Robbie MacKay

Another repost of my blog comments:

Thank you so much for this.
I’m about to move to the UK from New Zealand, I have 1 week of work left… working what has been my dream job for Greenpeace NZ. And part of me really doesn’t want to go.

I’m excited about the trip and work in the UK is looking promising… but I don’t want to lose the community I’ve got here

Except if I stayed I’d probably be restless still.

So I’m leaving the office, with people I’d consider family… and I’ll hold on as long as I can… but eventually it will be time to go…

Change is great.. and change sucks sometimes too.

And a quote from the original post by Chris Guillebeau:

I say: hold on to the moment as long as you can. Fight for it if you have to. Get up early and stay up late. Be brave. Choose the raw emotion, even the awkwardness if necessary. If we must go on to something else, let’s at least think about what was and what could have been.

The more intense the feeling, the better. If synchronicity and the feeling of being part of something meaningful comes with sadness, loneliness, and disappointment, so be it. I just know that I don’t want the alternative—mediocrity, routine, the safe and the comfortable.

I read quite a while back in a post by Seth Godin on Chris Anderson’s book Free, that it doesn’t matter if we want Free, it’s already here anyway.

“Who cares if we want it? It is.”

The same is true of markets, capitalism, globalisation, etc. It doesn’t matter if they’re good or not, or if we want them. They’re here. We have to deal with them while they’re here (Don’t worry it probably won’t be forever).

That’s why Fairtrade is such a good idea, and micro finance too. They work with what we’ve already got, to make a positive change in the world.

Hopefully they’re the first of many good plans.

This isn’t to say that you should always just accept the status quo. But I’m not convinced you can ignore the whole of the current system. Take the bits you can work with, and refuse the bits that don’t work. Some great successes have come from those who chose to ignore the status quo, but usually only on a few key points – not everything.

To see the good in everyone.
That is my job in life…

Why? Because I say so.. Because its what I’m drawn to do.

No matter the person there is something good there, something beautiful…
In their darkest moment when they do their worst to me… I will remember who they are.
I may get angry or upset.. but in the end I will try to see it from their side..
A friend used to refer to this as ‘Leadership creating leadership’ – seeking to inspire everyone and see everyone as a leader.

If some part of my life isn’t working its often because I’m failing to see the good in something or someone..

This isn’t to say you have to pick just one thing…I have a few of these. Many of the important things in my life fit into this framework. They’re not something someone told me to do, or something I have to do… they are just what I say my life is for. I’ve posted this quote before but I think it fits this post so here it is again:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

George Bernard Shaw

What’s your job in life? What are you passionate about? What do you say you life is for?

Don’t think about what you can do or what you think is possible…
What do you want to do? What do you want your life to be about?

Now go!

Update: Be sure to check out the next post

It’s been too long between posts so here is a quote to hold the space:

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as the mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

George Bernard Shaw

Stumbled on this on Flickr:

Sueña más trabaja menos

Originally uploaded by Daquella manera

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

- Harold Whitman