What a simple thought.

It doesn’t have to be complicated.

It doesn’t have to be difficult.

If you want to be happy, be.

It really can be that easy.

Do what you love.

Love what you do.

And just be.

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I’ve been on the internet for about 15 years. 11 years as a website designer. 8 years doing social media marketing. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same.

Imagine this.

You’re in a room with one other person. You can focus your attention on them and have a great, deep, meaningful conversation with them.

Add a second person to that room. You can still have a good conversation with the other 2 but if they start talking about something you’re not interested in, you start to lose interest.

Add another person to that room.

And another.

Add 800 million.

You now have Facebook.

And Twitter.

And Linkedin.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been using them for so long. But I feel like I’m not alone in this thinking. There are so many blog posts, news articles, quotes, pictures, etc shared everyday that after a while, it all becomes bullshit. What is it really doing for us? What is it doing to us?

I realize I’m contributing to this BS by writing this post. But it’s my hopes by writing this post that I can connect with you and help you realize just how much of the other stuff really is BS. And that you can work to eliminate some of that in your life.

You will feel more free. Breathe a little easier. Enjoy your conversations with your friends more.

Try it out. I’ve done quite a bit in the past while.

I unfollowed 1,000 people on Twitter.

I’m combining our company’s facebook pages so we only will be using one instead of 20+.

I’m sharing less content than I have in the past and the content I do share, I make sure that it’s useful.

Here’s a great quote about BS. It really says it all to me – there is far too much ego on Twitter and Facebook. Too many people think that they’re relevant, creative, cutting edge. Instead of saying you are, JUST DO IT. Seriously. It’s BS when you just talk, talk, talk and don’t do anything. There are many people like that. If you’re one of them, PLEASE STOP IT. Phew.

I find that we all get more legendary as time goes by. “Legend” means, basically, “bullshit.”

How do you eliminate BS in your life?

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I wanted to share with you 3 great quotes on fear. We’ve all been there. I’m there right now with certain elements of my life. I was there last night and ended up having a nightmare based on that fear. But I’ve learned that it’s trying to tell me something. What are you going to let your fear teach you?

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
Dale Carnegie

Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.
Virgil Thomson

When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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The theme of a lot of my posts have been about choosing a path based on what you love doing. If you love sports, then surround yourself with sports people, play sports, watch sports, etc. The time you put in if you are following your heart will come back many times over. I’ve seen it happen and I’m living proof of that.

I can’t tell you how many books or videos I’ve consumed that all speak to this notion but the one that stands out in my mind, the video that puts it so simply and the video that embodies what I believe is the Steve Jobs commencement speect at Stanford in 2005.

You can’t always know if what you’re doing is right – you just have to have faith. Looking back it will make sense. Job’s calls it “connecting the dots”. And with that, enjoy the video:

Full transcript of the speech: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/10/why-you-should-stay-hungry-foolish-by-steve-jobs/

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I need to rant for a second.

I’m so tired of all the charities/foundations that are being created. There seems to be a run/fundraiser every weekend and with the report from the CBC that the Canadian Cancer Society spent more money on fundraising than on research (view it here), when is this going to stop? Seriously. I just heard about Septembeard which dilutes all the hard work Movember has done to build their brand.

Why can’t we have 1 charity per cause instead of there being so many and spreading the resources so thin?

I was lucky enough to attend TEDxCalgary in 2010 and heard a presentation called The Pendulum of Marketing given by Michael Drew (http://marketingforhippies.com/the-civic-cycle/). The video might be blocked in your country but the basic idea is that every 40 years or so, there is a cycle of human behaviour and as is clearly obvious, we’re in a very civic cycle where everyone wants to help out and give back to their community. As you can well imagine, people will eventually grow tired of this cycle and we will then move back into a phase where we will be more focused on ourselves and more frugal with our time and our energy. It’s going to come to a head – look at how inundated we are with technology – everyone is always on their cell phones so much that we have to come out with a law that prevents people from being on their phone while driving. Most of us are guilty of this and the people I’ve met who never have also apply that strict moral judgement in other areas of their lives and are better off for it.

