Life

Our Top Ten Regrets

The Daily Mail has recently published the results of a survey that says people spend around 44 minutes every week on regretting our past.

We wish we’d saved more money, traveled more, stayed in touch with friends and that we’d never started smoking. (I’m thankful that smoking is something I’ll never have to regret. Having a father who was a heavy smoker was enough to convince me to never even try lighting up.)

I guess that among the regrets that people identified, there are some things that we can change for our future and others that we need to leave behind so we can move on. Regrets can paralyze us and keep us living in the past yet if we live without some sense of regret we won’t learn the life lessons that arise and we’re destined to keep repeating the same mistakes.

The Top Ten

The top ten regrets were:

1. Not having saved more money
2. Not having worked harder at school
3. Not having exercised more
4. Not seeing more of the world
5. Taking up smoking
6. Not staying in touch with people more
7. Not having taken more care of our bodies when younger
8. Not having appreciated an elderly relative more before he or she passed away
9. Not having taken more photos of experiences growing up
10. Getting married too early.

When I look at that list I can give a nod to a few but I won’t let them keep me wishing for what might have been. We all make mistakes but we need to acknowledge those mistakes, take appropriate action, then move forward. Sometimes we need to forgive others and other times we need to accept the forgiveness that we’ve been offered.

Can you identify with any of the regrets listed or do you have regrets of your own? Do you spend a lot of time thinking of how differently life could have been or are you using past mistakes to learn and move on? Are there some regrets that just won’t let you move on?

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We Apologise for the Delay

Feb 11th, 2012

by Rodney Olsen.

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I love flying but I also like being on time. Those two concepts don’t always coexist.

Our family was up bright and early this morning. Well maybe a lot more of the early and a little less of the bright. Today my adventure begins. I’m flying to Melbourne, taking a coach trip to Geelong, then getting ready for another early start tomorrow as I begin the 25000Spins Great Ocean Road Challenge. I’ll be cycling to release children from poverty through Compassion Australia. It’s not too late to support the ride. Just go to my Everyday Hero fundraising page.

We were all out of bed around 3:00 a.m. so that I could be at the airport early enough to check in my ‘oversize baggage’ for the 5:30 a.m. flight. Well, it was meant to be a 5:30 flight. The oversize baggage is my bike, expertly boxed up by the wonderful Phil at Cyclebuzz Canning Vale.

With the bike checked in we headed to the departure gate for the usual wait. Once the call came over the P.A., one of the only announcements we could actually understand, I said goodbye to Pauline, Emily and James and headed on through. It was all going like clockwork.

I boarded the plane on time with the other passengers and got ready for take off. We taxied out to the runway …. and that’s when it all went pear shaped. A passenger three or four rows behind me had some kind of medical issue. If I heard the banter correctly he may have had a hard night last night but I’m not sure. What I do know is that the flight attendants headed his way with the oxygen bottle and started shifting passengers to other seats.

One of the flight attendants had obviously practiced her “everything’s alright” smile well. She was moving between the passenger and the flight deck a number of times, each time wandering down the aisle with a confident, happy look. She didn’t look this happy before the ‘incident’.

And so we headed back to the gate.

Five or six medicos headed on board and attended the patient … er passenger. After a long while they helped him into a wheelchair and left the aircraft.

Finally, once the paperwork was updated and the ambulance drove away from the plane we pushed out and headed for the runway again. Then, almost an hour late, we took to the skies.

The passengers who were near the incident noticed that the bloke had left a bag with some food in it and a choc milk. Oddly enough no one put their hand up for it so it was binned … and maybe incinerated.

So that’s where things are right now. I’m in the air on Virgin Flight DJ 678, winging my way to Melbourne and my 12:00 p.m. arrival is looking like a 1:00 p.m. arrival. Of course I won’t get to publish this post until we touch down. Until then I’ll keep listening to my iPod and enjoying a rather quiet flight. It’s amazing how dazed most passengers look but I suppose that’s to be expected on a 5:30, make that 6:30 flight.

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Hair Dryers and Fridges

Jan 30th, 2012

by Rodney Olsen.

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I don’t know what you did with your Sunday afternoon but I spent a fair bit of time lying on the kitchen floor wielding a hairdryer yesterday.

