Holiday Craziness Begins - Keep Perspective

Well it's been far too long since my last blog entry. My apologies. It's been a busy November, but that's no excuse. I started the month with a great trip to one of the premier student leadership conferences in the world, the Ontario Student Leadership Conference. This year was the conference's 30th anniversary and brought in some pretty big names.

I had the chance to hear and meet Craig Keilburger of Free the Children (www.freethechildren.com). Then we heard from Dr. Samantha Nutt Executive Director of WarChild (www.warchild.ca) an organization that works to provide humanitarian assistance to children of war affected areas around the world. Both are great organizations that are making a difference. Check them out and lend your support. Both speakers were passionate, empowering and enlightening. Although I was at the conference to speak, I gained much, much more by listening to the other speakers there!

This entry I wanted to remind you on this "Black Friday" in the US (The biggest shopping day of the year) to maintain perspective during the hectic schedule of the holiday season. At this time of the year we are bombarded, even more than usual, with commercialism. The ads for the newest and greatest toys and gadgets are constant. We are tempted continuously to believe that we just had the perfect whatever, we'll be happier. Have you noticed how often the ads at Christmas talk about buying yourself a little something while you're shopping? What used to be at least a process about thinking of others has become as much about ourselves as anything else.

So this holiday season try to filter out some of the advertising, take a deep breath, and remember what really counts. Don't get too wrapped up (pardon the pun) in the gifts and stress but instead focus on what matters, family and friends and time together.

Be thankful for all that you have and appreciate it. And, if the spirit moves you, consider forgoing a few presents in order to help those less fortunate instead. Last year my wife and I decided to skip presents to each other and instead sponsor a child in Africa for a year. It was a great decision that we haven't regretted for a moment. Whatever we'd have gotten each other would probably be at the back of the closet by now or forgotten, instead we have the picture of our sponsored child on the fridge and know that our small contribution is making his life at least a little bit easier. A great feeling.

So don't let yourself get stressed, frazzled and irritated this year. Relax, take in the beautiful spirit that most people are in most of the time during this special time of year. And remember what this time is really supposed to be about. There is nothing wrong with giving and receiving gifts, it's a wonderful part of our holiday tradition, but let's not let it because the WHOLE tradition.

Stop the Hype and Live Life

For most of us in N. America right now H1N1 is the topic of the day. To vaccinate or not, when will the vaccine be ready, will there be enough, what are the risks... etc etc. SO I thought it was a good time to talk not about the flu, but about maintaining our composure and peace amid stress.
Effective people, good leaders, and anyone you admire probably, are good at finding a sense of
peace amidst chaos.

I've been really frustrated the last few weeks with the media coverage of the H1N1 pandemic and could be silent no more. So, with my apologies for giving you more to read about this topic, here are my thoughts...

First let's talk about the word "pandemic". It itself, the word carried with it connotations of fear. People hear that word and freak out. I think they link the word with uncontrolled illness and widespread deaths (a la 1918 flu pandemic). I hate that the media uses this word. They will say that it is simply the accurate medical term for the H1N1 flu. I would argue that is also an effective way to create fear, and thus interest, and therefor higher ratings! In the end, the news is still a business and if they can't make us watch, they go out of business.

SO let's clarify that word "pandemic". A pandemic according to Websters is: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Note that what the definition DOES NOT say, is that a pandemic = a high number of deaths. But, I would argue, that's what the news would have you believe.

The H1N1 flu has caused rampant fear in many people across North America. You can't escape hearing about it and reading about it and for many, it's begun to create irrational, frantic
behaviour. Just last week our local emergency room had to call police to control irrational patients in their waiting room demanding the vaccine (that wasn't even available at the hospital at that time).

In times like these it can be very easy to lose focus and get swept up in the storm and the hype. I wanted this issue to help you to maintain focus and perspective. This is NOT the apocalypse and, contrary to what I think many news channels would like for us to believe, life will go on after this
flu. Is it serious, of course. But do we need to panic? Hardly.

Let's look quickly at the facts:

• Total Reported Deaths in Canada from H1N1 as of Oct 29th: 95
• Total New Deaths this past week in Canada: 6
• Percentage of People who contract H1N1 who have died worldwide: 1.4%
  

So listen, I'm the first to be cautious about infections (for those who don't know, I'm a transplant recipient. I have a suppressed immune system. I'm at greater risk than probably anyone reading this right now). BUT, we need remember, odds are, if you take care of yourself and are sensible,
your odds of even contracting the flu are probably around 20%. And even if you're among that 20%, your odds of serious complications or death are less than 5%.

So let's get back to living our lives. Yes don't be stupid or hang out with people who are sick (why would you want to?) but don't stop living your life and waste away your time worrying about thing you have no control over. Enjoy life.

Stay healthy. Stay safe. Live Life!