Waiting for Inspiration

The festive season has faded into memory. Peace and calmness have fallen upon the land. Waiting for some inspiration for a blog’ I sit on the garden bench with my best mate ‘Shiraz’ while I watch the stars awaken in the sky as the last glimpse of sunset fades into the night, drifting off towards a ‘new tomorrow’. What tomorrow brings may be just grey, what we make of it is ours to say. This is my blog just short and swift let’s open an empty page and glide adrift.

The Messiah

The current global-political landscape provides the perfect breeding and feeding ground for doomsday prophets who keep popping up like mushrooms.
There’s the stereotypical religious, political, or cultural Guru preaching crap, who charges his followers a fee, monetary or in kind, for the forgiveness of their sins to finance the commitment of his own sins.
False Messiahs of various appearances, convictions, and calibres, representing disturbing world views, dominate the global theatre. They fill stadiums and public places with gullible people who walk alone as they leave the venue with empty wallets and fractured souls.
Distant from all their hype and fanfare, I will this month celebrate the birth of the true and only Messiah, whose followers never walk alone.
His name is Jesus Christ.
“Merry Christmas”

Alias goes Shopping

Alias surfs the shelves at the supermarket. He brushes past the health food section which is packed with an array of ‘plus priced’ ‘minus’ products, disguised as healthy merchandise, apparently free of harmful ingredients. Confused and exhausted, he struggles to tell the difference between substances like glucose, lactose, or pantyhose. Some products are complete, presumably super healthy, yet tasteless substitutes, except the pantyhose, which is a bit hard to make from soya beans.

Next, Alias plans an excursion for tomorrow. Before he shops for a day tour, he surfs the internet for the weather forecast and finds; the ‘climate change activists’ are predicting apocalyptical storms with severe flooding in unbearable heat. Some optimists predict blue skies and sunshine with a pleasant afternoon breeze.

In two minds about his travel plans, Alias checks with the realists, who say: “we will let you know tomorrow evening”.

A few days later, Alias decides to clean his house. He searches the textile section at the supermarket for some absorbent wipes to clean all the chairs, when he spots a ‘sit and clean’ jumpsuit. The instructions say: just sit on the chair, watch something exciting on TV that makes you wiggle around frantically, and your chair will be spotless in record time.

Job done and irritated by a dirty, itching jumpsuit, he takes it off and throws it into the washing machine, when he realizes that he is out of washing detergent. It’s ‘back to the shops’ for him, namely the ‘cleaning and toiletries’ aisle where he is confronted by a seemingly endless shelf of bottles and buckets. In search of the appropriate product, he reads label after label. Soon he finds himself overwhelmed with information such as:
Divine Blends; Kinder to The Planet; Bigger Size; Greater Value; Trusted Brand; Award winning product; etc. Fortunately, Alias also reads the very fine print which reveals the nature of the products, such as shampoo, body wash, floor cleaner etc. and he finally scores a winner, namely ‘washing detergent’.

Low on cash and Christmas around the corner, Alias decides to do some contract work as Santa. In the fancy dress shop he easily finds a fitting costume since the padding is very adjustable.

Santa’s ‘black book’ however, is no longer available because it degrades kids. Apparently, everyone (except Alias) knows that children should only be praised, never criticised.

Nevertheless, Alias steps into Santa’s boots and does a marvelous job. During the Festive Season, ‘Santa Alias’ over-indulges on rich cuisine and dies of a cardiac arrest.

At heaven’s gate he passes a COVID test but fails the alcohol test. Intoxicated applicants are nothing new to St. Peter, who himself likes to savor a glass of blessed wine. He goes easy on Alias, admits him but requires him to earn his stay in ‘Hotel Heaven’. The task Alias needs to perform seems simple. All he has to do is deliver a letter from God to the Australian Government.

So, a fraction of eternity later, Angel Alias flies through the clouds down to earth, flapping his heavenly wings gently, when he spots his old local pub. Weary of eating the ‘Manna’ and drinking blessed wine, he descents for a pie and a pint of Larger. True to the saying; “one beer is never enough”, he orders another, and another, and another, forgetting about the heavenly letter. Hence the Australian Government, to this day, is still waiting for some divine guidance.

