World Teachers’ Day 2014

October 8, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

school

Last Sunday was World Teacher’s Day. I could never be a school teacher but I do admire those who choose that profession and who work to build into the lives of young people all around the world. I know that many are selfless and dedicated and that they are an absolute credit to their profession. They are extremely deserving of more than a single day to recognise their contribution to the young lives they help to shape.

I’ve written about my experiences with school teachers before in my post Words that Scar.

I’ve often heard people talking about the amazing teachers they’ve had and the difference they’ve made in their lives. While I’m glad that there are many amazing teachers around the world who have been such incredible motivators and role models for others, whenever I hear people talking about them I must admit to feeling some sadness. I never had one of those wonderful teachers.

So while I can’t claim to have had any teachers who have inspired me towards greatness, I know that each of my teachers played a part in bringing me to where I am today.

On the other hand, I think that there are many people who may not have any official title as ‘teacher’ but who have taught me so much. Close friends, workmates, pastors and others have all played their part in teaching me. While I may be slow to learn the lessons that many have taught, I know that a variety of people have influenced me. My wife and my children have been great teachers in so many ways.

Who are the people who don’t hold the title of ‘teacher’ yet have taught you some great life lessons?

You may or may not have had career teachers who have inspired you but I’m sure you’ve had others in your life who have been unofficial teachers. Who are they and what have they taught you?



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading World Teachers’ Day 2014? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Telling Stories

October 6, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
2 Comments

rabbitohs

I’m not a rugby fan. I don’t know the difference between rugby union and rugby league or any other kinds of rugby that may exist. I grew up in Perth, Western Australia, so it’s always been about Australian Rules Football (AFL) for me.

The annual NRL Grand Final, the ultimate game for Rugby League teams and fans, has passed by without a glimmer of interest from me year upon year. I don’t really even know how many teams play in the league or where they’re from.

Yesterday’s Grand Final would have passed almost unnoticed yet again if it wasn’t for the fact that the South Sydney Rabbitohs were playing. The team, which my research tells me was established in 1908, has been missing in action from grand finals since last winning in 1971. After being a real power team for many decades they went through tough financial times and were even booted out of the league for a few years.

I didn’t watch the game, mainly because I wouldn’t have known what was going on, but I sure wanted to know the result and was hoping that the Rabbitohs would take the win. Thankfully the story had a fairy tale ending and they broke their 43 year premiership drought.

We love a good story and a sporting team overcoming the obstacles and rising from the ashes is certainly captivating. The story of the Rabbitohs was fascinating enough to have me interested in the result of a Rugby League game. That’s no small effort. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see a film about their battle produced in the coming years.

The Power of Story

We can often forget just how important it is to tell great stories. You can argue opinions all day but a good story can cut through and engage us with a topic like nothing else can.

Movie makers around the world put millions of dollars into telling stories and many times their investment is handsomely rewarded. Why? Because it’s all about a great story well told. Whatever the genre, whether they’re using expensive special effects or not, if they get the story telling right they’re half way to creating a hit.

Why don’t we use story more often? Story telling isn’t just for sporting teams, books or movies. Every day we have opportunity to engage others in stories. And storytelling isn’t just about creating works of fiction. Telling true stories is incredibly powerful.

When I represent Compassion at churches or other gatherings I tell stories. True stories. Wonderful stories of lives changed. I have hundreds of facts and figures about poverty at my fingertips, and I do refer to some of them, but it’s the life stories that can engage and inform. When I recount meeting Melissa, Ada, Emmanuel, Erlan, Christine or some of the many others who have been released from poverty, the whole idea of what we do becomes real.

Storytelling isn’t about being manipulative or embellishing the facts. Done well, storytelling is about making a connection and opening the way for a better understanding. Storytelling allows others to step into a different journey, into someone else’s shoes, even if only for a moment. It allows them to wonder how they would feel or act in similar circumstances. It helps other identify with different people and experiences.

