The cheque's in the post

There are a fair few things in this world that really bug me, I mean REALLY bug me (Happy New Year by the way).

One of those things is people who use percentages over 100 ("we're gonna give this 110%") I hate it!! There is a list of things, most of which have appeared on this blog at one point or another, however there is one that has not so far and it is time to rectify that.

It's a joke, a terrible, overused, hideous excuse for a joke and it goes like this:

John: Well what can I say about Michael? He's kind, generous, hard-working and has been a real asset to this company. And as we say goodbye on his retirement it's only fitting that we pay tribute to this wonderful gentleman.

(round of applause as Michael come to the microphone)

Michael: Thanks John, lovely words........I'll give you that fiver I promised afterwards - ha ha ha ha

People of all ages, up and down the country, birthday parties, retirements, weddings, leaving parties........it appears everywhere!!

And it could be solved with one simple phrase, often underused and always appreciated - 'Thank You'

Using every medium

Tomorrow evening in Starbucks in Chelmsford High Street we're holding our first ever carus Christmas Singalong.

It's going to be a great night and we'd love as many people as possilbe to come join us. It's the first "public" thing we've done as carus and we're really excited.

I was waiting to calm down before writing this......

....but I haven't yet!!

For the last few weeks I've been going to gigs, TV recordings and parties. I've met lovely people and had a lot of fun. There's a long story of meeting people and getting invited to stuff that ended up 2 weeks ago with me being at the recording of a new sketch show in London. I got into conversation with the assistant floor manager and before I knew it he had very kindly offered me the chance to come and work on the show the following week.

And so last Friday I went along to the studios at 8.30am and had an amazing day working there.

When all was said and done I got invited back this week and so tomorrow will once again be the floor runner.

I've been asked a lot by friends and people who I met if I enjoyed it and my answer is always the same. Sometimes when you want to do something for a long time with no success when it finally happens it can be a let-down. Last week was the opposite, I loved it, all the waiting around, all the getting food and drinks, all the nice people, all the crew, all the laughter and all the great conversations.

Amazing!!

Mr Leeder look away now

Last year we went skiing and after much umming and ahhing (great NI phrase for you all) I decided to ski instead of snowboard. This was mainly down to my good friend Matt Leeder who really wanted me to ski. I had a great week learning and really enjoyed the experience of skiing......but something was missing.

My ski mentor and all round great guy Roland Spencer told me halfway through the week that he thought I should give boarding a go. He couldn't explain why but he felt I should try it.

Anyway I put the thought to one side and assumed I would be back on the slopes this year on skis but now things have changed.

I really want to try snowboarding!!

So I've asked Christina to buy me a day pass at the snow dome in Milton Keynes for Christmas to give it a go (well.....8 hours) to see how I feel about it and get ready for April in Les gets.

Only time will tell but whatever happens ski or board I will be proudly wearing this bad boy

A week of many parts

The last week has been full of experiences.

All of these have been positive (even the ones that didn't feel that way at the time). I enter this week to come with new hope for a number of areas in my life.

Today at carus we looked at influence and prayed for influential people around the world and ourselves and the influence we have each been given. It was a really helpful time for me and was the culmination of a number of decisions and conversations I've been making and having recently.

This week is full of opportunity and as I head off to bed looking forward to tomorrow I leave these words from Henri Nouwen:

"All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope".

Spinning around

I had an experience last week of walking down the stairs outside work and feeling a bit like I was in an episode of The Simpsons. Every now and again there'll be a scene where one of the characters will be walking along and people's faces will be hovering around them reminding them of a conversation or question they've been in. As the voices all start to blend together either confusion or clarity tends to come out of it.

Well, as I walked down the stairs I was having 10 or 11 bits of previous conversations going round my head. Thankfully they didn't bring any confusion (I am not descending into a breakdown or 'hearing voices') but they also didn't bring much clarity. They just added to the general malaise of life right now. I heard someone pay tribute to a colleague recently by saying this;

"They don't have a closet big enough for all the hats they wear".

I guess we can all identify with that. We're friends, parents, children, brothers, sisters, leaders, servants, lovers, fighters, losers, winners, leaders, followers and all in a days work. I'm not looking for sympathy, I enjoy the diversity and I love the changing and rotating lifestyle I get to lead. I just wonder what it would take for everything to stop spinning for just a few minutes and more than that, would I miss the dizziness if it did??

A song

Last night at carus we wrote a song together as a community for the first time. As part of this process my good friend Ben wrote this little song (with his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek).



I am like an orange - By Benjamin Bewers

I am like an orange,
My life is so segmented.
I am not reptilian,
I cannot shed my skin.
But God is so columnal,
He supports me with His pillars.
God is all providing
And I am content in Him.


In case you're wondering we did also write a song together to the tune of "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay called "Identity".