Power of Human Detour

Recently I was asked by an old friend, Jamie Slavin, to be apart of the Human Detour website! What a great initiative. If you go to the Health and Wellness section and click "heal" you can check out some great videos by several doctors, coaches and myself.

Also, Jamie is featured in the "nourish" area as she is a nutritionist!

Either way, this site has the potential to be incredibly powerful. ENJOY!

Power of Unmasking

Everyone is weird.

I suppose ‘uniquely different’ would be a better way of describing it, but the reality is, no matter how different they are, they all hide their weirdness.

Often people wear 'masks' and pretend to be something very different from what they actually are.

I clearly remember as a child people coming up to me saying, “you’re weird” and at that time, I wasn’t quite sure whether I was being praised or ridiculed.

Either way, I shrugged it off and stayed the same.

Later I began to understand the word - defined as "of a strikingly odd or unusual character; strange".

So people thought I was crazy and wacky… so what? Yet I couldn't figure out why their faces were always shocked as they told me.

At the age of 8 I put on my first (and last) mask. I thought I had to be just as cool as the cool kids…so no matter what they said, I agreed. No matter what they did, I followed.

I was a complete ‘loser’ until the day I realized it was exhausting to wear a mask, so I took it off and suddenly my “I don’t care” attitude granted me the status of being “cool”.

I have been wearing the 'cool' mask – also known as the “I don’t give a sh#$” attitude - for as long as I can remember. I present myself as confident, and am therefore treated in the same way.

So, why don’t you try taking off your mask?

You may like your new one a whole lot more.

Power of the ‘Systems’

Recently I read a book called ‘Don’t Waste your Talent’ written by Bob McDonald and Don E. Hutchinson which takes the reader on a journey towards creating their ‘Personal Vision’.

The most poignant message of the book was about how deeply our ‘systems’ affect us and our life choices. They use the word ‘system’ to describe the many social groups we are a part of, like our family, our school, our place of work, the city we live in and so on.

Often we get so caught up in assuming the role our ‘systems’ want or need us to be that we forget to look inside ourselves to ask , “Who do I want to be?” or “What is the role I choose?”

These social systems become structures which heavily influence and in as sense, determine our actions. We don’t want to disrupt the social world by acting in a way that threatens the structure ….right?

Wrong!

I say….

Why not push the boundaries?

Why not step out of our comfort zone?

Why not change the system or the structure everyone else seems to follow?
Sometimes it feels like society writes us a script, and we simply read from it. So are we just followers of everyone else?

Through my work as a coach I see the affect that our ‘systems’ can have, if we let them. It feels like people are programmed by their systems to always take the right “next step” – from going to university after high school to having children after getting married. But is that what we TRULY want?

Perhaps your answer is yes….but don’t just assume it to be YES. Ask yourself. Question the system. Don’t just be a follower.

Take control of your life and get what YOU want out of it.

Power of Hawn

She is one powerful woman.

Inspiring.

Very worth listening to.

Power of Will (POWER)

For a dear friend of mine, 2010 started with devastating news. The love of her life, the man she knew she would eventually marry, William Hicks, had a life threatening brain tumour and they needed to operate immediately.

Stunned. Scared. Uncertain. We all hoped for the very best and the best is what we, and Will, all received.

Looking back to May 2008 when I first met Will in Brussels, I knew he was something special. Katie, my friend, was there doing a masters and I had the pleasure of spending a week with the two. We visited all the "spots" of Brussels - including the park and bench they sat on during their first date.

In all my life, I have never seen a love quite like theirs. It's just so obviously real and easy. I felt like I was meeting an extension of her - and in a sense - it was like I was re-meeting Katie.

But this is not a story of love.

This is a story about Will(power). Over the last few months of Will's 'battle' or more like victory, through all the radiation and chemo, he would send out regular updates. His positivity, bountiful spirit and love of life kept me in awe - full of admiration.

Here is a small taste of that spirit –

"Hey Tumor, You want to dance??? I want to Tango..This FRIDAY. Bring your best shot Mofo :)…The good doctor is confident he can remove the lil f**ker in its entirety once again. Since its solid, as opposed to the last time when it was more cystic/fluid filled, we are able to use stealth MRI guidance...sounds cool right...That's because it is!!! Minutes before surgery they'll attach a bunch of cool electrodes to my brain, and use what was described as a 'miini pitch fork' (hilarious) to radiologically mark several places in my brain in order to pinpoint certain areas as well as mark boundries to keep me from losing any functionality...Ya we're getting high tech in this fight.

Winston Churchill once said "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.” While that truth may be hard to bear, I want you to know that I am prepared to continue the fight and bring the pain to this speck of malignant brain. Victory at all costs…..Today's been a wonderful day. Ma, Jaq-o, Lil, and Aunt Ann came over, and Father Griffiths blessed me as we prayed for a successful surgery and victorious road ahead. The Koch family came and hung out for a bit too. I am feeling absolutely unbeatable and if you cant tell I'm freakin AMP'D....lets do this. Please continue to pray, smile, and send positive thoughts our way. United we are UNSTOPPABLE.”

– Will Hicks

Last month, Katie and Will were married in Chicago's Botanical Gardens on a perfect summer day – it was stunning.

Each guest was given a bracelet with WILL POWER engraved in it. Worn proudly, each of us felt privileged to be apart of the 'power of will' movement.




Touched by his energy and warm smile, I am inspired.

Cancer is nothing to be afraid of, it is something that must be conquered.

I learned that from both my father and Will.

Life is precious and worth fighting for.

Power of True Love

I think in one way or another...we all wish for something like this.

It's just so real....easy.

Love at 81, after 62 years, is a beautiful concept.