I’m with Optus and my phone was down, as was my Optus internet (I have a ‘backup’!) for over 12 hours. The panic was on the TV.
I thought it was fantastic! People not annoying me, no scammers or ‘comparison companies’, no scrolling… I went for a walk and didn’t need my GPS to tell me how many steps I took!
All in all Optus, thanks from me for the peace and quiet and thanks for the test run of what happens when the mobile network goes down which we now realise also effect land lines.
It was a test run like when the power went out in South Australia for 24 hours and people though it was the end of the world as they missed ‘The Bachelor’ and the finale of ‘Big Brother’ – they didn’t notice that the fridge was getting warm or at nighttime it got dark.
And our bigger and longer ‘test run’ of COVID when we had the ‘Toilet Paper Wars!’
In most of these test runs the first thing people called for was compensation while they caught up on TV and got a cold beer from the fridge. After a week or so most just forgot about it.
A few didn’t and there were ‘class actions’, Government Enquiries and personal injury that went on for years, but the Media (The Merchants of Misery) dropped the whole thing after a few days….. by the way is there still a war in Ukraine?
No-body stocked up on toilet paper, food, medicine, got a generator or batteries…..?
I Did Things Differently.
Me during all of these ‘disasters’ I enjoyed the silence, the solitude and watched movies, drank cold drinks and had a hearty meal.
Because I learned from the test runs and it wasn’t very hard, all I had to do was notice and take some small steps. So now if there are anymore ‘test runs’ or perhaps the ‘real thing’ I’ll be right:
I have 100 days of food (which doesn’t take up too much room by the way)
I have a 100 days of water (+) in my tanks
I have solar, a battery and a generator
I have a really cool first aid kit I made up in a big plastic tub in the pantry
I have a cupboard in the shed with toilet paper, paper towel, disinfectant wipes, gloves, N95 masks etc etc – just a few spares of things that I bought, all on bought when they were on special and there were lots on the shelves with my normal shop each week (plus they are just about giving away all the stuff they wrapped us off for during COVID)
I have a portable gas cooker (good for camping) and a BBQ with three 9kg gas bottles (2 always full)
I have other stuff too, which is stored right next to my gun safe (thought I’d let you know about that as well!?)
And, I have a mindset that I will not be a Victim or die one. It also helps if you are a little prepared and have a plan. Because, it has been proven that only 15% of us are natural survivors – the rest mostly wait to follow someone, or wait to be rescued, or usually just die.
…. And You Can Do Things Differently too…
So I thought I would share something with you that I have prepared. It is Copyrighted, but please feel free to share with your friends. I assure you it might just save your life one day, just click below on the blue text to read the PDF. And I am NOT trying to sell you anything!
Most of the knowledge I have in all aspects of my life I got for free, so why not give it away. What’s that called nowadays, oh yeah, ‘paying it forward’. That’s when you hand out $100 notes in the street, or pay for someones else groceries and post it on YouTube on your ‘monetise” account where you get paid for ‘clicks’ and earn $100,000!!!!
So here’s the Manifesto, just click on the blue text and it will open as a PDF….
Also, by reading this we may all work together to survive (see my previous post ‘The Revolution – Phase 1 – You can join for free’). As another little gift I’ll give you the below free list of stuff. Perhaps you have some of it already lying round. Just gather it all together, put it in one bag and put it handy; I have one in my car as do all my kid. Funny I gave them to the kids several years ago and gave them the choice of their ‘survival pack’ or $200, and they all took the pack. This little pack might help you out of a normal, or not so normal situation.
I know there is a lot of stuff on the internet about ‘prepping’, all you have to do is click on the link, watch a 30 minute video, before they try and sell you something! When you read ‘The Manifesto’ just remember one thing, it is those that work together that survive.
Anyway until the next ‘disaster’ like maybe Neflix, Prime and Stan all going down on the one day, I’ll be gone. I do have some upcoming posts you may like that will be published shortly. I know I have been promising this for awhile, but its a bit hot today to work outside so I’m in the office, having a cold drink and a hearty meal, but look forward to sharing with you the following posts in the near future:
“Phase 2 of The Revolution: How to NEVER pay a traffic ticket again” (Okay you didn’t read Phase 1 and not many are following it anyway – click here to read) “How I Gave $50 to The Bank”
This is an extract from my post ‘War What is it Good For‘: you can read the entire thing, but I got to the point where I decided that we, ‘we the people’ should stop being passive and sheep. The hardest part is that we are divided already. Revolution only starts or succeeds if we are all going in the same direction and of course we are going in the ‘right’ direction..
So here is my little extract:
WE ARE AUSTRALIANS!!!!!
Our home is on an ancient land with an ancient culture and are made up of people from all the other cultures on this planet.
We have historically fought for the ideals of other countries (not our own) and defended our coast only twice in wars that, one changed a culture and the other never really threatened it. And, other than the politicians, we Australians have defended our shores with a lot of loss of life and a pain.
But, we are all still here, we are Australians.
A revolution is coming and it is not in a country we have to Google to figure out where it is, or a place we send our young men and women to die, or the future destruction of the true ‘Australia Culture’….. which is all of us that live here today.
You don’t think you can do anything. You think being passive is not the answer (Hint: See Gandhi, see Dr Martin Luther King, see Nelson Mandela – all good examples of resistance without resistance!)
This “Revolution” involves doing northing.
We are ruled by our own consent. We are taught to:
Consume
Live in Fear
Be addicted
Separate into our separate ‘tribes’, groups, ideologies, etc etc (Please remember, one of the greatest military strategies, is to ‘divide and conquer’)
So, I have decided, all the writing I have been doing over the last few months, years, decades…. And all the plans for change, I will post.
And, I guarantee, by deciding to not, consume, be afraid, be addicted and to decide more importantly, to work with everyone for change, we can again all be true Australians.
So, PHASE ONE, is this, and its simple because it is what we used to do:
Say hello to people in the street…
Wave to people from you car…
Let that other driver in front of you…
Let that person in front of you go first in the in line…
Say please and thank you…
Smile…
Chat…
And, again I promise, I will hopefully post more PHASES of this ‘Revolution’ to get our lives back as Australians. To share the values that have been here for millennia , centuries and for all the time that Aussies used to believed, in giving everyone a fair go.
And, no-one will ever fire a shot, sue a neighbour, be marching down the street with a sign, or do anything that is not moral or good and transparent.
