Making Lemonade

The resiliency of human beings never ceases to amaze me.

Case in point, one Mr. Matt Weinstein. Mr Weinstein came to my attention today through an article in the Toronto Star

Mr. Weinstein is the founder of Playfair Inc., a company that shows organisations to have more fun in the workplace.

Unfortunately, Mr. Weinstein and his wife invested everything they had with the infamous Bernie Madoff . The couple saw their net worth go from seven figures to four in one fell swoop. In the article in The Toronto Star, Mr Weinstein recounts the moment when he learned that his lifes work had been wiped out.

"It was December 11th, 2008. I was on vacation in Antarctica, when I got a page from the icebreaker I was on to go up to the bridge to take a satellite phone call. I started running because these phone calls cost $10 a minute".

On the phone was his wife with the bad news.

"We realized at that point that we were no longer the kind of people who could afford to talk on a satellite phone" he says with a laugh.

Already in demand as a motivational speaker, Mr Weinstein immediately saw the cathartic opportunity in sharing the story of his misfortune.

He has created a new presentation entitled, "What Bernie Madoff Couldn't Steal From Me". He also has a book deal for a new work entitled "Losing Everything".

I, for one, will be buying this book when it is published just because it seems like the right thing to do.

I leave you with the following quote from the article and one of my favourite poems, and while Mr. Weinstein is "speaking a word about his loss", he is using his experience to teach the rest of us. I think Rudyard Kipling would be OK with that.

"Long term happiness is not about your bank account. Asking for support, asking for community....its about the kind of positive relationships you can make".

"We always have our eyes fixed on 'They have more money than me' or 'if only I'd invested this', but thats not what it is all about".

"When all that is gone, there is still a lot left".

amen, good sir

IF.....

IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

Its almost August 4th, Barack Obama's birthday, and I wish him all the best. I have a lot of respect for him and I hope that he gets the chance to celebrate with his young family.

I happen to know this, because it is also my own birthday and I am honoured to share this day with a man of such esteem.

I am not much for publicly celebrating my own birthday. Few of my friends even know that it is my birthday, and I have worked hard to not promote my birthday. In short, this is by design, so pity me not.

However, I do like to mark the day by reflecting on the last twelve months and "taking Stock" as it were.

The last twelve months or so has been a profound reassessment of my own life, spurned by a series of events. This began with the death of my father in July 2008.

Soon after, I watched two young female friends put in the ground due to cancer. In October I had to put down my beloved cat, a friend of fourteen years, ironically on Thanksgiving Day.

Overwhelmed by death, I began to realize my own mortality. The fact that I had been so fortunate to not have attended a lot of funerals up to this point in my life was a blessing. Though my Dad should have lived for a few more years, at the end of the day he contributed to his own demise. Losing two fine friends to cancer who are in my age group is just plain unfair. Having to proactively participate in the demise of my beloved cat/friend of fourteen years was truly gut wrenching. I was getting used to family and friends dying, but I was still unused to actively participating in their demise.

Out of all this grief came .a realization that it could be me taking the big dirt nap at anytime. Spurned to action, I decided that I should take that trip to Ghana that I had been dreaming about for so long.

All this led to an idea of trying to do a little good . All that happened from that post led to the idea of this website .

So, as I raise my glass to absent friends, I acknowledge that their demise inspired me to do better in my own life. In the death of others, I have learned much. This past year has been the most difficult and rewarding, chock full of teachable moments.

My brother once said to me " you can run your life, or let life run you". This year I finally committed to the better choice.. The next twelve months hold possibilities that were unimaginable a year ago.

And Barack, before I blow out my candle, I'm gonna wish you all the best in your next twelve months. May the next twelve months teach as us much as the last twelve months.

Happy birthday, dude.