Disaster meets History

Continuing with our following of the Calgary Floods, today we’re going to talk about ignoring the past.

Now, I’m really into history but I’ve gotta say, if people looked at history more closely and heeded it a bit better, a lot of modern disasters wouldn’t occur. Now, it’s easy to say. Unfortunately, a lot of historians are just academics and most people aren’t historians. Awkward, huh,

Apparently, where the floods occurred where generally flood plains, places where people knew the risks of flooding were greater. It’d happened in the past. Yet, for one reason or another, people ignore these warnings, say, ‘it wouldn’t happen to me’. Of course, all it does it turn into a game of Russian Roulette. And eventually somebody gets shot.

Now, it doesn’t always solve all the problems of the world, but do some research on what you’re heading into. It never hurts and, just possibly, you can see what didn’t work for somebody else in the past and change it so you don’t make a similar mistake.

After all, nothing’s more demeaning that getting screwed and then being told when you’re in hospital that you should’ve known because exactly the same thing happened thirty years earlier.

Talk to you next week,

Alex H.

Calgary Flood Volunteers

As some of you know, on the other side of my country, great tragedy has stuck. There’s a massive flood rushing through Calgary and the surrounding area, leaving ashes in its wake. So, in response, I’m going to write posts for several weeks talking about things we can learn from the flood.

But let’s start on a positive note.

As with many great disasters, the victims of the flood didn’t remain stranded for long. Volunteers and complete strangers weren’t among the wreckage, looking to help whenever possible.

Out of the goodness of their soul, people were helped and saved by others they knew nothing of. Says something about human nature, huh,

So, today’s a Pollyanna day. Sure, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, but in your darkest times, people do help and will help. Sure, you don’t want to make yourself a victim, a helpless soul who needs that help. But when you need it, and we all need it sometime, others seem to come out of the bushes, like Angels from the clouds, and those people save us when we don’t save ourselves.

Feel glad that their are people like that. Be thankful.

After all, you might even be one of them.

Talk to you next week,

Alex H.

I'm Going Back to Bed

Once again, it’s Canada Day again at Graceland Ontario. But this year, we’re talking about something different than we have in the past.

I’ve heard Brian Tracy, the Canadian speaker, advocate for a “Sabbath” − a day of rest. You don’t do any work, you just take it easy.

Sounds counter-productive, huh?

But it’s not! When you take a day off, you’re winding yourself up like a toy car, getting ready to burst forward with new life. A day off here and there renews you like nothing else.

Canada’s only got a few holidays (less than most states in the U.S., more than the U.K.) so each day off is an important chance to relax and reconnect with friends and family.

In a world when smartphones connect us 24/7 and when we all have to work harder to maintain our business (or keep our jobs), it’s hard to be off the line. It’s hard to take some time to yourself, to balance.

But the hard truth is if you don’t make that time, you’re doing yourself more of a disservice than favour. You’re sanding yourself down. Not resting once in a while is unsustainable and will take huge tolls later on.

Days like Canada Day are our friends, the Sabbaths allowed us without using up too much sick-time, if we had any to start with.

They’re important, so use them wisely.

Happy Canada Day!

Alex H.

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A Very Special Woman

 

Let’s talk about something exceptional.

Today was the 200^th commemoration of a very famous walk in Canadian history.

Laura Secord was a housewife. Her husband was a Captain in the militia until he suffered a wound fighting in the Battleof Queenston Heights. Now, he was in bed.

And, with American forces occupying Fort George and the Niagara Region, her house had U.S. soldiers billeted in it.

But, as the story goes, she heard American officers at dinner one night discussing their plans to surprise and defeat Anglo-Canadian forces. Someone had to warn them. Her husband? No, he was far too weak.

She had to go.

A simple choice: if she didn’t go, no one else would. If she didn’t put her life on the line, no one would warn the British.

So she, woman in early 19^th century Canada, walked 32 km to warn British troops. Her shoes were worn through, but she got to Beaver Dams in time. Leuitenent James Fitzgibbon, commander of the Anglo-Canadian forces heard her out.