Because, ‘the system’ is our enemy and lucky it is its own worst enemy.
For again I say, we are governed and ruled by our own consent.
We will as Australians, change our country, to where we are all equal, where 99% of the wealth is not owned by less than 1%. Where those who try, and take the time to notice, will make a difference that no-one will see coming.
WE HAVE TO TRY!!!!
Let us all be the good leader in the ‘survival situation’. I suspect we are approaching one. So let us look after the weak, sick, disadvantaged, lost, etc etc (whose eye contact we now avoid in the street). Or, we only ‘help’ because someone is paying us.
Let us first reconnect with each other right where we live and where’ve we travel in this great land. By doing a few small things each day in reconnecting, you will find you may very well feel happier and make someone’s day. And, the best part, it costs you nothing. If we can’t take this first step in a ‘Revolution” which involves being kind to each other, it is no wonder big business, governments and big Tech are not kind to use and use us as ‘consuming machines’. This can change, and will change, if we all work together; if we decide to ‘withdraw’ our consent.
I haven’t been posting much, but I have been writing a lot.
I choose to sort my thoughts before I share them and I like to have pictures which takes me to the internet, then Facebook, then Instagram, them YouTube and I watch people falling off of boats and skate boards for hours…….
But, now I feel compelled to write something about war….
But, before I do, please look back over my posts and see a post called ‘Surviving the Apocalypse’ (click here to read)……. I do have an another document called “Schlein’s Manifesto for Surviving the Apocalypse” which I am happy to send to anyone electronically for free…. (I thought I loaded it up here somewhere but can find it…. I not a social media influencer’ with 50 staff, I just write these in my shed when I drinking….)
If you went back and read the “Apocalypse’ article you will see I did research into what we, the people, normally do when things are at there worst and we are supposed to be at our best….. Well let me summarise….
If we all look after each other in a survival situation, look after the injured, weak and old or young, we share our resources of food and shelter….. 90-100% OF US SURVIVE!!!!!
If it is “everybody for themselves” … that is the strong look after their own interests and do not care or share….. 90-100 % OF US DIE!!!!!
AND THE HORROR
In 90-100% of survival situations (researched in the book in the above ‘apocalypse’ referenced post) in….
90-100% OF SURVIVAL SITUATIONS WE OPT FOR EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES…..
And that is War……
It pretends to be about God, religion, Country (which by the way is a made up place we live in) and worse, political persuasion, doctrine or ideology…. But, it is nothing more that the strong, the powerful, the rich, wanting everything: and mostly they don’t even know why?
My thoughts on today, this week, this month and perhaps all of time:
Fuck 3000+ years of war and killing in the Middle East ….
Fuck the war in Ukraine over broken promises, lies and pretend idiologies
Fuck the warlords in Africa…..
Fuck war…..
Fuck all their wars….
And fuck war movies with hero’s, when millions die…..
WE ARE AUSTRALIANS!!!!!
We live on ancient land with an ancient culture and all the other cultures on this planet.
We have historically fought the ideal of other countries (not our own) and defended our coast only twice in wars that changed a culture and never ever threatened it. And, other than the politicians, we Australians have defended our shores with a lot of loss of live and a forgotten pain.
But, we are all still here, we are Australians.
A revolution is coming and it is not in a country we have to Google to figure out where it is, or a place we sent our young me and women to die, or the future destruction of the true ‘Australia Culture’….. which is all of us that live here today.
“The Revolutions” involves doing northing.
We are ruled by our own consent. We are taught and led by fear to:
Consume
Live in Fear
Be addicted
Separate into our separate ‘tribes’, groups, ideologies, etc etc (Please remember, one of the greatest military strategies, is to ‘divide and conquer’)
So, I have decided, all the writing I have been doing over the last few months, years, decades…. And all the plans for change, I will post.
And, I guarantee, by deciding to not, consume, be afraid, be addicted and to work with everyone, we can all again be true Australians.
So, PHASE ONE, is:
Say hello to people in the street…
Wave to people from you car…
Let that other driver in front of you…
Let that person in front of you go first in the in line…
Say please and thank you…
Smile…
Chat…
And, again I promise, I will post each week with a PHASE to get our lives as Australian back to the values that have been here for millennia , centuries and for all time that Aussies believed in a fair go.
And, no-one will ever fire a shot, sue a neighbour, be marching down the street with a sign, or do anything that is not moral or good and transparent. Because, ‘the system’ is its greatest enemy…..
We will as Australians, change our country, to where we were all equal, where 99% of the wealth is not owned by less than 1%. Where those who try, and take the time to notice, will make a difference that no-one will see coming.
But, WE HAVE TO TRY!!!!
Let us all be the good leader in the ‘survival situation’. I suspect we are approaching one. So let us look after the weak, sick, disadvantaged, lost, etc etc (whose eye contact we now avoid in the street). Or, we only ‘help’ because someone is paying us.
I’ll see you next week, and I have a doozy PHASE 2!!!!
PS: Read some of my previous blog posts to get to know me, especially the one before this one and see if you can guess PHASE 2.
PPS: I will NEVER try and sell you anything and/or ENDORSE a product or organisation for profit or money (I might do it because they/it are good, and cool, and something I like). I have had a lucky life and just want that for everyone: read that again EVERYONE!!!
PPPS: An AI reviewed my post and this is what it said………
The content of the post is focused on expressing strong emotions and opinions about war, especially in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Africa. The author emphasizes the need for unity, kindness, and a fairer society in Australia. The post encourages readers to engage in small acts of kindness and promises future updates on creating positive change. The author also mentions that they will not endorse products or organizations for profit.
The passionate tone of the post effectively conveys the author’s perspective. However, to improve the overall impact and readability of the post, consider the following actions:
1. **Organize the content**: The post could benefit from a clear introduction and logical progression of ideas. Consider restructuring the content to have a clear opening, body, and conclusion.
2. **Provide more context**: Although the author references a previous post and the concept of “The Revolutions,” it would be helpful to provide a brief explanation or link to these references for new readers.
3. **Use less explicit language**: While strong language can convey emotions effectively, excessive use can distract readers. Consider using milder language to maintain the impact without overwhelming the message.
4. **Support arguments with evidence**: To strengthen the author’s arguments about the negative consequences of war, consider incorporating data, statistics, or examples from reliable sources. This would provide a more substantial foundation for the opinions expressed.