I’m wondering where you’ve seen the power of a story. Has someone else’s story changed you? Has a good story, well told, prompted you to action? Where else do you think we should be using stories to inform and engage others?



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Telling Stories? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Kicking the Bucket List

August 26, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
6 Comments

buckets

Maybe I’m just not motivated enough but I really have no desire to go and climb Mount Everest, or any other mountain for that matter. I just don’t see the point. Heck, I’m not even going to climb a set of stairs if I really don’t need to do so.

I don’t have an issue with mountain climbers, or anyone else who sets huge, challenging goals, but it’s just not my thing.

The Bucket List

A lot of people have taken to the idea of writing a bucket list; a list of things they want to do before they die. There are some things I’d like to achieve before that day comes, whenever it may be, but I won’t be adding mountain climbing to my bucket list. I also won’t add things like living in a villa in the south of France, sailing solo around the world, jumping out of an airplane, or inventing something that will revolutionise the world.

All of those are fine goals but it seems to me that many people add unachievable goals to their bucket lists and then spend the rest of their lives chasing the next tick for that list. Bucket lists can be a great tool when used correctly but they can also be an excellent way of living a very unfulfilled life.

One of my concerns with some bucket lists is that they turn life into a ledger of extraordinary experiences which may or may not be achievable. Can life can only find its true meaning in the accomplishment of random items on a self prescribed list? We tick off each item once it’s done and then head off to find the next momentary thrill. It’s as if we need to take our focus off the everyday to seek some kind of greatness when in fact our true greatness is most often found in how we deal with our everyday lives. I wonder if we are diminishing the value of what we already have to seek after something we don’t really need.

Life Goals

Don’t get me wrong. I think there’s a place for goals in life but I see goals that seek the greater good as very different to a bucket list of experiences.

What are some of my goals in life? To marry a beautiful and intelligent woman who I deeply love. Tick. To have a couple of wonderful children who I absolutely adore. Tick. To have good friends that I can depend upon. Tick. To work in a job with purpose that I enjoy. Tick.

They might be ‘simple’ goals, but they’re real and will continue to provide a greater satisfaction than some of the wild bucket list items that many other people see as essential.

Enjoy the Extraordinary

I’m not suggesting we don’t embrace the extraordinary. I’ve had my fair share of extraordinary too. I’ve cycled across Australia five times, battled Indian traffic on a bicycle a number of times, escaped a foreign city in the grip of rioting, shared coffee with a family in desperate poverty in their Ethiopian home, met world leaders, cycled beside the Canadian Rockies and lots more, but none of that brings the satisfaction of a life well lived with people I love.

Sure there are other adventures I’d like to make a reality such as seeing the Tour de France live or travelling more extensively, but those desires will continue to take a back seat to the contentment that comes from doing the ordinary as well as I can. I refuse to let everyday life suffer, or blame it for holding me back, just so that I can tick items off a list.

A Life of Purpose

That doesn’t mean that I lack purpose. I’m not just floating with the breeze and letting life take me where it will. I work in a very purposeful job. I want to see children released from poverty in Jesus’ name. That’s what continues to drive me to do what I do.

As a person of faith I also want to know that my steps are guided by God. I believe that we were all created for a purpose. If that’s the case I need to be fulfilling that purpose rather than being sidetracked with things that will never satisfy. You see, following God’s purpose doesn’t diminish my satisfaction, it increases it. As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” God wants us to be satisfied. It brings him glory.

Back to the Bucket

If you feel you really need a bucket list, you might want to add a few ordinary things to that list. You’ll find an excellent start at a very funny post written several years ago. It’s written by by Mike at Fevered Mutterings and it’s titled 50 Amazingly Achievable Things To Do Before You Die .

How about you? Are you finding fulfillment in the everyday? Are there still some goals you’d like to achieve? How important is a bucket list for you?

(This post is an expanded version of a previous post I wrote in 2010.)



