Should #Talent be shared?

a video song of Maestro Sergio Snyder, Pianist

A tribute to a very talented man, he shared this joy with thousands in his life!

When you listen to Beethoven’s 5^th symphony it’s hard to imagine how could anyone write such a magnificent piece. And when you look at a Picasso or Monett, makes you think of the hours they spent with every single stroke of a brush trying to bring life into their pictures. The inspirational performances of actors, dancers, musicians and singers make us stand for five minutes clapping our hearts out in admiration for their craft. Enjoying a carefully crafted meal from an award-winning chef and it's delights in our taste butts and leaves us wanting more. A beautiful pair of custom made shoes, a designer dinning table, a high performance sports car, are all personal possessions people seek and desire to own because of it’s unique craftsmanship. All of these are made or produced by very talented individuals who are masters in their craft and bring joy to people through their art. Whether it is in the form of a song or a piece of clothing, all are representations of someone’s talent that have enriched our lives.

Now imagine a world without Beethoven’s 5^th symphony? I guess if he hadn’t exist we wouldn’t know any better and probably life would have gone on, but how tragic it would be not to have the joy of listening to such master piece! I guess everything around us, if it hadn’t been written, produced or invented, we wouldn’t know we were missing out on such magnificent things, and perhaps others would be available to us.

But what does it all mean to us? And why is it important to know that talents should be shared? A few months ago I wrote a blog called “talent, gift or ability” in which I debated that you cannot learn talent, it is something you cannot teach and you are born with it. We all have talents, and they range from writing a master piece to managing a team or even driving a car or cooking a meal, whatever your talents are, these are the things you are good at and makes you who you are.

But talent’s worst enemy is lack of self-confidence and fear of failure. These stop even the greatest from bringing their talent to the world. If Mozart thought his music was rubbish and he was not good at it, we would not have the pleasure of enjoying his work today. Yet he knew he had a talent and wanted to share this with others, but was there another “Mozart” out there, just as talented but with a lack of self-confidence; I guess well we will never know and perhaps we have all be deprived of the joy of enjoying his/her work.

The real debate here is - if you have someone who has a real talent and enjoys his or her gift but lacks self confidence and does not wish to share it with others because of fear of rejection or failing, is that ok?

Everything we have and enjoy today is because a talented person wanted to share their gift with the world. If Michael Jackson had decided he loved signing but would confine it to the shower, the pop world would be very different today and non of us would have made a fool of ourselves dancing to Thriller pretending to be a corps!

We all have different talents, and as long as we are aware of these, it is our duty to share these with the world.

If you know you have a talent, but doubt yourselves I implore you to go out there and don’t let fear kill your gift, and share with the world what you are good at. We all have a role to play in life and after all talent is a gift we have been given, a gift we have to share with the world.

Worlds Apart

There are #moments in your #life that make you think, think hard of what life is all about. And I get those moments very often. I guess these are the bursts of #inspiration that drive me to #write and put my #thoughts on paper.

But recently I had one of those #moments that got me thinking very deeply, so deeply that I felt I had to write about it. However, I have been struggling the last couple of weeks, thinking about it but more importantly on how to express what has been in my mind.

I like to bring to you the moment that got me thinking of what life is all about in the form of a short story; a story is called “worlds apart”

“Ben” shouted my mother out loud as she always does, “come back inside and get yourself cleaned up before dinner” “don’t shout mother” I wanted to reply, I find it extremely annoying being shouted at, “I’m not deaf you know”. “Five more minutes mum, please?” is what I actually said to her. “Five more minute, not more” she shouted back! What’s the matter with that woman there she goes shouting again!, “I’ll come in when I want,” I wanted to shout back, but I didn’t. Honestly, I can’t stand the way she always shouts… I wish I was somewhere else, far away from here! I hate my life!

I love being outside… I relay love the garden at this time of the year. I guess I’m going to grow up to be a gardener; I love the smell of freshly cut grass, flowers booming with colours and aromas you only smell in the summer. I love to see all the small insects crawling all over the place and the occasional butterfly. If you want to see beautiful butterflies you have to go down the riverbank, it’s just a stroll away from our back garden, literally moments away… but I’m not allowed beyond the gate, mum says it’s dangerous, that I can drawn! What a lot of rubbish!

“Ben! How many times I have to call you? Don’t let me come out and get you!” Yes, there she goes again! I really hate my life! “Ben, come inside right now!” if only I was somewhere else… beyond that gate!