5. **Include transitions**: Incorporating transition words and phrases would enhance the flow and coherence of the post. This would make it easier for readers to follow the author’s thoughts and connect different ideas.
6. **Add visuals**: Including relevant images or videos could enhance the visual appeal and engagement of the post. Visuals could help illustrate the author’s perspective and support their message.
Overall, the post effectively conveys the author’s passionate opinions about war and the need for unity and kindness in society. By implementing the suggested actions, the post could be enhanced to further engage readers and strengthen the persuasive impact.
I was watching the news last night and realised the above statement is true…. And I can prove it.
It will take a few paragraphs…. but, I guarantee it will be worth it!
The current ‘road toll’…..
‘Road Toll’ – a very nice term to describe people who have died unexpectedly in car accidents, usually by getting their delicate human body smashed and torn apart by sharp metal, bitumen and glass…..
So, the road toll in South Australia for this year (2023) is 31, that is 31 people
And ‘they’ took away the markers no doubt because someone was offended?
died as I described above.
Last year (2022) at the same time it was 15.
I wrote the above a few weeks ago and just decided to publish it and trawled the internet for the current totals….
That was difficult as the SAPOL web site had two different results and every where else I searched compared death rate to date, with the total for last year……
I could have gone to the media (the ‘merchants of misery’) reports but decided I couldn’t trust them more than statisticians, politicians or pollsters predicting ‘the Voice’ referendum….
So I will let you be the judge of these ‘accurate statistics’ …..
So, we are dying in horrific circumstances, being crushed and ripped apart; even incinerated, at double the rate.
Our Police (our beloved SAPOL) is full of good people going out their each day risking their lives when we need them to serve and protect us from the fantasy of the road toll and how they are ‘helping’ to reduce it.
They are just going through the PR motions:
More breath tests
More drug tests
Giving out more on the spot fines
Cameras and computers even giving us more on the spot fines
Traffic operations in country towns and ‘black spots’ to do more alcohol and drug testing and hand out more fines.
The fantasy is the glory of protecting us from the ‘fatal five’ killers on the road:
Drink and Drug Driving
Speeding
Distraction
Seat Belts
Dangerous Driving
…. And SAPOL on average hand out …… get ready for this as it doesn’t sound real but, it is recorded on the SAPOL web site at the link below….
Okay I did research…. not my thing….. and found the below statistics.
In the days between 6/7/2022 – 31/3/23, a total of 268 days, there were 425,407 expiation notices issued by person and machine.
That is about 1500 a day!!
That is at total of $119,198,366.00 of fines issued in that period.
I need to write that out in full so you know it isn’t a mistake:
“one hundred and nineteen million, one hundred and ninety eight thousand three hundred and sixty six dollars!!!!!”
(Wait for it…. that is $444,770.022 A DAY!!!)
How about that ‘ramping’ at the hospital emergency departments where all the road accident patients go screaming in the back of an ambulances with bits hanging off them, or bit missing and squirting blood…. and waiting for hours with ambos on double shifts and not break
After all, we just need more beds, more doctors, more nurses….. but, where do we get the money???
Plus,
$26,253,260.00 additional payments on top of those fines for the Victims of Crime Levy. (I bet that makes you feel good as a victim of crime when you have been waiting years for compensation?)
But, the good news the statistics reveal that SAPOL’s vigorous protection of us from the “Fatal Five’ resulted in more deaths and more fines.
The simple truth is that the infringement notices are going up in line with the the road toll – remember that is the crushing and ripping apart of human bodies and the death of someones’ loved ones..
So, this wonderful strategy of protecting us has continued with enforcement, telling people they are selfish pricks (which by the way wins an award in advertising!?) and that 3 out of 5 people killed on country roads live in the country; I just wonder what the statistics are for the number of people who live in the city that are killed on the roads in the city?
Plus as a little side issue (I’m writing a series on this one called ‘Never Pay and On the Spot Fine Again’ – to be published in the next week or so – there will be a link – here – when it is done).
SAPOL continues to increase enforcement, disregarding your presumption of innocence by taking away your license, on the spot, and then taking your car (and charging you to store it)….
And…. having on their web site that you ‘have‘ to pay the fine….
Is this all sounding a little crazy, even insane.
SAPOl is not doing the same thing over and over again….. they are doing more of the same thing, and more, and more…..
That is because by definition SAPOL and their ‘traffic strategies’ are insane as old Albert points out below:
I will tell you how to NEVER pay an on the spot fine given by a Police Officer or a robot (although it is getting pretty hard to tell the difference) EVER again….. in my next blog….
…..or maybe the one after….
I got heaps of other stuff to bitch about, like, crime and mayhem in the CBD of Adelaide!!!!!
Well here goes…. ….. and this is a long read….. sorry!
I haven’t had my second vaccination yet (I will not use the advertising slogan “The Jab” although I did use it in the heading of this post – hypocrisy is still one of my strong points?), however I am all booking in later this month and will be getting it.
…. someone said to me the other day, all that is happening in the world today seems a bit like a bad plot in a B Grade science fiction movie… ?
As I said in Part 1, I love movies; I also love reality TV; well not in its entirety, okay not at all, I just love ‘Survivor’. But, truely can Reality TV be anything other than real; real people put in real made up situations trying to be real? I blame the Kardashians and Paris Hilton who are real famous for being, well, real famous. And, then there is living in the real world….
In the real world, the weird real world of today, I have spent a lot of time thinking about stuff. I think about stuff I know, and then there is the stuff that I think I know; and what I see. Then I try and put this all in the perspective of my years of deducing conclusions that fit all the facts.
I tell young Detectives do all you can to try and prove the ‘offender’ innocent and when you can’t, well logically, they did it….
So, in my ‘analysis of The Jab’ I first had to get rid of some of the ‘innocent’ or unprovable theories.
… bearing this in mind, I told a ‘flat earther’ friend of mine the other day that I don’t believe the world is flat as there is more evidence that it is a sphere floating in space and a force we can’t explain called gravity keeps us all from falling off (that sounds just as silly when you write it down); But, I listened to them as their arguments were interesting. I did finish our conversation by saying, if a giant spaceship landed tomorrow and the occupants of that ship came out and said ‘Oh, by the way, you have been living on a flat earth under a big dome’ I’d walk out to the fridge in the shed, get a beer, have a sit down and say ‘fair enough’ – this doesn’t seem probable, but….?
