Kriss Akabusi's Blog

The support vehicle populated by Andy “Papa Adkins” Hollis @74promotions you won’t know him but he was the daddy, driver, and dedicated harmonizer; Sarah Hitchman who has the best hands in the business was our masseuse, comedienne, and surprisingly to me a real caretaker, one of those people who looks for and fills in the gaps in whatever needs doing from preparing the drinks to giving pep talks. She was ubiquitous, she is also obviously barking.  Last but not least in the chuckle bus “could say more but what goes on in the bus stays in the bus” was chief organiser, worrier, mischief maker, administrator, TACT’s own Liz Strangways @lizstrangways . These people made our business “500miles/5days” their concern and pulled out all the stops to make it happen.

Then of course there were the riders; Aidan “Porky” Lane is about 10 stone wet through and I’ve seen more meat on a butchers pencil so when asked by a journalist “why Porky?”, he started telling a story about golf & loving Pork pies… but then went on to remark it might have something to do with him humping pigs   However, I digress, the important thing was he went all the way my constant companion, as was Indy “Hill Burner” Gill.  Indy is a nut case.  Although slight, he is a ball of muscle and sinew, from day one he rode with the Hill Burner mentality by day 5 he was the undisputed “King of the Hill” taking all comers up to the top of the hill but made it look as if they were coming back down again. We had to chuckle when in our first powwow he informs us that he did two half marathons and a full marathon then decided to get himself fit so saw the TACT bike ride as an opportunity for a 4month crash course!  Tour de France watch out!!  So, we 3 musketeers with our chuckle bus rode Edinburgh-Gateshead-Masham-Sheffield some total of 260miles before our next injection of fresh blood.

In Sheffield we are joined by “Cooper Man” @coopes64 he is a bloke I met in the twitter verse mad as a march hare on line but a real gentle man in 3 D.  He looked a little like a ghost buster with his drinking pouch strapped to his back, but he’s got testicles, as he bought his bike for the ride having sponsored me some four months earlier and easily handled the 18 mph average we were turning during various 5 mile intervals. My ex international hurdles colleague @lesantoine joined in Sheffield too & was supposed to be doing one leg to Birmingham but we mugged him off so he stayed till London. Tall dark and Handsome… well dark anyway he has a bigger laugh than me and I soon found myself morphing into him his energy and humour was a great insert at this stage.  He teaches spinning now so stepped right up to the plate.  Bosh! Take that sucker, he was in.

I have to give a massive shout to Peter Hodgson who joined us here for a leg to Birmingham, a Footdown friend, he only joined to give us a hand in the fund raising stakes and when he saw the blurb about 10-12 mph thought he could do that having just prior to his 2week trip in France, done 240 miles in the West Country in aid of another good cause. Sorry, I think we may have misled Peter for after 35 miles of hammer & tongs (between 15-20 mph) he had to join our friends in the chuckle bus somewhere near Derby.  None-the-less I’m eternally grateful for his support, sense of fun and willingness to put his body on the line for others less fortunate. As Peter hopped off in Birmingham up popped “Rodders”.  Rodney Collins is 63 very accomplished cycling enthusiast, as a youngster he was the eastern counties junior champion, again very slight build but I knew from last year he can spin with the best of them. Giving away 30 plus years and 12 Kilo’s heavier he conceded his hilly billy mantel but added a much needed bit of professionalism to our last day.  We hammered it home reaching speeds of up to 25mph in significant parts of our journey, it was fun but when you have 120 miles to do that day it can be energy sapping too.  It really sapped it out of Porky so the pigs were safe when we reached London town. Last but not least Tony O’Neill (Sarah Hitchman partner) joined us on the most ugly contraption I have seen some cross between mountain/road bike and I thought no way could he make the 120 miles, but he did and O how he did. He is a strapping 6’2 inch 14 stone hunk (yes the sort that all the ladies swoon over) of a man who does marathons as well as swimming and cycling.  Added to the fact that he is a mighty West Ham United Fan, we got on famously.

So, with these 11 people we traversed the country and had plenty of laughs as well as lessons.  Take a look at our pictures and over the next few weeks I hope to share ten lessons learned from the saddle as I reflect on my time with this merry band of people.  I do hope you look in from time to time and see if anything resonates with your journey through life.

