Stand or Fall

Times are hard so what are your options?

To make it really simple your choice is: Stand or Fall.

You really have a simple choice of buckling under the strain and taking whatever life throws at you or you can resolve to fight back.

Now both paths have advantages and disadvantages; more seriously both paths have consequences.

Personally I chose to Stand. To rise up and challenge the circumstances that challenge me and live with the consequences that follow.

But this blog isn’t about my personal position. This blog is about you. Because you also might be thinking; “I Stand.” but not know how to.

And it’s a difficult thing to advise on. We live in interesting times with challenges coming thick and fast. Terrorism is rewriting the rules of war and the ‘credit crunch’ seems to be rewriting the rules of business.

So I guess my first thought is to find some constants. Find some unchangeable items that I, and you, can share and strengthen ourselves with. And I believe that both you and I already have these things.

Let me ask you a question ~ “What in your life has inspired you?” more specifically “What author, musician or artist has, with their work, inspired you or given if not inspired then given you peace or hope?”

You know the feeling I mean; the one where you pick up the book and it makes you smile; or the music plays and by the middle of the first track a grin has spread across your face and your muscles feel just a little looser; or that piece of artwork that makes you sigh deeply.

Those works of art. Now is the time to revisit them. To revisit and feel again those better emotions; peace, hope and optimism.

It might be you have to go back a long way but you will have those works in your life. Was there a book you read as a child that you loved? Dig it out of your attic or garage, find it on ebay – then sit and indulge in something special to you.

Such things might sound weak compared to the challenges that face you yet they give you something strong ~ internal peace. With that peace, even if it passes quickly, will come a slightly stronger and calmer you.

This will help you put things in perspective and see more clearly the path ahead.

So, read that book, view that artwork, listen to the music or put on that film that you haven’t watched in years and smile again, be inspired again. And find yourself better placed mentally and emotionally to Stand as you chose to.

Until next time;

Stephen

Stephen Hart

Picture from Angela; thank you.

Money stifles Creativity

One of the problems with money is that is can really stifle creativity.

After all, if you have the money to go out and buy a new computer game for the family console you don’t have a lot of incentive to create a new card game or other family game. Which is a real shame.

Not that the latest edition of Tomb Raider can’t be fun, but it is a shame when that becomes the only source of entertainment and behind the scenes your creative muscles are probably atrophying.

Also what happens when the money becomes a little more scarce and the more commercial, easier forms of entertainment have to be curtailed?

This is the unfortunate reality for many families this Christmas. The good news is that there are lots of things to do that cost very little or indeed nothing.

Your challenge then, is to flex those disused, creative muscles and invent some new family entertainment.

It is possible that you are staring at the screen with the same bemused look that I had when someone presented the 100 push ups challenge to me. And that’s okay. We can both survive our respective challenges!

I’d start by  taking stock of the toys or games that you already own. Lots of people have a Scrabble or Monopoly set tucked away. Just because you have owned a game for a while doesn’t mean you can’t play it again.

Alternatively how about a deck or cards or some dice? Again a lot of people will have these hidden away.

If you find that you don’t have any of the above then most supermarkets sell boardgames, cards and dice. To save money avoid anything with a popular brand i.e. Power Rangers, etc.

So if a state of the art game is out of the question an older board game might save you and you don’t have to flex your creative muscles beyond learning some new or old rules.

Taking it to the next level what do you imagine you can do with a deck of cards and a couple of dice? Well the beauty here is the sheer magnitude of possibilities.

Here are a handful of ideas to start you off:

Race game

Required:

One die (singular for dice)
Two small coins
One counter, i.e. something to measure with – even a square coaster or mobile phone will do
Table (or floor) to play on

• Start both coins at one end of the table.
• Person 1 rolls the dice and moves their piece that many times the length of the counter
• Person 2 rolls the dice and does exactly the same
• The first person to get to the other end of the table wins…or if it is a very short table then to the end and back again.

On a bigger scale this can be played across a room with a bigger device to measure – shoe lengths tend to work well.

And for those of you who think this sounds ridiculous I’ve seen everyone from three year-olds to seventy year-olds getting very  excited as their piece races to catch up. And I have it on good authority that wooden horse racing on certain Royal Navy ships has brought grown men to tears. . .

To make it more complex add in things like your deck of cards – before rolling the dice the person gets to turn a card over – if a face card they can move double and if an ace they move their opponent back. . .and so on.

This is the sort of mixing and matching that you can do with a deck of cards and some dice. The permutations are endless.

From  experience may I recommend that you agree the rules before you start and keep things simple at the beginning.

Another example of something to do is:

Conversation Game

Requirements:

1 deck of cards
Shuffle the cards and place them face down.

How to play:

The first person takes turns over the top card. Depending on what card it is they do the following. Suits are ignored:

• 2-10 Tell the audience that many things about themselves – they have to be true
• Jack, Queen, King – when a person first turns these over they keep hold of these cards and play passes to the next person. These cards act like mirrors so when the holder of a J, Q, or K next turns a number card over they may bounce that number of questions to anyone else in the room (except the person who has just gone) HOWEVER if a person to whom the questions are bounced has a J, Q or K then they may in turn bounce it to someone else – even back to the person who bounced the questions originally.
• Ace – an Ace also is kept and can be used to bounce questions around the room but the ace cannot be reflected by any other card so whomsoever receives the bounced questions must take their turn in giving the information
• Jokers – if you have Jokers in your pack then when one is turned everyone else must give up one piece of information about themselves

Variations? Come up with your own – for example it might be worth removing all the number cards above 5 before playing as otherwise people have to give up a lot of facts about themselves!

