The STU-PENDOUS BLOG!

Christmas Eve… As I sit here at my family’s home I can’t help but reflect on my childhood. I am sitting at the same table that I grew up eating at. My mom has lived in the same home since 1976, 30 years ago this coming year. I grew up in this house, had my first real memory of laughter and tears in this house. Went through my parents divorce in this house, got my first computer and guitar in this house. So when I come home to what was once such a large place not only physically but emotionally I get a rush of emotions.

This is where I grew up and it has always been here. I can not imagine it not being here… this is my home. I have owned my own homes but none that have ever felt as if they were real family homes. So this holiday season when you go home to visit family and friends stop and look around. If you are in your families home, the same one you grew up in you are lucky. Look around, close your eyes and remember the value of one very important thing… family.

Make it a goal in 2006 to hold your family a little higher… don’t wait until January 1^st, do it now!

Merry Christmas all and have safe and warm holiday!

Today’s picture is from Philly D. (check out phillyd.com) and it is of my daughter Emily. What do you think she wants for Christmas!?!

What? That is what I thought yesterday as I browsed for Christmas presents at a local mall. I couldn’t help but be surprised when it happened. I was aware it would, I read that it might, I heard that there were boycotts in the USA , but in Canada? To me? 

What is it that I am talking about? Simple… Christmas. I am a very spiritual person, lots of wonder about the world around me. I am not a member of a church, but I do celebrate Christmas. I celebrate it because it is a great excuse to visit people and spend time in the company of family and friends. I also am not a fan of the massive commercialization of this holiday.

Having said that, I was out shopping for family and friends, when I finished paying for my purchase I said my usual… “Merry Christmas!” and the clerk replied… “Yes”.

“Yes, why do you say yes?” I asked

“We are not allowed to say Merry Christmas.” she said.

I looked around this store and it was full of people with hands full of gifts for this apparently offensive holiday. Why is it so horrible to wish someone a Merry Christmas? These retailers make (in some cases) 40% of their entire yearly revenues during the month of December. Do you think it is because people just loving coming out in the cold to shop? No!! It is because of the holiday that they refuse to acknowledge, the same holiday that they derive their income from… sad.

I have a suggestion for all those retailers that have instructed there employees to ignore this holiday… CLOSE! That’s right if you really want to stop offending people close your doors and go home for the month of December. That way no one will be offended, offended by having to watch people shop for family and friends, offended from watching the excitement in the children’s eyes as they look up and down the aisles for potential gifts, offended from seeing friends meet by accident while shopping. Please for the love of all people… close.

 My Christmas wish list for this Christmas…

 I wish for…
1 - More water pressure in my house
2 - More time with my children
3 - More young people would have the chance to experience YLCC
4 - More time with my friends
5 - More time with myself
6 - A full 2006 without an election
7 - For people to say thank you more often
8 - For people to more excited about sharing the talents, love and spirit they have rather then making sure they are paid, rewarded or acknowledged. Making the world around you should be enough thanks!
9 - A safe holiday season for everyone who reads this BLOG and even those who do not.
10 - A cure for MS

Today’s picture is the YLCC Leadership Training Centre Staff… I hope everyone is warm in there homes! 

Ever found yourself in a FUNK? I do not mean a fun, cool dance like funk. I mean a depressed, down, lost and maybe even a little confused kind of funk. I know I have been there, in fact I may be a little funky right now.

I drove down to Starbucks today to spend a few hours working on our new website (www.ylcc.com) with the full intention of getting so much done. I got to my favourite starbucks, saw my favourite Barista, ordered my favourite beverage (a soy chai latte) and looked over to my left only to see every single chair taken. My usual corner by the fireplace… taken, the big cushy chairs in front of the fire place… taken, my back up corner table… taken. I spotted one chair and table all by itself directly in front me. This table was right in the middle of the Starbucks… I felt a little ”on display”.