Our 17 year old fridge has been having issues as old fridges sometimes do. The freezer’s been doing it’s job but the fridge compartment could have been aptly described as a cupboard. A well insulated cupboard but a cupboard none the less. We had been putting iceblocks from the freezer compartment into the fridge to try to keep food fresh.

We took action yesterday by packing everything into eskies and sinks, covered in ice from the local servo.

I then got down on the floor and removed a panel to see a fair bit of ice. I used the hairdryer to do a complete defrost before putting everything back together and hoping for the best.

I’m pleased to say that it seemed to work. The fact that the frost free feature is no longer working suggests that it might be in it’s final days but I was more than happy to be able to buy us some time.

It’s nice to have a win every now and then but I don’t think I’ll be going into the fridge fixing business any time soon.

You might think that a hair dryer is an unusual tool for fridge fixing, and you’d be right, but I’m wondering what unusual but effective tools you’ve used for a particular job. Please let me know in the comments section of this post.

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12 Week Challenge

Jan 27th, 2012

by Rodney Olsen.

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One of the segments on my Morning Café radio program on 98.5 Sonshine FM is a look at fitness and health with personal trainer Kellie Long.

When we began the segment last year we started out with a little of Kellie’s story. It’s a story with which many of us can identify. It’s a story about dissatisfaction from where we find ourselves but the difference in Kellie’s story is that she did something about it then set about inspiring others.

I am not unfamiliar with the pain of being unhappy in my own skin, both physically and emotionally. I was once 93kgs and can proudly say that after 18 months of hard work lost 30 kgs and have never looked back. Was it easy? NO! Was it worth it? Yes! This is why I have been working and studying in the fitness industry for the past five years. I enjoy training people of all walks of life whether they are mothers, aspiring firemen, police recruits or business men and women. I’m proud to be a partner in their lives and a catalyst for them to reach the goals they strive for.

My goals for my clients are to see not just the improvement of their physical capabilities but their mental and emotional progress also. Physical training cannot be separated from a person’s emotional state. Therefore, my training has a holistic approach in building self confidence through client’s achievements and newly formed lifestyles of clean eating, their ability to handle stress and of course their new found strength in all their physical achievements. – KellieLong.com

Something very exciting is happening with the segment this year. We’re offering a couple of listeners the opportunity to undertake a 12 Week Challenge that will help them make a life transformation. It’s not just a weight loss challenge, it’s an opportunity to turn their life around while being supported by a great bunch of people. We’re teaming up with Goodlife Health Clubs to change lives.

Kellie and I chatted briefly about the 12 Week Challenge on air this morning. You can hear our conversation by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

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Australia Day 2012

Jan 25th, 2012

by Rodney Olsen.

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Are you ready for Australia Day tomorrow?

We celebrate Australia Day on the 26th of January each year because it was that day in 1788 that Captain Arthur Phillip took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales and became its first Governor. The first official celebrations were held in 1818 to mark the 30th anniversary of white settlement.

If you want to find out more about Australia Day you can go to the official website here.

Watching fireworks on Australia Day has become a solid tradition in Perth but over the past several years many people have started looking for ways to avoid the parking hassles and find a family friendly event. Answering the call is the 98.5 Sonshine FM Town of Bassendean Australia Day Celebrations and Fireworks event which has built a reputation as a safe place to spend Australia Day with friends and family as well as providing a spectacular show.

If you’re in the Perth area it’d be great to catch up with you at Ashfield Reserve, Guildford Road, Ashfield, for the evening. It’s a great event that culminates in a massive fireworks display away from the big and sometimes rowdy crowds of the city fireworks. 98.5 Sonshine FM is proud to be providing the soundtrack and we’ll be broadcasting live from the venue.

I’ll be joined on stage by my friend and colleague, Arthur Muhl, to MC the live entertainment which starts from 5:00 p.m. There’ll also be an awards ceremony. The fireworks will begin lighting up the skies later in the evening with the whole event finishing at 9:00 p.m.

If you want to enjoy some great entertainment in a more relaxed family atmosphere, without having to wait hours in traffic on the way home, come on down.

Either way, make sure that you’ve got some plans in place to celebrate.