Monday Motivation 24th Jan 2011

Life is like a book. Each day is a new page. May your book be a bestseller with adventures to tell, lessons to learn and tales of good deeds to remember. - 

Borrowed from someone- anyone know who?

Overwhelmed -it happens,....

Someone I am close to is feeling very overwhelmed. I wanted to dedicate this to her. I really appreciate this poem. A bit late for my mid week inspiration but hopefully helpful. 

 

Whispering doubts
Enter your mind
Nudge away confidence
One thought at a time

That solitary voice
Detrimental, undaunted
Incites you to fail
To leave your dreams behind

Concern for the unknown
Trepidation and terror
Insecurity stings sharply
Almost undone

Seize control
Squelch the ambiguous
Fight through the feelings
Let the inspiration emerge

Face the voice of doubt
Stand down trepidation
Watch the fear
Slowly subside

Revel as optimism
Replaces whispering doubts
On the rollercoaster journey
Of your creative mind


----by Patricia Gatto

People First January E-News is out today

We decided to start the year by looking back. It was a big year for our E-News, growing readership by 22%. As we looked back over the year, ten stories stood out as the ones our readers responded to the most strongly. 

Check out  the January E-News to see what they were.

Monday Motivation 17th Jan 2011

Kites rise highest against the wind; not with it.

Sir Winston Churchill

Thunderbirds and the Aussie Floods/Haiti earthquake etc

The flooding in Australia has now spread to five of our six states (we have bushfires in the sixth state). Its weird going from massive drought to massive floodwaters in such a short time.

We are talking astronomical amounts of water being poured out on us, a lot of flooded houses and much heartbreak and also many positive stories of courage, love and respect. There are 22 000 volunteers mobilised this weekend in Brisbane to clean up houses, streets, schools and community facilities.

Our hearts go out to the families of those who have died. We are also mindful that 560 people have died in Brazil this weekend in their worst ever flood disaster.

I always liked the show Thunderbirds. The characters worked for an agency called International Rescue- which has been created to help those in grave danger using technically advanced equipment and machinery. I am full of admiration for the amazing rescuers from across the globe who in the last year have rescued and rebuilt in Haiti, Pakistan,  Russia, Greece, indonesia, New Zealand and now Brazil and Australia.

I was wondering is it time we created an International Rescue agency for the globe's natural disasters? We all still seem to be taken by surprise by them, fundraising and infrastructure rebuilding is seemingly ad hoc. For example, I guarantee that the rebuilding in Brisbane, Australia will be swifter than that in Haiti. There are some in Australia who will have the right type of insurances and others who don't. There  were four million  Pakistanis made homeless in 2010. Many of them currently still love in tents. Is any of this right?

New Zealand has an amazing scheme the Earthquake Commission (EQC) set up in 1945 to provide New Zealand residential property owners payouts for damage caused by earthquake, natural landslip, volcanic eruption, hydrothermal activity, tsunami; in the case of residential land, a storm or flood; or fire caused by any of these.

For more than 60 years it has been collecting premiums for a fund called the Natural Disaster Fund backed up by reinsurance from overseas groups and a Government Guarantee.

EQC also researches about matters relevant to natural disaster damage and it has brilliant education and information programs to help people prevent and mitigate damage caused by natural disasters.

Surely, something similar on a global scale would help our world?



My prayers and concern to everyone around the world who face displacement, homelessness, fear and pain. And thanks to the amazing team of "International Rescuers"

Working today in Sunny Adelaide

Preparing our January, 2011 People First E-News with newsletter editor Melody.
The first edition for the year is a look back at what was most liked in 2010.
People First E-News increased readership by 22% over the year which was really pleasing.

Wednesday: Being Thankful

I have a friend of mine who has been posting something that makes her thankful on her Facebook page each day for a year. Now she is in the direct path of a flood zone, I will be interested to see what she posts! It has been a dreadful year across the world with more disasters in the last year than for many years. Add to that the global downturn and you have a situation where many, many people on NYEve told me " 2010 was a horror year"

My sister showed me a website today that is encouraging people to post positive messages called: thankful for. It asks the question: what are you thankful for today?

Good question. At a time when life is tough for so many,  I worry it sounds a little cheesy. BUT when I hear people complaining about what seem to be small issues, I wonder do we need to acknowledge what we do have?

