Once Inspired

Archive for November, 2009

This is something very special. My girlfriend completed her first triathlon. After a lot of disciplined training and money well spent, she was certainly ready – and definitely pleasantly surprised herself, as I had told her should would for weeks leading into the race. Here’s her experience of her first triathlon.

The day that I had been preparing for had finally arrived. This time there was no stage and music to set the scene but rather the vast ocean and flat road to contend with. A world away from the theatre and examination rooms that I had grew up in. One act, three scenes. Swim, bike, run. First up was the ocean swim.  Sure we all have a splash in the ocean and that one swim where we congratulate ourselves for crashing through a few waves but today would be my first proper ocean swim.  The fear consumed me!  Sure I could swim pretty well in the pool but we all know how different ocean swimming is compared to the pool.  Before I knew it we were off and there wasn’t time to think about anything.

The first “little” wave came towards me and I dove through it with all my courage. Coming up on the other side all of a sudden that bone-shattering Atlantic Ocean cold hit me and together with all the nerves and anxiety I was struggling to breathe. Every sense is hit by the sheer immensity and strength of the ocean.   I panicked! I would not give up no matter what. This was my chance to prove to myself. I could do it. “Just get on with it” I said to myself. At last the first buoy was near. At this point I had flipped over and started doing backstroke. The panic had disappeared but now I started to get tired. The second buoy was in my peripheral vision and I was on my way back to shore.  Thank goodness I thought! Doing backstroke allowed me to see when the dreaded waves were on their way. I managed to catch a wave and get a short lift towards the shore.  The swim was over! I was tiered. Already! Thinking about the next task I told myself to take the top half of my wetsuit off. This is something I was particularly worried about. My mind at that moment was something like this; “Run Lauren run, get you arms out. Pull, pull! Oh don’t forget your goggles. Oh no it’s the first transition. Hurry, hurry. Where my bike? I’m tired. More panic. ” This carried on for what seemed like a lifetime in the first transition. I didn’t have the proper triathlon kit so getting another top on over a wet body is something I will never do again.

Right. Now it was time for the bike leg. I had never ridden with many people before let alone ever participated in any cycling event. As we hit the West coast road I found myself holding back thinking I needed to pace myself. However the pace was just too slow and off I went. I found myself passing a good few people and having a great first bike leg. My spirits were lifted. On the way back to Big Bay the South Easterly wind was alive and well. It was tough. I was going solo for most of the way and losing my water bottle in the process didn’t help. No water until the run.  Otherwise, so far so good. I was having a blast. It was great cycling on home territory.  What a view with the ocean on my right and Table Mountain in front of me.  Very thirsty and determined I “flew” through the next transition.

I knew the last leg was going to the toughest. I knew running is my weakest out of the three disciplines.  The sun was blazing.  The next thing I knew I was back in transition area. This time I made sure I got out of there in a flash. Running shoes on and off I went.  The run was short but I was exhausted. All the nerves adrenaline and exertion   had taken its toll and the body was ready to call it quits.  All the hard work on the bike seemed to be wasted on the run. It didn’t matter though because taking part and finishing meant so much more.  I crossed the finish line with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

As tough as that swim and run was I loved every second of it and can’t wait to do it again.  I could never have done it without Nic Muhl. <— (that’s me. Coach Nic)

The start of her run. Beating a guy who started 10min before her.

Applause please.

Hey, how amazing was that?  It felt like I was having a go at my first triathlon whilst reading that.

Sweathshop Union – The Thing About it
This is a time of growth for those that know
And it’s a time of hope for those that don’t
But if you’re mind is open you’ll get shown
We’ve had our sights blinded; All of my like-minded
People need to get up and discover the right time; it’s now
Just start opposin’ the powers that are rose
In ancient days; And pave the way to disclothe it
So control it’s sickening; Most just sit and stare
At a television with a distant glare
And I’m ashamed to admit it, I’m a slave to the shit
As much as anybody but I’m not afraid of it
This is where the change comes in, this is where we make some difference
Embrace what’s within us; And escape from this prison
All it takes is a little bit of faith
And a little bit of love to get rid of all the hate

[Chorus]
But the thing about it is we can’t just sing about it
We can’t just sit around and wait until they fit us out
We figure out where we’re goin’ while we live in doubt
If you want my truth, listen now, we’ll just think about it
The thing about it is we can’t even think about it
Can’t afford a minutes time to figure how to bring about a change so
Take a second and shake your head and then
Take a step ahead and think about it

[Dusty Melodica]
Now the ball is in our court while we sit and watch passively
The face of the earth changes drastically after we
Clear space at this rate for strip malls and factories
We risk take a cruel fate at a pace beyond gradually
No more crops for us to harvest and feed
Self-seficiency replaced by clone copy-written seeds
Now ask yourself how can we be free
When the water that we drink is owned by some company

