We are on Holiday!

Lessons from Invictus

Watching the movie "Invictus" last night, I was struck again by the power of forgiveness and the strength of character that Mandela exhibits.

If Mandela can forgive the people who put him behind bars for 27 years for fighting for democracy, who are we not to forgive the petty differences that come between us and our family and friends?

Here is the poem that Mandela said saw him through that dark, tough period in his life. May you also draw strength from it and reach out to everyone around you in a spirit of love and forgiveness.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Does School Kill Creativity?

Be the judge after watching this video by Ken Robinson. A must see for all parents!

By Ken Robinson

Great Reflective Questions For The New Year!

If you are anything like me, you may feel like you have lost yourself in the midst of the activities of the year. Here are some great questions to ask to reconnect with yourself and your passions this coming year. 

• What did like to play with as a child and why? What games interested you the most? 
• What sorts of success stories create a lump in your throat or really impress you and almost make you feel envious? 
• What is it that you are drawn to do with your time when you have no distractions?
• What was your most exciting job task in the past six months?
• What traits do you possess that are most unique, most you, most important, most likely to make a difference? What traits do most people point out about you? 
• What is your favorite song? What is your favorite movie? What sorts of jokes do you like? why?
• What was the first job you looked into when you finished school (regardless of whether you obtained the position or not)?
• If you won $20 million in the lottery, what would you do with your time and money?
• What sorts of articles do read first when you pick up a newspaper or magazine?
• What nicknames have friends used to refer to you by? Why did they choose the ones they did over the hundreds of other possibilities?

The answers to these questions will help you focus your energy to what matters the most to you. Set some time aside to reflect and answer them and rediscover what makes you really tick.  

2011 CNN Heroes - Vote Now!

CNN heroes are people who are making a difference either in their communities or in communities far away from their own. These are people who have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others.

Now is the time to vote for your favorite hero who will win the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year Award, plus a cool $250,000. The deadline for voting is December 7th.

In alphabetical order, below is the list of this year's nominees. Click on each name to learn more about each nominee and how they are making the world a better place.

1. Eddie Canales, Gridiron Heroes
2. Taryn Davis, American Widow Project
3. Sal Dimiceli, The Time Is Now To Help
4. Derreck Kayongo, Global Soap Project
5. Diane Latiker, Kids Off The Block
6. Robin Lim, Bumi Sehat Foundation International
7. Patrice Millet, FONDAPS
8. Bruno Serato, Caterina's Club
9. Richard St. Dennis, World Access Project
10. Amy Stokes, Infinite Family

Click here to vote now for the Hero who inspires you the most.

Age Old Wisdom from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Source: http://www.fleurdelis.com/desidera.htm
            http://www.home-life-online.com/be-gentle-with-yourself.html

5 Tips for the Office Party

Now that the holiday season is in full swing, this is the time to remember that an office party is not really a party i.e. it is not the time and place to let loose and go crazy!

Most office party disasters happen because people drink too much. I know the free booze is tempting but it's not worth it. Treat the office party as an occasion that calls for your best behavior. Here are a few tips:

1. Do not get drunk.
2. Eat a snack before you go to the party. This will ensure that when you take your first alcoholic drink that you are not hungry. Drinking on an empty stomach is the first step to ending up drunk.
3. Dress appropriately. Clubbing attire or casual attire is not appropriate for the office party. In most cases cocktail attire is appropriate for women and suit and tie for men. If in doubt, ask the organizer to explain the dress code.
   
4. Do not flirt with your co-workers and definitely not with the boss. Again, if you stay sober this will not happen.
5. It's the holidays so be polite and cordial to everyone and save the whining and venting for another day. It is a party after all.
   

Happy Holidays!

Gilgamesh and the Restless Desires of Your Heart

I have a couple of goals/projects that I would like to tackle. Stuff I have been thinking about for a long time, but have not done anything about yet. I often find that I am second guessing myself . . . it’s too difficult . . . where do I start . . . it’s a crazy idea . . . you get the drift. And yet, deep in my soul, I have always felt that God would not have given me these ideas if I was not capable of executing them. Call me crazy but I really feel that conceiving the idea in your head is the first step to success. That you can think it means you are capable of doing it.