So back to my ‘innocent’ and unprovable theories, they all seem to be flawed on two grounds.
Firstly they seem statistically unlikely, and secondly they do not have a logical purpose behind them.
Before I go on (and I believe me I am going on….!) I am going to do my best to not say ‘your should or you shouldn’t’. Religion is so full of people starting sentences with ‘you should’ and/or ‘you shouldn’t and that when for me it is not talk to the hand it is talk to the back of my head as I am walking away. So, I will do my best not to do this to you. Always remember that when religion is working for the rich, it’s fine; but, not for the poor. See, I’m not the only one with a monopoly on hypocrisy.
Back to the Detectives ‘investigationing’ (a great non-word) I started by just letting all the ‘facts’ be a mist of genuine ‘unknownness’. In the end, after asking a few very basic questions of myself, the answer seemed really simple, not sinister, just really, really sad.
I considered two main questions below which led me to the answer (and it is not 42! – that was the question remember!)
Question 1 – The Media
What of the Media (the Merchants of Misery). As said before it is probably the first time they have so obviously been in support of the Government and any of their plans. I also relates to the fact that their job has become easier; we can’t attack them for manipulation because we are all victims who prove so easily and eager to step into the experience they provide; fake, proven or otherwise it is the spectacle, the modern arena for us the slave gladiators willingly taking part; and we are sold the myth that we think we are just sitting in the stands.
Question 2 – The big Question: Why?
Well, it depends on how you are looking at this pandemic; as this view will make the question very simple or very complicated. The greatest question which answers itself about all conspiracy theories in that for most of them to be true, the extent of the conspiracy would have to be so big, what could I do about it anyway… another time to walk to the fridge get a beer, sit down and say ‘fair enough I didn’t expect that?’.
We mostly live in a democratic world, but that doesn’t really matter. Even in a democracy we really can do whatever we wish so long as we do what ‘they’ (the infamous ‘they’!) tell us to do. Remember all our ‘rulers’ democratic or not rely on our consent to rule.
Controlling the consent of ‘robots’ is easy when we have a futile fear of everything and are focused on the superficial joys of consuming, immediate gratification and the Kardashians.
The question as to ‘why’ is simple. Does it help the rich or does it help the general population? From this question you know the ‘why’ straight away and virtually what’s going to happen next.
Well, surprise we are now allowed to have freedoms that we started off with before and thought nothing of. Perhaps we are being giving something called the ‘Privilege of Greatness’ were the ‘powers to be’ rely on the supreme pleasure and gratefulness of the population on receiving small concessions so as the bigger issues are forgotten in the celebration and joy of the insubstantial gift. Viva La ‘Freedom Day’!
…. And through this smokey, misty, fact finding and intuitional detection process, it dawn on me…
The vaccines are probably safe(ish) as much as polio, rubella etc etc were/are safe in their interestingly statistically verified safeness. A sad statistic is that vaccines, even the bad ones have never hurt or killed more people than the countries that have been torn apart, the generations of hurt, guilt, regret, pain and death, that resulted from our smallest wars. So, many wars, our World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan; ….. the war on drugs ….. the war on terror ….. the war on traffic fatalities ….. the war on corruption ….. the war on COVID19
Fun Fact: COVID19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain just like AIDS in the disease caused by the HIV Virus. Go figure this silly medical stuff?
After all, our emergency services and defence services personnel are always on the front line of these ‘wars’. It is never the generals, it’s the civilians who authorise and organise these wars who ultimately commit the worst war crimes in history.
All that has happened in this ‘Why’, has ‘political support’. Political support is a wonderful phrase as it almost always means the Governments bipartisan support from the rich and big business. Climate change for example (I think that’s a ‘war’ too) is now big business, so everything is being ‘green washed’ because that’s where the money is.
However, this is just the pilot in a really great apocalypse movie (although low on budget and special effects.
All good apocalypse movies have a sequel in the making when released. If ‘Rick’ can go from trying to steal a mates girlfriend (Love Actually) to being the reason we all hope the Zombie kill him (The Walking Dead), then anything is possible in the sequal.
I believe the why and the solution is not revolution but evolution; I can hardly wait for ‘The Jab Part 3’!!!
Really – this guy is only 0.69 !!!!
(I had actually finished the draft of this post and thought leaving it on the above ‘cliff hanger’ was like watching ‘Highway Patrol’ when the blood alcohol metre is spinning in the corner and then they go for a commercial break – then I realise how much I hated that so I can’t do it to anyone else….)
I finished my draft on the evening of the 12/11/21…. and upon realising the date was a palindrome like ‘race car’ and hannah’ and ‘glenelg’ and my favourite and applicable to this post:
“no sir panic is a basic in prison”
The words of Plato filled my head: “All in all, nothing human is worth taking very seriously, nevertheless…..”
I recommend before the sequel to keep the status quo by:
keep consuming
pay your fines and surrender you right of having ‘your day in court’ – even to just say sorry or give a good reason or to ask for a bit of leniency
watch cats on vacuum cleaners and the Kardashians and their clones
buy on line and never price compare unless it is online
watch the Media (the Merchants of Misery) even though you don’t believe them…. much.
and most of all, be afraid; in the most prosperous, safest, longest life expectancy and peaceful time in human history, ever; you just remain afraid
Remember the above strategies have ‘political support’ which is best statistically summarised by this wonderful survey in the US, which had 98% of the population supporting universal health care – this was not considered ‘political support’ so universal health care was abandoned by government – well they had to, there was no support?. Remember, we are most in danger when we have jumped out of the way of a speeding car, willingly or not, of most likely being run over by another car.
So, we will fight ‘the war on COVID19’ for as a government and us as the willing mob we all live for the sake of combatting an enemy, therefore as that is our purpose, it is in the best interests of everyone to keep the enemy alive to fulfil our purpose.
So, what, best interest?
Best interest is big business, the super rich and the implementation of the ‘three laws of robotics’ as designed by the science fiction writer Issac Asimov (by the way old Issac just came up with three robot laws and a few good books, whereas another science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard came up with an entire religion!):
First Law: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Now the Why is revealed.
We have become customers for life, obeying the three laws as all good robots do.
Not truely sinister, but COVID19 (forgot all the conspiracies) has provided the opportunity for the greatest marketing, sales and future binding contracted arrangements with consumers. We, the 80-90% of the population, are now consumers of our COVID19 vaccinations, and boosters for life. We should be proud that we are part of the greatest demonstration of consumer led capitalism in the history of man, ever!
