Parks in a large urban city are special places. They are an oasis of calm; a place of tranquility, a spot where you can connect with nature in the middle of the concrete canyons and ribbons of unending vehicles.
Parks attract people of all ages and from all walks of life but regardless of who they are, they all have one thing in common. They value quietude. Watch them… lovers slowly strolling, arm in arm, along the paths; old men sitting on benches, soaking up the life-giving warmth of the sun; young parents proudly pushing stollers. Then there are others, singlely or in pairs, heads buried in a book or in their digital devices.
Occasionally someone glides by on a bike. Even the animals get into the act: dogs, free of their leashes, unsuccessfully chase squirrels. Birds flutter around, pecking for food in the grass.
Connecting with nature, in any of its forms, is important to your health and well being. It helps to release stress, sooth your spirits and sharpen your senses.
Plugging into nature affords you the opportunity to set aside your busyness, if even for only for a short while… to catch your breath and recharge your batteries.
In these challenging times, as you navigate your future, is your current plan the right one? Is a recalibration in the cards? Like to discuss it? Text/Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com
NOTE: Following my own advice, I am going to take some time off to catch up on my reading, sharpen my senses and recharge my batteries. If you live in Toronto, we might actually meet in a park! I’ll see you back here in August. Enjoy your summer.
It’s practically impossible to escape the daily onslaught of bad news, negativity and fake news these days.
The media is pumping it out 24/7. The constant drum beat of the cable channels and the increasing noise in the twitterverse could take over your whole day, if you let it. The naysayers and doubters would have us believe that we are doomed.
We’re not. Don’t give in. As ominous as the sky may look, it is not going to fall. There are countless people like you, daily doing their best, moving ahead and making a difference in their lives and others.
They know that life is not about waiting for the sun to come out and the rain to stop. It’s about learning how to dance between the drops.
In these challenging times, as you navigate your future, is your current plan the right one? Is a recalibration in the cards? Like to discuss it? Text/Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com
Never for the sake of peace and quiet deny your own experience or your own convictions. Dag Hammarskjold.
Have you ever found yourself sitting at 35,000n feet, on your way to a business meeting or perhaps coming back from a holiday, your mind wandering, quietly looking out the window, thinking, “Do I have this picture right? Could someone have switched the script when I wasn’t watching?
Could it be that you have outgrown your present situation? That you’re in another one of your growth spurts? Could it be time to move on to something new, more challenging?
Could a change be in the works? Time to break from the past?
Change isn’t without risk, it’s true, but it’s equally true that being willing to put down your old stories doesn’t always mean giving up the “good life” and all that for which you have worked so hard. Nor does it mean you can’t be consistent with your entrepreneurial, money-making instincts and skills.
What is has everything to do with is your attitude, your willingness to believe in yourself and in your innate, unique talents and to trust yourself.
Letting go of the familiar isn’t for everyone, but if you feel in your gut that you have plateaued and think that there is brighter, more exciting future beckoning, there isn’t a better time than today.
Our world is changing, bringing with it new opportunities and broader horizons open to those willing to look up and see them.
In these challenging times, as you navigate your future, is your current plan the right one? Is a recalibration in the cards? Like to discuss it? Text/Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com
The future is called ‘perhaps’ which is the only possible thing to call the future. The important thing is not to allow that to scare you. Tennessee Williams.
The other thing to remember is that your future, in large part, has to do with what you are doing today.
So the question to ask yourself is this: Is what I am doing today moving me towards or away from how I envision the future?
In these challenging times, as you navigate your future, is your current plan the right one? Is a recalibration in the cards? Like to discuss it? Text/Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com
The Zen Master poured his visitor’s teacup full and then kept pouring.
The visitor watched until he could no longer restrain himself.
“It’s overfull,” he exclaimed. “No more will go in.”
“Like this cup,” the Zen Master replied, “you are full of your own opinions and assumptions. How can you learn your truth until you first empty your cup?”
Every epiphany has a common point. Regardless of the specific event or whatever triggers the enquiry, something happens that awakens our consciousness or reminds us that we have drifting.
In our heart of hearts, we know that we have to stop and take stock. It can be any number of events and there is no particular age when it happens.
Perhaps, it’s getting caught in a corporate restructuring. Maybe it’s the loss of someone you loved dearly, through death or divorce. Perhaps it’s a financial failure or an unexpected, life-threatening illness. For some it is the ticking of the clock.
Then again, maybe it’s none of the above; it’s just a deep-in-your-soul feeling that you’re off the track and it’s time to get real while there is time.
One day, whatever it is, you realize that you are all caught up in a life that is no longer yours. You started out with your own dreams and plans, and dutifully followed suit, but along the way, someone or something hijacked them.
It’s at this point when you begin the long, slow process of growing into fuller maturity and becoming more human. For whatever reason, experience, education and observation begin to converge and life suddenly starts coming together in a manner it never had before.
Until you reach this point, the surface questions are no more than idle chatter cluttering up your mind. Life’s daily routines and the idleness of the media seem to take on an unwarranted importance that only serve to further distract you from what you think is truly important.
Everything looks all right, but it feels all wrong.
Are your bored to death with all the old stories? Do I have this right, you wonder? Could someone have switch the script when I wasn’t watching?
If this resonating, the Zen Master may have had it right. There’s a good chance that your cup, too, is running over the brim and a rethink is in order.
Life is moving at lightening speed. Change is rampant. It’s giving many pause to stop and take a look at themselves and at what they’re doing. More to the point, why?
Could a personal reinvention be on order, or at the very least, a new challenge?
None of us are who we were when we first started out. We reinvented ourselves many times along the way and every time took on a new challenge.
Perhaps, it’s time again. By stretching the limits of what you have allowed yourself to do in the past, you were able to do more than you ever thought possible. You can do it again you know.
Maybe you have have been thinking about a new business, moving to a new city, going back to school, or making other changes in your business or personal life.
Regardless of what it is, if you are hungry enough, are willing to work for it and pay the price, you can do it.
You only get one life. Resolve today, right now, that you are going to live it on your terms and honour yourself.
Navigating your future. In these changing times, is your current plan the right one? Is a recalibration in the cards? Like to discuss it? Text/Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com