The next day, his men (comprised largely of Mohawk Warriors) surprised the American force, capturing about 500 men in what had been a low point of the war for the British.

Now, there’s been talk in the last 200 years that the Natives already knew of the American advance and that Secord’s walk was merely confirmation in their findings. It doesn’t matter. She, especially for a woman in the mindset of her time, did something fantastic.

She found important knowledge and, through her own initiative, took the actions necessary to save her country. You can’t beat that.

When we take the initiative in our lives, things change. All of a sudden, we’re putting in the work to walk 32km’s, we’re lifting lime stones. And we’re productive.

When we don’t take the initiative, we lose any chance to be special. After all, that means someone else did all the thinking before hand and we’re just following their instructions. They’ll take the credit, not us. And that’s not very rewarding.

However scary it is, use the knowledge you possess and have the initiative to take ACTION with it. Secord is now a Canadian legend with more than one school to her name.

Think where your initiative could take YOU!

Alex H.

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Miracles Do Happen

Like to have your day lifted? Check this out:

I was reading Andy Summers’s - guitarist for the Police's - autobiography One Train Later when I came across the most amazing story.

Andy Summers met Robin Lane when he was in California. She was a musician and so was he but things didn’t work and within a couple years they were divorced. Meanwhile, he’d met someone else − Kate. At first, she was in a relationship and so was he so they couldn’t move forward. But they met again. With both their marriages deteriorated, they got married in 1973 and went to England for a new start.

But that was before Summers met Stewart Copeland and Sting, forming the Police in the late 70’s.

Much hardship later, Summers was in the divorce courts with Kate, his daughter, Layla, being taken away from him. Though she’d put up with a lot, Kate couldn’t take his career with The Police anymore. They were finished by 1981.

Summers lost the love of his life.

Or had he? After The Police broke up, Summers caught up with Kate again. Once more, there respective relationships had crumbled and they were both single. So, after four years of being divorced, Summers remarried Kate in 1985.

And they’ve been so ever since.

Sometimes when things finish, they really finish. They fall to pieces and it’s the end. But other times, things come back together, as if by magic.

When things go wrong for you, remember that it isn’t necessarily the end, that you’re not necessarily stuck forever. Things will get better, even what you thought was finished. A marriage, a deal, a job, they may all come ‘round again.

Nothing is for certain, good or bad.

Alex H.

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He Was Always There

Since it’s Father’s Day, I figured I’d keep in the spirit of things and write about one of my favourite quotes:

”When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

– Mark Twain

If we all lived perfect lives, we’d like to like ourselves. This means doing the things we want to do and saying the things we want to say. And being right… all the time.

But, clearly, things happen and this isn’t always possible. We want to do something but can only do it given a certain situation, like during the summers or after college.

Still, we like being in charge. And that’s when parents come in.

When you’re young, they tell you what to do − when to eat, what chores to do and what you should be doing for school. But, as you get older, YOU want to be the one making the decisions. Especially in our culture, you feel like you have a right to control the little things you actually CAN control.

And too often you look at your own family and criticize them, saying, “look, they’re such fools! I can live life better without them. Not listening to their advice is a good decision”.

Of course, is it? Sometimes. There are things they don’t know. If you’re from a blue collar family who’s trying to get you a white collar education, starting a business or going into theatre’s probably going to be looked down upon. Does it mean it’s wrong? No. Just, given your family’s experience and belief system, it’s wrong for them.

But there are things that your parents, Dad’s included, do know about. How to shave best, for example. Or what plants to stay away from when camping. Or even, once in a while, how to have a fun date with that girl you met on St. Patrick’s Day.

Simply because others have different viewpoints to us doesn’t mean they’re ignoramuses. Oftentimes there’s plenty we can learn from them. They just don’t know everything. And guess what? No one does.

In this age of broken families and divorces, I’m glad I still have my Dad and my parent’s marriage has endured. Whether your situation is the same or different, give your parents some slack, whatever your age.

After all, you owe them BIG TIME because, without them, there wouldn’t be a YOU!