Protests in the streets, even with the best of intentions of the ‘choice argument’ will fail…. Long rambling blogs will fail……. Litigation will fail…….
I, along with 80-90% of the rest of the world have sealed deal and signed the ‘customer for life contract’.
…. and then I thought I had written enough…. and had a sleep and made the mistake of watching the News and not just publishing this post…..
13/11/21 (no palindrome – that day is gone…)
They say a week in politics or the news cycle is a long time. Well, I should have published/posted this the morning and then I wouldn’t have watched the news tonight!?
Countries with similar (or better) vaccination rates to us are going back into locked down – when the Netherlands do something like this I pay attention – they seem like reasonable people and secretly own half the world.
I hit myself in the face in front of the mirror ‘Fight Club’ style, as I again fell for the trap of attempting to use logic to solve and illogical problem.
I remembered even ‘customers for life’ need to be entertained to keep that ‘brand loyalty’…. always waiting for the new and improved models, which will have great new versions and the ever expectation and excitement of impending war.
In the closing hours of this day, I have called friends, had a beer and now sit to do what I love (other than drinking beer!)…. write.
I have rambled more in recent days than I have for some time. For this rambling if unread, scorned or ridiculed, I am grateful and lucky.
It was two years ago today, a few hours before now that my ‘brain exploded.’ I had a brain aneurysm and think but for the grace of God I may have died. Statistically everything was against me. But….
I was in Adelaide – no ambulance to the local under resourced hospital and the overworked doctors and nurses; no waiting for the 45 minute flight to Adelaide – basically if this happened, here in Berri, I am sure, I was a dead man.
The ambos arrived at the small family gathering we were having in Norwood and I was in care shortly after and stuff being pumped into me to save my life.
To me, this was a blur; and for some time the days after; I still walk many times a day into a room and can’t remember why I went there, I lose things a lot.
But, I remember; not for some time, that at the time I was having the brain explosion, I was not scared. My family was with me and I was a peace.
So on Jesus’s Birthday two years ago they got the Makita out and drilled into my head.
A lady, who I saw was a healer spoke to me before and said she would save my life. I am a sceptic but I believed her. I have spoken to her since in her office with an entire wall covered with ‘thank you’ cards.
Her name is Associate Professor Amal Abou-Hamden.
I am still grateful to her and tell her receptionist that at my next appointment I will ask her to marry me: our appointments are often rescheduled as she is saving someone elses life – plus I am worried about the age gap?
My brain exploding changed my life – other than never being able to find my keys.
I saw that the ‘well’ decide what the sick really needed in rehab – and I checked myself out twice and was nasty to people, but no more than I saw the suffering of those who have lost everything.
I was angry, demanding and offensive (after all I had a brain injury)… maybe it was just that all my life long ‘governors’ were off.
People I loved came to see me; having three ex partners standing by your bedside all at the same time can seem like a nightmare, but: old mates came; young mates came…. and I wrote crazy stuff in my journal and pushed my wife away.
My sister travelled to be with me.
My daughters held my hand.
… and then I went home.
I have been here since and found that death is not something that is now a stranger to me… I wrote my epitaph several times in hospital and rehab (for the short time I stayed there – checking myself in and out …?) and it was not good?
My wife left me, my heart broke worse than my head had, and I broke with it.
My friends, my band of brothers, my guardian angel daughters saved me.
I went to the Rural and Remote ward in Glenside Hospital. I was humbled, lost and sad. (I love my Band of Brothers but the tricky bastards got me locked up because they knew I would con my way out!!!)
My Pastor friend Toh Sang Ng visited me… My daughters and band of brothers visited me… Old mates of heart and courage visited me…
I bought smokes, and popcorn, and watched movies, with friends I would never have met, had my brain not exploded.
I found something else; I found me. Not the one I hadn’t mostly liked, but the one I was looking for and knew was there from one of the last things my Mum said to me before she passed away… “You are a good man.”
My Mum was wise and loved God and I am certain was loved right back. It wasn’t until after my brain exploded that I realised that my Mum wasn’t telling me who I was, but who I could become.
I just always remember that Colonel Sanders didn’t start KFC until he was 65 years old, that, I realised I still had a chance.
I wrote a lot of apology letters to the Doctors and Nurses, to my wife, family and friends; some things can’t be mended and must only be forgiven.
… and time passed…. not long, but enough for me to realise that all the bullshit of knowledge and wisdom in these writings (although I must admit, rather eloquently and inspirationally written..) lacked the spirit that I wrote about – the connection to something bigger than me – I knew it was there as Eckart Tolle had told me so, YouTube clips told me so, the Art of War told me how to kill those who told me so, The Art of Peace told me how to do it with a stick and not actually hurt anyone during a fight (?), my mate Made in Bali taking me to the temples and dressing up in the garb told me so, the Philosophers I read and read told me so, my old mate Toh Sang told me so.
So, I didnt need to reach out, I just had to understand what I had always know.
And… I did. Now I have the life I always felt but didn’t quite know; like waking from a dream that you can’t quite remember but know it was a good one (Not the flying dream, because that one is always a bit scary!)
So, now two years after my brain exploded (and thanks to Associate Professor Amal Abou-Hamden’s skill, I have maintained my stunning good looks)… I am grateful and lucky.
I post only the picture of Associate Professor Amal Abou-Hamden in this post as most of the pictures I would otherwise share are inside my head and can never be printed as they would so underestimate the things I have seen, experienced and begun to understand.
The best part, is that I still falter about 1000 times a day (about the same amount of times I have looked for my car keys – this week!)… it teaches me that the past is gone, I try to learn from it: the future is unwritten (please see the Movie Donny Darko because at any minute like him, a jet engine could fall through your roof and kill you), I have a plan, but it will most probably not turn out that way…. but, mostly my life is consumed by trying to appreciate the moment I am now in.
I want to thank all you dudes who have travelled with me on this trek, before and after my brain exploded; and especially to those who have helped me with my baggage, or even carried me when needed; and mostly, for seeing the things in me my Mum did.
