Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
Motivation is what gets you started.
Habit is what keeps you going.
—Jim Ryun (Runner, three-time Olympic athlete, United States Congressman from Kansas, author)
Go ahead. Be inspired by the dedication and raw enthusiasm of the Olympic athletes from your home country this week.
Make excellence your habit.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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20 August 2008, 8:04 am
I wish the folks here would get your memo…
^ ^
. .
^
o
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…never lose anything again. not even waldo.
20 August 2008, 9:02 am
Can I pick ANOTHER home country to inspire me?
The general Canadian attitude typically is:
“Oh, well, I tried. Last time I came in 38th. This time I came in 27th, so it’s an overall improvement, I have to be happy with that…Hyuck! Hyuck! Hyuck! Hyuck!”.
Some of our former medalists (Alex Bauman, Silken Lauman) have been speaking up and saying we shouldn’t accept losing, we should be more competitive..and it’s like they’re getting in Sh*t for saying this.
20 August 2008, 9:11 am
Good point Friar - a lot of Canadians don’t seem to have the pride you see in other countries. Not all Canadians, mind you… but I compare with the spirit you see in the USA, for instance.
(Or is that just my perception? I’m not sure. When we visited NZ last year, the pride they had for their country was infectious.)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…never lose anything again. not even waldo.
20 August 2008, 9:25 am
@Brett
I agree. Canadians almost APOLOGIZE for feeling proud and patriotic. We get self-righteous and say “Oh, well, at least we’re not flag-wavers like the Americans”.
Well, maybe we SHOULD wave the flag more, (and stop bending over backward to accomodate every culture and belief on the planet).
Ooops. That sounds a bit too much like politics. I’ll stop now!
20 August 2008, 10:54 am
Okay, here we go — someone’s got to take the opposing side!
Pride is one thing, but patriotism and nationalism is quite another. It is almost a form of racism when you think about it: we’re better because we come from this country. Besides the fact, a lot of wars come about due to nationalism. What’s worse is that the general population blindly follows behind the politicians making those wars, eyes focused on the flag rather than the issues at hand.
I have travelled to many different countries in this world, and I can honestly say there is no where I’d rather live than Canada. I wave my flag on Canada Day, I have a flag on my backpack when I travel, and I do feel a sense of pride seeing the flag outside of the country.
But I would never, for example, put a flag pole in my front yard or pledge my life to the flag. A flag is a logo that represents us, and nothing more. Once we start working for the flag instead of vice versa, bad things tend to happen…
~Graham
20 August 2008, 12:51 pm
@Graham
Okay, to stir things up more.
Gee, I think that’s a bit strong…comparing patriotism to “racism”.
Repressing and hurting people, based on their skin color, versus waving a flag around, and pledging allegiance to your country.
That’s hardly what I’d consider moral equivalency.
Is there ANYTHING that we’re allowed to do anymore, without offending someone and having the Race Card played?
20 August 2008, 1:12 pm
Here, I’ll throw one more ingredient into the pot before we stir it. I’ve found that recent immigrants to Canada - no matter their ethnicity - tend to be more likely to express their love for Canada than those who were born here.
Maybe it’s just me, but it’s something I’ve noticed. Perhaps a lot of Canadians take the good life we have here as a given?
Though I’m willing to bet our forefathers who set foot here were much the same as the new folks are today, embracing all that we have to offer (in my case, that goes back to the 1500’s, so I’m likely to be one of the guilty who doesn’t speak highly enough of my country).
How’s that for off topic!
Brett Legree’s last blog post…never lose anything again. not even waldo.
20 August 2008, 1:18 pm
@Friar - I understand what you are saying, but I disagree. Although “racism” is by (inaccurate) definition about skin colour, there are many similar examples of repressing and hurting people due to nationality, not “race”.
For example, many people in England treat those from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales very differently than they do those from England. The Tutsi genocide at the hands of the Hutus in the mid-90s, although not about “country” so much as “tribalism” is another example. (In fact, country lines dividing tribal lines is a common problem in Africa, and leads to many conflicts.)
Need I delve into our own history between French and English…?
I am not trying to play the race card here to stir up controversy. I’m simply pointing out that *extreme nationalism* can lead to repression and other forms of discrimination.
@Brett - I agree, and I’ve heard many people say that about new Americans as well. We do take our freedoms and high standard of living for granted.
I’m all for speaking highly of my country. But I don’t believe that Canada is empirically the “best” country in the world, simply that it is the best country for me.
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post…Blogging Au Naturel
20 August 2008, 1:25 pm
@Graham,
Good point, you know. Reminds me of something that happened to me in the 90’s. I was sitting with a classmate (engineering, McMaster) and I remarked at how pretty one of the girls was.
Well - she was! But my classmate said in disgust, “How can you say that?”
I was confused. I only saw a very shapely young woman with long blonde hair and icy blue eyes. I asked him what he meant.
He responded, “Isn’t it obvious? She’s a *Serb*!”, he being from Bosnia.
