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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