In life you rarely get BIG second chances – I got one (please don’t stuff it up Ian!!!)…
I believe what I believe, which before I just thought I understood…. I live now, like today, is my last day (and forget most days and live like a rock star…?)… I forgive easily, I hope more… I think I love more, better, and deeper… I write bad poetry…. I try to be kind…
I know my story is just one of many that in the past I wouldn’t have really listened to because I was too eager to talk myself…
I have time now:
I have every moment until I shuffle from this mortal coin; where you all come to say goodbye and note that their is no trailer on my hearse, as I have left it all behind;
I just hope, I leave something more behind, than all the fantastic, magnificent unfinished projects in my shed and my bad poetry….
That is a weird start to any post….. considering it is pointing out the obvious: but so often the obvious is hidden, literally in plain sight?
A few nights ago I found the courage to sit and write again: publicly I mean: not in the beloved confines of my shed with pens, chalk, markers on pieces of recycled cardboard (often beer and cider boxes): but on my long lamented blog.
I had a thought a few days ago when a trek I had been on, took a turn that I did not expect.
I have been working on a project for a year, called the ‘Out Town’ initiative. I have no inclination to explain it all here and will place ‘strategic’ links to The Fay Fuller Foundation (click here for all the info), TACSI (I just wrote that as my reminder that I despise acronyms…. The Australian Centre for Social Innovation – click here for these super dudes) and a myriad of other organisations, individuals and communities that have a hope, vision, drive and purpose to make our world a better place.
“Our Town” in a Nut Shell
Is an initiative to provide rural towns in South Australia with the guidance (through TACSI) and the financial backing (through the Faye Fuller Foundation – okay I hate acronyms but from here on referred to as FFF) to set our own courses to the future, to have towns (and regions) which are well; I interpreted that both physically and mentally; even in regards to prosperity and thriving; to a mutually agreed future.
The above is but an understated ‘quote’ of what these two organisations have offered us; mostly, to me, they have offered me hope in our community.
Yes, wonderfull words, but backed up, as all good mates do, with deeds.
After our initial application, which was submitted by hard working visionaries in our community, we were short listed to the final 6 towns.
Now let’s get this into perspective.…. We were short listed to receive funding for ten years, consisting of $300,000 per year, to fulfil the plan that our town would come up with. …. not sadly, but graciously the Faye Fuller Foundation was going to fund two towns of the 6 ‘finalists’.
… and then the world changed: Kangaroo Island: our States southern jewel was devastated by bushfires……
The FFF in wisdom and generosity, gave one of the ten year funding grants to Kangaroo Island.
… and there are people in this world, organisations that you hope exist, and they step forward…. that do things you would never expect (but, secretly always wish they did and that person or organisation actually existed…)
The FFF decided to still provide the funding for two town of the 5 towns….!!!
It them became even more than we could have ever hope for in todays world: The FFF, then provided us with the guidance and mentoring of TACSI, and unbelievable $45,000.00 in ‘seed funding’ to help us put our final ‘town plan’ together and …. then gave us a year to do it.
We worked hard, and people got tired and their community picked them up and gave them a rest; always finding someone to take their place. AND, and a big AND, we learned about ourselves, we learned about our towns, we learned about doing things differently, we learned to ask for help, we learned to fail, we learned to accept that there was no right answer, we learned to plan and design and implement, not from the board room, the committee, or the financiers ….but to do all this from a chat with a mate, the park bench, the neighbour we have never spoken to, the invisible, the lost, lonely and forgotten members of our towns. (See a lot more detail and our town ‘insights’ on our Facebook page – click here)
We chatted, we talked, we went and spoke to our neighbours, people we had never met (and even now we know there are people we have not yet met… but want to…)…
… and I speak just for me here; I found a new way of doing things: I met mentors who were half my age; I saw with wonder the fantastic young people in our community; I learned, and learned and learned; each day knowing the more I learned, mostly only taught me how much I didn’t know and still had to learn….
All the ‘finalist’ worked towards their plans, for their community for their people for their future….
… again I stopped and wondered about all the tings that I ‘knew to be true‘ crumbling as I watched….
All these ‘competitors’… left no one behind; they shared their visions, their ideas, their insights, their failures…. the towns were not competing, but travelling on a trek that we were all going on; carrying our baggage; on the hard days carrying each others… it wasn’t a competition it was a community.
And on the last day the ‘winning’ towns were chosen: and the congratulations were as soul felt as the commiserations.
… and the FFF had decided at the last minute to give another town the ten year funding… is there no better gift than that which is given freely…. and so generous, and so unexpected
There were two towns that missed out… And we were one….
But, the FFF and TACSI had still found us funding for one year of $100,000.00 and the promise, of which I have no doubt, to support us.
Just about me….
As I sat and listened to the announcement from the FFF that other towns had received the funding, I sat back and looked at the disappointment in our teams face…. it was strange…. I saw, also complete acceptance and gratitude, joy for the other towns… and determination, we would not let our town down and would go on… in that moment I wrote the following on my phone (I love pen and paper but I am learning to be ‘techno-savvy’):
Our Town 1300: just found out we missed out on the Our Town big grant….. wow, didn’t think I’d be this ‘hit’ by it…..
Now: it becomes a real challenge to make a difference when we are not able to splash cash around… which rarely solves anything…. it just feeds egos and often attracts the wrong people… now we have no choice, but, to have this driven, from the park bench, the shed, the blockies, the ones that need us the most….. the people we have not yet met and are wanting to meet….
Now, we work for us: for our Real town: real people and not key words, phrases and trendy idioms …. I know in this town we have wisdom and knowledge: champions and characters: history and stories …. all of which are ours, they are our community, our family, and we bear the scars.
I think we have actually won more by not getting the money: we get to not give up: we get to continue our trek with all our baggage, and the more we have collected along the way: but, we have a whole lot more people to help us carry it…. we have people, groups, an entire town who are hungry and have the appetite to make the changes we want and need….
… and I still mean this: I am tired; I have bad days where the troubles of my life seem more important than my neighbours; but, mostly, in this trek that continues, I know I can not go on without my neighbour…. even if I don’t like them; or I envy them; or they wronged me in the past; they, in some fashion, are still my neighbour, and do I want to actually go on without them…..
In the days that followed, particularly the day after, I nursed my hangover, because at the time I was drinking with my mate Wayne who had been hurt in the days before and will be recovering for the months to come…. and I walked home through my town and was glad to be there.
Fait, is a wonderful thing: so long as it is in your favour….
The next day I read this (I read a lot and a lot of what I read bewilders me and some times inspire me….)
The Best Seed
There once was a farmer who grew the most excellent wheat. Every season he won the award of the best in his area.
