Splash for Cash - Official Lap Sponsors - Pledge Here!

Pushed to the limits for my favourite charity event!

Anyone who knows me knows I live and breath Splash for Cash - a swimathon that raises money for the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children that is hosted by Rotaract. Every year I challenge myself both in the pool and in my fundraising!

It should be noted that when I started training for my first Splash, I could barely swim 150 metres...

KRISSIE'S SPLASH SWIMMING RECORD

2006... 154 laps (7.7km)
2007... 260 laps (13km)
2008... 277 laps (13.85 km)
2009... 310 laps(15.5km)
2010... 342 laps (17.1km)
2011... 100 laps BLINDFOLDED! (5km)
2012... 442 LAP GOAL! (22.1km)

I am already in heavy training. By Splash day, I will have swum over 200 kilometres in training!

To keep me motivated this year - pick a number between 1 & 442 for every $10 you donate,

and you will be an official sponsor of that lap. 

Just comment on this post with the lap numbers you would like to sponsor at $10 each.

To see the list of current pledges, click on the Charity Challenge tab at the top of my blog.

To fulfil your pledge, visit http://event.splashforcash.com.au/krissie2012 to pay up! Preferably pay now, but you can pay later (I swim in March, 2012).

Interested in swimming? Visit http://www.splashforcash.com.au/ for more information!

So get behind my 2012 Splash for Cash campaign for glory for my favourite charity the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children!

Thanks a million for your support!

Love y'all!

Krissie

Take Control Of Your Life

As I discussed on Monday, if we want to be truly successful, we have to take 100% responsibility for our lives. For the past three days, I have been trying to do just that and I would say I have only been moderately successful. I have acheived about 75% of the daily goals I had set out for myself. I honestly thought I would be able to do 90% - 100% of them though.

Upon reflection, the tasks I missed were ones where I let old habits get in the way, or I simply forgot to look at my list and make sure I did everything on there. The key word is 'I'.

I forgot. I let. I. I. I.

That in itself is a breakthrough. The things that did not happen the way I intended I immediately acknowledge as my fault. A week ago, I would have blamed my family for changing the schedule, the rain and who knows what else. But I automatically recognised that the things I missed were completely within my control.

We all have restrictions in our lives.

But, equally, we all have vast areas on untested capacity:

to make decisions, to plan our future,

to follow our paths.

It's easy to blame others for our inaction.

It's easy to blame our constraints.

Take the initiative.

Take control.

Decide your own journey.

So whilst I may not be running at 100% success rate yet, I am laying the responsibility in the right place... with myself! I consider this a major step in the right direction. Onwards and upwards!

Take 100% Responsibility For Your Life

Some time ago, my mother handed me a book that very well might be the key to personal success. In typical Krissie-fashion, life got in the way and leisure reading fell way off my radar. Today I finally decided to get stuck into it. The book is written by Jack Canfield, one of the creators of the Chicken Soup for the Soul. The book is aptly titled "The Success Priniciples"

According to Mr Canfield, the biggest myth in today's society is that we are not entitled to a great life and that somehow, somewhere, someone is responsible for filling our lives with continual happiness, nurturing family time, exciting career options, blissful personal relationships - all simply because we exist.

He argues that the real truth, is that there is only one person responsible for the quality of life you live, and that person is you.

This means that if you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the results you produce, the level of your acheivements, the state of your health and physical fitness, the quality of your relationships, your income, your debts, your feelings - absolutely everything!

This is not an easy idea to wrap one's head around, let alone to actually do. In our society, most of us have been conditioned to blame something outside of ourselves for the parts of our life we don't like. We blame our parents, our partners, our friends, our bosses, our colleagues, our clients, the media, the weather, the economy, our lack of money, our astrological chart - anyone or anything we can pin the blame on.

We never want to look at where the real problem is - ourselves.

In a year that has been primarily a journey of self-discovery as I pushed my boundaries, lived overseas, met new kinds of people from all walks of life, and spent some serious time reflecting on my life and who I truly am, I really wish I had read this book before I began. Just the opening chapter has me considering my situation in a totally different, brutally honest and open way.

As of this morning, I have written a list of the things about my life I don't like. I have selected five of them to start actively changing from RIGHT NOW and have developed a plan of attack to make it happen. Every week I am setting myself a set of goals and challenges to acheive in that seven day stretch to start proactively working towards the life I really want. At the end of each week, I will review and reset the goals for the following week.

I am excited. I am done making excuses and letting stuff slide. I don't like everything about the status quo that is my current life, so I am mixing it up and making things happen. External forces are no longer a factor.

 My success comes down to one thing... ME!

When You No Longer Need Your Organs, Who Gets Them?

At the Australian Rotaract Conference in Melbourne earlier this year, I was privileged to be in the room to hear Allan Turner, founder of Zaidee's Rainbow Foundation, share his heartfelt story.