Empower yourself

There’s much talk, campaigning and lecturing happening trying to empower individuals or groups of people, such as certain ethnic, racial, or other disadvantaged categories.
In reality, no-one can empower you.
Others may give you advice or provide guidance, but only you can truly empower yourself. This is the point where most people hit a hurdle they don’t want to jump. We live in a ‘gimme’ era where people expect others to do things, including thinking, for them, rather than ‘get off their arses and fend for themselves. Widespread charity abuse is a fitting example of this phenomena.
Self-empowerment calls for responsibility and action, primarily based on ‘self-thought’. It constitutes an attitude which evolves into a conviction. It means taking charge of your life and destiny, i.e., making your own decisions within the rule of moral law.
Democracy constitutes that “Non shall rule over another”, while some powers are granted conditionally to the elected for a nominated term. The ‘elected’ are not our rulers or superiors, but our employees. The self-empowered recognise this fact and cultivate freedom as a core value.
If people cherished freedom more than their own ego, we would live in a better world. The ego is a self-imposed disempowerment . “Dictators take note”!
The self-empowered are immune to threats and intimidation, knowing they are nothing but a loser’s desperate screams for attention, and that danger lurks from the ‘wolf in the sheepskin’.
The self-empowered don’t despair, but rather adapt to altered circumstances.
They fall neither into the ‘Bully trap’ nor the ‘Dictator trap’.
When Pontius Pilatus told Jesus; “I have your life in my hands”, Jesus replied: “You have nothing in your hands, and the powers you have come to you from far beyond”.
Here is a gateway to a free, empowered mind: Speak truthfully and act with integrity. Some will ignore you others will accuse you of doing the opposite. Remain calm and don’t take offence.
Be vigilant and question the world around you.
If you are unsatisfied with your findings; Take action, voice your opinion, protest and/or fight if, and when necessary.
Learn from the past but don’t dwell on it.
Live in the present and capture the moment.
Care for the future but don’t worry or stress about it.
Don’t abuse your powers.

A bold statement of Currency

We are experiencing a pandemic of self-proclaimed, often fake titles and credentials. False images are popular, while the truth is ignored.
A wise man once said: “the soil is very poor, a breeding ground for idiots”. In repetition of this, we now live in an era where low quality entertainment and the instant gratification of our most primitive desires takes priority.
People don’t learn from history because they are not interested in history. The same goes for other ‘general education’ faculties. Few people can point their location on a map. Quiz show participants and American presidents are well known to fail on geography.
People reach for mentally crippling, aggression provoking drugs while the ‘new age hangmen’ are polishing their old nooses, wearing a smile on their faces.
The news presents us with long episodes, showing the crying faces of victims of crime, but no solution. To add insult to injury, the villains escape with impunity or lenient sentences, free to re-commit, creating fear and anxiety in the community. Fear mongering, be it irresponsible or deliberate, is rife, creating mental illness.
Throughout the ages, those in power have always been habitually encouraging the working class to keep breeding cheap labour and cannon-fodder; little has changed.
Preachers and creators with small congregations are often those who don’t sell themselves out to populism, fame and potential scandalism. Stupidity goes viral on social media. Con artists always had, and still have, large followings. The sincere remain un-noticed. The question is, why don’t people want to experience the real world in all its fullness, grandeur, and glory?
We are experiencing an era of highjacked spirituality, operating as a commercialised, indoctrinated pseudo spirituality, as well as a lack of, or the complete absence of spirituality.
The world is in need of a spiritual renaissance, a revival of our spiritual senses and the dawning of a culture of content vigilance.

Chapter One of My Books Now Available For Free

I have been meaning to make Chapter One of my books more widely available and now I have finally organised it and gotten it done.

Chapter One of “Journey of Life” and “Real, Bold, Simple” are now available and completely free.

Download your copies here!

Journey of Life – Chapter One

Real, Bold, Simple – Chapter One

Please enjoy these free chapters and if you like what you read the books are available for purchase from the website.

Join and drop out

Recently I was watching a Q&A show, when one of the panellists said: ”Complacency is Australia’s number one national sport”. With 64 years of frontline life experience under my belt, I couldn’t agree more, plus I’d like to add, “on par with procrastination”.
Those who verbally intend to engage in some activity like joining a club, school, or association, are many. Few actually put their words into action, and even more expect quick results for little or no effort. One of my previous Taekwondo students’ father once called me, complaining that our self-defence training was insufficient, after his daughter was assaulted at school by another girl. The matter was resolved quickly, when I pointed out that his daughter had missed 95% of her training sessions.
Facing reality, many drop out at different stages of progress, in fact, most of them do so at an early stage. Throughout the thirty years I have taught Martial Arts, I have heard every excuse under the sun. To begin with, there is no excuse or reason. They just don’t turn up anymore, sometimes owing several months of fees. Then there is this popular line every teacher or coach is very familiar with; “I am dropping out to do football, tennis, dancing, music”, or any other ‘something else’ which never materialises into anything more than 1 or 2 trial lessons, if at all. Then they tell their football, tennis, dancing, music, or ‘something else’ instructor; “I am dropping out to do martial arts etc!
Once, a student, who was known for his low attendance told me “I want to be ‘top notch’ in martial arts, but I am dropping out” – “what the f…???”, please explain.

