Carrying on.

   Are you all familiar with a BBC program called "Who do you think you are?" It delves into the family trees of Actors, sportsmen and who ever happens to be flavor of the month.
   This week it was a hound named Greg Wallace. He does a bit of TV, writes, has a restaurant but I digress. It's his Great-grandfather Henry Roland Springett who was the centre piece of this episode. The fella worked hard to provide for his family but bad luck and tragedy stuck to this bloke like poo to a blanket.
   So what do you do when things go wrong, seriously or otherwise? Well the simple answer is keep going. Make some changes to avoid future pitfalls but if things all around you and within you are going badly you're probably not the best person to be making decisions, simple or otherwise. So where to start. Well I guess it depends on the particular hole you're in and here's where the old me and the new me part company. Old me would of suggested answers based on what I was trying, hope or from what I'd read. New me is willing to admit I'm not so sure. I defiantly do know that what works or doesn't work for me won't necessary be the same for someone else.
   I've always thought that being honest with myself, would be my trump card. It would help me sort things out but as I suggested earlier if I'm in the middle of some wrong decisions then my thinking is probably not at its best. So currently I'm still in the same loop but I pick up a few new tools each lap and my times are improving and I'm still in the race.A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.

Onwards and upwards in the pursuit of fulfillment and happyness :-)        

Did you know?

   This isn't my usual type of post but the Olympics has kind of got under my skin. So here's a blast from the past
   Before Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their human rights protest at the 68 Mexico Olympics they told Peter Norman ( the Australian silver medalist) of their plan. He supported their actions. Carlos said he thought he'ed see "fear" in Normans eyes but he said he didn't, he saw "love" Along with Smith and Carlos he also wore an "Olympic Project for Human Rights" badge, which he took from Paul Hoffman, another American athlete, on the walk out to the medal ceremony  .
   Although Norman didn't really play a part in the protest, he came in for a lot of grief when he got back home to Australia. He never ran again for his country despite running the qualifying times for the 72 Olympics. His silver medal winning time in the 200 metres of 20.06 is still being the best time ever run by an Australian over that distance to this day.
   Things didn't get much better for Peter Norman with time either. After a bad injury in 1985 he contracted gangrene. Depression, heavy drinking and pain killer addiction followed.
   The Australian organizing committee over looked Norman in playing any part in the Sydney Olympics of 2000. However when the Americans found out they invited him to be part of their event at Sydney.
   When he died from a heart attack at the age of 64 in 2006 the American track and field Federation. named the 9th October as "Peter Norman Day". Both Tommie Smith and John Carlos were pallbears at his funeral.
   Peter Norman didn't go looking for notoriety. He did however have a strong belief in God and in fairness for all. Unfortunately he seems to have paid a heavy price for not ignoring the plight of others. Hats off to you Peter Norman you were something really special.

   Onwards and upwards in the pursuit of fulfillment and happyness :-)  

    

No moans! it's just not British.

   I haven't blogged for a while. Long hours at work and poor decision making have left me short on time and ideas about what to write and I no longer want to blog about things unless there's a positive slant somewhere in it.
   So lets move on to something positive. The run up to the 2012 Olympic games was very British. Moans about the cost, the Olympic highways ( certain roads closed to all except Olympic traffic) The cost. The legacy or lack of one. The cost. Oh and the mini uproar when a block of council flats found out their roof top was about to be used as a site for a missile launcher to shot down flying terrorists.
   Then came the opening ceremony. Which left us all a bit surprised. It's genuine attempt to include all sections of the community from the immigrants who came here in the 50's (and many settled in East London) to James Bond and the Queen. The moaning subsided and a timid "well that wasn't bad, was it" crept in. we wobbled abit when Cavendish didn't win the cycling road race and we had to wait a whole 5 days before the rowers Glover and Stanning won gold in the Ladies coxless pairs. Our first ever Ladies gold in any rowing event. Since then the medals, the graciousness of all those involved in the games and our (Brits) pride has started to roll in and on wards. As the games draw to a close TV and Radio has started to home in on the stories behind those with medals and those without. The sacrifices they and their families have made and other stories to do with the games past and present. So thank you to those involved. Ken Livingstone, Boris,  Seb Coe, Tessa Jowel all the way down to the 70,000 volunteers who have changed us miserable Brits into happy positive Brits, well for the moment anyway :-)

Onwards and upwards, in the pursuit of fulfillment and happyness :-)