Happy Father’s Day, guys!

Alex H.

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Getting Up the Day After

There can’t be anything more annoying than having to work the day after. After what? It doesn’t matter. Could’ve been a wedding, a family get-together, a party, a show, a big meeting, a product launch, a Grand Opening, all that does is the nagging pain in your head and the desire to get more sleep.

But, when we concede to our desire to relax, we make a fatal mistake, break the antique dish. You’ll soon see what I mean…

After the retreat from Stoney Creek a week or so previous, the American forces met up with Major General Morgan Lewis’s reinforcements. But they didn’t have time to make use of them. British commander Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo of the Royal Navy started bombarding the American forces and, with the help of native allies and Canadian militiamen, pushed the Americans back to Fort George. Over 230 Americans were captured, injured or killed.

The big lesson from this is the Americans, who’d suffered a devastating and unnecessary defeat a week previous, nearly reassembled as if nothing had happened. Only the British follow-up really pushed them back.

Many times we get complacent after something works out. We say, “we did it! Hooray!” And though there’s nothing wrong with that, complacency is where we mess up.

When you’ve done something well, be like Captain Yeo. Follow up. You won’t want to; you’ll want to party and enjoying your success. But your victory will turn to a frustrating loss if you’re not careful. The art of getting things done is only bettered by the art of making sure they’re ACTUALLY done afterwards. Results and endings are all that people remember and, therefore, all that matter.

Make sure you make yours a good one.

Alex H.

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And THIS is What Happens!

Lost.

We’ve all been there. When someone tell’s you to do something but not how and you get completely lost. You try your best but you might as well be speaking Jupiterian.

Such is the case with bad leadership. It makes you feel foolish and it messes the overall project up, too.

But none so much as what happened at the Battle of Stonycreek in 1813.

The War of 1812 was in full swing − the U.S. invading what would become Canada, a series of British Colonies. The Anglo-Canadians were losing. The U.S. forces had burned York, the capital, a month before on April 27^th, then Newark, the old capital, on May 27^th. Only weeks later, on July 6^th, British/Canadian forces under General Vincent stood outnumbered and on the retreat. But, they still had an opportunity. Followed by a couple thousand Americans, the British planned a surprise attack to make up for their meagre 700 troops.

The battle started at 2 in the morning and after a short time it became clear the British were going to lose. They had too little men and couldn’t break the American centre. Then something happened…

General Vincent, the British commander, was thrown from his horse. Unable to lead, Major Charles Plenderleath took command. Realizing the bad situation they were in, he created a small force to take out the American cannons and hopefully turn the battle around.

The small force did that − and more. They captured the American commander Brigadier General John Chandler when he went to check on his artillery. Then, they captured Brigadier General William H. Winder, the American second-in-command when he made the same mistake. Without any leadership, the winning American army retreated, leaving the outnumbered Anglo-Canadian forces on the field.

Canada was saved to everyone’s great surprise… once again.

Leadership means so much. The British won because they had someone telling them what to do. When there’s no vision, no plan to follow, things go to hell quickly. Even when everything should be in your favour, if it’s clumsily executed, you’ll lose just as the American’s did exactly 200 years ago.

Many people are scared to walk up to the platform and take charge. They’re scared they’ll make a mistake and things will go badly. Ironically, even if they do poorly, they’ll still lead better than no leader would. Someone has to be the one to make the plan. If no one else does it, it might as well be you.

Because, sure as eggs scramble, if it’s nobody, you’re in for a ridiculous loss.

History rhymes, as Mark Twain said. Make sure you only mimic the parts you like.

Alex H.

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Flying Off the Flippin' Handle

There’re few things that make me feel like flying off the flippin’ handle. Still, even for the best of us, there’s always at least one…

You’re reading a perfectly good article when either in the article or in the comments somebody, whether it be the writer or the reader makes some comment about a wrongly used word (“their” vs. “there”, for example). Then, instead of it being a simple, “Oops, used a wrong word, happens to all of us − we’re human, ya know!” response, people start saying “even a Grade Nine knows how to use that word. What sort of writer are you?”

