Snapshot of the Day

Yesterday was the closing ceremony of the winter Olympic games in Vancouver. During 17 days athletes from all over the world competed in different events after 4 years of preparation. One thing I like about the Olympic games is precisely that, the efforts, discipline and devotion this athletes have done in order to participate in this event. This year was a particular one that I follow because  this one was host by Canada and because overall Canada had one of the best performance in the historic of Winter Olympic games achieving a new record for a hosting country obtaining gold medalls. But also in this games there were several individual stories behind the athletes which made them really special. For instance Alexandre Bilodeau, obtain the first gold medall for Canada not only in this Olympic games, but as the organize country in its history. During these emotional momments the camera shown his brother who suffer from a disease. Alexandre tell us his old brother had been his inspiration during this years of preparation and dedicated his first place to him and his family. Or take the figure skating Joannie Rochette bronce medallist who decided to continue participating after the suddenly death of her mother a couple of days before her first performance. A difficult decision to make but also a brave and courageous one. Olympias are great athletes and some time the story behind can inspire us even more.

Last Saturday my wife had a problem starting the car after finishing some shoping in a local store. She called me to see if there was something to do but unfortunately, after checking that the battery was in good condition and no fuse had blown out, we did not have any clue at all. She called a town truck company and in less than 10 minutes they were there. We asked them to town the car to the closest mechanic from a big store but they suggested a local mechanic close in the area.
After arriving to this small place, the mechanic offered to have a look at the car and see what he could do. Very fast he started to run a series of tests with the help of one of his assistants and very fast pinpointed the problem. The mechanic  start hitting with a 3 foot bar something inside under the hood which made the car to start.
I thank him courteusly and ask how much did I owned him. He kindly replied: nothing, I did not do anything special. He explained me that the starter was the problem and although the problem was solved temporarily, it could happen again if the part was not replaced.
He told me that he was busy that day and had to order the part in case I decided to leave the car or  in any case I could take it whenever I wanted.
When I went to pay the guys from the town truck, they unexpectedly raised their fee and did not even gave me a receipt arguing that everything was on cash. Obviously, they took advantage of the situation since the service was already done, but on the other hand the mechanic could easily had taken advantage from the situation as well; however, his action was the opposite by been sincere and kind.

[click] Jan. 31, 2010(Sun) 09:53 pm

Sometimes our kids might drive us crazy with their behaviours. But some time, they can also perform the most inspiring action that make you feel so happy. Today, one of these situations occurred. I was about to read my book during lunch time at work, when I notice a peculiar small piece of paper slided between the pages like a bookmark. When I opened the page, I got a surprise to see one of the small card my son had made before for my birthday with a short message that says: I love you dad.
That was it, the perfect gift anyone can have in your day. You can’t help to feel so happy and grateful for what you have. My kids are the source of inspiration that fuels me when things are not going in the right direction. I couldn’t stop thinking about not only him but my whole family for the rest of the day.
A book mark not only help you find where you were the last time you were reading a book, but this particular one also help me to remember what are the most important thing in life.

[click] Jan. 25, 2010(Mon) 12:42 pm

Once in a while you experience those one of a kind moments where you can remember so vividly the experience. Curiously, these kind of the experience are usually the simplest one, but the one with more long lasting impact in ourself. I was sitting in our daily kitchen table with my older son looking at his classroom picture taken this year and going through all his classmates.

I was asking him some questions like their names and their backgrounds. The conversation started to turn very interesting with all different kind of questions I was asking him and all the answers he was giving me. I could feel a close connection during this short period of time. It was about for him to go to sleep, but my son wanted to continue talk about their friends so we continue for another 10 minutes when we decided it was time to stop.

I just realized that, kids like any other persons, want some attention and quality time to share together. And even a simple conversations like we had, make them feel important and loved. An enlightening moment and a very beautiful one.

Had you ever come across to one of those aggressive drivers that cut you off, or those who annoyingly is back tailing  you?  Of course you had,  and chances are that you met one of these individuals at least one this week .

However what I am going to talk about in this opportunity is the other type of drivers, the ones that I called “humanly conscious drivers”. They are not easy to spot, but you will meet them once in a while.  Actually I did meet one this morning on the highway, in my way to work.  It was rush hour and I was about to enter the highway where the traffic was completely solid with a long line of car moving slowly and obviously impeding me to merge.

There is nothing much you can do unless you want to play “macho” which I do not recommend.  But, it is really interesting to see how aggressive we become when we drive to the point that we actually do not let another car merge. That’s the norm.

Anyways, the unusual happens. A shinny blue BMW stop and the driver with a kindly gesture was letting me in. I obviously react quickly by merging into the highway right away while returning a gratitude gesture for his action.

The whole situation shifted, I became less stressful, my whole mood change. He made me remind that behind every single wheel there is a human being. His act of kindness certainly was a great gift this morning, which make me ponder for a while and it becomes my snapshot of the day.

Avoid confrontation, be kind and most of all drive carefully.

Interesting question and interesting answers which tell us a little bit more about ourself. Sometime what we wish for, are the most simplest things on life. Sometime what someone else wishes for are things we take it for granted.

Fifty People, One Question: New Orleans from Fifty People, One Question on Vimeo.

Today in the gentlemen restroom I couldn’t help to overheard a conversation between the janitor of the building and another person. “Look all this paper on the floor! Some people are just like pigs”, the janitor complained. And that’s just another thing. Do you know that yesterday someone broke the hand soap dispenser?.  Unbelievable, some people just don’t have anything else to do than vandalize; he continued.

The janitor was really pissed off and with a very  good reason, but I could also noticed certain feeling of frustration I guess on dealing with these kind of actions constantly.

Anyway, I thought to my self why not giving him some kindly word of recognition to  cheers up his day.  So in my way out, I told him:
“You know Sr? you are right.  There are some unconsidered people that simply do not care, but there also a lot of people that are grateful of your job.  I am one of them, thank you very much for keeping this place, cleaned and always supplied”. He smiled and thank me back .

[click] Jan. 18, 2010(Mon) 12:33 pm

Today during my early morning jogging I crossed path with another person who was also running in the opposite direction. With a quick good morning we continue our own routine  activity again. Usually when I meet other runners, I greet  them with a hand sign or a quick “hi” or “good morning“; however, it was not always like that.

At the beginning,  I found it a little bit awkward to greet someone you have not seen before. I am not 100% sure but this might be a normal code of conduct that has been socially pre-established because it happened very often to me, so I  started to follow the same code of conduct with others.

In this world were we find ourself busier than ever and where the majority of us are concentrating only on our own world, this simple act of connection can help us to regain conscience  about our human nature and the social aspect of it. A simple act of kindness and consideration might be all we need to re-connect ourself with the world. Have a nice day everyone.

[click] Oct. 10, 2009 (Sabado) 06:37 am