April 12, 2008

Well, barring any miracle on the part of Hillary “Obstinate Idiot” Clinton, it looks as if the Presidential Race will be between Barack Obama and John McCain.

One of the most amazing things about the USA is the fact that the electoral and governmental system is SO bad that it makes it difficult for the parties to interfere in your life too much, because the partisan politics is so entrenched.

I believe one of the keys to the success of business in the United States has been the ability to practice freely within the economy.

Obama and McCain are both incredibly flawed candidates. In fact, all the candidates sucked. Surely out of 300 million people we can find one person who knows enough of economics to present policy that isn’t basically idiotic and damaging.

I don’t know about you, but I think the thought of taking African hunting safari trips is really cool. T. Jeffrey Safari Company offer hunters the chance to get out there in the wilderness and go after some really big game. The sort of stuff that hunters dream of being able to go after!

They have a really cool website that fits in perfectly with their whole safari hunting theme. There’s quite a few different packages, each of them licensing the traveller to specific animals. For example, the Namibia Hunting Safari offers the hunter the opportunity to shoot, 1 kudu, 1 gemsbuck , 1 hartebeest, 1 springbuck, 1 warthog, 1 steenbuck or baboon, 1 duiker or baboon and 1 jackal.

While I have never been much of a hunter, I reckon this sort of thing would be great. Spend some time out in the African savannah, get close to the earth…

Namibia has made it easy to bring guns in and out of the country, making game hunting trips easy for prospective traveller. Sounds like a lot of fun!

Know Thyself

I’ve been thinking a little bit lately about the topic of introspection.

I’ve just come back from a holiday on the Gold Coast and one of the things some friends and I did was go to Dreamworld. The first was the “Giant Drop”, where you’re plunged 120m in free fall.

I’m someone that has been very scared of rides my whole life. I’m the one clenching with white knuckles as the Mini Mouse drops through three stories. (Yes. Three.)

But between then and now, something changed. I was sitting in this thing, legs dangling in the air high off the ground, and felt not even a hint of fear. I was just looking around, taking in the view, waiting for the ride to drop.

It eventually did and while it was a bit of a rush I felt more disappointed than anything as I stepped away.

Since then my brain has been nutting through the question of - why was I suddenly not scared?

I was convinced that I would be absolutely petrified of the ride. I was READY to be petrified of the ride. But in the end it was … a joy ride.

It’s funny how we’re constantly taken by surprise at ourselves. That not even we can know ourselves well enough to predict our reactions perfectly, let alone anyone else’s.

It seems that our conscious mind cannot comprehend our subconscious self. It also seems like life is an unwitting race by its competitors to understand it better in order to control it. Undoubtedly those athletes, those politicians and those businessmen who have climbed to the very top have, like Paul, managed to pummel their own minds to reach their success.

For them, the words “No Pain, No Gain” actually MEAN something to their daily lives.

The US Military has a different phrase for it : “Embrace The Suck.”

Another post I put up on this blog endorsed a popular quote : “Successful people are those who make a habit of doing things that unsuccessful people do not like to do.”

Just last nightI noticed in myself a subtle shift in thinking, to embracing the pain. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling nauseous. At first I started to go through my typical reactions but seconds later a new thought entered my head. One that had never come before in a time like this:

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I would embrace the pain. I realised that this period of nausea will give me experience in dealing with adverse feelings and emotions. It may not give me physical strength but if I let it, it will give me mental strength. I fell asleep almost straight away.

Another example, albeit silly. At about 18 years old I played a game with my youth group where one person wheres a glove and dunks their hand in a mass of peanut butter. They run over to another person who then licks it off their fingers. I was playing the role of licker and initially I struggled, dry-wretching as I tried to get the job done. Then a switch just … flicked. I went crazy sucking, licking, making all sort of eating noises and trying my best not to laugh too hard.

It’s like when you eat a meal and you can barely stomach it while your friend shovels it down. Same meal.

It’s like the cold rain that you’re huddling from, while a companion is dancing around like a right trollop. Same rain.

Or even a boring sermon that your pew-partner is nodding vigorously to while taking notes. Same sermon.

Look inside of yourself, find the man and take control. Embrace the suck.

(The rest of my day at Dreamworld was a real blast btw. I’d recommend it.)