Adios Amigos

Nze K D Akabusi MBE Inaugural Chairman Address Osuh Welfare and Progressive Union

Dated 18^th April 2010

Picture Left Zik of Afrika

Osuh, Kwenu!! Osuh Kwenu!! Osuh Kweuzo nu Iseee!!

My fellow Osuh citizens I did not seek to be Chairman of this association and in accepting the position it is not for my own personal aggrandisement. It is an honour to be asked to lead the organisation and I am grateful for the trust you have bestowed upon me this day. I am aware every institution has a genesis and there for I am mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors and I am privileged to partner with you in leaving a legacy for our posterity. I thank our immediate past Chairman Pastor Theodore Onyebuenyi for his part in history, his selfless service to our union, as well as the generosity in his desire to be a co-operative spirit throughout this transition.

We Igbo’s are a proud people who contrary to popular legend have had phenomenal leaders.

I think of Olaudah Equiano the Igbo slave boy sold to Europe and America yet fought his way from slavery to be a major voice in the British Abolitionist Movement and he was instrumental in the settlement of African slaves in Sierra Leone. With his writings and books he became the greatest African writer between 1789 to 1889.

There is Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe usually referred to as “Zik“, a Giant in Africa throughout the 20^th century who through his writings as a journalist wrestled with our colonial masters and eloquently led his people free, Nigeria gaining independence 1^st October 1960 and he becoming the first President of Nigeria holding the position throughout the First Nigerian Republic October 1, 1963 – January 16, 1966.

Then of course there is Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu the great Ikemba who although a nationalist by nature could not stand by and watch the slaughtering of his kith and kin in the North of Nigeria and led his people so gallantly from 1967 to 1970 thorough out the Biafran civil war.

Igbo’s have always had good Leadership qualities and the Igbo nation was always eager to advance them-selves being pioneers in many areas with a respect for tradition, culture, education and each other but a series of events in our history from slavery, colonialism, to civil war has truncated the smooth transition of an advance polity and society. At the end of the civil war the “theme no victor no vanquished” proved hollow as we find ourselves marginalised in the country of our origin and fragmented throughout the Diaspora.

But as Ndigbo we have played our own part in the demise of our great heritage. It seems we find it easier to fight amongst ourselves than to wrestle for the rights of our children. We find it hard to support our leaders countless times choosing to pull them down as opposed to lifting them up; unfortunately such activities have been played out amongst Osuh. It is always easier to tear things apart than to hold things together, to disrupt and destroy instead of create and to nurture.

Enough is enough Umunnem, let us find a better way it is time for us in biblical parlance to “put away childish things”.

Nwanne Di Na Mba?  Let us live our motto and band together as kith and kin living in another place, with a desire and commitment to cooperate and help ourselves. Great Osuh people it is the 21^st century, let us lead by example, and embrace the qualities of Equiano, Zik and Ikemba, in order that we can leave a legacy that our children will be proud of. Let us choose on this day, hope over fear, and unity of purpose over conflict. Let us this day proclaim an end to the petty grievances, recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our people The time has come for us to get back on track with our ancestors; to choose our better history; so as to carry forward and pass it on from generation to generation.

I have a dream that young Osuh born in this century will come to an association and progressive union that is the custodian of culture, language and best practice. It will be a place where Igbo’s come together to know themselves and support one another on the journey from everlasting to everlasting. In that dispensation a united front means that we can tap into resources from within our number as well as the wider community of the Diaspora and not forgetting this wonderful host nation the United Kingdom to benefit our people in Nigeria. I see active youth wing 25-40years old that feeds in regularly to the activities and development of Osuh Union, there will be festivities, cultural events, language classes and Osuh a shining example of the ingenuity of the Igbo nation, forward thinking, striving and achieving. But this is a dream a dream that will remain in the ether unless a group of people in our time can get together, agree, hold fast and take action, massive action. Will you come with me on this journey and lay the foundations for our posterity. Will you take up the mantel from our ancestors and be the guardians of their dreams for our children?

It will not be easy, it does require, our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, and to believe that together with God’s help, we can and will resolve our issues and do great things.

God bless you Osuh, God Bless Ndigbo, God Bless Nigeria.

Thank you.

Nze K. D. Akabusi MBE

“Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.” Mark Twain

 
Wow, what an injunction and mantra for living.

