotes comes 
from Alfred D Souza.

He said, “For a long time it had seemed 
to me that life was about to begin -real life. 
But there was always some obstacle in the way, 
something to be gotten through first, 
some unfinished business, 
time still to be served, 
a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. 
At last it dawned on me that these 
obstacles were my life.”

This perspective has helped me to see 
that there is no way to happiness. 
Happiness is the way, 
so, treasure every moment that you have. 
And treasure it more because you shared it 
with someone special, 
special enough to spend your time… 
and remember that time waits for no one.

So stop waiting until you finish school, 
until you go back to school, 
until you lose ten pounds, 
until you gain ten pounds, 
until you have kids, 
until your kids leave the house, 
until you start work, 
until you retire, 
until you get married, 
until you get divorced, 
until Friday night, 
until Sunday morning, 
until you get a new car or home, 
until your car or home is paid off, 
until spring, until summer, 
until fall, until winter, 
until you are off welfare, 
until the first or fifteenth, 
until your song comes on, 
until you’ve had a drink, 
until you’ve sobered up, 
until you die, until you are born again 
to decide that there is no better time 
than right now to be happy… 
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So, work like you don’t need money.

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

Dance like no one’s watching.

“Time cools; time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours.”

Thomas Mann

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Good news, bad news, good mood, bad mood, joy, disappointments, new and exciting projects, boring routine, sunny day, rainy day, entertainment, lazy sunday afternoon…

This is what life is made of and each one of us must make the best of it.

One of the most interesting lines I have ever read is from Anthony Di Mello who said: I AM NOT my depression.

He meant that we all have bad days but we can choose to watch our bad mood as a spectator would watch a movie, we don’t have to identify with it, we can simply become the observer of our mood.

Remember that it is not what happens to us but how we react to what happens to us that matters.

Do you spend too much time worrying about your mood swings?

Do you accept that you can have a bad day and just witness yourself having a bad day?

Worried About Your Mood Swings?   

Don’t!

Why?

Because It’s Just  A Normal Experience!

Every day, I witness too many people who are complaining. (myself included)

If only we would realize how short life really is, we would stop complaining and stop wasting precious time.

Since our time is so limited, doesn’t it make sense to figure out what we really enjoy and try to spend as much time as possible doing what we like?

We all have responsibilities, but we also have spare time, and it is in that spare time that we can improve our quality of life.

One of the ways I found to minimize my own complaining is to count my blessings every day. When I focus my attention on what goes well in my life, I notice that there is much more good than bad. If you have time today, take a piece of paper, make two columns, one for the good stuff and the other for the bad things.

Chances are that you will write much more on the side of “good stuff”.

Good health, good friends, healthy family members, good food everyday, living in a safe country, able to give money to charity, easy credit to buy the dream house, the big screen TV or the new car.

And the bad things…

Since I  have started doing this exercise many years ago, it has helped me realize that there is more good than bad for most of us, most of the time…if we choose to look at things this way.

It is an exercise that has to be repeated every day when possible, or as often as possible. When we neglect counting our blessings, there is a chance that people around us will notice it in our attitude. I could compare it to taking a shower, if we skip it for too long, someone somewhere will notice…

Do you find yourself complaining too much?

Don’t you think it’s a waste of time and energy?

Will you try to write down a list of the good things in your life?

“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.”

Theodore H. White

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 This is risky business! But when we are convinced that our ideas are the right ones, we must fight for them. Just think of Galileo, Martin Luther, Gandhi, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King…

“Live your life with your eyes wide open and soak up the amazing world around you.

You never know when something seemingly insignificant at the time will provide the inspiration for a major change of trajectory on your journey.”

Stephen Lafond

In July 2009, Lee Lipsenthal was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. As he and his wife, Kathy, navigated his diagnosis, illness, and treatment, he discovered that he did not fear death, and that even as he was facing his own mortality, he felt more fully alive than ever before. Hear his story in his own words.

We can all learn from this inspiring story!

Click on this hyperlink to listen to Lee himself.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/enjoy-every-sandwich

How do you feel about asking other people for help?

I’ve noticed that many of us get uncomfortable about requesting support. While we’re all different and we each have our own unique perspective and talents, it seems that this can be quite a challlenge for most of us to ask for help.

When I feel stressed out, when I try to do everything myself, either because I feel insecure about asking for help or because I think that I’m the only one who can do it the “right” way.  At other times, I can be quite pushy with my “demands” for help.
I’ve also experienced personally and seen in others many times throughout my life, that there is a middle way between going it all alone and demanding help from others. So many times in the past, I tried to do it all, read it all, check it all and not sleep at all. I had to learn how to stop doing “the one-man-show”.

The irony of this whole thing is that most of us like to help others, while many of us find it difficult asking others for help ourselves.

Asking for help can make us feel vulnerable. We usually think that we should be able to do everything ourselves or that by admitting we need help, we are somehow being weak.  In addition, many of us are sensitive about being told NO and by asking others to help us we put ourselves out there and risk being rejected.

What if we had more freedom to ask for what we wanted and for specific help from other people? What if we could make requests in a confident and humble way? What if we remembered that we are worthy of other people’s help and that our ability to both ask for and receive it not only supports us, but also gives them an opportunity to contribute. It always surprises that most people really want to help.

