Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book release, The Accidental Journey. If you would like a copy, simply give this post a like and share and I will make sure you get the chance to download the full version in the next few weeks. THE ACCIDENTAL JOURNEY My mind wanders as I sit in a typically uncomfortable aisle seat on a Boeing 737, enroute to a connection in Houston, Texas. The plane was getting bounced around by some wave cloud formation on the lee side of the Rocky Mountains, a pattern of disrupted air that blows in from the west and is buffeted by the jagged 14,000 peaks in the central spine of the US continent. It was a short haul flight from Vancouver and although the bumps don’t bother me personally, the suffering would be a chore for some of the passengers. My wife, being one of the less comfortable, gripped my hand even more tightly. I am traveling with a weary team of global ”difference makers” from Canada who have each made very significant commitments to help poor people in Guatemala and have been up since 3:30 this morning to catch the unnaturally early flight. I ponder; “what made them make a decision to go the extra mile?” Was it an accident that we all came together for this one event? What made Edison try so many times to invent a light bulb after so much failure? What makes an athlete work hours a day to shave a fraction of a second off their time? How does water become such a powerful substrate once it moves 1% higher in temperature to become steam? How does a corporation become admired? Is it all just an accident? We all have an ability to accomplish remarkable things, a latent desire to do something significant at least once in our lives. Something that leaves us feeling good, as though we have gone the distance, finished the job, helped others, stretched ourselves... but what is the catalyst? What separates the do’ers from the thinkers? The achievers from the coulda, shoulda woulda’s? A friend once told me that potential is a waste, it simply means you haven’t done what you are meant to do yet? It sounds harsh, but I had to agree. We all have potential to do amazing things and yet the biggest thing that stops us is two simple letters “NO”. The movie, “Yes Man” is a simple example of how a life can change if you start to banish the word no. I often talk to people about how you would respond to a grand child sitting on your lap who says, “Grandad, what is the most exciting thing you ever did in your life?”. What would your answer be? Would you have to think hard through all your life’s experiences to ascertain what was the most exciting thing, or do you struggle to find anything exciting in your past? Joining me on this trip, among other people is a friend of my two sons. His name is Brady. Brady is a happy young man, in fact he is happy, excited, energetic, enthusiastic, friendly and he is a one in a hundred personality. A cup doesn’t even come close to containing his rampant enthusiasm for everything, it never gets close to half full, it just continues to gush out of the top. Brady was probably at some point in his young life inspired by the movie “Yes Man”. I had the chance to chat to Brady the previous night as we drove into the airport. We were talking about what makes him so happy. The answer might confuse some of you. First of all, Brady explained that he wasn’t always happy. His state of “Happiness” came as a result of practicing “happiness” for several years. He forced himself to learn lessons through difficult times as he perhaps experienced what some of us consider to be unhappy moments. He made sure he looked for the good in people even as they appeared unhappy or perhaps didn’t reveal their most positive side to him. He looks for lessons from experiences that he perhaps didn’t enjoy so that he can learn to understand them better and enjoy them next time he experiences them. To spend a few minutes in Brady’s company is enough to set anybody’s day right. he really is a radiant personality. Today, Brady does not seem to have an unhappy day. He may have tough days, but I have never seen Brady get down, although in truth Brady has more reason than most of us to be a little grumpy if he chose to be. You see Brady is flying down to Guatemala with me to run more than a half marathon, 25 kilometres in total. He has never run that far before, primarily because an operation when he was a young baby left him with a special foot on one leg. Not a complete foot, a fraction of a foot, a very special foot according to Brady. Brady has learned that happiness is a decision not a feeling. Everyday he wakes up he makes a decision to be happy. Like me, you have probably heard many people exclaim that “they are not feeling happy” yet in reality happiness is not a feeling but a state of mind. Brady has managed to mask the fact that he has a unique foot. Not because he is shy to talk about it but because Brady would hate to think that someone else would feel uncomfortable in his company! If you are hanging out with Brady, you will find his personality is magnetic. He will be a light to anyone who is struggling and for sure, the children of Casa Esparanza children’s home were in for a treat! My wife is identical to Brady. If I am driving and I rudely gesture at someone who just curtly cut me up in traffic, my wife is sure to explain they are probably just having a bad day and she is sure they are not normally like that. If we were to stop at the next traffic lights, together with Brady, she would probably get out and give the driver a hug while I exchanged angry sign language with them. The interesting thing is that happiness, is a learned habit, not unlike the ability to go the distance, be a part of the team or simply finish the task you were assigned to do. In his book “Blink”, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the fact that we become “experts” after we have done something for 10,000 hours. That is just over a year. Twenty four hours a day being happy for just over a year and you can call yourself and expert... I decided that I wanted to be that person many years ago. What about you?
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 19:51:39 +0000
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