His daughter Zaidee – aged 7 years died suddenly in 2004 from a burst blood vessel in her brain. At the time of Zaidee’s death the Turner family had been registered Organ and Tissue Donors for 5 years. As a result Zaidee donated her Organs and Tissues at the Royal Children’s Hospital, as were her wishes at the time. From this gift, the lives of up to seven other people were improved or saved. She was only 1 of 6 children nationally to donate their organs.

Listening to Allan talk about his journey since losing his daughter - a journey of hope as they run a foundation aimed at inspiring discussion about organ and tissue donation - it reminded me that it is not enough to just be a donor. Your family needs to know your wishes as well. Many donors' organs are not used, because their families did not know their choice, and when under the gun in a situation where they are about to lose a loved one, they chose not to give their organs.

Zaidee’s gift of her organs to others will allow them to have another birthday. 1 in 5 people on the transplant waiting list will never get the chance to have another birthday if people do not become registered donors.

In 2004, 130,000 Australians died. Only 218 were Organ Donors whose families also knew their wishes.

Now is the time to become an organ donor.

Some see it as giving part of themselves

so another can live.

Others see it as another allowing you to live on.

Whatever way you see it,

it's your chance to make a difference to another human.

There is no greater gift.

Make sure you tell your loved ones of your decision.

Ask them to honour it.

Think about giving this gift to others so they can live a better life and in some cases, have a second chance at life. Once you've made your choice, discuss it with your family. I am an organ and tissue donor, and my whole family knows about it. What about you?

'You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.'

Kahlil Gibran

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?

Take A Walk Down Memory Lane

Those who know me personally, know what a photo-taking freak I am. I document my life like there is no tomorrow. A close friend and I once took 7,000 photos during a 12-day trip to Thailand. Our record would be 1,200 on an overnight stay at Yosemite National Park.

There are a few probable reasons behind my photographic addiction. I have a lot of happy or funny moments and I like to share them with other people. If one day when I am old and have dimentia, I would like for these photos to be available to fill in the gaps. Mostly, I just like being able to flick through photos from years gone by and reflect on the great adventures I have had, and the wonderful people that shared the journey with me.

Now is the time to trawl through your photos.

Journey back in time,

through your treasure trove of memories.

Look deeply into the important images.

Lose yourself in them:

recall those who have made the journey with you.

Savour them.

Learn from them. 

So take a quick trip (or a long one if time allows) down memory lane. Smile at the moments you've captured. Laugh at the memories you've triggered. Then share them with someone else who might enjoy them. Below is one of the random photos I just came across from December 2009.

My friend Mat and I were so far ahead of the competition in Lawn Bowls that we decided to give the others a chance to catch up. So everytime I took a turn, Mat covered my eyes and I bowled blind. When Mat bowled, he gave me a piggy back so I could cover his eyes, and he too bowled blind. Funnily enough, the photo below was of the shot that one the tournament! Makes me smile everytime I see it. I just sent a copy to Mat so that he can remember the fun we had that night!

So go down memory lane, and take a friend on the journey with you! Enjoy!

A Hug For The Record Books

British rail passengers are renowned for their indifference towards fellow commuters.

But that didn't stop 112 people, many of them total strangers, to set aside their usual cultural reserve towards fellow passengers at St Pancras station in central London as they set the Guinness Book of World Records record for the most people hugging for 60 seconds.

When I read an old article about this record, I thought to myself - I could easily break that record at any major Rotaract event. Heck - we had a 300+ person group hug at the Cultural Night at the Asia-Pacific Regional Rotaract Conference that I held in Sydney last year.

So I did a bit of research to see if that record still stood...

The city of Alba Iulia sits in the heartland of Transylvania. In the centre of the city there is a walled citadel, a former fortress with seven bastions in a stellar shape as you can see in the picture below.

In a story written by Guinness World Records Adjudicator Paul Kenny, he noted that what was clearest was the very deep and abiding pride that the local residents had in their city which is why, on May 29, nearly 10,000 citizens of Alba Iulia and its surrounding townships gathered in a circle stretching over 3.4 km (2.1 miles) and literally embraced their city. It was the largest group hug ever recorded by Guinness World Records.

The execution was flawless: weeks of advance television promoting the event; a white line painted on the ground around the outside of the walled area; hundreds of volunteer marshalls shepherding the arriving people into sections around the outside of the walls, and feeding their numbers back to a centralized counting station. Even the President of Romania, Traian Băsescu, took part among a mass of media and fans.

At the given signal, fireworks were sent into the air, the bells of the cathedral were rung, and Mr Kenny was on his bicycle to ride a lap around the citadel, ensuring that everyone was in formation and the hug was complete. So many people – young kids, high-school students, elderly folk, a group of policemen – in a circle nearly 3.5 km long all standing proud in support of their home.

The largest group hug was a symbol of something very special – home, pride, national identity, call it what you will – and the Guiness World Records judge said it was as moving and as wonderful an event as he had ever been part of.  

10,000 people hugging at once... now that is what I call a good day!!!