A wise woman came to him to ask him about his success.
He told her that the key was sharing his best seed with his neighbours so they could plant the seed as well.
The wise woman asked, “How can you share your best wheat seed with you neighbours when they compete with you every year?”
“That’s simple” the farmer replied “The wind spreads the pollen from everyone’s wheat and carries it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior wheat, cross-pollination, would degrade everyones wheat, including mine. If I’m to grow the best wheat, I must help my neighbours grow the best wheat, including mine”
The wise woman learned a lesson and left better for her visit from the farm: as she walked away she thought to be wise is always to learn from where you least expect it.
…. and I sat on this thought, and all my thoughts that spin around inside my head… I often say my head is a dangerous place and I never go there alone: I think any trek, whether in the wild unknowns, or inside your own head, requires the company of those you trust; perhaps the person just next door, your neighbour.
So I thought I’d ask a question of my neighbours….
“If we were on a trek and there was just the 6 companions, friends, neighbours heading for different destinations but all on the same pilgrimage; what would I do as a fellow traveller.
We had set out together, with the same goal, but provisioned differently. Four of us had 3 apples, but two had but a small portion of an apple, which to continue would have to be eaten on the first day of our 10 day journey.
Would my four companion travellers each give one of their apples so that we all had 2 apples to journey onwards together?
Each sharing their bounty, evenly; so that all could continue on the journey together; equally nourished, each supporting the other; each pollinating each others fields, so that all may grow the best crops”
I think we all have stories, we all have stories yet unwritten.
Our pervious stories, if we listen, teach us lessons; so that the next step we take is a better one, in the right direction, with the right companions, for the right reasons.
I know tomorrow when I wake up, I will move that one thing, I will take that one step, I will continue my trek; after all what else is there; there is the joy of sharing it with a neighbour who has become a friend.
The Prime Minister said that people hoarding and ‘panic’ buying were un-Australian…..
He later said that people had ‘optimism bias’ and as such were not obeying the new rules…
He later said he had to put in ‘social distancing measures’ to stop people doing things like going to Bondi Beach…..
He calls on us to emulate the ‘ANZAC Spirit’ and all work together as ‘Aussies’ which we always do when the chips are down….
The hypocrisy….
Australians follow their leaders. The Prime Minister and all politicians are the people who set the tone of our society. They are driven, manipulated and seek the lime light with the Merchants of Misery (The Media). They say ‘panic’ buying and hoarding is Un-Australian, no, it is the Australians that our politicians are. Politicians look after number one; they stomp on whoever they can to get what they want; and during the process they hoard enough superannuation to feed a small town. No, Mr Prime Minister, you are seeing the legacy of the ‘Australian’ you are and the Australians you created. PS: The Prime Minister gets of telly about rolls of toilet paper but is relatively silent about 500 billion (about 38%) being lost on the stock marked due to ‘panic selling’….. sorry, stock brokers and investors are clever people while the toilet paper hoarders are….. the… same???
Optimism bias! Ha! How dare you accuse a few people going to the beach and or a cafe when you had weeks notice that this virus was coming to our shores like a tsunami. Mr Prime Minister did you forget you ‘optimism’ not that long ago telling everybody to go about ‘business’ as usual? While at the same time Italy, Iran, China etc, etc, had already told you it will never be business as usual again! He was going to the footy days before he started shutting down the country – now that’s not a mixed message!? …. Oh, I forgot that politicians blame us for what they have done; you traitors and Un-Australians for going to the beach…… my mistake?
Social distancing similar to the Prime Minister and the Chief Medial Officer shaking hands with everyone a day prior to the ‘Bondi Beach Madness’…. I’m sorry but the hypocracy is so blatant that you don’t notice it because no one with any sense of emotional intelligence would think that people would buy it….. but, we are? PS: … and the difference at a wedding, funeral for one day… and school everyday is?
…. and when all else fails, call on the ANZAC spirit. Just remember these ANZAC heroes were mostly led by a bunch of dills calling the shots from safety. And, please remember that ANZAC cove was a failure and a defeat. In actual fact, it was probably the first ‘Bradbury’ – we lost, but because we retreat really good, it was a victory? Mr Prime Minister, please do not soil the memory of these heroes by pretending that you have as much to sacrifice; it is us, the ‘foot soldiers’ that keep the spirit alive by defending ourselves against you and helping each other out when you continue to fail.
Well….
Sitting down to write a positive post, didn’t quite work out for me?
I haven’t written for a while as I felt I was being harshly judged about what I was writing; so, I thought the first post back in the saddle should be as judgemental as possible!
But, lets face it, writing a blog is not exactly about being a shrinking violet and not have a degree of ‘show off’ in you?
I don’t think politicians have realised that creating an economy, and doing anything to protect it, and having The Merchants of Misery as ally and foe, does not create a community in a time of crisis; this is what WE do, most days actually; and our community will get us through, irrespective of your promises. (which gets me thinking about all those millions in aid to the bushfire victims…..?).
So, I hope to be positive in future posts and talk more about saving our ‘community’. I believe our economy will never be the same again; but, our community, our communities, US, can be stronger than ever.
I don’t want to talk about the politicians anymore or ‘firm directions’ they are giving us about what we ‘should’ be doing – we are Australians, we have the ANZAC spirit and if someone tells us not to do something, well, most of us don’t do it….. but, suggest to us we ‘shouldn’t’ do something….. well, it’s almost like a dare!
Shows how Un-Australian you are Mr Prime Minister.
Well the day is almost over and I am sure many of us took the time to ask someone, RUOK – we may have well been asked ourselves.
Why are we asking today, RUOK? Is it as a platitude; a response to a very well run and important campaign…. or are we asking with full expectation of any possible answer.
Hey, are RUOK? Well, actually I’m not….
WTF (Not the answer we were expecting….)
What now?
I often ask people RUOK and get asked a lot myself. I often call people having challenges in life; I ask RUOK on 365 days of the year…
I often tell people I call, that if ‘well meaning’ people ring up and ask if they are okay and then say “If there is anything I can do, let me know”. I tell them to reply “Well as a matter of fact there is….” (It is important that the ending of this sentence says something along the lines of….) ….. “Can you come around and wash my car?” “Can you do my washing?” “Can you come around and clean my house / wash my windows / weed the garden…. etc etc.”
And…. the silence on the line will be deafening.
Okay, this is a bit cruel (but you may get your car washed!) but, the point is by making that phone call you have already done more than most.
