A monumental few days

Do you know whats been quite amazing over the last week or so has been the change in the amount of happy faces I've seen about the place. What with HRH over last week and Mr Obama this week people seem to have interpreted these events as instructions to smile a bit more and worry a bit less about life in general. This is not a bad thing you know. Its a well accepted psychological premise that positivity and negativity are both infectious in their respective effects on people. Whats important to point out though is that negativity is far more damaging than positivity is helpful. I'm not sure why this is but its certainly the case in general terms.

Why make an issue of my observations? Well for a few days there the media packs had to almost stop the incessant publication of negativity in order to take account of the publics desire to feel good about themselves and our country. For a few days people were spared the almost maniacal desire on the part of the media and the political agenda to continuously keep people down in a place where they dont ask too many questions of those actually responsible, thereby deflecting attention from those that continue to remain aloof and untouchable.

Enough of the rant. What I want to impress on you is that for a few days people became once more what this country is best at creating. Good honest life loving folks who are capable of dealing with any situation that life sees fit to throw at them. I found it a very proud time to be Irish and I feel that we can create this feeling more often without the need to have great statemen visit us. We just have to make a decision to do it. Our future is limited only by our willingness to make that decision. Everyday will not be as monumental as last Monday or the previous Tuesday but thats life. How we deal with that life and the difficulties it presents is up to us, not the media or the politicos.

Our decision. Your decision. Make that decision.

What happens next?

I think Anthony Robbins once said that "your history doesn't have to be your biography". I take this to mean that just because certain things have happened previously, it does not mean that those things have to be what decides how your own personal legacy is formed. At a time of unprecedented hardships economically for people in this country, it would be all to easy and indeed probably understandable if as a society we blamed any future inaction on these circumstances that have come together to make everyday life so difficult. But the fact is that these things have happened and the reality is that complaining about what has happened will not change them.

Despite everything there is an opportunity now for local people to recreate the society as opposed to the economy that we all deserve. Not everyone is an entrepreneur at heart and many people face daily difficulties that will prevent them from being the economic drivers of any future success, but this does not mean that people cannot contribute in a manner that does not need to be economic or indeed entrepreneurial. People have perhaps now more than ever that gift that seemed to be in such scare supply until recently.....TIME.

Time to reconnect with family, friends and neighbours. Time to give to local charities and clubs. Time to make their locality a pleasant place to live once again. What is available now is that greatest resource, people. People who can make a difference to the lives of those around them so that when the economic crisis ends, and it will end because it always does, it will be infinitely easier to carry on the good work when the hard groundwork is already done. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Of course we all need money to survive, and that is definitely scarcer than it was, but it is not the be all and end all. There are other achievable goals for us all that don't cost money, just time.

If we agree that there is a fundamental difference between "surviving" and "living" then the gap between seeing our town and country as a society and not merely an economy isn't that large a gap to bridge. We all need each other and all of us are capable of coming up with ideas that can make "living" more enjoyable for us all.

We can stew in what we have or we can create something that is uniquely ours.

What do you think?

Lets help ourselves to change our mindset

I have been thinking for a while now about the idea of a forum for people in the Bagenalstown locality to discuss ways of maybe changing the mindset that seems to prevail at the minute of doom and gloom brought on without question by the economic situation that we all find ourselves in. I don't want to give the impression of diminishing the problems that we all face or indeed suggest how people should choose to live their lives but there are without doubt many positive things that we could all be doing that would lift spirits and give a shared sense of community that was perhaps lacking in the boom times. Put simply there is no single simple answer to all our problems and while I want to see justice for those people who deserve it and the correct punishment for thise responsible for our economic woes, sitting at home blaming others without offering solutions isn't the answer and really only makes evryone feel worse. So the idea is to get people activated, both physically and psychologically to do things for all of us so that all of us benefit. This is despite the current situation a great opportunity to reinvent ourselves as a society and not continue to just view our lives from the point of view of an economy. I don't live in Ireland Inc. despite most media commentators' and politicians insistance on calling it so. I live in a town that I am proud of and a town that can be a great place to live and bring up our families again. So as Mr. Einstein said "Nothing happens until something moves". Its your move.

Group Hug!

Real Life Excellence is available to work with individuals and groups with the sole intention of enhancing life experience and reaching the real potential that await those willing to leave their comfort zone behind. So if you are looking for the way to reach a more enjoyable personal or working life, or indeed you want to reach your true sporting potential let us help.