So whatever you do…do it well.

Don’t get pulled in so many directions that you don’t have time to focus on any one area.

Know what matters to you. Give it your proper attention. Know what your goals are. Work towards them. And when you get distracted or something/someone gets in your way and pulls you off course, realize that your goals and dreams are what is important in your life.

As Steve Jobs said:

That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

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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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You know when you’re watching a random movie and all of a sudden a great quote pops out? You totally didn’t expect the movie to drop such great words of wisdom? Well I’ve had that happen a few times and the other day, it happened while I was watching Kung Fu Panda. In one of the scenes, the Panda is struggling with the fact that he’s been chosen as the Dragon Warrior and the great master says to him:

Yesterday is history. The future is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

I scrambled to write the quote down and actually rewound the movie to listen to the quote again. For those of you who know me, you’ll know how much I love quotes. Mostly I love them because for those moments in your life when you need a pick-me-up, I find good quotes to be the perfect remedy.

This quote in particular speaks to me because I find too many times in life we let the past affect what we do today. And we let our worry about the future affect what we’re doing today. Really today is the one thing we have complete control over. We chose our path and as they say, the rest is history.

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