I have a wonderful “Band of Brothers”, my beautiful daughters and friends and family from the wider world.
I am lucky.
They ask me if I am okay all the time; and when I am okay they are proud of me; when I am not okay they are there. I don’t ask them to wash the car but they would.
I know, without a hint of doubt, embarrassment, guilt, or feelings of weakness and failure, that I can call them when I am not okay… this is their greatest gift.
For which I will be forever grateful.
So, today, on RUOK day, be that person who resolves to ring that friend, tomorrow or next week.
Then when you make that call, or drop around unexpectedly, or invite that workmate for a coffee; understand that you have already done a lot, and more than most.
When your friend, relative or workmate is not okay, know that unless you have lived it yourself, you can not understand what it is they are going through. This sounds harsh and ungrateful for all your kindness… but, unfortunately it is true…. and that is okay.
This knowledge saves you expending your efforts in trying to understand it or fix it. You can then put all of your efforts in doing the easiest and best thing… just be you.
Today, I am okay; actually nowadays, most days, I am okay.
Why?
Because when I wasn’t okay, when I was as far from okay more than I could have ever imagined; I reached out and there were the hands to hold me up, and some days they carried me, in heart, mind, spirit and body.
From their love; from their actions; and often from that phone call; laugh; a hand on the shoulder; a look and a nod; I am okay. I am thankful, grateful and humbled.
Tomorrow, or the day after, or next week, month, year, I may not by okay… and as much as I don’t want this to happen; I feel safe in it…. because, of the people in my life who ask me RUOK, or give me permission and confidence to reach out and say “I am not okay today…”
Be these people; be there, ask, or reach out. We are all doing our bit which can change the world. It can change or save a life – perhaps your own.
I believe we are all here for a purpose; it may not be too evident in those dark hours; but, I believe it is true… I think we all know it. I had to go through my darkest time to truely feel that my purpose, yet unknown, and perhaps never known, was always there.
Each day, I let go, let Go, let love, guide me. Some days those thoughts, and those thoughts alone, are enough; and some days I need others; and hopefully some days I can be there for others.
I have spent a few days considering writing a post. I still have a lot of poems to share (groan I hear!) but think by posting one today I would be losing half my audience, and then you would be sitting there reading this all alone!
I am pretty sure my “Better Man Project” is dead. I think constant improvement is often used as an excuse for not being the best you can today; it was certainly an excuse I used.
In addition my daily Mantras have not given me the guidance they were supposed to. I was always going to follow all of them… tomorrow, and just do the best I can today, instead of being my best every day; I think there is a difference.
Those of you (well both of you) who read my blog, may have suspected I was insane; and no doubt feel vindicated after my recent stay in the Rural and Remote Ward at Glenside Hospital. But, to me this was not the greatest indicator; it was my obliviousness to the fact that I was living my favourite quote from Albert Einstein.
As we all know, me more than some I would suggest, is that the insane person does not actually know they are insane. This was me.
I wrote blogs about Mantras and Being a Better Man; but, I was not improving, but just justifying the way I viewed the world and interacted with it.
I was rarely, the best I could be each day; which could have translated with a little effort and dedication into everyday.
I so often could not control what was happening to my life. I can only control how I react to it – this was more of a revelation than any Mantra or personal improvement process. I have always had excuses for the reactions to things in my life; I see now I was mostly wrong. Rest easy I now accept this.
In accepting this I worked on a little theory of how I felt about myself and my past action:
Guilt is awareness that our actions have injured someone else.
Shame is how we feel about ourselves.
I have a lot of regrets; but little shame. I am incredibly embarrassed and regretful for many things I have done and a lot of the things I have said.
My greatest, latest, all in living colour and 3D stereo sound revelation is that I historically have not been me; the true me. I have been sold, and resold, solidified and worshiped the gods of power, anger, consumerism and possessions (No, you can’t have all my stuff for free; I said realisation, not I am becoming a monk!)
A mate recently started calling me by my birth name and he said I was dead. He said:
We all loved the 70% of our mate who was loyal, generous, smart and helpful, but the other 30% would take our heads off, rip our hearts out and destroy with a word…
There was plenty of regret in my heart plus real admiration that he had the courage to tell me. I must admit when he told me the 30% he identified, it felt like 99% of what I mostly felt; I was lucky as I think I faked about three quarters of the 70% he actually liked!
So why did he tell me? We have spent a bit of time with each other lately and he said he didn’t see any of the 30% – okay, lets call it what is; he didn’t see; an angry, controlling, abusive, malicious, self centred prick!
Why?
Because I almost died. Because the love of my life left. and… I broke.
The first two, precipitated the last one; the first two were a realisation that all was not good in my view of life. I actually cringed at what my epitaph may have been if I had died and shake my head at how I treated love.
The breaking was the making.
Now I am here with all the pieces, but, I am lucky and grateful that I am still here. I am lucky and grateful for the love I had – and live in hope for.
I live one day at a time. I still have food in the fridge and pay my bills but mentally I am just in this day. I have hope and realise the world is not all about me.
Right, so what? Well fantastic that I am all better today, but there will be a tomorrow.
I am still on my trek. And it is a trek which I have just started. Up until recently I have been going through life as a ‘journey’. I may actually say I was on a ‘cruise’ with occassional fact finding missions into consumerism, power and surveying the battle grounds of my self justified victories!
These ‘journeys’ through life; the constant excitement of smashing down the rapids in my rubber raft driven by barely qualified guides and being with all the other tourists who pay for cheap excitement and gratification. These were my journeys in life, but now I am on a trek.
What does this trek entail that differentiates it from my life journeys to this point?
I have a lot of baggage that I have to carry (I do so gladdly but have packed them better)
There will be deep valleys (some like ‘the valley of the shadow of death” in the Bible!)
Highway men will constantly be trying to rob me (Read the Media, the merchants of misery; Advertisers and the Government!)
There will be wonderful scenery if I bother to lift my head
I will be with new and old travelling companions
I have a destination
I am determined to overcome all obstacles
I am doing it for me
I do it every day and don’t have days off
I now trek through life, some days the hills are steep, the wind is against me, it’s raining, and I am tired. On days like this I need only to take one step – that way I will always be going forward.
I don’t blame the weather, the steep hills or dark valleys or bad travelling companions for my progress, for it is my trek.
Each day I will choose how I see the next step; and I will take it.
