WDS 2013

I am in the amazing city of Portland, Oregon for the third Annual World Domination Summit- a gathering of remarkable people from around the world, all sharing one overall goal: how to live a remarkable life in a conventional world.

I fell blessed to be able to attend again this year. There is so much energy and inspiration, so many people with a passion for living, and everyone seems very friendly and helpful. 

The challenge now is to take the palpable passion and energy and take it with you to do your duty to make your part of the world a better place, now and for the future to come.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to talk, say hi or offer a friendly smile.

Let's keep it going people!

Love is the life-based O/S

Dump fear.  Embrace love. It's the new way to live. When you see people for the way you want yourself to be seen, love increases in yourself and in the world around you. It builds your confidence that you can LIVE life and not just exist and endure. 

Embrace LOVE as the new life operating system.

What seeing a bear taught me

Last Sunday, August 28, I went to Waterton Lakes National Park for the day with some friends. We wound up eating lunch along the lake shore below the back of the Prince of Wales hotel, which isn't where I typically would've stopped to eat. One of my friends, Trish, had commented on the way to the park that she would like to see a bear. Sure enough, as we were leaving the picnic area, a smaller 1 or 2 year old black bear came ambling across the road, passing only a few feet from the car. Had we not stopped at that place for lunch we likely wouldn't have seen a bear. So changing things up and trying a new picnic area rather than the typical can pay off. What are you doing to change the typical and make a few differences in your day or your life?

Expect and Accept Miracles!

Just came across this quote from Marianne Williamson on Alex Karis' site: http://alexkaris.posterous.com/. I've seen it before, but it's worth sharing again.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

On trying to stay positive

It's a tough haul, trying to stay positive sometimes. Everywhere you turn there are people trying to knock you down. Not always on purpose and not always people you personally know. There is a lot of negativity in the media that surrounds us. So it takes some effort to sort through the garbage and find the real gems, like this one: The Art of Non-Conformity. Check out the inspiring content and fantastic site design.

Some other great sites which will inspire you (your mileage may vary) include Project Happily Ever After; The Happiness Project; and Experience Life Fully.

Smile

A smile :) can sure have a powerful effect. I have been both the recipient and the giver of smiles :) that cause positive change. I have been told at times that I don't smile :) enough. So, I am starting to smile :) more. And it is proving once again what a simple and amazing thing a smile :) is.  

Stress

I have way too much stress in my life right now, most of it from my current work. It's not so much my current line of work, Information Technology (IT), it's the particulars of my current position, which has been stressful since day 1, and I've only been there 7 months. I really can't see this going on much longer.


I had no idea the effects that constant stress can have your body, from affecting your sleep to dealing with a lot of aches and pains that never seemed to be there previously. It's not like I haven't had to deal with stress before, but this time is different.


The only solution I can see is to find something different and so I am actively looking. All prayers, incantations, Karma direction, well-wishes etc. are much appreciated.

Uncle Howard

My Uncle Howard passed away on Tuesday, July 20, 2010, my grandmother's youngest brother and last surviving of her family. I hope every family has their own version of Uncle Howard; someone who welcomes you with open arms, no matter how long it's been since you've seen him, someone who wants to know, really know how you are doing and if there is anything he can do to help, and you know he means it. I have great childhood memories of visiting with him and my Aunt Mildred, always feeling welcomed and loved. I loved spending time in his yard in Provo, Utah where he had planted and nurtured numerous trees, including some varieties that without his care and attention probably shouldn't have survived in that climate.
He is one of the great men I am privileged to have had a part in my life.

You will be missed.

Being involved and included.

One of the best experiences of my life was being involved and included.  I had the honour and privilege to be on the 2006 organizing committee for the Town ofOkotoks team participating in the Calgary Corporate Challenge (CCC).  We made a concerted effort to make sure all employees felt welcome and invited to participate.  My areas of expertise were in promotions and organizing.  I produced brochures, flyers and banners.  We organized lunches, breaks and after work drinks to promote and include; we really wanted people to feel the spirit and energy possible through involvement and participation in the CCC.  And we were successful.  More participation than ever before.  More positive comments than ever before. And I would even say more fun than ever before.  Our committee set a specific goal of the team winning the spirit award; the pinnacle of achievement and the essence of what the Calgary Corporate Challenge is all about, for our division.  The theme for the year, Lights! Camera! Action! Provided an ideal means for our team to show our spirit and grow positive energy wherever anyone from the Town of Okotoks was found.  A dance was created that invite any around to participate in.  We used music from the movies as the inspiration; fun, upbeat tunes that had great dance moves associated with them.  The end result?  Our ‘competitors’, but really our friends and colleagues from other organizations, began looking forward to when the Bighorns from Okotoks would show up and do their fun and crazy dance.  It is amazing the gratification that comes from sharing your fun, your enthusiasm and your spirit.  People that were introverted and shy came out of their ‘shell’ and joined us in the amazing fun that we all were having that year.

37signals

I came across this site after following link on twitter:  http://bigthink.com/ideas/18522.  That led me to 37signals.com.  They have some very cool products that I intend to explore more over the coming days.

Social Media

After reading an essay by Dr. Gary North (www.garynorth.com) back in mid-December on using Twitter as a tool not only in your job search, but also as another way to maintain and expand your network.  It has taken a while, but I have delved a bit deeper into the social media world beyond Facebook.  You can find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.  I have also been exploring what ning.com has to offer.

I periodically think about my poor suffering and neglected blog and what I could possibly do to make it "interesting".  Then the thought occurred to me: shamelessly use others people's random musings, or hey, why don't I just use links to the cool stuff I find.

Here goes:

http://zippittydodah.blogspot.com/2009/09/department-of-terror-wants-you.html

So far, most of the good stuff I have found has come from a couple of sources (okay a "bunch" of sources, although several are related).  #1 www.urbansurvival.com & #'s 2 to whatever, the newsletters wservernews, wxp news, win7news etc.  

As for www.urbansurvival.com, it's a good place to go and have your conventional wisdom challenged on a regular basis, especially regarding stuff eminating from the "wujo".  Visit and find out more.

A new toy

I have a new toy.  It's a Toshiba Satellite laptop.  As I am one to try and look on the bright side of things, the fact that the OS is Vista Home Premium means that I can now spend more time figuring where Microsoft moved all the things I knew by heart in XP.  Although, I do wish this machine had more options for screen resolution.  I prefer a 1280X1024 type view.  But I will survive.  Oh, and the odd shaped enter key.  Otherwise, I like.

Low voter turnout

Last week in Alberta was another provincial election. It was called, of course, to most advantegeously benefit the ruling Progressive Conservative Party, effectively blunting the emerging liberty oriented Wildrose Alliance Party. And that was accomplished by ~59% of the voting eligible public not being bothered to get and vote. Despite the low turnout, I am not in favour of mandatory voting. We should also be able to not vote, a political statement in and of itself.

On with it then!

Technology- as an IT professional I regularly come across people very intimidated by computers and what they do. Sometimes, when I have them view the computer as a tool to accomplish a task, it helps them to be a bit less scared. So there you have it, my tech tip of the week. I will try to have ta technology tip as a semi-regular feature.

Introduction

I have finally taken the plunge and started my own blog. Here one will find random musings that strike my fancy; be they on technology, politics, religion, the econmy etc.