Have you ever noticed how deep and meaningful some songs can be? I mean, on the same token, some are unadulterated rubbish, though many songs that are written purely from the heart of the artist can really hit home for us.

The question is, how often do we really stop and carefully listen the the lyrics and ponder the meaning and how that relates to us as individuals or as a community.

You don’t have to agree with what is in every song, nor do I even agree with lyrics in some of the songs that I like. I just like to keep an open mind for knowledge!

Here is a classic example of a song that I enjoy, though also has a really powerful message. Do you have songs that can lift you up as well?

Enjoy.

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It’s a simple question with huge consequences to your life. Do you enjoy what you do? Well, do you? Would you do it every day if you didn’t get paid for it?

For most people the answer is an emphatic “NO”! For me, well I’m not quite at the other end of the scale but I am pretty close. I work my own hours in my own home and spend the entire Northern Hemisphere winter doing what I love; skiing! However I must admit, even some of my business tasks aren’t exactly what I think I was born to do.

So where to from here?

Do what you love doing in your spare time and if you do it consistently for long enough, you will certainly figure out a way to somehow monetise it.

I hear you from here, “but I don’t have any time”. Bull s**t. Utter crap. For 90% of the population, here’s a way to get extra time: Stop watching crap on television. There’s a bunch of hours already!

Then I hear you say, “yeah, but I need to relax”. Need to relax so you can go back to the same sh*t job tomorrow. Good for you. Why not get off your ass and go and do something you love at least. What’s the worst that can happen?

If you want to come up with excuses, fine, I don’t care. If you want to take this advice and make something happen, good for you! Keep me posted.

I’m sure you’ve seen a thousand things about the US Airways plane that made the amazing emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York against all odds.

Well, I first wanted to pay homage to the pilot and the crew for this tremendous result and also to say that even when the odds are stacked against you, there’s always the chance of a miracle!

Pilot training is one thing. A huge amount of flying hours is another thing. The reality of a crash landing over water is something that you just can not train for.

This is where sometimes instinct has to kick in. Trust your skills and abilities. Believe anything is possible and then walk away to tell the tale.

The physics of landing a jet on water is complex to say the least. Some water landings have failed in the past, some catastrophically. If you dip a wing in the water at any speed, that wing is going to slow down and pull hard against the plane itself. If you are going too fast, it could be disasterous.

A plane is not built to withstand water landings.

Against all odds, every single person on this aircraft survived with little injuries.

My hat goes off to the pilot and this amazing job.

Would you be able to keep your cool and perform a miracle? All I can say is… wow!

This post today is something very special to me and I’m sure it might hit a few notes for some others as well.

My wife’s Grandmother is now 82 years old. Her life story is one of the most incredible you will ever hear. After surviving concentration camps in WWII and escaping the Nazi’s by playing dead in a swamp of dead bodies for several days whilst the Nazi’s came through and stabbed random bodies to ensure they were dead, you know her life was meant to be special.

Although she has also suffered the loss of two husbands tragically, she has grown to see a beautiful family of a daughter and two grand daughters, one of which being my wife, Liza. Her second husband passed away many years ago now and with him, her dreams of travel.

Recently, Liza and myself sparked those dreams once again by asking her things that she always wanted to do. She humoured us with these questions, talking of what were now seemingly unreachable dreams of taking a cruise. At 82, doctors have said she can no longer travel by air and now has her body feeling the effects. She even looked longingly at brochures before throwing them in the bin and justifying with “I’m too old” or “I don’t have the time”, when really, it was just the money and the reason to do it.

Liza and I have always talked of doing something special for her grandmother and just a few weeks ago sat down and made a decision once and for all… “why not send your grandmother on a cruise?”. We acted immediately. Liza’s grandmother is not getting younger, so the sooner the better we thought and just a few days later we’d found the perfect trip!

12 days cruising from Sydney Australia around the Pacific Islands from the luxury of a balcony suite on board the Dawn Princess, a five star super-liner!

Some of you may be asking how could you justify to do something like this for someone special in your family. My answer is, how could you not do something like this. We may not get this opportunity again if we wait.

Money is just an idea anyway. Who knows how long Liza’s Grandmother will live? Maybe decades? We are just so grateful that we have the opportunity to do this now.

I wish for you the chance to see the look on the face of the person you love when you do something special for them that they have wanted to do all their lives. That moment in itself was worth every single cent!

Even if it is not something as lavish as a cruise, even if it is just the gift of time… Give a gift today to someone you love while you still have the opportunity!

As I said many times through the games, did a particular Olympic story stand out for you?

Did an Olympic story touch you? Did you learn anything about your own trials in life?

What about the German weightlifter that lost his wife last year? The walkers from different countries that shared water bottles to pour over themselves in the Beijing heat? The comeback of the cyclist who nearly did a few months ago to win a medal?

Absolutely inspiring!

If you don’t know what I am talking about, read a few Olympic stories and find some inspirational ones of your own!

I just wanted to highlight a difference between the Olympics and life.

In the games, only one person can stand atop the medal dias. Only one person can win the gold. This provides so much more incentive for all the competitors to do thier personal bests and drive each other on to reach new heights.

In life, there is rarely that same push for us to be the best we can be. The result is that so many people, myself included, often perform below thier best and some even never reach anywhere near thier potential.

This is because there is no push for that top spot on the dias!

So what’s the positive?

Well, because there is no dias, this means that anyone can shoot for the summit. ANYONE!

Everyday we have a choice as to what level we want to perform to with our lives. What choices we make daily decides who we are and how we grow.

I guess I should make some gold medal decisions today!

What a tremendous come from behind victory for the hockeyroos last night.

Down 4-1 against the powerhouse Korea at half time, the Aussies looked well and truly gone. No. I witnessed one of the greatest international sporting comebacks in a long time.

For the Korean’s, it must have been heartbreak. Maybe they took their foot off the gas. Maybe they let the Aussie’s back into the contest.

No matter what was going through the heads of the Koreans, the Aussies never felt out of it and fought back to win 5-4. Inspirational.

And that’s just one of the amazing stories.

It really does highlight the old saying, “never give up”. If the Aussies go on to win any kind of medal, I’m sure they will look back on last night and see it as a huge turning point.

Never give up!

It’s important in life to always know who you are and to be able to stand your ground.

If you allow others to tell you who you should or should not be, you are giving away part of your soul. Sometimes, your identity is the only thing you have.

I remember hearing a famous quote once that said if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. How true.

Find something in your lfe you are passionate enough about and develop that passion. Most importantly, never ever let anyone else tell you what you should think or do about it!

Become a person that others look up to and admire because of your strength of character.

Just remember not to get this confused with being stubourn. Keep learning and keep growing and become even more passionate instead!