“Abdulla” shouted my mother out loud as she always does “stay away from the door, you know it’s not safe being out there” “don’t shout mother” I wanted to reply, I hate it when she shouts, “I’m not deaf you know” is what I wanted to say but I might as well be, with all the noise outside, I can’t stand it! “I’m just here mum, by the door, there hasn’t been any sirens for a while…” “Ok, but stay inside” she shouted back, honestly what’s the matter with her, why does she always have to shout?  I hate the way she always shouts; I wish I was somewhere else, far away from here! I hate my life!

I really love to be outside; Even though it’s very hot and humid, I love being outside and feeling the heat on my skin, warming up my body, I love the feel of being able to run free, without a care in the world. I wish I could be outside, playing, football. There is a great field just a crawling distance from my house, moments away. There I can kick the ball so hard, I could score a goal from midfield. If only mum let me go, there are no sirens right now, so why does she say is dangerous? What a lot of rubbish!

“Abdulla, How many time I have to tell you to move away from the door! Don’t let me tell you once more, stay away!” Yes, there she goes again! I really hate my life! “Abdulla move away from the door now!” if only I was somewhere else… beyond this dam door!

Ben and Abdulla live parallel lives –

Ben lives in a “safe” world, a world most of us know. Yet despite this he hates his life and wishes to be somewhere else. The most danger his mother has to worry about is he escaping through the back gate and drawn in the river… a terrifying thought for any mother I his world.

Abdulla lives in a “dangerous” world, a world most of us would never know. He hates his world; understandably, he is not even outside his front door and wishes to be somewhere else. The most danger his mother has to worry about is he escaping from the house and being killed by a bomb… a terrifying thought for any mother in his world.

Ben and Abdulla live worlds apart, yet there is very little that separates them. Their desire for being outside enjoying their childhood, their annoyance towards their mother and the wish of being somewhere else, all parallel. Yet the worlds they live in could not be so different, so apart. Right now, Ben is in his world and Abdulla in his, their desires and dreams are the same, their environment completely different.

For me what came into my head as I walked along the riverbank on a perfect summer’s afternoon was where did it all go wrong? Why am I able to enjoy this moment without a worry or a care in the world when somewhere else there is terrible conflict and suffering? At that moment someone, just like me, may be hiding for fear of being killed. Why can’t our two worlds be the same? We are the same two human beings with feelings and desires; yet not everywhere we live is the same… why?

There is always a reason why…

It’s been two months since I last put pen to paper… and there is a reason why.

And to be honest the reason is not a valid reason but a reason nonetheless, which is what promoted me to take time off my busy life and put some of my thoughts down on my good old blog. It pushed myself to finally get back on the saddle and ride my writing horse, something I really love, and have always had time for.

I wanted to share with you all my thoughts this week based on the fact that in life there is always a reason why we do or not do something, and that the challenge we face, more often than not, is finding far more reasons why we should not do something instead of why we should. It is human nature to divert from what we should be doing, often by finding those reasons why we should. Let me perhaps explain a little with a couple of examples.

Last year I had a magnificent year, I was on top of my game. I wrote a blog every week, I trained every day on the treadmill, which led me to complete my first ever half marathon and I wrote two scripts. And I managed to do my full time job too! This was all driven by my fundamental believe that you can do anything you want and time is there for us to use it wisely. Being disciplined with yourself is essential to achieve this and knowing that in life is much easier to say no than to say yes; therefore you need to remain focus to say yes rather than no. And why is it easier to say no? Because is the easiest alternative and by nature humans always look for the easiest solution; not always a bad thing, this is why we have progressed so much! However saying “I won’t run today because it’s raining” is the easier alternative rather than drive to the gym or indeed run in the rain! “I don’t have time, I’m just too tired” energy comes from believing you have it. “I can’t do it” because to be able to do it requires time, effort and commitment – which would you chose? Always the easier, NO! In other words there is always a reason why… why we can’t, but don’t forget there is also always a reason why… why we should!

So 2014 was my year of YES but 2015 has been the year of NO. Somehow I have managed to lead myself to find reasons why I can’t! It all began with my knee injury, which has put me out of running since last December. This has been a real blow to my self-esteem and energy and after 4 months of physiotherapy I now have an appointment to have surgery in September. It won’t be until year-end that I will be able to run again! And somehow I managed to talk myself into finding a reason why I can’t find alternative ways to stay fit, which has led me to gaining 5 kilos and making myself deeply unhappy!

At the same time I began to slip away from my writing and my newly acquired passion “Vloging” There is a connection here; my lack of commitment to stay fit is affecting my commitment to my passion and I have fallen into a deep circle where there is always a reason why… I can’t or don’t have the time to do something. And despite people reminding, often by commenting “we have not seen your videos recently or your blogs” or “how’s the fitness going” I kept on finding reasons why.