[Metty the Dertmerchant]
I hear the weap of the streets and cry’s of the skies
See weakness disguised as disceiptful lies
But we all lead to survive; And sleep through our lives
Weedin’ for highs, all sheep and no pride
Never speak of a lie; I let the fear fortify
My inside’s'll die tryin’ to fit in the design
I’m reminded daily of world gone crazy
Guns mean safety for orphan babies
Ignore the distortion, you’re forced to perceive and believe
What’s supersede’s as love but who agrees

[Chorus]

[Mos Eisley]
You survive in the wild with a wife and child
Our whole human history’s a line, a type and a file
So live your life in denial, and try to live on your own
Without ya colour t.v., heat, a friend or the phone
While the average guy lives an elaborate life
Waits days a slave wage beneathe a passionate eye
Now we ovulate, copulate and overpopulate
Never stop to think about the things that we were taught to hate
Now the stage is set, watch the players place their bets
Take a sec, shake ya head, feel alive, make em’ sweat
Realize that the system can’t exist with out belief
Appreciate ya true potential, un-twist your mouth and speak
We’re workin’ on buildin’ a world our children can live
Understand I can’t be free while your still in this prison
And I can spend my days preaching as so on and so forth
But it won’t change ’til we don’t wanna go on no more

A hot sun and a stiff breeze welcomed the athletes to the fifth leg of the BSG Energade Triathlon Series at Big Bay beach, Bloubergstrand, Cape Town.

It was great to see all of the top guys and girls making it to beautiful Cape Town for what was a fantastic day of racing. The men’s race was won (yet again) by a low flying Erhart Wolfaardt who ran a blistering 14:56 5km.

The ladies race welcomed home Kate Roberts in first place who was the only lady to beat me – by 4 seconds.

My race went well though, apart from my lottery swim. It was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for me in the swim. 2 waves on the head saw me coming out the swim a minute or so off the pace. This meant that the bike was a solo experience for me until I was eventually caught by one of the pros (who clearly had an even worse swim than me) and 3 drafters.

Coming off the bike I felt the best I ever have. Had a 19min 5km run and am glad to say that I was the first person home from the Atlantic Triathlon Club. My overall position was not amazing. 15th in my category; but having a look at the time gaps, on a different day I could have made top 10.

With over 400 entrants at the Blouberg leg, BSG and Energade have partnered to create a wonderful racing experience country wide. The series hosts 7 events around the country and “not only provides South Africa’s elite triathletes with a tough challenge but also offers recreational athletes a fun day in the sun.” BSG and Energade also host a kids’ triathlon series where” having fun and getting children active is the name of the game.”

Thank you to BSG and Energade for a great time.

(Taken from www.great-inspirational-quotes.com)

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an eight-year-old again.

I want to go to McDonald’s and think that it’s a four-star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.

I want to run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer’s day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple, when all you knew were colors, multiplication tables and nursery rhymes, but that didn’t bother you because you didn’t know what you didn’t know and you didn’t care.

All you knew was to be happy, because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want to live simply again. I don’t want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive when there are more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, mankind and making angels in the snow.

I want to play with my pets and my days of imagination to last forever

So here are my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401(k) statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.

And if you want to discuss this further, you’ll have to catch me first because,“Tag! You’re it!”

In most discussions regarding this topic there is always mention of the digital shift. So before we continue let’s discuss the digital shift.

Although the major digital shift took place a fair while back many companies are still not operating accordingly. Digital shifts are however still taking place and will continue to do so as technology moves forward. With the constant improvement in technology marketers are able to measure their efforts more accurately.

The digital shifts have also changed consumer behaviour and the psychology behind consumer spending. Consumers now demand more information and thanks to the constant evolution of the digital shift the gap between an uneducated consumer and the experts is considerably smaller.

Consumers allocate credibility to the expert who communicates effectively the information that the consumer is seeking. The smaller gap between consumer and expert may be a threat to credibility however, IT, guided by marketing, can create barriers and almost develop the border lines of that gap leaving marketers the experts and consumers the allocators of credibility.

To explain that a little further we need to understand how Marketing and IT differ in their competitive natures. Marketing is offensive in its quest to gain market share and ROI, finding flexibility and measurability important. IT is defensive in its control of costs, the creation of security barriers and reducing the total cost of ownership, favouring stability.

In today’s world where technology plays a major role in most marketing campaigns companies can hardly afford not to have IT and marketing working together. In fact, they should almost become one operation since any technology developments can lead to the possibility of a competitive advantage which marketers will use to gain valuable market share.