Last night, I was reading the “Epic of Gilgamesh” (for the first time) and I have to admit that I felt validated that the great hero Gilgamesh felt the same way too. When Gilgamesh feels very strongly that he has to conquer Humbaba, he calls out to the god Shamash for blessings. Shamash asks him why he feels the need to take up this challenge. Gilgamesh responds, “If this enterprise is not to be accomplished, why did you move me, Shamash, with the restless desire to perform it?”.

And so it is with all of us. If you have goals that are swirling around in your head and filling your dreams at night, if you have a restless desire to do something then listen to your mind and soul and take the first step. That you thought about it means that the hard work is already done. The rest you will figure out along the way, one step at a time.

Are You At Risk For Heart Attack or Stroke?

Heart attacks and strokes kill more people than all cancers and auto accidents combined. According to the American heart Association, most sudden heart attacks and strokes occur in people with normal cholesterol and blood pressure levels. 

Eating right, exercising, watching your weight, controlling your cholesterol are important, but more can be done to reduce the risk for a debilitating or deadly heart attack or stroke. 

It is important to have an annual physical every year to check the following

• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol 
• Glucose

If you are in any of the following categories apply to you, consider additional screening

• All males 45 or older (regardless of health)
• All females 55 or older (regardless of health)
• Anyone with one or more of the following risk factors for cvd:
• Family History of Heart Attacks or Strokes 
• Diabetes 
• Periodontitis (Gum Disease) 
• High Blood Pressure
• Overweight  
• Sedentary Lifestyle  
• Poor Diet  
• Smoker 
• High Stress 
• Cholesterol Problems

Some of the screenings that identify the earliest signs of cardiovascular disease are Carotid IMT screening. This is a non-invasive procedure that used ultrasound technology to measure the thickness of the vascular lining. 

To find out more about the screening, talk to your doctor. If you are in the US, check out Life Line Screening if you are interested in learning more about health screening. 

Need Cash for the Holidays?

While surfing the net aimlessly late last night, I came across this website for unclaimed property (oh, the places aimless surfing will take you . . . ).

Curious, but not expecting anything, I typed in my name and . . . I hit pay dirt! I actually found $100 from about 15 years ago; it looks like a paycheck that I never collected. Wow! I sure could use 100 bucks right about now.

It's very easy to search the databases. The only complaint I have is that, this is not a nationwide search so you have to search state by state. For those of us whose goal it has been to live in every state, then be prepared to search each individual state database.

What are you waiting for? Click here to start and do send me a finders fee for anything you find.

Curious About Your History?

If you are anything like me, you may feel like you do not know the whole story about the relationship between Africa and the West. The national history center is a great resource with historical information about the world. Though it covers world history, there is some great information about Africa. Here are some interesting podcasts to consider

• The Airlift: African Students Overseas in the Era of Decolonization
• Caroline Elkins Reflects on the Mau Mau and the British Empire
• Philip Zelikow Reinterprets the History of U.S. Foreign Policy
• David Painter Examines the Relationship with Oil and World Power

Systemic Failure

Thanksgiving: I’m supposed to be thankful and deep down I know I am. After all, I only have to look at my wife and three kids to know how fortunate I am. But my mind keeps going back to what a sad year it's been for sports in America.

Amidst the great wins, we've seen the worst side of sports probably ever. Two of the most popular sports (NFL and the NBA) have gone through a work stoppage paying little attention to the millions of fans who support them. But it's been college sports that have dipped to all time lows.

Just a few months removed from Ohio State's scandal involving a legendary football coach caught lying, we've seen players suspended for bar fights and off the field misconduct. And when you thought it couldn't get worse, we were shaken to our core by Penn State's sexual abuse scandal. Sadly, it’s quickly turning out that Syracuse University will be having their own scandal involving sexual abuse by a long time assistant coach under the nose of a long time coaching legend.