I’ve been away from my blog for over a month!  I think a little update is due and I’m going to continue where I left off and elaborate on where I am at with Heather, the mother of my little boy and future wife to be. Yes, I’m going to call into the universe the true desires of my heart.
I’ve had a successful athletics career, my lifestyle business continues to fulfil all my desires, I’ve stared the director full in the face and have heard “lights, camera, action”then delivered presentations live on TV, comfortable in my own inimitable fashion: but this journey of love, acceptance and vulnerability is the scariest  of all.
The  word love does not come easy to me in relationship to a significant other. I love my children, no shadow of a doubt.  I’ve loved all the careers I have adopted and taken part in, but then I’ve never been hurt by work or children, rather I have had full validation in both of these circles in my life.
I was 12 years old when I finallystopped crying after eight years  for a mother who was not coming. Each night I cried myself to sleep as another evening drew to a close and heralded the truth that she had not made it again. Once I realised she was not coming I resolved  that I would be enough; I would be good enough to take care of myself, face the world head on. That was fine and has proved my saviour on so many levels, but I did not understand that part of that pact included a wall so high, which would grow so thick , that the heart would be rendered impregnable to cupids arrows. I certainly understand my role in the destruction of my twenty two year marriage which ended six years ago.  Likewise before that marriage, as in the last half a dozen years, many who have professed their love for me have been met with coping strategies and subversive mechanisms designed to keep me free from a relationship that might penetrate that wall and then wither the soul. It is a truism from our Platonic friend Blasé Pascal, “the heart has reasons the reason will never know.”
The last three weekends have been super. I decided to just enjoy the journey, take small steps, not over commit myself and be fully present while Heather and Alannam came to stay with me in the Bedfordshire countryside. It was fantastic to see the joy on the little boys’ face as he busily showed his mum all the nooks and crannies within the house. He embarrassed his ole man as he told his Mama, while pointing furiously at his cot bed, “Alannam crying, stay bed”. Yes, in Papa’s house no getting up once you’ve been put to bed. Ok, I know it is only a short period, but over the 3 sets of 36 hours I was able to interact with Alannam and Heather as a family and see the benefits to the child. We’ve been to parks, had meals, seen friends and Alannam has most definitely showed a different side to himself and released a new load of energy as he shuttled between the dynamics developing between us.
Heather has shown her commitment to me and our relationship over a three year period. That  was enough time for her to have  moved on and found another, as I kept her at arms length. She has professed her love to me on many occasions in diverse manners, but each pull on the bow has seen the angelic fiery flames deflected one way or another by the cool exterior designed to extinguish any object that might disturb my tranquillity. But this month I lived the story a different way. I listened to the lovely people who have encouraged me to act differently, to give her a chance to live into my dream, my heartfelt wish. To embrace her and the relationship in faith rather than fear, to rebuke the negative images designed to imprison me in the mindset of a boy who, in a desperate bid to survive, tarnished all suitors with the actions of the most significant woman to date in his life, still living to the limits of his juvenile capacity, not able to understand the complexities of the environs that withheld her from coming to the rescue of his embittered soul.

And finally I embraced the poetical words of Eden Ahbez, popularised in my youth in a song by George Benson:

“There was a boy a very strange enchanted boy…
While we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me:
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return.”

“Nature Boy” (1948)

What is it that you are pretending to not know that you know?

On the face of it a very weird question and one that I had to answer when meeting with a coach/friend of mine this week. She gave the example of the business woman, who has created a life style business. A business that in the past not just took care of her needs but that of half a dozen employees/co-workers. One in which she becomes the stalwart of a community, a shining example of success and happiness. However year on year it starts to lose revenue, she makes minor adjustments, buys cheaper products, pulls back on the marketing spend, reduces costs by not replacing leaving staff. Her heart knows that she has got a problem she needs to face up too, review her strategy, take some training address the issues, but her head tells her to style it out, turn a blind eye, keep going and it might go away.

Blaise Pascal said, “The heart has reasons that reason will never know”

This is what I think I know that I’m pretending I do not know… I’m in love with the mother of my child but I dare not let myself know because I would have to do something about it. I would have to get closer, invite her to live with me, tie the knot, worse still make a commitment. My head tells me I don’t know what love is, if I did it is not worth it, you will only get hurt again, experience the pain of abandonment, have to start all over again, feel the desolation of being taken advantage of. My heart say’s jump in with two feet, feel wild abandon, take the risk, you only live once, make it happen, it will be alright on the night, you know she’s worth it, what’s the worst thing that can happen and if it does you will survive. So I find a war going on within me between the head and the heart, between reason and love, betwixt risk and reward, safety verses security good against fulfilment.