I mean, give me a break. It only gets worse when you read something like this from a blogger who YOU KNOW has made their own mistakes in the past.

There’s more to a writer than getting the words right. Yes, ironic as it sounds. Writer’s need to understand form, they need to have a “voice” to give their writing personality, they need opinions on things relevant in their topic area, they need to know how to answer questions effectively. As a side, they should also have good people and networking skills to maximize their success.

Getting one word wrong once in a while won’t kill a career or make a bad writer for that matter. All it does say is that writer made a mistake, overlooked an error, and maybe should spend more time looking over their work before submitting it.

Nothing more.

It’s easy to say someone isn’t cut up for their work because they made this error or that mistake. B.S.! None of us are perfect and we’re all learning, however long we’ve been at something. Being critical of someone else, especially when it’s not constructive, will not only hurt the other person − it’ll create you an enemy.

And make you a hypocrite.

And aren’t you better than that anyways?!

We’re all trying to express ourselves, through writing or otherwise. The least we can do is give the other guy some basic respect.

We’d expect no less from them.

Alex H.





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Why You're Missing Out if You Don't Believe in Teamwork

Working with other people can be difficult.

Really difficult.

They don’t always have the same viewpoint as you and they certainly might not always agree with your plan of action. Many times, we believe we can work better by ourselves.

And though that may sometimes be true, it may also lead to us slamming our pinkies in the door jam.

200 years ago today, the Unites States and Britain, with Canada as the chopping block, were fighting the War of 1812. Britain/Canada started out well but by 1813 the cupcake was upside down.

American guns from Fort Niagara started wrecking havoc with British Fort George on May 25^th 1813. To mount things up the American Lieutenant, Oliver Hazard Perry, who later won the Battle of Fort Erie, taking the Great Lakes away from British domination, brought in fourteen ships of varying sizes to increase American firepower.  The ships helped outgun the British.

The navy then worked with the American army to move 4000 troops over to the Canadian side on May 27^th, 2013. The British/Canadian defenders had no option but to retreat to safer ground, losing one of their capitals of commerce to the invaders.

The thing is it wouldn’t have been possible without the American Navy working at first with Fort Niagara’s guns to overpower the British and then by supporting the American troops on the Canadian side.

Like the American navy and army at the Battle of Fort George, we must remember to work with the strong people closest us, the ones who have the skills to turn things to our advantage. We may not always like them but without their skills we wouldn’t be quite as effective. Sure the Americans might’ve beaten the British by shear force of numbers but they hadn’t to that point in the war (Detroit, Queenston Heights) nor did they later with battles like Lacolle Mill afterwards.

Combined skills, working with others, will cover weaknesses that even the most skilled find when working by themselves. We are powerful beings, not perfect beings. Working our strengths off others can win a battle or change our lives.

But only if we allow the magic of teamwork to flow.

Alex H.

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How Mothers and Bodybuilding are Alike

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success advice from the greats. Today, in light of Mother’s day a couple days back, we’re going to talk about being thankful for getting to where we are today. And I think some of you might be surprised by what I say.

What’s your earliest childhood memory of your mother? If you’re like me, you probably have a couple. I couldn’t tell you for sure which one was first, but I think it’d be of my Mum driving me while I was in the back of her car, playing with me while I watched TV or at Christmas dinner. I remember as a kid always wanting to impress my Mother because I loved her so much. Sometimes, I felt like I fell short.

But, as you grow older, sometimes it’s easy to get the whole “grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side” mindset, in everything. Now, I’m not saying settling’s good, but all of a sudden you feel like you aren’t enough and others are better. And, many times, mothers become embarrassments you’d rather not show your friends.

Now, first off, I’d like to say after dealing with Mother’s other than mine, I’d take my Mum any day over them. They may seem cooler at first, but you tend to find they make all the “mistakes” your Mum makes while tending not to love you as much.

Whatever your relationship with your Mother, it’s important to realize how much you owe them. Without her, you typically wouldn’t have been born (quite literally) and you certainly would’ve grown up to be a different person. You are indebted to her for the way you are today.

