Angels & Demons...

As the news filtered through this morning, I checked out the latest updates to find that Robin Williams was dead...

I knew what he had done even before I opened the thread - he would have taken his own life because the thought of facing another day was just too much. I don't know why his passing affected me so much. I liked him - apart from his role in Mrs Doubtfire - but I didn't actually know him...

His money, family, fame and humour could not save him - his Demons got the better of him and tragically for just long enough, convinced the Angels at his side to avert their gaze and release their fragile grip of his hand while he placed the rope around his neck and surrendered to their ridiculous taunts...

Everyone is battling their demons and searching for the hand of Angels to guide them through the darkness of success, money and trust - either their opulent abundance or delicious scarcity...

I know that my Angels are watching me too - antagonised  by my fear, tiredness, stress or anxiety, they too may one day avert their gaze and loosen their delicate hold on me, allowing my dark demons to snatch me from their grasp...

Sometimes in the darkness of the twilight or the early dawn I feel their grips loosen around me and my fingers slip through their slender hands as I fall into the comfort of desolation and the deadly warm predictability and promise of darkness it brings...

Snatched back and brought back in to the light, my Angels have been on the telephone, on the pavement, in the coffee shop; they have been disguised as children, animals strangers, family and friends. They come in the form of sunshine and birdsong, meadows and laughter; I never know the form they will take, but I know the exhilaration of their instant rescue as I am propelled back into the light..

You may be the Angel that snatches someone back from the abyss, you may be the last human face and voice they hear; you may be the final excuse they need to reach out and take back the hand of life. 

Alternatively, you may of course be the one that makes their other angels avert their gaze and lose their grip, releasing them to the care of the Demons who sit in constant, patient and grateful anticipation of your arrival...

So when you see someone remember that their Angels may have momentarily deserted them, their Demons could be placing the rope around the necks as you watch - when you hold the door, smile, tell them they look great or simply let them out into the traffic in rush hour; you are creating an invitation for their Angels to reappear and snatch them back...

The Demons may not go away - but you can make sure their Angels don't abandon them...

RIP Robin Williams - you made us laugh, you made us think and you made our day...

One Day things will be Different ...

...One day, 1hr 57 minutes will feel like a lifetime...

One day you will give anything to have just one more day...

One Day, people in white coats will shake their head before they give you the news, they will start the sentence with "I'm sorry..." and tell you that it's all coming to an end...

People will stand around and look at you through water logged eyes and wish that they'd had more time to play with their Dad or more time to talk to their Mum; and they will wonder why you spent all your time working so hard you missed them growing up...

Someone will get a 'phone call telling them that if they want to say good bye to you, they need to get to the hospital quick; they will drive across countries to get there and miss you by 1hr 57 minutes...

You will trade all that you have just to walk on grass, to hold her hand again just once more or tell him that you loved him, forgive him and that he's your best friend...

You will wish you had finished early and gone to the beach, learnt Spanish, played the Drums or taken up Salsa...

You'll wish that you hadn't been so angry and quick tempered, you'll wish that you could take it back and undo the tears that you caused...

You won't think about your Car, the Rolex the Gucci and Chanel; when you life flashes before you it will be the people not the brands, your relationships not your acquisitions that shine the brightest - and you'll wonder why you wasted some much time on them.. 

One day you'll remember that you never said "I love you..." enough and didn't walk in the park in the rain at midnight because it's not what grown ups do..

You will look at the ceiling and pray to your new found God that you should be given more time, you'll beg for, and trade all that you have for a few precious hours to make it all right...

But that day is not Today...

This day is a gift - all the things that you'll beg for and give anything to have more of in your final hours, you have right here and right now...

This day is a good day - you are alive and can walk on grass, hold her hand, tell him you love him and that he's your best friend...

You can travel across countries just to say hi and being 1hr 57 minutes late won't make a difference...

Today you can go to the beach, start learning Spanish, play the Drums and begin to Salsa.

Right now you can be kinder to yourself and everyone around you, choose to love and be happy...

This day you can realise it's the people that matter most and not what you pay for but what is given for free - you can pick up the 'phone and tell them what they should hear...
 
So what will yo do with this day that has been gifted - will this be the day that you decide to be different..?

