sketches of the mind

Gratitude Journal

Today I am grateful for:

• My health
• Being able to play my first squash game yesterday after three months (my legs are feeling it today!)
• The greatest BBQ chicken in Sydney - El Jannah in Granville (had it for lunch yesterday after squash)
• The text that I received from my manager that reads "we have a few things to catch on, i.e. salary, fpr (focal point review), job opportunities". I see opportunities!
• The first normal shower that I’ve had in three months (yesterday) where I could actually use my right arm!
• The sun going down as I type this and with it the scorching heat
• The email that I received last Thursday from a friend asking if I would be interested in jumping off a cliff with them ie. hang gliding. Hell yeah! I’ve always wanted to give it a go.
• The couple that came this afternoon to pick up the wardrobe that they had purchased off me on ebay.
• My friend being in good spirits when I visited him yesterday. He had sustained a neck injury whilst body boarding at the beach last week Wishing him a speedy recovery.
• All the global visitors to this blog over the past week. The Internet really does make the world smaller doesn’t it? Thanks for visiting folks!
• My return to work today. I’m excited!

Giving

The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others. — Gandhi (quotes on Giving)

One of my life intentions is to "help those in need and give thanks for teaching me the true value of living". The associated 100 day goals include:

1. Find charities that I feel a connection with and give regularly (give money)

2. To help others through volunteering  (give time)

I’ve yet to seriously look at charities however I’ll begin my search soon. I did attend a fundraising luncheon last weekend in order to assist a couple of friends in their endeavor to raise over $10000 AUD for Northcott Disability Services (which they achieved by the end of the luncheon — well done guys!). I commend Mark and Sue for their dedication and commitment to complete the Charity Challenge (which involves a ten day 500 km cycle through Vietnam!). If you’d like to support their cause please head over to their site for more info.

As for volunteering, I’ve registered as a volunteer for Starlight Day (I’ll be participating on May 5th — can’t wait!) and have gathered a few other links for further review. I’ll post those up soon. I recently discovered that a friend of mine has been volunteering at Ronald McDonalds House for six or so years now. Amazing!

I’ve also been searching for inspiring stories of generosity and philanthropy. Here are a few that I’d like to share:

Story #1: .77 cents
Story #2: Scott and Amy Lee
Story #3: Sir Ronald Cohen

Speaking of giving, do you think it’d be a good idea if a million people received a copy of the DVD free and unexpectedly? If so, then you’re not alone. Check out the 1 Million Secrets project.

Visualisation

I saw an episode of The Apprentice last week and it featured the Lexus LS460. The car can park itself! That’s pretty darn amazing. So on Friday I requested brochures from Lexus (the LS460 is not available in Aus yet so I’m keen to see what else there is available) and Mazda (the Mazda 6 being my vehicle of choice). I also booked a test drive with Mazda. This is all part of the visualisation process. The brochures are for my vision board(s) and the test drive - well there’s no better way to get the feeling of driving the car than to actually drive it right?

I’ve yet to complete my vision video or my vision boards but I’ve collected some images from the web that I plan to use. Check out the following tutorial by Malcolm Cohan on how to make a vision video. Really cool!

Affirmation

I am available to more good than I’ve ever experienced, realised or imagined before. — Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith (on Oprah)

Have a great and abundant week everyone!