It was back in the late 1970s, when I listened to the music of Roger Whittaker (during my summer-camp, guitar-playing period), that I first heard the song 'If' (the sung version of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem).
The smooth sound of the song, but more importantly the words of the poem, have stuck with me all these years.
As I contemplate the issues of middle age – as well as the current uncertainty in the economy – I believe there are valuable lessons for all of us in this poem.
The most compelling part of the poem for me are the lines: "If you can fill each unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds worth of distance run / Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it / And – what is more – you'll be a Man, my son!"
I hope you find inspiration and comfort in If too!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Confessions of a Lapsed Blogger: Egotism or shame?
It's been months since my last entry in this blog. Why the drought?
Yes, I've been busy, but then, who hasn't been.
Have I lacked anything interesting to say (my kids might say so), but I don't think that's really true, since I've had plenty of great things happen in the last while.
I believe it's partly because I have a small fear that blogging is a bit egotistical – a way of 'showing off' to the world how clever or insightful you are. And so, I keep asking myself: "Is what I am about to write meaningful enough or worth putting on public display?" Invariably, it seems, my answer was 'no,' so nothing got written.
Then, if you stop doing something for long enough (such as an exercise or dietary regime), you start feeling guilty and ashamed about not keeping it up, which further fuels the flames of inactivity (pardon the mixed metaphor).
I worked for nearly 10 years with a client named Heather (she just retired) who taught me many things. One lesson was that newsletters are dangerous, because once you start them, you must keep 'feeding the beast' with new content. And since a blog is like a running newsletter, the same situation applies right here at 'The Spot.'
So, I ask for forgiveness for my blogging lapse and solemnly promise that I will 'hit The Spot' more often. I will loosen up on myself about the fear of seeming egotistical, and will write stuff that I hope has at least some redeeming value in terms of business, life lessons, or humour.
Here goes!
Yes, I've been busy, but then, who hasn't been.
Have I lacked anything interesting to say (my kids might say so), but I don't think that's really true, since I've had plenty of great things happen in the last while.
I believe it's partly because I have a small fear that blogging is a bit egotistical – a way of 'showing off' to the world how clever or insightful you are. And so, I keep asking myself: "Is what I am about to write meaningful enough or worth putting on public display?" Invariably, it seems, my answer was 'no,' so nothing got written.
Then, if you stop doing something for long enough (such as an exercise or dietary regime), you start feeling guilty and ashamed about not keeping it up, which further fuels the flames of inactivity (pardon the mixed metaphor).
I worked for nearly 10 years with a client named Heather (she just retired) who taught me many things. One lesson was that newsletters are dangerous, because once you start them, you must keep 'feeding the beast' with new content. And since a blog is like a running newsletter, the same situation applies right here at 'The Spot.'
So, I ask for forgiveness for my blogging lapse and solemnly promise that I will 'hit The Spot' more often. I will loosen up on myself about the fear of seeming egotistical, and will write stuff that I hope has at least some redeeming value in terms of business, life lessons, or humour.
Here goes!
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