It’s good to be single, there is plenty of safety because no one can hurt you, it takes very little risk, you just keep on doing what you are doing, living your life, doing your job, meeting many people having a laugh, it stands to reason, you come home when you want, no one to take orders from, the place is as you left it you’re in command of your own destiny, the world is at peace.

The Bible says’ “greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for a friend.” It is also quoted in the good book “if you hold on to life you lose it and if you lay down your life you will gain it.” Ha there is the rub. “To be or not to be” said the bard, if I want to gain fulfilment, experience the security of life in another, the reward of two who become one, the depths of love without limits I have to trust my heart and lay down my life so that I will gain it.

I’ve got a long way to go before I break the chains that bind me, Jean Jacques Rousseau said, “Man is born free yet everywhere he is in chains” Our past experiences, and relationships powerfully restrain us or create defence mechanism and coping strategy that were once designed to help us but now only aid to hinder our development. I’m often quoted in my speeches and seminars as saying “the past is for reference not for residence” but as always it is very hard for the physician to heal themselves. I am aware that I don’t want to live a life never having loved or more importantly have dared to be loved. I don’t want to go through life being so safe that I don’t feel secure, experiencing a good life which is not quite fulfilling. I do want to be on my death bed saying, I jumped in with both feet, I lost much but found so much more.

The cat is out of the bag, I’ve told you what I think I know that I am pretending I don’t know, what about you, in your personal life, relationships, family, friends, business, community, spirituality is there something going on that you know but are pretending to not know? One thing I do know is that if we (you and I) don’t take action on these things the head that now says “what if” will in it’s finally moments say “if only” I don’t know about you but for me in that day I want my heart that says “how” in its final beat to go “wow!”

Your life is not yours alone

“So what are you waiting for?”

Six words that I feel could make a massive impact on my life if I dwell too long on them, and probably for you too if you take them to heart.
My friend and fellow professional speaker Stephen Head had to go to the funeral of his long time friend Philip Duncombe (Phil) who finally lost his 5yr battle with cancer Christmas Day 2009.  Apparently it was a full joyful service celebrating the life of this ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life.  In the last five years he had determined that while he would fight this disease he was going to live each day as if it would be his last.  So, on New Years day the service was full and one person after another recited how much fun, exploration, growth and development had been had by each individual he had touched during those last 60 months.  Steve had seen him three days before his demise and still with no regrets or self pity Phil had told him “This year as time became more precious I have had four holidays abroad, sailing, golfing and spending time with the people I loved to be with”.  He had played the best golf courses in the world, he had engaged with friends and family with hi intensity, ensuring the best wine, fine food, and best entertainment taken in, he had set up foundations, mentored people at work and within the community, provided for all who he would leave behind including the casket that had once been his temple.  He made peace with his friends and pardoned his enemies and allowed no negativity around the illness that continued to return after each remission.  He lived a full life each day…  so what are you waiting for?
“Something’s gotta give”

Synchronicity, coincidence, happenstance one way I know when God, Spirit, or Life is speaking to me is when situations converge one atop another.  I have been in deep thought and contemplation over the last week about the life story of Steve’s friend and the application to my current “Sitz im Leben” (life situation) when yesterday another of my friends (I do have a couple), Liz Strangways who is also a work colleague and fellow sojourner in life on twitter, (the social communication community) out of the blue posted  “so what are you waiting for?”  There ensued some dialogue between us about this and what it meant to us both.  By the end of the evening I knew my Reticular Activating System was in full flow when three hours later I flicked on the television to watch the film “Something’s Gotta Give” starring Jack Nicolson, Keanu Reeves, and Diane Keaton.  Jack Nicholson playing wealthy billionaire Harry Sanborn who at 63yrs old continues to live a bachelor lifestyle dating women (under 30) in every city he finds himself until life halts him in his tracks.  Dr Julian Mercer  played by Keanu Reeves informs him as he has recovered from an emergency operation that he’d had a massive heart attack which would have proved fatal without the kind attention and immediate action of Erica Barry a successful playwright played by Diane Keaton who happens to be the mother of Jack’s latest conquest.  And so the love affair unfolds with twists and turns, avoidance of commitment from Jack, denial of intimacy from her until eventually  Jack finally realises that he is in love with Diane, towards the end of the film I heard Jack (I think it was him) or someone saying to him, “so what are you waiting for”.

