Exclusive!
I very proudly attended to the arrival of our new additions to the One family today.
Delicious and healthy One Vitamin Water in exciting Orange and Mango, Lemon and Lime and Blackcurrent and Pomegranate roll off the line!
And of course…. all profits go to good causes in Africa. When you drink One, Africa drinks too!
See it happen in these pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/markspall/sets/72157614033084109/
Nice!
I’ve had a few people contact me recently because of my blog posts and I felt the need to post regarding the core question:
I feel the ’splinter in my mind’ what do I do?
First a bit of script from a favourite movie of mine, The Matrix:
Morpheus: At last. Welcome, Neo. As you no doubt have guessed, I am Morpheus.
Neo: It’s an honour to meet you.
Morpheus: No, the honour is mine. Please, come. Sit down. I imagine that right now you’re feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole? Hm?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: Because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain. But you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what IT is? The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind….
It’s that nagging that things are not right. Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that we are in a computer generated world, what I am saying is that whilst we accept what is going on around us part of us knows that it is not right… somehow… almost imperceptibly… but a part of us knows.
I’m not claiming some sort of conspiracy either, no government body or artificial life form has created the world that we are in. It’s just that we are part of a system that on the whole we comply with.
It goes something like…. go to school, get an education, get a job, get a house, get married, have kids, have holidays, climb the career ladder, have grand children, retire…. die.
I know it’s not true for everyone. But it is probably true, more or less, for most of us, that we are following a pre-programmed path…. without even considering whether we should or not… it all happens as if on autopilot.
But what if the path we are following is not right for us? What if the job we do, the relationships we have, are not aligned with our deepest values? What if we know we should be doing something different but we are just too scared to do so or scared of what we might lose? Maybe the present situation offers comfort or familiarity that we source security from?
Yet, what we really desire is to be somewhere else or to be doing something else.
It’s going to a nag somewhat isn’t it?
Now you could ignore the nagging… many people spend their entire life doing so… or you could take a chance…. maybe just little safe one… and take yourself in the direction of your values.
When we live life according to our values, life is wonderful, it has to be because every moment, every activity, every place, every thought, every interaction, makes us feel good.
Personally, I find getting there a challenge as I experience fear, frustration and the repetition of old behaviours and habits as I let go of the old and move toward a more value centred way of living.
What I am saying to myself is “You know…. it’s ok to be scared, it’s ok to be frustrated, it’s ok to find yourself repeating old patterns no matter what you seem to do to change. You’re a Human Being…. it’s all part of being human… it’s all ok.”
“Just keep moving in the right direction… one step at a time”.
“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”
M. Scott Peck.
Onwards and upwards, Mark.
Another repost. Something that really resonated with me:
Several times my daughter, Julie, had telephoned to say, “Mom, you must come see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from my place by the beach to her lakeside mountain home.
“I will come next Tuesday,” I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I got in the car and began the long, tedious drive.
When I finally walked into Julie’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Julie! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and the children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”
My daughter smiled calmly, “We drive in this all the time, Mom.”
“Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears and then I’m heading straight for home!” I said, rather emphatically.
“Gee, Mom, I was hoping you’d take me over to the garage to pick up my car,” Julie said with a forlorn look in her eyes.
“How far will we have to drive?”
Smiling she answered, “Just a few blocks, I’ll drive … I’m used to this.”
After several minutes on the cold, foggy road, I had to ask “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the garage!”
“We’re going to the garage the long way,” Julie smiled, “by way of the daffodils.”
“Julie,” I said sternly, “please turn around.”
“It’s all right, Mom, I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”
After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church I saw a hand-lettered sign …
“Daffodil Garden”
We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Julie down the path. As we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.
Five acres of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen!
“Who planted all these?” I asked Julie.
“It’s just one woman,” Julie answered, “She lives on the property. That’s her home,” and she pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.
We walked up to the house and on the little patio we saw a poster …
Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking
50,000 bulbs
one at a time
by one woman
2 hands, 2 feet
and very little brain
Began in 1958
There it was … “The Daffodil Principle”
For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun - one bulb at a time - to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top.
Still, this unknown, old woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of magnificent beauty, and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration:
When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Julie, “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her direct way, “Start tomorrow, Mom,” she said, “It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of our yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask … “
“How can I put this to use today?”
~~~
Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, Author
Just a quickie as it’s Sunday.
Got this from a valued friend of mine and I felt I should share:
love it… in that spirit have a look at http://lundxy.com/ he was one of the initial skye investors and multi-billionnaire. particularly the interview with the french conference video half way down. really honest and putting himself out [...]
I think it’s generally true that people feel they need to present a front. To show themselves as super humans which gives the impression to others that they are gifted in some way.
I ask how does this help anyone apart from their own egos?
How many of you have witnessed someone lead change only to think [...]
I discovered The Ethical Business Network the other day. It looks good. Check it out:
The Ethical Business Network is an online forum for everyone thinking of starting a small ethical business, growing their company with a conscience, or with an interest in ethical entrepreneurialism.
Join the network to share ideas, information, contacts, referrals and advice. [...]
I saw a Tarot Reader in Covent Garden the other weekend. I also saw one just before Christmas. Historically I’ve been a sceptic of such things and avoided them but having been so stuck and lost last year I welcomed any form of insight. I had nothing to lose.
My first experience so accurately described my [...]
Ning? Dolphin or Elgg? That is the question.
I want to build a place for my phobia clients. Started on Ning. Then discovered Elgg. Then Dolphin.
Decisions, decisions!
I’ve always entertained the notion that business should contribute to the 3 P’s: People, Planet and Profit.
Tradition business has focussed on profit and that the beneficiaries should take responsibility for donating to where it’s needed. But look at the mess that has got us into.
It does need to be different, doesn’t it? Too many people [...]
“Come away for a while and get your head together” she insisted. So I went away for a couple of weeks to properly reflect on what I should be doing with my life.
The crux of it was understanding my values….. such a simple exercise and so powerful. I should have done it ages ago…. but [...]
|