I still saw a pretty blonde lady…
Canada is one of the best, for sure - in fact (and I think it was at Cath Lawson’s blog where I mentioned this before) the difference between the #1 and #20 is really only about 4 points or so on a scale of 100 - so it really does boil down to “what is the best country for you”, as you have said.
20 August 2008, 8:47 pm
Oh dear, Graham brought up the French/English thing. Sigh. The only bone of contention between the Lion and I. He considers himself to be a Quebecer first, Canadian second. I consider myself to be a Canadian first, an Ontario-an second. So, I do have to agree with Graham a bit on this one. Patriotism and nationalism can be prejudice if not racist.
To get back to Kelly’s quote..we are so easily sidetracked…I totally suck at forming habits. Habits bore me to pieces. I prefer organized chaos myself.
Urban Panther’s last blog post…The cost of relationships
20 August 2008, 8:57 pm
Good point, Panther - we do identify ourselves differently. I consider myself to be a human (people are people and all that, we all bleed). I never understood the “I’m a _____ - Canadian or a _____ - American”. I certainly won’t identify myself as a “Canadian - Kiwi” in New Zealand. I move there, I’m a Kiwi, if I have to identify with some political thing. But I’m just a guy, which means I’m just one chromosome different from a gal, with some extra parts you don’t have and I’m missing a few parts you do have…
One of these days, an alien race is going to come down and say, “okay folks, play nice or we annihilate your planet”.
Back to the topic, as you say. I have a habit of contributing to running the conversation off topic, if not outright instigating it
Brett Legree’s last blog post…never lose anything again. not even waldo.
20 August 2008, 9:02 pm
@Brett - oh you are SO the instigator. You and Friar. I, on the other hand, ALWAYS respect the theme of the post and stay on topic.
Urban Panther’s last blog post…The cost of relationships
20 August 2008, 9:05 pm
@Panther,
It’s all Friar’s fault, it’s all Friar’s fault! He’s corrupted me…
Brett Legree’s last blog post…never lose anything again. not even waldo.
20 August 2008, 9:16 pm
@Urban Panther and Brett
Well, I don’t see Kelly joining in and regaining control.
(When the teacher’s away…the kids will play!)
20 August 2008, 9:21 pm
@Friar and Brett - Kelly’s a smart girl. She knows there is no way she can gain control of this crowd, so it would be a complete waste of her time and effort. She has much more Important Things to do than try and rein us in.
20 August 2008, 10:48 pm
Brett,
Feel free to pass it along. And your habit of going off topic is just fine, though I don’t think you instigated today, LOL.
Friar,
I’m watching a Canadian woman vying for gold in diving right now as I type. I don’t think she got your memo about not coming out on top.
Graham,
I’m not going to be able to agree on flags in a front yard as anything more than a lovely symbol of patriotism, but I hear you on overdoing it, and certainly extreme nationalism can be very divisive.
Was there a point to my post this morning? Oh, yeah. Motivation and habits. I remember.
Panther,
Thank goodness you showed up. I was out working until late today. Bone tired now. Somebody knows what I thought we’d be discussing!
There. I’ve done my best to rein in, but I like a lively talk even when it’s not quite what I expected. It’s fun to see what thoughts come up.
Regards,
Kelly
20 August 2008, 11:29 pm
Kelly, since when do your Wednesday discussions ever follow your original quotes
(That’s OUR fault, not yours!)
21 August 2008, 12:03 am
Friar,
I like to think of it (Wednesday or otherwise) as I just didn’t realize what the real topic was. Sometimes a discussion pulls out some fascinating tangents!
Until later,
Kelly
21 August 2008, 1:39 am
Exactly. It makes me remember the famous speech, “The Habit of Winning” by Vince Lombardi:
“Winning is not a sometime thing. You don’t win once-in-a-while. You don’t do things right once-in-a-while. You do them right all the time.
Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
I feel - we don’t become winners as we win; we win because we are winners!
Isn’t?
Roy’s last blog post…A Lot Can Happen Over Jeannie’s Java …
21 August 2008, 8:57 am
Roy,
I love that Vince Lombardi quote. Welcome, and thanks for your comment.
Regards,
Kelly
21 August 2008, 9:33 am
I think if we just show up and try out BEST….EVERYBODY WINS!!!
Friar’s last blog post…Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?
21 August 2008, 9:34 am
…sorry. “try OUR best”.
Friar’s last blog post…Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?
21 August 2008, 9:57 am
Friar,
I was going to agree with you and start a big group hug, but then I suspected you were being sarcastic. I love you for keeping things light.
Later,
Kelly
21 August 2008, 10:00 am
Who? ME…??
Friar’s last blog post…Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?
21 August 2008, 10:40 am
I LOVED this discussion!
And that’s all I can say for now. Back to work: I”m trying to form a habit!!
21 August 2008, 11:08 pm
Friar,
Steph,
Yes, this was a cool discussion. Hope your habit-forming went well!
Until later,
Kelly