Make each day your master piece – John Wooden

John Wooden was the legendary basket ball coach of UCLA  that won 10 consecutive titles between 1965-75 and his well renowned phrase to his team was, in whatever you do “make each day your master piece.”  So what is your master piece?  What are you waiting for to live a full life today?  Are you waiting for Cancer or a Heart Attack to galvanise you to live the life you have always wanted or think you may do once other things are in order?  We keep on living our life as if it has no end as if there is no final whistle, no calling to account.  I have a situation in my life which is really calling for my attention, a little boy of two year of age who I keep on saying I would do anything for, would die for, would give my life.  I don’t want to go into any deeper details on this forum but I do know that I have to answer this question in relationship with him, and if answered in the affirmative would drastically join the course of my life and that of my son. That is me, what about you, what situation in life is waiting for your attention, if you were to die in 18months time without addressing the issue would it be a source of regret, pain, disappointment?  If answered in the affirmative I ask you, so what are you waiting for?

“When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things.” I Cor. xiii. 11.

“Ageism, also called age discrimination, is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age…. The term was coined in 1969 by US gerontologist Robert N. Butler to describe discrimination against seniors… Butler defined ageism as a combination of three connected elements. Among them were prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the aging process;” Wikipedia
The tables have turned in the 21st century and I find a new form of Ageism (or prejudice against the ageing process), which might also be termed “Peter Panism”. There are Adults in their fortieth years desiring to hang on to their twenties, battling for the ground formally occupied by the aspiring prepubescent. Like Peter Pan they refuse to grow up or bow to the sands of time, stalking the ground previously rendered to enquiring teenagers. Like the 15 year old girl with sophisticated make up or the seventeen year old fluffy bearded male these maturing elements within humanity seems to be aping their mid twenty something counterpart.
For example if we look at the dating process it is common to be introduced to newly single persons who have gone through a midlife transition (or crisis) showing off the latest beau or hunks in their life as my boy/girlfriend, these gushingly coy or exuberant couples are in their forties and fifties. In the western world where marriage is no longer for life we are in severe need to find a term to describe ones mate when one reaches post twenties and the lady/man in one’s life is not your wife/husband or civil partner. I have been divorced some five years now and one lady I was dating took umbrage to being called my lady friend (I did not know how else to address her-I was 48) when she asked me to define our relationship. She was three years older than me but said, “Lady Friend is too frumpy I don’t want to be defined as middle aged mother or ex house wife!” Of course I agreed we all have a right to define ourselves according to the light within us but for me the term lady friend meant neither, it only meant that she was somebody who I had entered an exclusive relationship with but was too mature for me to be comfortable calling a girl. She wanted something dynamic, exciting sparkling, that talked about emancipation, exploration and joie de vive. Fair enough but why can’t somebody who is in their early 40’s or 50’s not be avante garde, fashionable, energetic lively and still embrace the fact (in my opinion) that they are now in their middle ages? I’m all these things but at 51yrs old I don’t want to be anybodies boyfriend and I do hope contemporary society can find a new term for this conundrum.
On another instance I recently had a discussion with a newly acquired twitter friend about me being middle aged; I also made the mistake of putting her and some of our contemporary fellows into that category too. There ensued a heated but civil debate about the subject matter. In a trimester system of young, middle and old age I termed middle age as somewhere between 40 and 60 years old. Biblically speaking man is allotted three score years and ten and then he dies, and in spite of the advances in modern medicine not much has changed as the following research shows:- www.efmoody.com/longterm/lifespan. US National Center for Health Statistics (10 Oct 2001) American males born in 2000 now enjoy an average life expectancy of 74.1 years, up 0.2 years from 1999. Females have an average life expectancy of 79.5 years, up 0.1 years. The Japanese are still the top of the longevity life list with both sexes on average living into their 80’s. Whatever in the light of this data when then is middle age? At what age does humanity arrive at the zenith and cross roads of physical, emotional and intellectual maturity? And a more important question that cannot be answered by this post where do the real youth of our community go to express their unique difference and individuality?
Some ten years ago I read an insightful book on the masculine maturing process by Robert Bly called Iron John in which he bemoaned the fact that for men (I would add woman) the rites of passage in the western world had been blurred if not made extinct. Around the same time I read another book that really impacted my growth and development by Judith Voirst called necessary losses. The Amazon editor say’s that Voirst book “demonstrate that growing and aging involve a succession of conscious and unconscious losses, including the loss of youth” I think society is impoverished when adults refuse to accept the mantle of responsibility that comes with letting go of the past and embracing the future.
The final word is given to an article in the New York Magazine:-
“This is an obituary for the generation gap. It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old. It’s not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent. It’s about the hedge-fund guy in Park Slope with the chunky square glasses, brown rock T-shirt, slight paunch, expensive jeans, Puma sneakers, and shoulder-slung messenger bag, with two kids squirming over his lap like itchy chimps at the Tea Lounge on Sunday morning. It’s about the mom in the low-slung Sevens and ankle boots and vaguely Berlin-art-scene blouse with the $800 stroller and the TV-screen-size Olsen-twins sunglasses perched on her head walking through Bryant Park listening to Death Cab for Cutie on her Nano”.

