Glowing Hearts

Well we are all recovering this week from what was an awesome Olympic Games. For those of us in Canada in was something truly incredible to behold and as the news agencies have been reporting all week… it seems to have changed something in us as a nation. The question they all seem to raise is: “Will it last?”

Firstly… what’s changed? Well unless you’ve been living under a rock it seems to be this revolutionary sense of national pride, a type of “in your face” patriotism that many of us didn’t know we possessed. I am loving it. The part I love the most, is that it didn’t all revolve around hockey. It sure ended that way, and may have put a damper on things if we hadn’t won… but it was a feverish build to get to that point. For me it started with the beautiful opening ceremonies. They were an artistic and heartfelt tribute to our country, and a welcome to the world. Personal Highlight: slam poet Shane Koyczan’s amazing poem “We Are More” (if you didn’t catch it, here’s a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsq68qRexFc – it’s not the actual Olympics performance, but it’s still awesome). That poem summed up who we are and set the stage for a great couple of weeks.

It was the stories and the people that won (and lost) medals over the coming days that got us going, that built this sense of “we’re kicking ass!” in all of us. The pride built, and we did not apologize for it, we relished it. When John Montgomery jumped on that podium and walked Whistler proudly – we thought… that’s us! It grew and grew and we all started wearing the red and white, even if we weren’t in BC at the time. We smiled more and we felt good. 24 medals later – it was mayhem!

Does it have to end? NO WAY. Will it end? I don’t know but I hope not. It’s not that we were living in a bubble for 2 weeks where everything was magical and nothing else mattered, it’s that the way we felt made the world seem a better place. Did we hear about disasters and bad things on the news? Yes. They weren’t swept aside, nor should they be. But the news networks it seems, fell away from the all to stereotypical “If it bleeds -  it leads” mentality. We got all the information, but we got good news off the top and that means something… when bad news came, it just felt (for me anyway) that we were better prepared to deal with it. Shocking concept: emphasizing the positive, gives us strength to deal with the negative! That my friends is at the heart of what I personally would like to see continue… keeping it positive, and realizing that together – we’re stronger.

So, don’t let it end my friends – get the spirit that spurred on this country (and the world) on for the last little while, and make it last. Say hello, say thank you, smile more, focus on the positive and continue to represent this great country and the athletes that inspired us all.

And if you need an extra boost… remember this: It’s Roll Up The Rim Season in Canada – Whoo Hoo!! As my friend Chris Perry said on Facebook the other day “Hope to own the Tim’s podium!”

We ARE more…. keep those hearts glowing.

Make A Wish!

Was driving into London this morning with Leigh and she looked at the clock on her phone at one point and did something the girls are big fans of… she said, “It’s 8:08, Make a wish!”

The girls always do that, 11:11, 12:12, 5:55, 4:44… well you get the idea. The thing about it this morning was, we were at a stop light when she said it, I made a funny face, made my wish and said, “Done”. The thing of it is (and this is what Leigh observed) why wait? You can make a wish any time you want, why wait for all the same numbers on a clock, or a shooting star, or the first star, or blowing out the birthday candles, or even catching one of those little fuzzy things that come off of a dandelion and you then blow them away… whatever! I know these things are fun and cute and all, but we should all live to wish, to dream and to hope… like kids do.

It’s not that BECAUSE you make a wish with one of those things it must come true (even though it totally will) it’s the way that it makes you think about things that you want, and ideals that you hope for that make it fun. There are so many studies that suggest that both visualization and writing down your goals go a long way to helping you achieve them because they are top of mind. Now don’t get me wrong, dreams and wishes are not goals, goals are wishes and dreams – with a plan. But the more we wish and the more we dream, and we keep them top of mind, the more we can start to formulate a plan and make our goals.

Late comedian Mitch Hedburg once had a funny bit where he said, “I’ve been chasing my dreams for years, so I decided to ask them where they were going and said I’d meet up with them later” – hilarious. But I take a little insight from that (perhaps more that I should) I think we should not be slaves to our plans and goals, as sometimes you change or the situation changes. And most certainly we should try and control our goals as opposed to them controlling us. This is why we need to take and make the time to wish and dream big as it may provide further inspiration and fuel to the goals we already have.

So… (randomly)…. it’s 7:49 – Make a Wish!!

Wish often my friends!! Because you just never know!

“Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder”

Well, it’s about time I got my butt in gear and started blogging. I always talk about having more to say, and have many forums to say them in – so I better start using them!

It’s early in the ‘second season’ in the speaking world, and I’m loving every minute of it. In this business (of speaking at schools) there are two seasons busier than others: September to November, and February to April are both busy times of the year. Not to say there is no work in other months, it’s just not as consistent. So after that long break from mid-December to later January it’s nice to get back in the game.

There is something very cool about coming back to the show after not doing it for a number of weeks, it feels fresh, I feel energized and creativity flows. In the past couple of weeks I have had some pretty amazing shows, insofar as they were fun and personally rewarding for me (I can’t speak for the audiences, but I sure hope they are having as much fun as I am!). It just feels great… something is in the air… and I don’t know what it is. I think that like anything else in life, when you’re away from something for a while it just feels new and exciting, and fresh. It’s like having a song come up on shuffle on your iPod you haven’t heard in a bit… it just sounds incredible and new!

I want this energy to continue, the awesome power of an audience like those in PEI this week, or Alberta a few of weeks back, Quebec the week after that, and all the Ontario shows in between!!

So if you’re having trouble with that project, that assignment, that problem you just can’t figure out… walk away for a bit – get some air, clear your head and come back with fresh eyes and a new outlook. Trust me – the view is great!

coming soon

Stay tuned for Ian Tyson’s PositiveCast and new blog. Visit www.iantyson.ca for more details.