But I hear some of you saying, “my Mother was terrible and I hate her and she made my life a mess”. To that I say, even if she contributed to making your life less than it could’ve been, she’s done something great for you. Instead of directly teaching you how to behave, she’s given you a challenge to overcome. And if you’re here, you’ve probably either overcome or are attempting to overcome it. Like the pain it takes in a gym to forge beautiful muscles, she’s given you a barbell to lift up.

And when you make it, you’ll have taken your life to a whole new level.

So, whatever your current situation or relationship with your mother, be thankful. Challenges are learning opportunities. The person who gave you them, or taught you to deal with them, is the person who helped shape your character most.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother”

So do you.

Alex H.

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Being Thankful for Surviving a Plague of Flying Crocodiles

Helloo0OO Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success lessons from the greats. Today we’re going to talk about gratitude,

As you probably didn’t know, my birthday was the other day and, like happens for most people, I went between happy for all the presents and attention to shocked by the extent of my age. But, thinking about it, I put things in perspective and it might help you to hear my conclusions.

Every year, every month, every day, there’s a thousand things that can go wrong, at least half of them lethal. You can electrocute yourself, poison yourself (in multiple different ways − through cleaning supplies!), you can drown, be murdered, hit by a car, beaten by an angry spouse, and consumed by an epidemic of flying crocodiles. In short, there are a lot of reasons why both you and I shouldn’t be here (and I haven’t even gone into the biological improbabilities of it or the chances of super illness).

Yet, chances are, if you’re reading this, you are! I mean, isn’t it fantastic that despite the overwhelming odds, we’re still alive.

Every birthday provides us with a mark of stability, like the Queen does or the Olympics. It’s something so human and so natural it can’t help but ground us. At this point, it allows us an opportunity to see how far we’ve come since the previous year, to see what went right and wrong.

But it offers something much more… the chance to be grateful that we survived. There’s only so many birthdays you have. If you have one hundred of them, you’re fortunate.

Enjoy each and every one of them and celebrate with open heart. After all, you never know when those flying crocodiles are going to show up, hungry and waiting to take you away before your next birthday.

Alex H.

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There's No Reset Button on Life

There’s a lot of talk in the media about “starting anew”.

We get indoctrinated with it from when we’re young and the grownups have their New Years Resolutions. But from there, things just go down the driveway.

Before you know it, people are giving you “clean starts” and “new beginnings”, even if you’ve been shoved in jail all night for unsuitable touching.

There’s nothing wrong with changing the way we act, it’s just the way we approach it. There’s this thought that life has a reset button, like a game. That if we don’t like what’s going on, we can get back to the last save point – an ok situation where nothing’s great but nothing’s bad – and start all over again.

But life doesn’t work like that.

That view of life misses all the lost opportunities you’ve forgone, it doesn’t recognize that just because you reset, most other people won’t accept your decision.

It doesn’t even recognize the good you can learn from making mistakes.

Instead of looking for the reset, the start over, look for the turn around. This is where you say, “that does it! I’ve had enough. No more twinkies. I’m losing weight”.

Or when you say, “I’m taking control of my life. I need to take more responsibility for my actions if I want things to get better”.

When we decide we want things to change, we CAN change them.

But we must realize that we’ve got to create change out of the crumbs of our old life. Only by navigating the struggles of the old can be find the wonders of the new.

Not by “resetting”.

Alex H.

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Holding Grudges is for Idiots

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success advice from the greats. Today, we’re going to talk about moving on.

Earlier this morning, I saw the largest military parade to march through Toronto since the Second World War. We’re talking over 1500 servicemen. And, in Canada, that’s not something you see everyday. The reason? Today was the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of York in the War of 1812. American gunboats pulled up into Toronto harbour on the morning of April 27^th, 1813 and pushed British forces back from the coast. Then, men were landed on shore, slowly moving Anglo-Canadian and native troops back to their base at Fort York. When the British commander, Major-General Roger Sheaffe, felt the battle lost, he fought a retreating action that included blowing up the powder magazine of Fort York; the explosion annihilated the fort and injured or killed about 250 people, including the American commander, Brigadier General Zebulon Pike, who were too close.