Now, we can take everything else and move on but when scandals of child abuse arise as they did at Penn State and Syracuse Universities then everything else matters very little.  You simply stop.

You stop because there are numerous kids who were victimized.
You stop again because there are numerous kids who were victimized while other normal intellectual reasonable adults were watching.
And you keep stopping because there are numerous kids who were victimized while normal intellectual reasonable adults were watching and who on their own conscious chose to do nothing.

That my friends is as sobering as it gets and so pardon me if this thanksgiving I am not as jovial as I would normally be.

Lets set aside the perpetrators Jerry Sandusky (Penn state University) and Bernie Fine (Syracuse University). These men are on an island by themselves. They are after all the enemies who infiltrate our trusted institutions like churches and Schools to prey on our kids.

For the rest who were supposed to be watching, where did things go wrong? The fact is, they did watch. And so remove the word “supposed” from the question above and that ought to send a chill down your spine because it points to a much much larger problem.

It's not that all these watchers were bad inconsiderate men. In fact here are some words used to describe them by those who knew them closely – outstanding, honorable, sacrificial, a true leader, always there for the students, capable, determined. These are words we all aspire to be. So what happened? How did institutions that we hold to the highest esteem fail so profoundly and so completely?

There was the first hand group who witnessed abuse going on. A second group got all the clues including first hand reports of abuse going on. A third much larger group of people saw the kids begin to retreat emotionally and physically. They spotted unusual behavior but didn't ask questions. Many of these individuals will never make the headlines but today they are recalling with regret.
"I remember when victim x started doing this and I remember thinking to myself something is wrong. I should have inquired further."

Collectively, they didn’t just suspect but they heard the proverbial duck quack, saw it walk like a duck and where some may have called it a duck, nobody stopped the duck. An entire system of well meaning, normal, intellectual men and women failed and that ought to rattle every single one of us. And in an area where there’s no middle ground, doing the bare minimum or worse nothing is enabling.

Let’s remember that in a fallen world John Sandasky will NOT be the last perpetrator but when good well meaning men and women whom many look up to and trust choose to keep quiet then it’s time all of us to stop and access our society at large

When churches and universities, the only two places where we place the highest values of trust, are plagued by scandals like this, replacing the men and women in these institutions is simply not enough.

I may be miles away from Penn state but that scandal might as well have happened a mile from my house. So on a somber thanksgiving, I'm spending my time asking:
• Am I really acting as my brother's keeper?
• Where or whom do I need to pay more attention to?

If I’m not happy with the answers I get I will be asking myself what I need to change to do more. For someone with no direct connection to the events, these I figure is the next best thing I can do after I get off my knees praying for the victims.

Bernard Wambugu
CEO Lantel Systems
http://lantelsystems.com
How we work continues to change. We provide the technology solutions to allow for that change.
Let’s stay in touch
http://www.facebook.com/bernardmw
http://twitter.com//bernardmw

Need $$? Try IndieGoGo, an International Funding Platform

We have written about crowdsourcing platforms before, here and here. And today we have one more to bring to you . . . IndieGoGo.

If you have a passion, IndieGoGo can help you raise the money you need and increase the publicity you need to make it a reality.

For those of us who donate, we get the opportunity to support causes and projects that are important to us.

I came across some pretty fun, interesting, meaningful campaigns. Check them out below:

1. Africa Oyé 2012 - Liverpool, June 23 & 24. Largest African Music Festival in the UK.
2. SeeMeCNC H-1 - Development of an affordable 3D home printer. Since we wrote about 3D printing a few days ago, it was interesting to read about this machine.
3. LuminAid - inflatable, waterproof, affordable solar lantern.
4. Class Dismissed - a film about homeschooling.
   

Black Friday 2011 revisited!

In case you are still wondering if Black Friday is worth it, check out this videos and others like it on YouTube

If you really must buy gifts during the holidays, come up with a list every year and look out for deals throughout the year. Check out these sites that offer deals all the time.

• SlickDeals
• DealsPlus
• DealNews
• Woot
• PlasticJungle