Or to put a twist on it, the suits could determine the types of information that has to be given up – diamonds  could  be shopping, harts = romance, clubs = sports and spades = hobbies. . .the possibilities are endless

And think; all of the above is with an inexpensive deck of cards and some dice that you probably already have.

The end of your spare finances does not signal the end of entertainment; it signals the start of your creativity.

Until next time;

Stephen

Stephen Hart

An Economical Christmas

Let me take you to December 1992. It was cold, frosty and everywhere was decorated for Christmas.

It was also a hard time; there was a recession on and money was tight. So you could say that things were a lot like today.

I remember wondering whether to save my last bit of spare money or go out and spend it on Christmas decorations and a tree.

I decided on the decorations and went shopping finally lending up with £2.50 left in my bank account. I remember being very happy with my 20 of purchases which included a cheap artificial tree and lots of tinsel.

I had a good Christmas that year and I don’t tell the story for sympathy. Rather I tell it because I know that a lot of people this year, in this recession, will be faced with the same choice.

Whether through redundancy or simply a drop in income due to the current economic climate, I know many people are having the realisation that the fairy tale Christmas presented in television programmes and adverts is far removed from their current reality.

Back in 1992 I didn’t have children so it was easier; I only had to consider my own disappointments.  For those of you who find yourself in the above situation with children I’d like to offer some thoughts.

The first is to speak to your children about it and explain the situation simply and clearly.

Explain that you are unable to buy presents or the type of presents that you would like to purchase for them.

You don’t have to discuss specific sums rather describe certain items as ‘expensive’ or ‘luxury’ and currently ‘out of reach’ or ‘not sensible’.

If it follows from a redundancy then speak to them about that. Explain very simply that it means that the money that was coming in to pay for things is not coming in at the moment.

Be positive and explain that the money will come back and things will get easier but right now you all have to be sensible and save money.

Children are very flexible, once they have an explanation they can understand.

When you tell them that you are having a different type of Christmas – which I think is a positive way of putting it – point out the benefits:

“This year we are all going to do activities together as a family. It will be really fun.”

“How would you like to help make some Christmas decorations?”

“How nice will it be to spend time together as a family?”

“We can play x (a game you already own); we haven’t played that in ages.”

Now let us be realistic, no matter how you present it, I would expect your children to be a little upset and disappointed, just as you are.

Let them express themselves. Let them be sad or angry. It is important and respectful to allow children to have space to express their feelings.

Children tend to have quite materialistic expectations these days so this is going to be a culture shock for them.

Another way of making things easier is to  have a good plan of what you will and can do before you break the news to the children.

And  remember this: you don’t buy your children. You love your children. And their love for you does not spring from their possessions but their hearts.

Maybe the difficulties you are facing will enable you to reconnect in ways you might have missed otherwise.

Until next time;

Stephen

Stephen Hart

Picture by kind permission of Max Mikulecky

Driving in Bad Weather

With snow, sleet and ice challenging me it took three and a half hours to drive to work this morning. And my radio doesn’t work.

And that’s okay.

Because it gave me time to think about things. I came up with a new perspective on Hope and Faith and the connection between the two which will come up in future blogs and possible a far future ebook.

I also thought it might help to share some facts that I have learned the hard way about driving in bad weather. These are things that people tell you and you know you should do but you don’t always get around to. After this morning’s journey I’m a believer in them!

Leave a lot of space between you and the car in front - on eight occasions this morning my brakes failed to slow or stop my car! The anti skid system (ABS) kicked in so the car didn’t skid but neither did it slow down either!

If I hadn’t have left some room I would have hit the car in front.

Fill up with washer fluid - two days ago I ran out of window wash. It was a problem but I was able to make it to the nearest garage and get some. Today the blizzard I drove through obscured the road markings completely.

I would have had to abandon the journey if I hadn’t have been able to clear the screen properly.

Check your tyre pressure - whilst at the garage two days ago I invested 20p and put air in my tyres.

I can assure everyone that this is not technical at all but rather a very simple and quick process merely involving find your car make and model on a chart, pressing a couple of buttons, putting the air hose to your tyres air intake and pressing a final level. Simple.

Today slipping and skidding on the snow and ice I was very grateful that at least the tyres were balanced and the slipping and sliding wasn’t made worse by uneven tyre pressures.

Charge your mobile - well. . .ahem. . .this is the one I slipped up on. I knew my phone battery was low and felt it would hold out – I was wrong.

Now my car radio doesn’t work; and that’s okay because I like to think in the car and when I want some noise I use my phone or Zen MP3 player to play radio plays (especially those by Decoder Ring Theatre).

Naturally the Zen was at home and my phone ran out of charge. So for the last hour I had the privilege of silence. That in itself was okay but less okay was the fact I couldn’t update work on my progress or simply talk to someone else.

If I had been forced to abandon my car and walk I’d have been unable to call for help. From now on my phone is going to be permanently charged up.

Be patient - finally it’s okay to be held up by bad weather and it is so much better to be a little late to where you are going than turn your journey into your final journey.

So don’t get angry, stay calm, watch the roads and take the time to think or listen to some music. . .assuming a working radio or MP3 player!

As I’ve said after this morning’s drive to work I’m a believer in the above rules and I’d urge you to believe them to.

Until next time; safe driving.

Stephen

Stephen Hart

Photo by Krystal with thanks.