As brands develop and execute their marketing plans the necessity to unify marketing and IT becomes apparent. Very few marketing campaigns can be executed these days without the use of IT. Many of today’s successful tech-driven marketing platforms are the result of insights from programmers. By allowing IT to become involved in marketing many ideas may arise which may not have otherwise.

Despite marketing and IT being related, in many organisations marketing and IT still work as silos. Their solo operations obviously mean that the possibility of synergy is nonexistent. As strategies become more reliant on digital, this division between marketing and IT can instigate inefficient processes, communication breakdowns and excess budget spending. When IT and marketing do not work together there will more often than not be project delays, cost overruns, lack of communication, expensive consultants and unnecessary meetings.

To resolve these issues, an environment which encourages collaboration between marketing and IT needs to be created.
First, move the two departments closer together so interaction and team building are required. Technologists need to be seen as creatives rather than just executors. This allows IT room to experiment and innovate which will attract interest from marketing.
In addition to this, allow marketing to have a say in technology investments as they will ultimately make use of something that is best suited to their needs as marketers as opposed to simply having to make do with what they have or outsourcing unnecessarily.

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.

When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem”.

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest.

When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel “how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I told him to take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way we think they should. Just trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not realize it until much later.

Let me start off by explaining what The Art of Living is. (The Art of Living does however kindly ask that we do not repeat or teach any of the techniques or methods used, and I intend on fulfilling their request.)

Developed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Art of Living involves using various techniques to quiet the mind in order to achieve a greater understanding of one’s existence, giving you the ability to experience a stress-free and joyful life.

“The Art of Living Foundation is a non-profit, educational and charitable organisation that operates in more than 140 countries and is dedicated to serving society by strengthening the individual.

Our self-development programmes offer techniques that eliminate stress, calm the mind, improve health, expand awareness, resolve conflict and encourage people from all backgrounds, religions and cultures to come together in celebration and service.

As the largest volunteer based NGO in the world with a wide range of social, cultural and spiritual activities, the Foundation has reached out to over 20 million people from all walks of life.”

The Art of Living is not religion based. Sri Sri Ravi Shanka has spoken and presented his enlightened knowledge in a variety of holy temples and has presented The Art of Living to Christians, Jews, Islams and many other relions; where he was welcomed and applauded by all.

There is no real reason why you should not experience this for yourself and I would encourage you to attend the Art of Living: Part 1 course. It is however vital that you attend with an open mind as the knowledge you acquire is unique and the benefits cannot be fully experienced by a doubting mind.

I had an amazing experience this weekend at the Art of Living: Part 1 course. The idea of the Art of Living is to quiet the mind to such a state that thoughts are nonexistent, allowing us to become aware of our body and just exist in our most natural form.

It was interesting for me to experience the dynamics of the group attending the course. Some people appeared to be completely serious and had a stern look most of the time, which made little sense to me as part of what The Art of Living is meant to develop is a more child like state; one of happiness and intrigue. These people seemed more like business people attending a conference. Others though were having an absolute blast. They were the ones who took a liking to me and also happened to thank me for my honesty in the questions that I posed.

All in all the Art of Living is almost a must do for everyone. The stress of modern day life has such an extremely negative impact on our lives and most of us can use a little upliftment. Can you imagine being able to just forgive and forget? Can you imagine how nice it would be to be able to just let things go? What would it be like to live a life of acceptance?

The Art of Living can give you all of this. If you’d like to know more please visit www.artofliving.org.za or email gerlinde@artofliving.org.za. The next Art of Living Part 1 course will take place 8-13 December. When you do decide that you would like to attend this course please email me – nic@once-events.co.za. I’d just like know who you are.

I would like to thank Mukesh and Gerlinde for sharing the Art of Living with us and bettering people’s lives through the insight of Sri Sri Ravi Shanka.

So many people ask: “Where have all the good guys gone?”

Well apparently a great man, a nice guy and good friend of mine is celebrating his birthday on Thursday, so to honour this day I would like to introduce you to a good guy.

Thirty (30) years of his presence on earth has graced us with some truly magnificent moments of sharing, caring and all round loving.

He is fit, he is fast, he is spiritual and most of all he loves life in all its abundance.  I look up to him for many reasons. Talented, wise and fun loving are but a few.

His name is Raoul de Jongh.

You too can be a part of Raoul’s life by visiting his blog. www.urban-ninja.co.za.

Sharing love and celebrating friendship is part of what we do here at ONCE inspired.

One summer his dad tore down a brick wall infront of his business, and told 12-year old Will and his 9-year old brother to re-build it. A job they said was impossible… it took them a year and a half, but they did it.

“and he said, now don’t you ever tell me, there’s something that you can’t do.”

You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say i’m gonna build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that’s ever been built. You don’t start there. You say, i’m gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid and you do that every single day and soon you have a wall.

Check out Natalie’s Blog here – http://narrylikes.blogspot.com/