It can be a little scary, we may get our feelings hurt from time to time, and on occasion people may have some opinions or reactions to what we ask for or how we do so. But, when we give ourselves permission and remind ourselves that it’s not only okay, but essential for us to ask for help, we can create a true sense of support in our lives.

Alone it seems to go faster, together we go further!

Laugh as often you can.

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Apologize when you should.

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And let go of what you can’t change.

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Apparently, Socrates never wrote anything , the knowledge of the man, his life, and his philosophy are based on writings by his students, one of which was Plato who was amongst the most popular. Plato himself was the teacher of Aristotle, and  Aristotle later on became the teacher of Alexander the Great.

We can see how an original thinker (Socrates) had influence on the poet & dreamer (Plato) who in turn had influence on the man of Logic (Aristotle) who finally influenced the man of action (Alexander the Great). The teachings of Socrates still resonate with us directly and indirectly 24 centuries later.

We can see with the previous succession of great people the importance of teaching.

Some of the greatest teachers often work in relative obscurity, it is their own personal passion that helps to shape some of the greatest individuals of the future.

Could you be one of them?

Could Taylor Mali be one of them?

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I  really like this guy ( Taylor Mali). Check it out.

We have control over our choices, but we don’ t have any control over the consequences of our choices.

What this means is that we don’t always know how things will turn out.

What it means is that we can’t always predict how people will respond to our decisions.

That is why we should be aware of our choices as much as possible if we want to improve our quality of life.

Sometimes our decisions can result in big mistakes that will be costly in time.

From the moment that we know clearly what we want, it becomes easier to make the best possible choices for ourselves. These decisions are unique for each one of us.

Do you ever think of the big difference between your choices and the consequences of your choices?

“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them”

Dion Bousicault ( 1820-1890)

Irish-born actor & dramatist

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How could anyone in their right mind want to kill time? To want to kill time, in my opinion, is a confession of imbecility because time is what life is made of. Sometimes, we are at work thinking of what we will do on the weekend. However, when the weekend comes, do you ever find yourself doing nothing? So you wasted productive time at work because you were daydreaming, and now you are wasting free time because you did not plan in advance. You are caught off guard at the last minute.

I have a  personal example that happened to my wife and I a few times. We have 3 young children who still need a babysitter when we go out. Sometimes, we had the chance to find a babysitter at the last minute. This was great, but since we had only about 60 to 90 minutes of free time together, our options were limited. By the time we agreed on what we both wanted to do, 20 to 30 minutes had already gone by.

So I asked myself; how can I avoid this kind of situation when our time is so limited and so precious?

Solution: I made a list of dozens of activities that require very little time and that are enjoyable. When  the opportunity to have time together knocks on our door, we are ready. Since then, we can use these precious minutes in a smarter way.

Exception:  If you are a person with an extremely busy schedule, it is important NOT TO FEEL GUILTY because you need to relax once in a while and in this case, it’s not a waste of time.

When we know exactly what we want and what we like, it’s easier to use our time in a smarter way.

Do you often find yourself “killing” precious time ?

JIM CLEMENTS  The 100 year old office boy:

Workaholic great-grandad does admin and makes tea

He has been working for 86 years – 34 years in his current security firm job which he took when he got bored in retirement

A workaholic great-grandad was yesterday revealed as the nation’s oldest office boy – at 100.

Jim Clements has been working for 86 years, after taking up a “temp” job at a security firm when he got bored in retirement.

And 34 years later he is still there, doing admin and making tea for his female colleagues two days a week.

But Jim, who celebrated his birthday last week, has no plans to quit.

SWNS

SWNS

He said: “I do filing, shredding, answering the phone, photocopying and making tea for the girls.

“It keeps the cogs moving and keeps me young. The girls look after me and give me a lift home.”

He started as an engineer aged 14 and retired at 66 in 1980.

SWNS

He has two children, four grandchildren and a great grandchild, and met his wife Gladys while making torpedoes in the Second World War.

They were together until she died 19 years ago.

Jacky Cowley, who works with Jim at Active Security in Harlow, Essex, said: “Jim is amazing. He has a wicked sense of humour.”

Source : http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/100-year-old-office-boy-1562638

Most of us underestimate the power of incremental change over time.

It seems to me that we have a tendency to  think that we must take dramatic steps in order to achieve something significant.

Confucius said:  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Everything in life starts with a single step.

You learn to walk and you fall.

You learn your ABC and you forget at first.

You learn to add, substract and multiply and make mistakes.

You jump in the pool and sink under until someone teaches you how to swim.

Do you remember learning how to drive the shift stick?

Enough examples…

Why do so many people give up before they even start?

I believe that one of the reasons is that they start with unrealistic expectations.

In fact, so unrealistic that you can’t help but become discouraged.

The solution for this is to set for yourself some realistic goals that you are certain to achieve.

And reward yourself as soon as you reach your objective.

Then aim for another goal A.S.A.P.

Reward yourself again.

Rewarding yourself is very important especially if the challenge is difficult.

Over time, you will look back and realize how much you have accomplished or how much you have learned.

I encourage you to make small, daily investments that will soon lead to big results.

Just like the painter, with each stroke of the brush is getting closer to his masterpiece.

Each incremental change will bring you closer to your overall goal.

Your life will be your own living masterpiece.