Read more: Up With Grups: The Ascendant Breed of Grown-Ups Who Are Redefining Adulthood — New York Magazine http://nymag.com/news/features/16529/#ixzz0YH4iGrMO
Each to their own I agree but still a wry smile breaks forth from my lips.

Adieu Môn Amie

I have a little test for you this week as I enter Blog 7. Off the bat let me say you are at a disadvantage if you have not been regularly exposed to British television commercials, but there in lays my point.

•    A    “Good with Food”
•    B    “I’m loving it”
•    C    “The Ultimate Driving Machine”
•    D    “Believe in Better”
•    E    “Vorsprung Durch Tecknik”

Link the phrases above with the multimillion pound Brands below, answer to be revealed at the bottom of the post.

1.    Sky TV
2.    Mac Donalds
3.    BMW
4.    Audi
5.    Cooperative Society
Like many people I often have the television on in the corner of the house; not because I am watching it but as part of the background ambience.  It was only after the third of fourth time I heard myself saying, “Believe in Better” that I realised I had taken on board the subliminal messaging from Sky TV.  What had started out with a rather beauty female voice underplayed with a humming tune extolling the virtues of Sky HD ready TV then ending by emphasizing the words “SKY…believe in better”.  Six months later I just needed the words “SKY” in the familiar tone to get me to give the pay off and I realised right there how pernicious and pervasive this form of advertising is, how easy it is to brain wash or indoctrinate the human mind.

It is easy to see then how even the most independent thinker is able to be engineered or guided to a particular way of thinking. I will never forget in my first class of principles of correct thinking how the visiting professor taught us that “simple logic is anything but simple”.  He then went on to give us this example:  an archaeologist finds evidence of human remains, some rudimentary eating utensils and a roaring fire and then postulates, it is logical to assume that this scenario shows that our ancestors had learnt to cook their food on a fire and eat in a civilised manner.  Of course, the whole class nodded in approval, it was simply logical to assume the hypothesis of the professor as correct.  That was until he then pointed out that it was possible that the human was cooked on the fire and eaten by something else
On average our five senses are being bombarded with a million random stimuli per day, and it is the job of the Reticular Activating System (RAS) to decipher the “things that matter most from the things that matter least” but it is not fool proof.
Some twenty years ago at an international athletic event I entered into a full stadium of an expectant British Public, these where heady days, the athletics team of our country was on a high, winning medals or making finals in all events. I was focused, prepared to do battle in the arena, the ambience of the crowd part of the energising process to release the coil of highly strung energy.  It is important to stay focused, wear the sound as a cloak for intensity but block out the noise to avoid distraction  when all of a sudden  as I was getting my track suit off and heading to my blocks I heard, “Papa” shrieking through the night air.  My RAS the automatic mechanism inside my brain that brings relevant information to your attention made me alert to the voice of my daughter.
When I hear the words, “everybody knows that” or “it “stands to reason” I have to ask myself “do they?” and “does it?” or is it just a bandwagon effect of lazy thinking or has my RAS linked random pieces of information over eons of time.

Let me know forget the quiz if you got:-
A5
B2
C3
D1
E4

Some people Make Things Happen

Some people Watch Things Happen

Some people Ask What the Hell Just Happened

Which Category are you?

Robb Scott and Vicky Beale of Aaron Wallis Sales recruitment http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/ Matt Markwort of Optimise Lead Generations http://www.optimise-uk.com/ and I were feed up of the constant doom and gloom, we were tired of half glass full thinking, the constant media frenzy as typified by Mr Peston www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston the talk of Countries, Banks and Companies up sizing, downsizing, right sizing and capsizing was depressing to say the least and the bars and restaurant around the capital of London down were in the doldrums along with the rest of the country.