Bang… my energy zapped, I took my table and chair in the middle of it all… turned on the computer and stared at the screen blankly. I checked my email, only to find and email from our web designers saying that they had fixed all of the mistakes and “glitches” that I had encountered on my last full review of the site. When I went to check the repairs I found that most were still not fixed…  frustration now set in, the FUNK was there for sure. An hour passed with nothing getting done… I did discover though that there were actually more mistakes then I originally thought. So that familiar intersection came upon me, I could either sit at the stop sign and do nothing, I could go straight and do nothing, I could go left and get angry or I could go RIGHT and realize that there is only one thing to do… make a CHANGE! I slowly started turning right and jumped onto my BLOG and read my own words of advice. I spead up went right and starting working through the site once again. That’s the only way I will ever fix anything, make anything better.

When you find yourself in a FUNK don’t get angry, don’t keep doing the same thing, make the RIGHT choice and decide to fix it. The faster you can improve the situation, the faster you can make everything around you better… and then you can get out of your funk and smile and say…

“Today I chose to not get FUNKY!”

Check out all of STU’s INFO at www.ylcc.com

Today’s picture is of some of our campers and staff  “Taking the Leap!”

Have you ever thought about change? I mean have you ever contemplated the significance of change? I do all the time, right now I am thinking about the change all around me. Within myself, my friends, my camp and even the world around me. There is so much change happening and it can happen so rapidly that if you blink you can miss it. Are you in tune with the latest trends in leadership, success, health, technology, politics or even your own needs and desires?

I really believe that is you want to be successful you need to be aware of change and embrace it. The great and very simple book “Who Moved the Cheese” is a great read. It demonstrates how if you resist change or if you are ignorant to it you can miss the boat. The problem is that as the world changes around us we need to be able and open to changing ourselves. Many people feel a need to spend days, weeks, and months even years preparing for change. No matter how much preparation that you take the change still happens in an instant. The ability to change is something that can be the difference between success and failure.

Are you a smoker? Is there a habit that you want to change? The choice to change is as simple as making the decision to say no to whatever it is that you want to stop. I was a smoker and decided to quit. I did that by deciding I that I was no longer a smoker. There is no in-between… you are either a smoker or a non smoker… decide which one you are and be that.

Take a few moments to think about what it is you would, if you could change about yourself that would make a positive change in your life. What is it? Decide NOW what it is and make that change!

Check out my website at www.ylcc.com

Today’s picture… anyone want to go swimming? That same waterslide in the summer!

So the other day I was up visiting one of my favourite stores in the whole world… the Muskoka Store. This cottage country legend that is located just south of Gravenhurst on Hwy 11 is a giant store full of cool Northern Muskoka gifts and needs for any cottager or outdoors lovin’ person!

I have gone in a dozen times over the last couple of years and wandered around the store enjoying what it had to offer. Then a few weeks ago I said to myself “are you living your message”. If any of you have ever seen me speak then you know I speak of the power of seizing individual moments make differences in the lives of the people around you. I believe that if you have the opportunity to help someone or making someone’s day brighter through kindness or laughter it should be your duty to do so.

I went over and started having fun with the staff, as it seemed to be a relatively slow day and there wasn’t much energy in the building. Within the a few minutes we were all laughing and I had met the entire staff. I knew them all by name and they were even pointing out some great specials and neat items that the centre might benefit from. They went on to tell me how they were having their annual Christmas Customer appreciation party that weekend. I did return, with my children.

When I arrived, their manager Quinn asked me what my children’s favourite cartoon character was. She then returned with gift bags overflowing with treats and Christmas joy that included a Spiderman and Dora Pez for the kids. They wouldn’t take any money and said…

 ”This is because you make us feel so great when you come in!”

 It doesn’t take much to make someone happy… the smallest things sometimes make the BIGGEST difference. I remember being in Chicago on the way back from a speech, the airport was almost totally shut down due to bad weather. Most flights were cancelled including my own. I got in line to see if I could change my flight to the only one that was leaving that night. People ahead of me were screaming and swearing at the gate agent. She was visibly upset; there was nothing that she could do to make these people happy. I quickly ran over to the gift shop across the hall and bought a package of delicious chocolate chip cookies and got back in line. When it was my turn I said…

 ”I am not here to yell at you and I know that the situation is out of your control. I can wait if I have to until tomorrow. I thought I would bring you a treat to break up all of these negative people around you.”