And it’s not about being busier or not being able to run, those are just circumstances in my life, its about being in the right state of mind to drive myself to make sure I have time and energy to do all of the things that I like, which I always have had in the past, nothing has changed!

I began this blog saying I had not put pen to paper for two months and there was a reason why. The reason was not valid but a reason all the same: I have talked myself into believing I had no time to write or Vlog, when time is the one thing I have! I guess the beauty of writing blogs is that one-day you can look back at what you wrote and think, “I have fallen victim of my own preaching and did exactly the opposite of what I believe” It’s good to know that no one is perfect!

So today I am finding a reason why I need to get back on track. And the reason is simple; it gives me great satisfaction and keeps me mentally healthy. Ok I can’t run until I have my operation, but I can do other types of exercise and watch what I eat! (at this point I have to credit my very wise, supportive, understanding and always right wife who knows best and has been telling me to do something else to stay fit… sorry you were right, again!) And ok I have a lot of work, but there is always enough time to write, even if it is just a few lines!

And finally I must remember the reason why I write, and that is “because someone out there reads!”

So I’m back, and there is a reason why…

Precious life

I went to the doctors last week to have an annual medical examination. It is part of a new initiative in the UK where they are trying to get as many people as possible to get a check up and see how healthy they are. I myself had never had a medical examination before, it’s not one of those things I ever thought about getting done, so I saw it as an opportunity to have someone check me and tell me where I’m in my health.

Needless to say, thanks to my change in life style over the last few years and my personal commitment to staying healthy, the nurse was very complementary and informed me that I scored 4%. If you are not sure what that means, as I was when she informed me, 10% or below is considered to be healthy, so I guess I’m in pretty good shape. I discussed with the nurse how my lifestyle had changed from giving up smoking to the fact that I was overweight only a few years ago and did not exercise.  She praised me for my commitment to the change and remarked that if I had not made that shift on my life I would have probably scored 20% or above, which is considered a health risk and she would have been referring me to a doctor to try and help me reduce the chances of dying! (She didn’t put it as blunt as that but I know that’s what she meant)

I reflected on this as I left the doctor’s surgery and walked back home; It was a nice morning, not too cold, the sun was shining and I became acutely aware of everything around me. Life is beautiful and being here is something we often forget, we often forget how precious life is. She was right, I should be proud of myself, as I have reduced the risk of dying. And staying healthy is one of many ways to ensure we treasure our precious life; keeping a balanced lifestyle free from stress and pressures is another way to make sure you see at least your 80’s birthday. There is so much we can do and it only takes a little bit of commitment. But you become more aware of how precious life is when you also realize you are not always in control and no matter how healthy you live there are external factors that may end up that precious life.

As well as reflecting on my surroundings and the positive results of my health check, I remember some sad events that took place a few days earlier. Sadly two people I knew had passed away, both unexpectedly and one of them in an accident. Hearing this terribly sad news also remind me of how important is to live your life every day as if it was your last. You can look after yourself in an effort to live a long and prosperous life, but in an instance it can be taken away from you by events you have no control over. I’ve known this for a long time; I myself was involved in a car accident years ago from which I escaped unharmed, but often we forget this and waste precious time with things that are meaningless and add no value. We get into arguments and fights with loved ones, we leave things for another day when every day the clock is ticking and we may no be here tomorrow to see them done. Yes we can do our part to ensure we live a healthy and balanced life, but life itself can be taken away in an instant, and there is nothing you can do about it. One moment we are here, then next we are gone and it can happen to anyone.

This blog is intended as a reminder to all of how precious life is. If you are unhealthy right now, you can change that today to increase your chances of a long and prosperous life. You can also start now to live today as if it is your last day; don’t wait till tomorrow, as tomorrow may never come. Enjoy, love, sing, laugh out loud, listen to the rain, feel the sunrays on your face and most of all treasure every moment you have, don’t get angry and if you do, get over it straight away, don’t waist your time, don’t give up and don’t leave for tomorrow what you can do today. Spend your time with someone precious, precious enough to share your precious life.

Remember yesterday is history, and you made it, tomorrow is a mystery and may never come, but today is a gift and that’s why it’s called the present!

No #news is good news.

Last week as I travelled to the #USA on a business trip, I had several hours to kill and I decided to pick up the newspaper and do some reading. I like to keep up with what’s going on in the world but usually I do this through watching the news on either #BBC or #CNN.