While at an ISMM (The Institute of Sales and Marketing Management www.ismm.co.uk in London this December night 2008 we were motivated by the main speaker Matt Crabtree http://www.positivemomentum.com/ and once we collared him to join us we decided to Make things Happen, for ourselves and for our country. MIH2010 was born and the four musketeers left with a spring in the step to be the solution and not part of the problem in GB PLC economic woes.

The biblical instruction “Seek and you will find” was well depicted in the 1989 American fantasy/drama film, Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner were the catch phrase “Build it and they will come was truly inspirational. The gang of four took that advice and were soon joined by Elizabeth Van Geerestein http://www.papillonpartners.com , Gavin Ingham http://www.gaviningham.com , Dave Thomas http://www.spy-games.com and Mark Palmer http://markpalmermarketing.com the place rocked on September 17^th in Whittlebury Hall. People came with purpose, speakers delivered with passion.

The Buddhist concept of Karma and the modern day parlance “What goes around comes around” is a great way of explaining what has happen in part with the collapse of our market economy. A few greedy bankers and a multitude of lazy journalist took eighteen months to convenience Joe Blogs to stop spending and start hoarding. By the Christmas Peak, retail outlets were discounting by 80% reducing their margins to zero just to get rid of stock that the consumer society decided that they maybe did not really need just yet, and the whole system came tumbling down like a stack of cards. I’m as guilty as the next man reducing my net spending by 40% just to save for the rainy day. One conference I spoke at last year the company in question had turned over £270 million with double digit growth and a twelve percent profit margin but had decided that it might be prudent to cut meetings by 50%, cut expenses by the same margin and to allow natural redundancies to take place by not replacing those who were leaving, why? This would save a million quid on their expenditure bill. I pointed out that this otherwise successful company by taking such a miserly attitude would contribute to the malaise of the country and had rewarded hard working team members with less slice of the pie. It would be like a premiership football team who had won the FA Cup cutting wages, and playing with ten men instead of eleven and expecting the players to be motivated to compete at the highest level.

When Adam Smith the Scottish, philosopher/economist 1723-1790 in his seminal tract “the wealth of nation” wrote about the “invisible hand” and “Laissez Faire” economics he knew that in order to gain wealth one had to spend it. That one had to give in order to receive, that literally what “goes around comes around” and that if a community of masters and workers maintained this ideology it thrived whereas if one party usurped the other it unravelled “The quantity of every commodity brought to market naturally adjusts itself to the effectual demand… If at any time it exceeds the effectual demand, some of the component parts of its price must be paid below their natural rate.” It is time now for each and every one of us to be the solution and not the problem, stick the two fingers up to the naysayer and doom mongers, spend instead of hoard, support the system not undermine it  create the wealth of  the nation and Make It Happen 2010.

Adieu

Hiya all!

Welcome to my blog site. It has been a long time in coming, in particular as I’m not exactly sure what I am going to post – whether to have this as a business site, charity station or personal info channel. So, in the best guise of the undecided, I have now decided for it to be all three. Basically with a little help with a few of my angels I will try to update those who have any interest in following what I am up to on a regular basis, (define regular) once a week I would suggest, but who knows!

I’m just back from California having visited my eldest daughter, Ashanti Akabusi, who now lives and works in Los Angeles, having initially gone out there for her undergraduate programme at USC.

Ashanti – I had a fantastic time with you in La-La land and really enjoyed having a glimpse of your world.

What did I learn? Time really flies, your children are not with you for long, they will find their way, and the things you invest in them when they are young will become the anvil in which they will test all things that come their way on their journey. The Jesuits used to say ‘give me the child and I will give you the man’ because the child is the father of the man.

As I looked into the world that Ashanti inhabits, I recognise that it is one so far removed from the one I entered. Information technology, Global Markets, and Multiculturalism, have ushered us into a converging market place which is lived at a fast pace, with everything in flux; yet I see she has manufactured a niche for herself and is able to hold the tension of the family and my conservative view of the world, juxtaposed with the liberal milieu in which she swims.

And it is great to see! I am proud of the work Monika and I have done over the twenty five years of her life, Ashanti is maturing into a good young citizen, a legacy I’m happy to leave.

I thank the Good Lord for that blessing

Kriss