Is this the day that you will thank your future self for when the people in white coats come to you with the news...?

This could be your Matrix moment - question is which one will you choose..? 

One Day is Today - make it count...

 
Epilogue - why 1 hr 57 Minutes counts...

In August 2010, I had the 'phone call that if I wanted to say goodbye to my Dad I had better get to the hospital...

I was in Barcelona, he was in Shropshire in the UK and with no flights, the quickest way was to drive - so I drove through the night like a maniac through Spain and France back the UK...

It is 1750 km from Barcelona to Shropshire and takes 16 1/2 hours to drive...

En route I got a 'phone call telling me that he had gone and that I had missed him. I checked the GPS and I was just 1 hour and 57 minutes away...

In 80 years of his life, I missed him by the most important 1 hr and 57 minutes of it, and I have never forgiven myself...

So now when I do events - I make them 1 hr and 57 minutes long - because I know that that length of time can change a life...

The Great Prison Experiment...

...years ago an experiment was started; this is what happened...

Some years ago it was decided to try a social experiment - with the only participants being people either on Death Row or serving Full Life Terms in Prison.

The Prisoners were be put on an Island in the Pacific, without any direct supervision and allowed to essentially fend for and organise themselves; and no it's not Australia...

It was thought that because people had no choice and no option of escape (everyone would live and die on the Island), they would form communities of self supporting sustainable groups.

They were simply given Two Rules to live by;

1. Be Nice

2. Look after the Island

Here is what happened...

1. Segregation - the colony became segregated on ethnic and religious lines. Not only were divisions noted in the Abrahamic traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam but also with regard to Indian and East Asian philosophies too.

There was no evidence for the validity of any of these religions on the island, the ideologies were brought with the inmates and transferred to others through indoctrination and persecution.

Furthermore, divisions within the religious groups were extended to include distinctions based upon ethnic background and nationality. The more freedom they had, the more territorial and increasingly fundamentalist in their doctrine they became.

2. Power - weapons were produced by a collective of the Gangs from the Christian and Jewish groups. They used these weapons, and the threat of attack to control the actions, thoughts and resources of the other groups.

If other Gangs attempted to get weapons, they were attacked and destroyed.

Drugs and prostitution were rife and numbers of Gangs operating outside the traditional groups were formed to control these activities - the biggest customers of the Gangs were the other Gang members.

3. Resources - the natural resources were owned by a small elite Gang at the top of the hierarchy. Ownership of the land and the resources that lay beneath it was taken by the Gang with controls regarding the distribution and supply of the resources to others on the island. 

The resources were not replenished or used in a sustainable way, and although it was recognised that no alternatives were available, in the name of greed and ownership, all resources would be expended in the future.

4. Growth - the population grew exponentially. It was a mixed colony and although it was thought that the population would be controlled by the collective, and be dependant upon the available resources of land, food and fuel; in fact the numbers doubled in just 40 years.

The colony made up it's own rules, laws and codes - anyone who didn't comply with these rules were excluded from the group and had sanctions and penalties applied to them. The structure was a loose form of democracy, however, using the system to change the system itself proved impossible for the vast majority.

5.  Statistics.

• 0.13% of the inmates controlled 25% of the assets of the Colony.

• 18% of the inmates went hungry.

• 20% of the inmates were living in Poverty.

• 30% of inmates had no access to clean water.

• 32% of the population were illiterate. 

• The poorest 40% of the inmates earned just 5% of the "income" whilst the top 20% of inmates earned 75% of the "income".

• 50% of the children born lived in poverty within the Prison.

• 5% of the inmates owned assets worth more than the other 90% combined.

• 100% of all assets were owned by the Gangs, and through this control and influence on the population, created "police" to enforce the will of the Gangs on the rest of the inmates, and protect the population from threats by other groups. 

Extortion or "taxes" were imposed by the Gangs on the other inmates in exchange for protection, all income and assets was controlled by the Gangs.

The experiment was considered a failure - the death rate in the Prison was higher than in the outside population and it was feared that at some point, they may escape the island and threaten the rest of civilisation.

If you were the Governor of this Prison Facility - what would you do..?

So where is this Colony...?

Simple - we call it Earth and these statistics are real and genuine...

Welcome Home...