When we’re out with a friend eating dinner, what does it say to them if we’re on our phone txting someone else? Is it not the same thing if we were talking to someone at another table instead of talking to our friend? And if we consider them different, perhaps that’s the problem. Do we think there are different levels of awareness and it’s better to give our friend 10% of our attention instead of 0%. Well I’ll tell you what, it’s not.

We need to start taking back our time. Perhaps I’m falling into this cycle myself as I’m already moving into the next cycle but I’ve had enough. I’ve done Movember, I’ve done the Relay for Life. They are all well meaning charities run by passionate, amazing people. But there are just too many and they’re not effective in what they’re aiming to do.

Let’s take back our lives and realize that we need to start putting ourselves first because if we don’t, then we’re going to lose ourselves.

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. – Janis Joplin

It’s ok to say no. It’s ok to be selfish. Realize what’s important. Realize what you love. And surround yourself with that.

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One of my favourite quotes is from George Bernard Shaw:

“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’”

This is a huge theme of my life – dreaming. My favourite movie is Rudy, a true story about a kid who dreamed about playing football at Notre Dame, and achieved his dream when he got to play 1 play in the final game of his final year.

Now, in life there are people who dream (like Rudy) and there are people who do (like many people who work 8-5, Monday to Friday). Everyone can dream but too many people don’t because they’re too afraid of not being able to reach their dreams. So what do they do? They try to fit their dreams into their current life instead of working to make their current life match their dreams.

Well I like to live with both a dreamer’s and a doer’s mentality. I’ll admit I often look at things that are and ask “Why” but I’m also quick to ask “Why not”. I don’t care if something has been tried before – there’s usually a reason it didn’t work the first time. Once that reason is known, why not try again?

And the nature of my passion (disc sports – ultimate, disc golf, distance, self caught flight, dog disc, etc) allows me to often dream of something and ask “Why not?” And the beauty of it is that I can actually do something that hasn’t been done (or hasn’t been done for more than 25 years).

Sometimes it’s a solitary pursuit and many people don’t get my passion but looking back over the past 11 years, I realize that I am who I am today because of frisbee and I know that when I look back on my life 11 years from now, I’ll be glad I made the decision to make frisbee such a big part of my life. I know that the more I do, the more I will inspire and amaze people and that is what keeps me going. To know that there is a chance others can share in my love for frisbee even a little bit is an incredible feeling.

So I ask you – are you a dreamer, a doer, or both?

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Tonight was the 3rd Monday Night Supper Club I’ve attended in Calgary and they really do keep getting better. I say that because it’s all about the people. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing – if you’re around good people you will enjoy yourself much more.

And tonight, I was around some great people. I’m still getting to know them – it’s an interesting thing when you show up to a dinner party having only met 1 person in real life, and having only briefly talked to some of the others on Twitter or Facebook.

Every week I look forward to connecting with my new friends more and finding out more about each of them.

As you know, I love quotes so I wanted to throw this one out there which was very fitting for today:

If you don’t think every day is a good day, just try missing one.

Today was indeed a great day. I’m glad I went and I realize that work will always be there and needing to be done so make time for what really matters.

And tonight that was my friends from the Monday Night Supper Club (#MNSCyyc).

Oh and we also threw light up frisbees once it was dark. That was pretty rad.

Thanks again to

@dansgoodside

@mikesbloggity

@yelpcalgary

@MealanCalgary

@JacquelineTyler

@frecklesandash

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If I’ve learned anything through all of my different experiences in life, it’s very simply this: just be yourself. No matter what we choose to do, who we choose to be with or how we choose to spend 0ur time, ultimately the best choice we can make is that which makes us happy, that which we enjoy doing and that, which is at our core, who we really are.

I think this quote sums it up quite nicely:

Why live to please others? I mean, it’s your life. If you aren’t happy with it, what’s the use in living?

There are many paths we can choose to take but there is only one which will be the one that brings us the most happiness and joy in our lives, and that’s the path which is our own. No matter what that is.

Think about it.

There are some pretty sweet jobs: rockstar, professional athlete, professional dancer, etc…but the one which is best for you is the one which brings you the most joy. So choose your job wisely.

There are lots of great people in this world but the ones who will bring you the most joy and be the best people in your lives are the ones who truly care about you. So choose your friends wisely.