The Americans burned York a couple days later before returning to the U.S.

But, though the battle was a low point in the city’s history, the parade was one of commemoration of service; not a bandage of past failure, but a recollection of challenges overcome.

And that’s what astonishes me − in talking about this war, from what I’ve seen from both sides, there’s no animosity. There were some brutal consequences for both the Americans and the Canadians in the last major, official conflict between them. But both respect the other now.

To me, it’s the ultimate show of forgiveness and moving on.

The Canadians, the Americans, the British and the natives realize the seriousness of the affair their forefathers were in. But they also know they, more than anything, fought for peace. Sawing into old wounds won’t do anybody any good. Today, there weren’t any “Bash the Americans” parties in Canada (to my knowledge) to get back at the Americans for “wrecking our town” a couple centuries ago. War in general is either a mistake to start with or a last resort. Turning that into any long-term hatred’s a waste of everyone’s time.

Just as the War of 1812 and the Battle of York are ancient history now, so you must recognise are the pains of your past. Sure, some relationships are still sour years after a conflict. But is that smart or just an emotional reaction, not allowing yourself to let go of something that’s long done?

Canada and the U.S. get on pretty well today. But, if we lived based on our past, we’d be vying to blow each other up. And it wouldn’t do either one of us a pound of good. As is it with your life. Unless something’s current, forget it. If a city can forgive being burned down, you can overcome whatever happened to you. It may not be easy, might take time, but in the long term, wouldn’t it be better to say, “here’s commemorating the day I forgave so and so after so many years” rather than “it’s just another day hating whoever”?

You know it is.

Alex H.

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There’s Only ONE Thing that Matters

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for success advice from the greats. Today we’re going to talk about dieing for what you believe in… literally.

As many of you know, today is St. George’s Day, the feast in celebration of the man who’s patron saint of more countries and cities than I’m willing to list (England, Georgia and Malta are on there, though). And though he’s most famous for a debatable story about killing a dragon to save a princess, St. George was a real man.

Now, I’ve done a couple of these saint posts (check them out, if you haven’t already: St. Patrick, St. David) but this fella might be one of the harder ones to find information on. He was supposedly a Greek born in Palestine to nobility who ended up as a tribune (second-in-command of the basic Roman military unit, the legion) for Emperor Diocletion after George’s father, also a military officer, and mother passed away.

Everything was looking like lollipops and bubblebaths for George. But there was a problem − Diocletion issued an edict saying all Christian Roman soldiers were to be arrested.

And George was Christian.

Diocletion didn’t want to get George in trouble so he offered gifts to George in the hopes he’d convert.

He didn’t.

Left with no other options, Diocletion had George tortured and decapitated. But, in recognition of his faith and loyalty, fellow Christians made George a martyr.

Now, I’m not suggesting you go out there, contradict people and get yourself executed (yes, I know it’s not too likely anyways). But, what I am saying is bear in mind George’s strength. He couldn’t be tempted by anything, including the promise of life, to do something he didn’t want to do − leave his religion.

Everybody’s unique in some way. And, especially as we get older, most confident people believe their way’s right, even when they don’t really know enough to state an opinion. And, sometimes worse, they want you to change to their way of thinking.

Now, writing this on a self-development blog might seem a bit crazy but you need to realize you’re all that matters! There’s only one person you have to live with and that’s the guy in the mirror. Everyone else, however painful it may be, can be slap-shotted aside.

Though you should seek to learn and be reasonable with others, and while acknowledging there are things you’re ignorant of (keep cool… we all are of something), you need to know what’s important to you, deep down, and stick with it no matter what. George didn’t want to live life without Christianity and was willing to sacrifice himself for that. There are things just as important to you − maybe your family, your work, your business − and you’ve gotta be that loyal to them.

Just because others tell you it’s wrong doesn’t mean a thing.

It is your life you’re living.

Talk to you later!

Alex H.

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