The expected and unexpected is ripe with opportunity, it is a matter of observation and perspective. Even if you are starting today with a same-old habitual activity (doing Saturday morning laundry)  there is a new way of seeing it and a different way of looking at it. The task can have become rote and monotonous but if you approach it with a different purpose (or some intent), the outcome may be similar but the purpose and process might change.

The unexpected poses an array of possibilities, mostly your choice to make. How you chose to react, reflect, and interpret the new circumstance create a temporary frame around the events. You can change the frame by making different choices. When the frame changed the picture looks different.

Choose to see each event today as an opportunity,

B

How much stuff do we need to fill our lives? How much stuff do we need to maintain our homes, yards, or toys?

Does everyone need a lawnmower or can two/three neighbours share? You would save money, save the environment (face it all the crap we accumulate eventually gets thrown away) and likely build community with those around you. Make sure to set up some guidelines like who will do maintenance, storage, return in good/clean condition.

Start with something small like yard tools and maybe you can save ton’s o’cash by sharing other stuff with family, friends, and neighbours.

Have you tried using libraries? Car-share services? Public transit?

I know I have enough of many things and am tempted to buy new  books, new shoes, a new digital toy. I am spring cleaning over the next couple of weeks. If you live in Calgary, I am purging more than 50 books from my shelves. If you are interested, leave a comments or send me an email bob@remarkablepeople.ca. All books  unclaimed will go to Calgary Reads Book Sale 

Make Today Remarkable by needing less,

B

As a society, we seem to be driven or at least conditioned to head towards an economic north. The magnetism revolves around an as yet to be disproved theory about markets, capital and people. We are turned towards financial return, budget surpluses, fiscal responsibility and all the supporting forces continue to convince us that this is ‘right and as it should be’.  The more we read, hear or see that directs us to affirming the thesis, the less we consider an alternative approach our day, our life, our mission.

I have been complicit in this experiment. Like iron on a paper with a horseshoe magnet underneath, I have lined up like an arrow pointing to the single-minded force of ROI. I allowed my discernment to be clouded and came to expect 15-20% returns without asking “how is that possible” or” what do they need to do/nor do to achieve these rates?”. The seductive pull becomes even more irresistible as the gains seem to multiply the theory’s power.

For the past year I have attempted to question how I can receive a return without compromising my espoused values. I have divested and reinvested in an alignment attempt and then needed to ask new questions about the implications an consequences of the new approach. What if the first principle wasn’t return but principles? What if the first principles of equity, responsibility, capability and community become the criteria and the metric? How would we orient our life? Would my decisions be different than what I chose yesterday?

Are you ready to explore how far apart true north and magnetic north are?

B

Is there something lurking around a corner? Is there a niggling nudging your noggin? Is your heart a twitter with excitement of the unknown moment ahead?

I  have been carrying an edge of not quite worry – not quite expectation for a week. I have tried desperately to quell it, ignore it, and deny it. I can’t name it, I can’t put a handle on it, I can’t watch for it. It is lingers outside my near focus but won’t recede completely out of my attention.

Maybe there is a process, a set of questions, a state of mind that will either pull this near or push it far. I recall an episode of “Big Bang Theory” where Sheldon tried to see his work/world from a different part of his brain. (That is partially why I am hoping cathartic writing will do the trick). He went to work in the Cheesecake Factory.  I am going to turn my focus to something else and let  the image decide when to appear (or not) and any anxiety and frustration melt away (I hope).

Have you found a trick to being mindful and aloof at the same time?

B

As always, I think I have most stuff under control. I plow ahead as if I am on the right track and mostly because I believe I am right. I am not always. Yesterday, I had a couple of reminders that i might not be right or heading in the right direction. The first wasn’t an earth shattering OMG I am wrong but more a subtle ” if I don’t encourage feedback from others, how can I even imagine that ‘my way is the  high way’?” I was advising a client that she needed to either go it alone or trust all the folks who wanted to assist with her project. I straightforwardly suggested that trust and control are diametrically opposed – less trust = more control, more trust = less control. I didn’t apply the suggestion to my own circumstances for a number of hours but think I learned a lesson.

The second instance where I recognized that I have delusions about how much control I have over real life stuff. I found out that a friend (a cancer survivor) has been rediagnosed and the prognosis isn’t good. He has, maybe, two years. This is a community activist, hard working family man and a genuinely good guy. He now has a expiry date stamped on him. He will battle, he will remain positive, he may win or extend past the date. I realized how fragile everything is and the news he received is just one phone call away from all of us. It helped me remember that these 24 are the only hours I have and while I can plan for another 10,000 days, I need to take each moment more seriously. If a moment lasts, say,three seconds then I have 1200 every hour to observe,  share and enjoy.

Make Today Remarkable, by letting go of control and letting today begin,

B

I find that when I am at my best, I am taking care of my health; mental and physical and taking care of those in proximity to me; my family and my community. The tasks I am undertaking aren’t nearly as important as the focus on care. Eating better (I still have french fries on occasion), sleeping enough (for me 7 hours),  exercising daily ( I run or ride, and walk rain or shine), read twice a day ( I am on an urbanism kick) are some of the activities that keep me sane and sturdy.

When my projects take me away from my sweet spot of developing community, I find a volunteer or activist opportunity to give back to my neighbours. The volunteer assignment is done better but the non-affiliated work gets done better too. My sense of purpose overwhelms me with energy and inspiration and when my work gives me autonomy and mastery efficiency is manifested and creativity blossoms (thanks Daniel Pink).

I am fortunate to find lots of meaningful opportunities but not everything I do is rainbows and unicorns so I am grateful for the overflow that the joy provides to the less exciting but necessary tasks I need to complete.

Make Today Remarkable, by being energized and jazzed by caring,

B