Tag: neil peart

The List of Hope

Ever created a list of hope? I think everyone has at one time or another. Even if you didn’t write it down, you probably held it in your head. As with every list, there is the potential for losing it.

You don’t want to lose the list of hope.

The importance of hope is an obvious one. Hope is to the human being, what gas or electricity is to a car. You need it to get to where you’re going. Hope is a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, a star in a dark night sky. I know you understand this.

Everyone has heard and read the stories of late. The ones of people who couldn’t fend off the despair. If you find yourself in that place reach out for help. My post is not my attempt to solve the issue of suicide or give insights into its roots. I want to start in a place where losing hope can be all too common. The place is where things are somewhat stable to good. Regardless of where you may find yourself, I want to give some encouragement around the list of hope.

I have a list that looks like this:

  • I have friends and family who value and love me, therefore I have hope
  • God has expressed his love for me multiple times (circumstances, conversations with loved ones, times of meditation), therefore I have hope
  • I have built business relationships that go deeper than a transaction, therefore I have hope
  • I’ve dealt with great difficulties and come out on the other side better, therefore I have hope
  • I look at nature and see its resilience and order, therefore I have hope

Your list can look like mine or something radically different. The key is creating the list. In the words of the writer:

“All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer by the stars.” – Neil Peart

My reasons for having the list of hope is having a document I can go to when I lose hope. The list is something tangible to remind me of what’s important. There are times (reoccurring) when I need to pull this list out to refresh, reframe and keep going.

I’m here if you need me, reach out if I can help in a bigger way.

15,492 Days

Tea Brewing

Updated post from the spring of 2008.

Sometimes the calculator can be your best friend.  Today I decided to do an exercise long overdue.

I added up the sum of my days on this planet we call earth.  That number turned out to be 15,492 days.  Birth, school yard wonder, working for a living, falling in love, and being found by the vision.  What a statement in a time when we have little time to stop and think.

The numbering of your days is important.  The following are my reasons for embracing the miracle and exercise:

  1. Numbering your days sobers you.  We can get drunk on success, materials and prestige
  2. In the words of a great songwriter; “we’re only immortal for a limited time“
  3. Creates urgency to do and to dream
  4. Settles you down from worrying about things you’ve got no control over
  5. Makes you realize that safety is a myth.  God wired us for risk and adventure
  6. Helps you avoid regrets
  7. Kills the counter-genuine cells.  Screams the importance of keeping things real
  8. Makes you realize your terminal and that you don’t have to wait for a diagnosis
  9. Builds courage
  10. Makes every smell, taste and delight precious.  Sort of like a 2000 Barolo or the voice of Michael Franks

Number your days, because they’re numbering you.

The Pass

Lyrics for your Friday.

The Pass

Proud swagger out of the school yard
Waiting for the world’s applause
Rebel without a conscience
Martyr without a causeStatic on your frequency
Electrical storm in your veins
Raging at unreachable glory
Straining at invisible chains

And now you’re trembling on a rocky ledge
Staring down into a heartless sea
Can’t face life on a razor’s edge
Nothing’s what you thought it would be

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor’s edge
Don’t turn your back
And slam the door on me

It’s not as if this barricade
Blocks the only road
It’s not as if you’re all alone
In wanting to explode

Someone set a bad example
Made surrender seem all right
The act of a noble warrior
Who lost the will to fight

And now you’re trembling on a rocky ledge
Staring down into a heartless sea
Done with life on a razor’s edge
Nothing’s what you thought it would be

No hero in your tragedy
No daring in your escape
No salutes for your surrender
Nothing noble in your fate
Christ, what have you done?

 

 

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Steering by the Stars

All of us get lost in the darkness

Dreamers learn to steer by the stars

          –Neil Peart

That lyric is from the song The Pass.

What an appropriate verse to the theme of yesterday's post.  Steering by the stars becomes important when traditional navigation becomes obsolete.  This skill is needed when times are tough, but even more important when things are going well (we tend to think we don't need any help when the road is silk paved).  Certainly, it is tough when darkness descends on a career or love.  The choice is ours as to how we will respond.  I for one, have not always responded well.

I had a vivid dream once where I was asked to come on a journey at night.  The offer included a flashlight, so I felt secure in the knowledge that I would have enough light.  I took the offer and proceeded forward.  After some time, the flashlight began to dim and I realized the batteries were dying.  Realizing that I had come to far to turn back, I looked up and saw millions of stars.  I heard a voice that said, "now you will learn your direction by the stars."  I woke up…

That dream came to me just when I needed it.  It helped me understand the importance of learning and adapting.  You might be skeptical, you might even be laughing.  But the question remains; how do we steer when the light has ceased?

Here are a some tips:

  • If things are going well now, start learning about the principles of navigating through tough times.  It will be painful at first because you may think the time would be better served enjoying the fruits.  See the financial services industry about the foolishness of enjoying the fruits.
  • Don't go it alone.  Hire a coach, find a mentor or seek out others who have experience (real experience) under their belt.
  • If you're in the darkness right now, then don't give up.  But be sure you're on the right terrain.  In other words, if you were never excited about being a social media guru, don't keep convincing yourself that you need to stay one.
  • If you don't expect your path to be easy, then you will learn what you need to learn.
  • Take time to rest.
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A Favorite Song

Just felt this was important to post for me today. Hope you feel the same.

Time Stand Still

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath
Before I start off again.
Driven on without a moment to spend
To pass an evening with a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
I'd like to pause
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim
Who learns to transcend
Learns to live as if each step was the end

(Time stand still)
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
(Time stand still)
See more of the people and the places that surround me now
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each sensation a little bit stronger
Experience slips away
Experience slips away

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes
Let my defences down
All those wounds that I can't get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain, whose ship runs aground
I can wait until the tide comes around

(Time stand still)
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
(Time stand still)
See more of the people and the places that surround me now
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each impression a little bit stronger
Freeze this motion a little bit longer
The innocence slips away
The innocence slips away…

Summer's going fast, nights growing colder
Children growing up, old friends growing older
Freeze this moment a little bit longer
Make each sensation a little bit stronger
Experience slips away
Experience slips away…
The innocence slips away

Lyrics by Neil Peart