What Kind Of Person ARE You?

2011 has not been the year I was expecting to have.  2011 has been a year of many unplanned adventures.

• If someone had told me that I would spend just over half the year without having a regular day job, I would have laughed.
• If someone had told me I'd go on a life changing journey of self-discovery, I would have laughed.
• If someone had told me I'd have a summer romance on the other side of the world like my mom and friends had told me I would, I would have laughed.
• If someone had told me that I would spend more time volunteering and running charity events than working in paid roles, I would have... no... actually... that I would have believed.

So when brainstorming what I wanted to do for my birthday this year, I decided that I wanted to do a bunch of random acts of kindness and invite others to join me. I told my Mom that I was going to do a 'Smile Corner' - get some friends, stand on the corners of an intersections holding big signs that say "Smile" or "Smile Please" or "It's My Birthday - Give Me A Smile" - and Mom just told me that I was a bit strange.

Later that day, Mom comes home and tells me that one of the girls who lives on our street was on the phone in her front yard (gotta love bad reception in the house at a time like this) in the middle of a very emotional breakup. She asked if I would make a sign that asked "Do You Need A Hug?" and go out and be there for the young lady. I rushed around to find a piece of paper and a texta, made the sign and ran outside. The girl had already gone back into her house. Sigh. Oh well - it is the thought that counts right?

Comparing the two situations made me curious though. Why would my mother find me wanting to make strangers in traffic smile strange, but know that I would happily leap to the hugging aid of a neighbour (whom I have never met) in distress? So I asked her - and she said its because hugging someone in need is intrinsically human, and making people smile is more superficial. On some level I agree with her, but it made me reflect on the kind of person I am.

I am the kind of person who lives to make others smile. Given the opportunity to have a more profound impact on someone than just making them smile, of course I would take it. I often do. But I also do not take the small stuff for granted. If all I can do for a person is put a smile on their face, however fleeting, then I am going to do it, because every smile counts.

Stop for a moment.

Reflect.

What is your personal truth?

What kind of person are you?

If you like the answer you give yourself, then embrace it.

If you don't, then change it.

If you cannot answer it for yourself, then ask someone else.

What kind of person are you?

Time Is Money... So Spend It Wisely

I went to the cinemas last night to see the new Justin Timberlake / Amanda Seyfried movie "In Time" - and I found the movie fascinating!

The basic premise of the movie, is a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year beyond that - and the currency of society is time. They 'earn' additional time through hard work or thievery, and 'spend' their minutes or hours on purchases like coffee, cars, rent etc.

The notion of time is money is not a new one, but this movie explores that notion in a literal sense. The ghetto was filled with people who were time-poor and living from day to day, not game to waste a minute, living life in the fast-lane. The upper class have centuries to live, but they take life at such a slow and leisurely pace that they never really live a day in their life.

The concept is not really that far off reality. So many of us take time for granted. We act like we've got time to burn. True the vast majority of us are going to live well beyond the 25 years of age that many died at in the movie, but the harsh reality of life is that we don't know which day is going to be our last. As anyone who has lost someone they love to illness or accident long before old-age took hold can attest, you should always cherish today.

Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely.

Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here right now. So don't miss it. Don't waste it. Get out there and make the most of it!