I’m not sure how many of you read daily #newspapers but I was astonished at the incredibly amount of depressing context and news gathered together in a handful of pages. This particular newspaper, the #DailyMail, seemed to concentrate on everything that has gone wrong in the world! Literally from cover to cover all you had was negative stories focusing on the most depressing outlook. These stories ranged from anything in #Politics (which is always depressing) to all sorts of personal issues of people’s tragic lives.

I understand that what sells is sensational stuff and people want to read things that are far from their reality, but why would you want to put yourself through such a depressing time reading such negative stories? I honestly felt like giving up on the world after I put the paper down, it seem a terrible dark place. I don’t know if it was particularly this week but everything seemed to go wrong form events such as the riots in #Baltimore, the glooming #elections in the UK and the #earthquake in #Nepal but all of these an other non-world shattering stories filled the pages, one after an other, with more and more drowning sorrows and negative connotations. I swear that the editors of the paper where going for all negative news.

As I placed the paper on the pocket of my seat I felt excused as if I’d just been to the end of the world and back, travelling through dark waters and mysterious forests! I closed my eyes for a moment, I needed to find some peace within me, I was feeling down, tired and in a right odd mood. I began to think to myself, I had an 8-hour flight, it was a Saturday, I had left behind my family after a short 18-hour stopover at home to change my suitcase, I was still excused from my previous trip and I knew that after this week I had also a fly to my next destination with another 18-hour visit at home to hand over my dirty laundry and get clean shirts… MAN! I was feeling just like the newspaper, negative and full of bad news!

Most people that know me would agree that I am a fairly upbeat person and I always see the positive side of things. I was excited to be going to the USA and the Saturday flight was giving me an opportunity to meet an old friend for dinner before heading to my meeting on Sunday. I also love travelling and I have never been put off by tight schedules or crazy o’clock departure times I tend to do. And even if I just see my family for one day, I try to make the most of that time together. I believe that everything in life is an opportunity so you grab that opportunity and go along with it. So why was I feeling all of the sudden so down? It didn’t take me that long to figure it out!

For years I have been training people on the power of positive and negative thinking and how you can easily be influenced by the external world, and those around you can also change your moods. Someone gives you positive energy by his or her attitude and you feel energised, someone shares his or her negative mentality and it brings you down! Having read so many negative stories in the newspaper had a massive effect on me and had sent me to a deep negative place I was struggling to get out of. It was a strange feeling, as if I had just sat down with the most negative person and they had showered me with all of their negative power. I guess it was just that, except that instead of a person it was the written word! As soon as I realised this was what was keeping me down, I quickly searched for positive influences, burying the newspaper in the nearest bin. I turned to one of my favourite sitcoms “The Big Bang Theory” #bigbangtheory and I was out of my dark hole in no time, feeling both good and inspired (I wish I could write comedy like that) bring my spirits up.

I am sure reading newspapers is an essential part of our lives, and perhaps I picked up the wrong newspaper, on the wrong week, but one thing is for sure, I’m sticking to watching the news on TV to get my daily up-to-date dose of what’s going on in the world and I’ll leave the tabloids for those who enjoy getting depressed on a daily bases!

Fostering Friendships

This week I have said goodbye to a new friend as she stops being a work colleague and we begin a life long friendship!

Throughout our lives we meet all sorts of people with whom we come in contact. We may see these people for only one day, or perhaps two, may be even a month one year or could be a lifetime, but each and every individual forms part of our lives and we have different relationships with all of them. I categorise these in three buckets:

·      Everyday fillers – those who you know as part of your everyday life

·      Essential Relationships – these you need to function every day

·      Long Life Friendships – rear and add meaning to your life

Everyday fillers

These individuals are those you don’t care much but they are part of your life – in other words you deal with them as part of your transactional everyday life. They may be customers, neighbours, work colleagues or people you come in contact with during your day; you are polite to them and they are polite to you back. They make little contribution to your live or have no effect or impact on us, they are there as part of our routine, but will not miss them when they are gone. You may see these individuals for one day or a lifetime, but you never forester that relationship and never moves form a greeting or chitchat to anything meaningful.

Essential Relationships

Then we have those who we interact more and build a relationship with and become essential for us to function. Those may again be customers, work colleagues, schoolmates, or simply someone we see on a regular bases in social circumstances (a bar, a club or at the occasional dinner party). We may share things in common; our children go to the same school, we visit the same church or live in the same area. We probably care a little bit more about these individuals than the everyday fillers and, unlike the fillers; they have an impact in our lives. This is usually as a result of us choosing to build a long-term relationship (we worked together for a long time or have lived in the same street for years) we have clicked with them and have form an alliance that makes us feel comfortable with them.