 I gave her the cookies and my ticket. She smiled and I went and called my kids and said that dad may not make it home.

 20 minutes later my name was called to the counter. She gave me my ticket and said with a smile and a wink…

 ”Here is your ticket sir, I am sorry I couldn’t do anything else.”

 I glanced down, fully prepared to see a seat for the next day. It wasn’t, it was for the next flight and it was first class. I looked up and smiled, she nodded took a bite of her cookie and said “thank you!”

 I am not saying that you should do nice things to get free stuff; I am simply saying that sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can make a wave of difference. What are you doing everyday to make a difference in the lives of people you know and the strangers that we meet? Do something, anything… it’s up to you!

Visit www.ylcc.com for more info with everything that I do!

 Today’s picture… winter at the Leadership Training Centre… anyone want to go swimming?

Last night the staff sat around Trish, Hillary and Gill’s living room and discussed life over some tea. Gill and I enjoyed a new tea from Tetley… Organic Green Tea… mmmm so good! The conversation was drifting around winter, camp, goal setting, good diet and making positive changes in our lives to be better.

I brought up a single question… “If you could drop one thing from your life and it would mean you would live a healthy life until the age of 130 would you?” I asked first if Hillary could drop coffee, then Trish if she could drop Soda Pop. Both agreed they probably could. I then asked if they could drop meat from their diet. That was a big commitment to make… could they? Would they? I have recently decided to stop eating all meat. I am not becoming a Vegan but I am dropping chicken, red meat and fish. This is a choice that I am making because I beleive that after reading many books on the topic it is better for my health. Why wouldn’t I make a positive choice if I knew that it would help me live a longer healthier life? I decided that I would make the change… it is hard, but I am going to really give it a try.

We then moved from that to asking ourselves are we really living what we are teaching at camp. We all beleive in what we teach at YLCC but are we living those lessons every day? Outside of summer camp it is hard to be always be yourself and make that choice to live with a positive focus. To live without killer statements and to always strive to be healthy.

Are you? If you have never been to camp feel free to email me and I will send you a list of YLCC Prime Directives that we try and teach our campers and staff. We made the commitment last night to try and keep each other in check. To make a real effort to be the change that we want to see in the world. My challenge to you today is to do what you know is right. Good Luck!!

Today’s pictures is from yesterday December 1st at the annual “Evening of Cheer” at our local Starbucks. Me and Santa!!! It’s December!!

Hello All!

So today I am sitting back in the Barrie office or as others may call it… Starbucks! Yesterday was such a full day for the Training Centre staff. We spent the day in Toronto and tried to do it all, we started with a shopping (or maybe a wish filled) trip to MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) where we bought some new tripping books with tons of new routes for our outtripping campers. Some new warm clothes for our winter season.

Then we ventures out for some authentic Dim Sum chinease food… so good! Then off to The CBC Canadian Broadcasting buidling. We ventured into the museum to see some great pieces of Canadian history, including the actual broadcast of the news the day that Terry Fox had to give up his journey. It was so moving to see this young man with tears in his eyes saying that all he wanted was to be able to come back and finish his quest.

Then we made the trek down to the Ontario Science Centre to experience Body Worlds 2… wow, all I can say it was very humbling. It needs to be seen, but please keep in mind these are actually human bodies, not models. It is truly amazing, a real challenge to make you see what we are from the inside out!.

Last part of he journey was to Leaside Memorial Gardens to attend the first Campfair of the season. We did great. Gill, Hillary, Trish and myself really wowed the crowd. We as ORNJ would say, met the future of YLCC and they are GREAT!

Today’s challenge comes from our visit to Body World’s… if you have ever questioned making healthy choices with your day to day to life, this exhibit was something to clear up some stuff. The Smokers lung, the lung cancer and the obease man made you think twice about how I should live and how we at camp should promote a healthy lifestyle to all campers and staff. What are you doing right now to make a difference in your health? Remember… healthy body equals a healthy mind.

Be strong!

STU!

Today’s Picture is YLCC this fall… the pumpkins were hit at the centre this year!