What is?

A while back I was sitting on my colleagues balcony looking out over the ocean. The weather presented a medium to heavy rain, pretty strong winds and all round grey hue, which was the opposite of what I wanted to see and experience on this particular day. Being down the coast, surfboard in the back of the car it would be great for a light SW wind, slightly overcast with patches of sun and a crystal clean swell bringing in perfect peaks! Instead I had to succumb to looking out over the washing machine churning salty sea water in all directions.

At some point during our time on the balcony I turned to my colleague (Liz) and exclaimed “The weather is terrible.” She sat quietly looking out over the sea and then turned to me with some insight which I now call a ‘pearler!’

“What if,” she said, “the weather, rather than being terrible, simply is?”

The weather is? The weather is... the weather is! It made sense straight away.

Liz in a moment was teaching me a valuable life lesson. By saying that the weather was terrible I am instantly creating a label which I associate with being negative. That will determine how I feel and how I act given the state of the weather. In essence then, the environment around me has a direct bearing on how I feel. By saying the weather is I am accepting that this is simply what it is today. This gives me the chance to choose how I will work with the weather. This shift in perspective means the environment can dish out what it wants as I have the choice to enjoy every moment by simply letting go of my own ‘wants’ allowing myself to be present in the NOW and decide from there. It made perfect sense.

I remembered straight away this particular day on cycle tour. We had 191km to do. 30km in we hit this sign. For the next 146.6km we continued to cycle dead straight, not one bend! We could see the trucks coming 10 minutes before they passed us. One can’t actually explain what it feels like to be out in the middle of that ride, feeling absolutely broken and dejected and tired with nothing but a bike, hot water and thousands of Aussie flies. But that IS the situation and the only thing you can do, right there in that moment, is work with what you have. I drank the water and peddled the bike. 13 hours later I was downing a huge coke and a chomping on a massive burger. Satisfying!

Being in the NOW is about working with is around you right there and then. It may allow you to enjoy what you’re experiencing that much more. Or it may encourage you to continue and push through circumstances which are difficult.

Either way, all we have is the NOW - so why not be present and give it all you’ve got?

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Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com

Everybody dies but not everybody lives

Everybody dies but not everybody lives
(sticker on unknown SA traveller’s Hilux in Botswana)

Arriving at the Botswana border I saw what is basically every young adventures dream - a converted 4x4 equipped and ready to take on any terrain that was thrown at it. Every piece of equipment needed was attached, from rooftop tents to water containers, two spare tires, jerry cans and even some funky stickers alongside a toy dinosaur (which had the border officials a bit baffled - probably thought he was smuggling lizards!) Then the owner emerged. He was probably in his late 50’s sporting a white beard, a broad smile and joined by his wife. I could see as I spoke to him that his eyes had seen many places, let alone this 5000km journey they were only a day away from completing. He told me about the night his camp was visited by Lions. Then the 150km dangerous drive to Drotsky’s caves in the desert. Not to mention the Caprivi and Namibia escapades.

Turns out his car cost a total of R40 000 and the modifications another R50 000 - thats R90000 for a dream machine that will guarantee adventure and memories! I thought about it. He knew what he wanted. Every weekend for the past few years this man would spend time modifying his vehicle, piece by piece. He would painfully weld, glue, measure and cut his way to living his dreams. Every little addition meant more ability, more comfort, more adventures. His heart was set on what he loved and his actions followed suit. He didn’t speak about about being ‘out there’ - that’s actually where he was. His INTENTIONALITY meant that he lived his dreams. I would love to be one of his grandchildren for a weekend visit!

The point is short term pain leads to long term pleasure. And thats the point - we either live with the pain of discipline (intentionality) or the pain of regret. Imagine a man sitting on a rocking chair empty of adventure because he never started with that first drill into an old Toyota Hilux. Luckily for him, it’s not the case.

What about you?
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Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com

Taking in some air

‘It is not about how much air you have, it’s about how you use it!’ Hanli Prinsloo

I recently did a free diving course with Hanli, a world champion freediver, hailing from Cape Town. She taught us about the 3 phases of breath hold as we all stretched ourselves in the pool and out at sea to dive both deeper and longer. The first phase is the ‘feel good’ phase. Your lungs, full of oxygen, feel as though they could last forever. The second phase is the ‘awareness’ phase. Here your body recognizes you’re not breathing and begins to react. It feels uncomfortable and you begin to tense up. Then the 3rd phase begins - the ‘fight’. Now the diaphragm is contracting. You feel as if you are about to die. But you have to push through!

The interesting thing about the fight phase is that the contractions you are experiencing have nothing to do with the amount of O2 you still have left. In fact the body is reading higher CO2 levels and the diaphragm contracts to expel it. You can fight by telling your mind that you do, in fact, have air!

Its the same with insight. It feels good to have those ‘aha’ moments. Reflecting on our new goals, especially around new years brings a sense of positivity as we look ahead to the difference we can make to our lives. As we begin on our new path we reach awareness phase. Your new way of life goes against all the long held habitual patterns you have lived with for so many years, and it begins to hurt. And that is when you must fight!

Fighting is about acting on your insight. Fight with the reality that you do have what it takes to change. All that resistance is simply your sub conscious hanging onto a comfort zone. Those negative thoughts are not true! Every little step you take feels like short term pain. But short term pain leads to long term pleasure - and that is where you want to live.

The amazing thing about breath hold is that it really is all in the mind. Your body has breath. Your mind just needs to hold onto that. You have what it takes to break through the wall of chaos that exists between insight and action. Your mind just needs to hold onto that!

May 2011 be different for you.

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Travis Gale has spent the last 5 years running his own development business in South Africa’s corporate world and is currently involved in various long term partnerships with clients across a number of industries. Furthermore he has travelled to conferences internationally hunting down latest trends and insights. Having cycled around the world and survived a tsunami, his passion for crossing borders often lends itself to an interesting blend of stories and insight. He sees himself as a ‘change catalyst’ and displays strength in facilitating insight into the right spaces. Find out more at www.appletreelive.com