Another classic drop-out is the ‘movie-inspired’ teenage boy, soon to be hero, who misses most the classes, lacks effort at training, then quits, intending to join the TRG or SAS. Time passing, you bump into him by chance, and learn he hasn’t done anything, nor is he presently ‘really doing’ anything. Triggering a call from the past, this reminds me of my teenage years when I was going to be an Astronaut, but at least I found and pursued various alternative paths.
Here is another common excuse, “I am devastated because I don’t have the time/money to attend classes”, followed soon after, by Facebook posts showing them ‘living it up in luxury’. My advice is be honest with yourself and others. If you are really that devastated, you will do something about the situation you are in. Try willpower, a learned and cultivated mental strength that provides the starting block for all your endeavours.

Alias the Original

Alias takes a break from stepping into other people’s shoes. His ‘original self’ strolls through the streets and parks, wearing his old runners, which have passed the test of time. He breathes easy in meditation, trying to clear his mind from all the hype and confusion of recent months when, un-intentionally, his mind’s eye captures memory flashes of fear and panic. Repeated, worrying news articles flicker on and off, such as: ‘The new Russian secret weapon the world should be afraid of’. ‘The whole world should be worried about the invincible Chinese Navy’. ‘Scary, catastrophic climatic disasters are imminent’. ‘Terrifying discovery on Mars’. As though this wasn’t enough, there comes a ‘chilling’ outburst by ‘Puterasputin’ the crazy Russian garden gnome, threatening chemical world war by the smoke from his ‘Bong’. Alias can imagine how all this anxiety promotion wouldn’t go down well with the mental health campaign. Resting on a park bench, he notices some welcome rain clouds appearing in the distance, signaling the end of a drought. Peacefully, he doses off until some soothing warm raindrops inspire him to savour the balance of nature, in this case, wet and dry. While still immersed in nature’s tranquility, he suddenly remembers another warning he recently saw on the news that said: There will be a ‘Climate Armageddon’ before 2050. Alias knows that Armageddon refers to a prophesised, final military battle on the plain of Armageddon, (northern Israel) un-related to the climate. Obviously, the authors of this ‘present day prophesy’ haven’t done their homework and perhaps, together with all the other scare-mongers, they shouldn’t be taken seriously. Relieved, Alias decides to view the world on his own analyses, distant from rumours, speculations, and baseless predictions. He liberates his mind from all projected shock, fear, and worry, as he dances down the road under his ‘Mary Poppins’ umbrella, singing: “Don’t worry, be happy”.

Ooh Arthritis! What art thou doing?

Autumn is in full swing (in the southern hemisphere), cold wind ‘blows through the bones’. My joints keep reminding me of their state of deterioration. In a surreal realm, near total absence of sensory perception, my muscles contract to the density of concrete, blocking every lifeline to the brain, causing it to dwell in disinterest and vanity.
Pain and discomfort sabotages all attempts on inspiration. Dull and numbed, I can’t think of any topic to write about, so I thought; why not post a few lines on the topic of the moment, namely Arthritis?
The range of ‘wonder products’ for the cure or relief of Arthritis appears to be infinite, as well as mostly in-effective. I volunteer to wash the dishes because the warm water sooths the hands and wrists. A few awkward movements at work and sport have knocked my back into ‘Hexenschuss’ (Lumbago). A blend of massage’, physiotherapy and medication, makes life more bearable and it’s beauty more conceivable. Experts tell me to keep moving and taking medication, which leads me to the conclusion that I am condemned to a life of hard work and red wine, “Talking about keeping the yin-yang balanced”!

Alias the Spy

A recession hits and Alias finds himself unemployed. In search of a job, he steps into the boots of a spy for the kingdom of ‘Wantobe’. King ‘Upmyself’ and his subjects aren’t very creative or ingenious, so they rely heavily on espionage for their industrial and military development. Corruption is rife, needless to say; shortcuts are taken in all fields of industry. The information Alias steals from the republic of ‘Advancealot’, leads no further than to the production of inferior copies of goods and machinery.
Adjacent to Wantobe lies ‘Incompetenca’, a kingdom which is mismanaged by his Majesty, the narcistic Sun King ‘Poleuparse’, who is considered a Deity. Incompetenca is a large, backward, hermit kingdom with utopian ambitions. The king hires Alias to act as a double agent and spy on Wantobe, which he has a kind of ‘Love/Hate’ relationship with.

Thanks to Alias’s outstanding efforts, Incompetenca soon manufactures vast quantities of commodities, which are incomplete copies of inferior copies. To make it worse, morale among the underpaid workers is low and work ethics are non-existent. The king’s delirious vision to rule the world is shattered when their guns back-fire, planes drop out of the sky, missiles explode at launch, and his navy’s ships sink. He accuses Alias for providing false information and sentences him to death. Alias manages to escape back to Wantobe, where he meets the same fate, this time for treason. Fortunately, he finds just enough time to step back into his own shoes.