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11   12   15
That's today's date and the time has passed by so quickly that it feels like the year has skipped out a few months in its sequence as well. My hope is that I wrap-up this year with the ability to look back and see a year that has passed, filled with moments of laughter, love and joy, of making a difference. I'm sure we could all recall many negative events that have happened but I choose now, to diminish their importance in my mind and elevate the moments that bring me my peace and happiness.

I keep getting a song on my playlist that has the line something like:
"You can occupy my every sigh, You can rent a space inside my mind At least until the price becomes too high ..."

Well what is too high a price, for you?

I think the real estate value of my mind is extremely high and any space that is occupied should be used on worthwhile causes rather than brooding over problems that I could likely never solve anyway.

I'm going to be brief today, but hope that you consider very carefully the for rent space you offer out
today. Think twice before allowing the space to be occupied by unwanted tenants. You are after all, the landlord and have full jurisdiction over your land. In fact I'd go so far as to take the "For Rent" sign down and revert to a "By Invitation Only" policy.

The Bucket Theory

So three weeks to Christmas! Today sees the second of three of our work Christmas lunches. Maybe it's just anti-social me, but honestly who needs three parties where one would suffice? Perhaps next year the money allocated for these functions could be far better utilised. There are so many deserving causes in desperate need of support. Think for a moment, if all corporates adopted a strategy of giving during the Christmas period (image that for a novel idea). How many destitute people would benefit instead of making us fat cats even fatter! ....Just a seed I had to plant.

Let me just put it out there, I abhor waste. Waste in any form really gets my blood boiling. Wasting my time has to be one of my top pet peeves as I value my time as one of the most precious resources available to me. Money is great, but my time out ranks all forms of wealth as we only have finite time available to us and we have to use it wisely. Do not waste a single second that is gifted to us. Having come close to the precipice of death, I am acutely aware of how fragile life is. In a moment a life can be extinguished and that is an eternal event that cannot be reversed. That sounds rather dramatic, but it is!

While you can, make wise choices, be careful with your actions and even more so with your words.
My Mom always used to tell us, "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all!" I often wonder if that's why I am so sparing with my words...

Spend time with those who make you feel alive and fill your life bucket with love. In return you should strive to do the same for others. It is the Christmas season so people are generally in a festive and celebratory mood, so now should be the easiest time to start filling other people's buckets. What is in your bucket does not last forever and is depleted over time. The only way to fill it, is to fill other people's buckets. It sounds counter-intuitive, but by pouring out your love, you make space for a fresh filling of new love. It sounds very "new-agey" but as a person who goes through cycles of isolation and then being social, I can attest to the validity of this process. I feel fine in my cave for a while enjoying the peace and distraction-free environment, but as my life-bucket drains, nothing fills it like the love from another person. I am fortunate to have an amazing wife and two awesome boys who constantly fill my bucket regardless of my disposition at the time. Believe it or not, but I can be quite moody and have serious bouts of "the grumps". Thank you for always being my bucket fillers.
I hope at times, I also add to your (and other's) buckets too. Go out and fill some buckets in addition to the Christmas stockings.