There are some pretty great hobbies: dancing, golf, ultimate, skiing, biking, etc…but the ones which you will find the most enjoyment in are usually the ones you are best at and get the most out of for yourself. So choose your hobbies wisely.

I think you get what I’m saying. Be yourself. Dammit, just be yourself.

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Monday was already sort of pre planned based on the soccer game being suspended from the night before but I also had a few things to do so it was more laid back than some of the other days.

The soccer game started at 10am and it begin at 0-0 with no time played; based on what we were told the night before, the game was going to restart with Denmark leading 1-0 and 25 minutes having been played. However, this was not the case and so I digress. Around the 35th minute, Denmark scored to again take a 1-0 lead. This game mattered because if Denmark won, they would advance. A draw or an Australian win meant Australia would advance. The game was pretty good – lots of chances from both sides but I felt that Denmark held the edge in chances (and obviously in score). However, there were some dirty plays which affected the moods of both teams but I felt that Denmark got more frustrated and inevitably, Australia finally scored – with 1 minute left to play. It was a great goal and followed some drama from a Danish player going down in front of the Australia net – he stayed on the ground although he wasn’t hurt, the ball moved to the opposite side of the field, and Australia scored to have the game end in a 1-1 draw and so they advanced. Compared to Sunday, the crowd was just a fraction – maybe 1,000 compared to 25,000 the night before so it was definitely much more quiet than it could have been. All in all, a good game.

After that, I got some work done and then Victor and I went and threw for an hour up by where Jose bought his house. Nice spot with a good view of the city – the grass space we threw on was a bit weird – it felt like they have just thrown some sod on top of a parking lot but there was a good crosswind so we got to work on our wind throws quite a bit.

After that, we headed for a Malaki UFC practice which lasted around 3 hours. Before the practice, there was some excitement as Victor’s car got stuck in some mud. Just after we pushed him out, Alejandro pulled up and proceeded to get stuck as well. Needless to say, both of their cars were covered in mud so after practice, we headed out to a car wash to get Victor’s car cleaned up. Well, that was quite the experience. Not only are the car washes in Queretaro much cheaper than Canada ($4 compared to $10) but they also wash your car for you while you wait. I thought that was neat as it created jobs for people where there normally wouldn’t be one (at least not that I’ve seen in Canada really).

After the car wash, we headed out for some food and I got my first taste of Pozole, which is a traditional soup passed on from the Aztecs. The pozole was delicious (and not as spicy as I was expecting – or maybe I was just better handling the spice than I expected) and I also had some enchiladas which were also delicious.

The third day was busy but a nice break compared to some of the other days of my trip. It’s always nice when you can do such a variety of activities and end the day with some delicious food!

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I will be flying back to Canada on Monday after having spent 10 days in Queretaro and truly one of the most incredible experiences of my life. However, there’s been a lot to absorb so I’ve been asking myself what do I do with all of the new knowledge and perspective I’ve gained? I will blog about the other days of my trip – for now the pictures will have to do as I have a lot of reflecting to do before I put some more thoughts down in words.

I went searching for a few quotes which would try to put into words how I am feeling and found some great ones:

People who look through keyholes are apt to get the idea that most things are keyhole shaped.

The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.

The mind has exactly the same power as the hands; not merely to grasp the world, but to change it.

There’s an alternative.  There’s always a third way, and it’s not a combination of the other two ways.  It’s a different way.

A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

I know that this trip has changed my life forever. It’s helped me appreciate a few major things: we work too much in Canada, we don’t spend enough time with our friends + family, we don’t appreciate the history of our country as much as we should and there is so much food that is bad for us.

I know that I can make some changes right away. Others will take a bit of an adjustment. I’m not afraid of change. I’ve had the worst and the best happen to me in my life and I’ve come out stronger for it; however, that doesn’t make it easy to change. It just means I’m willing to.

I appreciate all the energy + support you have all shown me for going on this trip. I truly feel blessed and know that I have made some great friends. As Victor’s mom said, I now have a second house – in Queretaro, Mexico.

I look forward to catching up with you and telling you all about this trip. And I now look forward to hearing more about your trips as well – it’s something I didn’t give much credit to before; but that’s changed.

Thinking of you all,
Rob

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