After my initial reaction,  I did some quick searching and found that there is a large amount of research in the area of gratitude that suggests people who are more grateful have:

• reported higher levels of well-being
• reported being happier, less depressed and less stressed
• higher levels of control of their environments
• purpose in life
• greater self acceptance
• better ways of coping with life's difficulties 
• a lower likelihood of avoiding problems
• better and longer sleep
• less substance abuse
• more altruistic attitudes
• higher empathy

Although I could not help wondering which comes first? i.e. if I sleep better, am I more likely to be grateful and positive? If i have a purpose in life, am I more likely to be grateful about things?
What do you think?

In the meantime: Today, I am grateful for family.

Monday Motivation 10th Jan 2011

Very appropriate for my first "official" day back at work!!

Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Martin Luther King

Extraordinary devastation: Aussie Floods impact

Imagine sitting in your living room being told that in less than 12 hours it will be underwater.

This has been the scenario for thousands of Australians living in the Northern (tropical) state of Queensland as floodwaters of 10 metres/30 feet have swept through about 300,000 square miles (500 000 square km) of the state. The floods – triggered by torrential rain  in December/January caused by the La Niña weather pattern.

If you are like me, a figure of many thousands of miles is meaningless. To give you an idea of how big an area is flooded:

• It is about the same size as all of France and Germany- combined
• It is THREE TIMES the size of England
•  It is an area bigger than Texas (110% the size of Texas to be exact)
• it is about three times the size of New Zealand
• about half the size of South Africa

Photos of the big flood are here. Below is the town of Emerald mid flood. Picture this multiplied over 22 towns.

Town of Emerald, Queensland, Australia

Roads and rail lines have been washed away, mines closes, farms awash, businesses closed, airports shut down. The damage is billions. The good news is how low the loss of life has been (although every death is a tragedy). The other bright spot is that feared looting does not seem to have been occurring.

The real damage is the human cost-jobs lost, homes and gardens washed away and businesses lost. Heartbreaking is how soon after Christmas this has been which has meant presents of course have been lost, What I find strange are people's priorities. People have been putting their plasma TVs up high to keep them from being waterlogged (surely they can be replaced with insurance) and turning up to evacuation centres counting their  Wiis in their most precious possessions. Interesting exercise I have been thinking. What would be in your top five possessions you would grab? For me:

1. Photos?I realise that while I have my photos backed up, they are not all backed up online. 
2. Passport? (always close to my hands anyways)
3. Birth certificate? An essential item for proof
4. Phone (everything is on it)
5. Painting from my Grandmother (not very portable)

Of amusement to overseas visitors but far from funny for Aussies has been the impact on wildlife: "Bewildered and hungry kangaroos can be seen gathered together on any scrap of high ground and at night the sound of bellowing cattle, lost and confused by the water, fills the air." (Bonnie Malkin, The Telegraph). Venomous snakes have been forced to find dry land scaring people in the process with one woman bitten.

One of the biggest challenges in a disaster is matching the skills of volunteers to the on the ground needs. Often many people want to volunteer and the systems are not ready for them and agencies can't utilise their skills. This has led in past disasters to spontaneous volunteering which is not linked to formal agencies. Sometimes these efforts are fantastic and sometimes they are actually counter-productive.

Frustratingly, is that while sometimes agencies need human labour on the ground they are resistant to "unskilled" , "untrained" volunteers. In the 2010 Christchurch earthquake, there was a major re think as people acknowledged that the emergency clean up was so huge, that as many hands as possible were needed. Many of the "safeguards", rules and regs were overturned in the process of getting volunteers out to stop chimneys collapsing on people etc. This has led to an interesting discussion. Have we so over bureaucracised volunteering that we make it hard to mobilise people when we need them?

On this occasion, volunteers are being channeled to a central registration point: CREW. Community Response to Extreme Weather. This central point will take volunteer details and channel them to all agencies that need hands on the ground.

The Volunteering Queensland team today said "volunteers may not be required for some time but people should not become frustrated while waiting to be called up. Help will continue to be needed for some time.

In the meantime, thank you to the heroes of Australia who have supported others. These include neighbours, the emergency volunteers, police and army.

To aid the recovery efforts, the Queensland Government announced Major General Mick Slater will lead the process. Donations to the Premier's Flood Relief Fund can be made here.

Monday Motivation 3rd Jan 2011

As we prepare for the year:


Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day . . . . is the rest we take between two deep breaths. 


Good luck with 2011!