With this people, while we are with them we enjoy their company, due to the more in-depth relationship their behaviour affects us (we slightly care about what they think or do) but at the end of the day when they are gone we would probably not miss them and may never see them again, unless circumstances brings us together in the future in which case you are pleased to see them. But you wouldn’t go out of your way to keep in touch. Social media has widen the scope to stay in touch with people so perhaps we will continue to communicate with them but this essential relationships become everyday fillers, we don’t really care and we just scroll pass their posts on Facebook unless we want to bitch about their new job, friends, houses or holidays.

Long Life Friendships

These are those we care about, and have a massive impact in our lives. These people are generally those we have chosen to be part of our lives. This group are instrumental to our day-to-day life, long term plans and in general they are part of who we are. We enjoy their company and respect them for who they are; we care about their opinion and we value their input. These individuals may not be in our lives every day, but they are present and always there. Everything about them matters and distance or time has no effect on how we feel about them, they have a special place in our lives.  We, and they, have chosen to build a long life relationship and will forester that relationship for the rest of our lives.

And fostering relationships starts as everyday filler, moving to an essential relationship before you become a long life friend!

Many of the people I consider important in my life started as everyday fillers, becoming essential relationships and gradually I cared enough to continue having them in my life. They moved from someone I knew to someone I liked to someone I care about. And I may only see once these individuals in a blue moon, but having them as part of my life makes a difference and I work hard to continue fostering those friendships for a lifetime.

I am grateful for all the people I know and have met in my life, whether they are everyday fillers, essential relationships or long life friends, I think being able to have people around you is important to keep us going and remain sane. Foster each of those relationships individually and how you want them to affect your life, they will make you who you are and bring that richness in your everyday life.

Price tag! Is it really worth it?

Everything in life has a price but the big question for me this week is - is it worth it? And how much something is worth is subjective and dependent on so many factors you would need to be Einstein to work it out!

If like me you are an Apple avid fan you would have been holding onto the edge of your sit as Apple announced the much awaited release of the Apple watch to the market this coming April. And if like me you were holding onto the edge of your sit waiting for the details so you could rush out and get yourself a brand spanking new apple watch, shortly after you would have fallen off my chair when they announced the price tags of these devices!

I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed in my life! As I picked myself up form the floor and threw a glass of water over my face to make sure I was not dreaming, it began to sink that I was probably not going to get myself a new gadget this summer.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple and all it means, and I am always prepare to pay top dollar for their products, but I think this time they push the needle too far. To have what I consider a gadget or accessory to the already expensive I-phone costing as much or even more than the phone itself it’s beyond my understanding. You need to realise that for the watch to work you need to have a phone, so how can it cost as much as the phone? Where is the logic in that? And not only it is expensive, this is first generation and many features or enhancements have not been brought in to their customers, so technically it is a watch that tells you the time, your heart beat and will send messages all for the price of a fully functional smart phone… am I missing something here?

The disappointment really got me thinking about what this all means (I guess knowing I won’t own an apple watch for a while gives me time to do other things with my life, like thinking!) I realise that everything in life has a price tag but it is not always worth the figure is written on it, or at least not to everyone. And that perception of worth goes with everything, not just material things. I have often seen people asking for more money because they think they are worth a lot more than what they get paid. In some cases they are right, but most of the times no one has held a mirror against them and showed them what they are really worth. This is the issue that occurs when people share things like salaries, once you know what someone is earning, you think you are much more expensive than them and start to demand more money.

We shop at Lidl, the German supermarket that a few years ago in England was considered a shop for lower classes. They sell products for much lower prices that some other supermarkets but this does not mean they are lower quality; they are, in many cases, just unknown brands to the UK. After the recession hit hard, many which in the past would have turned their noses up to products they thought were cheap (which they were but also tasty) are now regular consumers of these products and the company has grown bigger than ever. So why do some people still pay higher prices for similar branded products in other shops? I guess the answer is similar to why Apple has brought a watch that cost as much as a smart phone, there is still a market for those who think that paying higher prices means they are getting something better. I guess is all a matter of status and choices, and if you think that it is worth it, you will go out and get it, no matter how much it costs.

We all have things we value and are prepared to pay for them if we think they are worth it, no matter how much they cost; a car, a house, a television, a computer or smart phone or even a watch, but for me at the end of the day you have to keep in mind - is the price you are paying is in proportion and value to everything else around you?  Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense and you will be better off finding something that really represents its value and that you are getting what you are paying for. Believe me, as an Apple loyal customer, I can tell you right now that 600 USD for a watch is not worth the money.

I shall sit and wait, to see how this goes and if the prices eventually will drop. I just hope that my addiction for apple products doesn’t over take and I end up paying too much money to know what time it is and how many steps I took today!