World Banker on Economic Shifts

World Banker on Economic Shifts

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http://youtu.be/mOwZwkhFemQ

Informative and succinct summary of how the world works and how it is changing. To be even more succinct what he is saying is that in the past the minority in the rich west had 80% of the world’s wealth but their share will reduce to 35% by 2050. Since the west has less that 20% of the world’s population that is something to celebrate as a human being but as a citizen in the west the implication is that we collectively have less because our share of the pie is smaller thus the ‘austerities’ which cannot change the situation but which acknowledge our ‘loss of means’. However there seems to be something missing from the story .. we have been given the horizontal but not the vertical. We also need to look at the distribution of wealth between the ultra rich, the middle class and the poor wherever they are and at making the shift along this axis.

Love and Destiny

Love and Destiny

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‎”Love is a choice; it’s not magic. There is no such thing as ‘the one. You are not destined for any relationship other than the one you help create. Spend enough time with another loving person, and biology eventually kicks in. So use your head and find someone you really enjoy spending time with, who you don’t feel pressured to impress – someone who makes you feel loved, relaxed, and comfortable in your own skin.”
~ Marc & Angel

Love is a choice that creates magic. The ‘one’ is the one to whom you fully commit. The relationship you help bring into existence is a conspiracy between you, the other and the universe; whether it became your destiny after it was chosen or was chosen because it was your destiny is, perhaps, a matter of perspective.

The Hero Within

The Hero Within

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I woke to the news of Obama’s re-election. America had voted for ‘no change’ rather than change for the worse. Four years ago Americans, and many non-Americans, saw Obama as a hero messiah who would bring about real change:

When change did not come those, like Deepak Chopra, who believed in Obama said that he was a realist as well as an idealist and was biding his time:

But real change can’t be brought about by a President. By the beginning of 2012 even Chopra’s enthusiasm had faded:

http://youtu.be/TUSA7yIN7Ns

Real change will only come about when we, individually, really change and find the ‘hero within ourselves’.

This song came to mind:

We need to acknowledge the hero within ourselves but avoid the illusions of egoism. Everyone is engaged in a heroic struggle and we should honour this engagement. Change is in the way we see ourselves and each other, respecting difference and heroically working together as a ‘collective messiah’ to bring about change.

Change

Change

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I’ve haven’t updated my blog since I returned from Barbados almost a month ago. I have updated the page on running. Maybe that has something to do with the running being the only positive change in my life. It is not enough but it is something and perhaps it can spearhead the deeper change that I need to make. That change is in fact to become deeper. I have several bad habits. I try to root them out but they spring up again. The answer, of course, is not to focus on the habits but to do what I talk about but have not been doing seriously and consistently, that is, to meditate.

Barbados Day 13 – The Burgulary

Barbados Day 13 – The Burgulary

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The Barbados trip has been really good until last night when the villa was burgled. Sandy and I were in the room normally used by Dane and Lisa and sleeping with Xavier since Dane was unwell. Essentially what happened was that the padlock on the grill leading out to the balcony was picked and an intruder go in picking up Dane’s wallet from near where I was sleeping and Anita’s handbag from the living room. This despite ten adults and Xavier being in the house. Anita and Dane phoned to have their lost cards and phones blocked but Dane had also lost a biometric card that identifies him as having some residency rights in the UK as he is an Antiguan citizen. This means that he had to go through some hoops to fly back with us. All passports were safe and we will be leaving on Friday evening to arrive back at Gatwick early Saturday morning; I expect to be home around midday.

Barbados Day 11 – Xavier’s Birthday and Some Beach Running

Barbados Day 11 – Xavier’s Birthday and Some Beach Running

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We celebrated Xavier’s birthday today by going to ‘The Boatyard’, an on the beach bar and restaurant. I spent a lot of the time running around with Xavier, which was cool, as I didn’t want to go into the sea. I was pretty much exhausted after some morning exercise:

Today was a repeat of my beach running. A mile followed by meditation under a tree and then the same two more times. This time after rinsing the sand off I sat on the porch and did a bit more meditation and three rounds of surya namaskara. Exhausting but I enjoyed it and it should go a good way to countering some of the indulgences of the holiday.

Indulged in two cocktails at the bar.

Blending yoga and meditation with my running regime felt right. While I won’t claim that the holiday has advanced my physical training I think I have maintained whatever level of fitness I had. I will continue to integrate yoga/meditation with my running and my life.

Barbados Day 10 – Wet Sunday

Barbados Day 10 – Wet Sunday

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7:05pm Sunday 23rd in Barbados. It’s been raining most of the day and very heavily. I went for a short run this morning from our villa to Oistins and got caught in a downpour on the way back. The previous two days had been very active. On Friday I enjoyed a good session running and meditating on the beach. I posted the following to the Daily Mile website:

It’s hot and too near midday to be running but the tide’s out and I don’t want to miss a whole week’s practice. It takes me about three minutes to run from one end of the beach to another. If I were running on the road the same distance might take two minutes at an easy pace; that would make the distance about one-sixth of a mile. I run up and down the beach six times and then I sit under a tree and do za-zen meditation, being aware of my breathing. I run another six stretches and then sit and do tratak meditation, staring at the horizon, the line where the sea meets the sky. As three is obviously a magical number I run a last six stretches or three laps then sit again and do antar mouna meditation, being aware of my senses and then the flow of my thoughts. I’m exhausted but in a good way. A total of about 3 miles.

In the evening the family and friends went down to Oistins to have a drink with Orin. Sandy and I returned early to look after Xavier who did not sleep well. The next day we celebrated Orin’s birthday but under a bit of a cloud as Xavier had to go to the hospital where he was diagnosed as having an ear and nose infection and given antibiotics a treatment for his asthma. Because of the rain we stayed in all day today. Xavier is still unwell.

Barbados Day 5 Video

Barbados Day 5 Video

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I had some trouble getting this online. Loaded it up to YouTube and tried to link to it from Facebook but that wasn’t working well so I’m taking a screenshot and posting that to FB with a link to this post.

Day 5 was Tuesday. We took a catamaran, ‘Cool Runnings III’ from Bridgetown. The boat made two snorkling stops; it was my first time snorkling as well as my first time on a catamaran. A lot of firsts for me really as this is my first time in Barbados. Perhaps the most memorable moment for me was watching the flying fish on the way back to port.

Barbados

Barbados

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http://youtu.be/JUZt_G9wvNw

I’m writing this on my laptop. I’m hot and tired and don’t really like using the keyboard on laptops, so this is going to be short.

We arrived in Barbados on Friday at about midday local time after a seven hour flight from Gatwick. It’s a family trip to celebrate two birthdays,Orin’s 50th and Xavier’s 2nd. We are staying for two weeks at a villa outside of Bridgetown. It’s hot, the villa manager who met us said that it is unusually hot and that Barbados is getting hotter; he saw it as part of global climate change.

More later.