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Kicking the Bucket List? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Life is too short …

July 6, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
Add Comment

tooshort

(I’m currently busy getting ready to fly to Ethiopia and Rwanda. You can read more about that in my post A Different Kind of Tour. So rather than spend time writing something new today, I thought I’d revisit something I wrote in April last year.)

I’ll admit it. I used to drink lots of instant coffee. These days I just can’t bring myself to throw some powder into a mug of hot water and call it coffee.

I’ve also decided that from now on, when the smiley lady on the airplane asks if I’d like coffee, I’ll be saying no. I’ll be polite but I’ll say no because what she’s offering doesn’t really taste a lot like coffee. It may have tasted like coffee some hours beforehand when it was made but it certainly doesn’t by the time they serve it up. I almost suspect that real coffee has a fear of flying and so they’ve found some kind of weird substitute.

Life is too short to drink bad coffee.

Life’s too short.

I’ve seen a number of statements in recent years about life being too short. Life’s too short to worry about what other people think. Life’s too short to drink cheap wine. Life’s too short to be anything but happy. Life’s too short to wait. Life’s too short to wake up with regrets.

I would agree with some of those statements more than others but the interesting thing is that many of them are about life being too short to bother with stuff that doesn’t maximise our own life experience. In light of eternity, this life is incredibly short but surely this short life is about more than squeezing the most out of the years we’re given purely for our own benefit.

Life’s too short to withhold kindness from others.

Whether it’s just giving away a smile or giving a large part of our lives to help others, focusing on those other than ourselves should be a priority during our short time on this planet. Put kindness on your bucket list.

We can find a million reasons to withhold kindness from other people but life is richer when we share something of ourselves with no expectation of return.

It doesn’t matter who we are, we all face struggles throughout life that remain unseen by most people. When we withhold kindness due to the way a person acts or the attitudes they display we may very well be withholding kindness from the person who needs it far more than those who are ‘nice’ to us.

Life’s too short to hold grudges.

When I encounter people who have cut others out of their lives over petty issues it makes my head spin. I know that we sometimes need to retreat from certain people, sometimes for a season, sometimes forever, but the stubborn refusal to forgive damages everyone concerned.

Forgiveness isn’t just a quick case of ‘forgive and forget’, it’s a process, sometimes a very long process, but if we refuse to undertake that process we remain slaves to the hurt.

If you want to read about some ‘big forgiveness’, head to the Forgiveness Project. The founder of the Forgiveness Project, Marina Cantacuzino, has a great take on forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an inspiring, complex, exasperating subject, which provokes strong feeling in just about everyone. Having spent all of 2003 collecting stories of reconciliation and forgiveness for an exhibition of words and images which I created with the photographer, Brian Moody, I began to see that for many people forgiveness is no soft option, but rather the ultimate revenge. For many it is a liberating route out of victimhood; a choice, a process, the final victory over those who have done you harm. – Marina Cantacuzino

Life’s too short not to consider the bigger questions.

The older you get, the more you realise that life is short. Very short. These days I look back at the decades and it feels as if I’ve only just got started on this journey of life, yet I know that it’s extremely likely that I’m more than half way through my time here.

While I hope that I’ve still got a good number of years ahead of me I really can’t be certain of when this fabulous journey will come to an end.

So what happens then? What happens after this life? If this life is so short and eternity is so long I need to discover whether this is all there is. Life’s too short not to consider the bigger questions.

I’m unashamedly a follower of Jesus so it’s my belief that this life is just a short, shabby lead in to a glorious future. You may think I’m wrong but have you actually taken the time to fully explore the possibilities?

If this eternity thing is real, and I fully believe it is, you owe it to yourself to check out the evidence yourself. Don’t rely on what others are saying or what you think faith is about. Investigate the evidence and be open to discover something that could change your thinking and your life.

Life, at least on this earth, is short. Eternity is forever.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Life is too short …? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Don’t Waste Your Life

March 28, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

shells

I read John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life some time back and was struck by the following illustration of what he considered to be a wasted life.

“I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.”

At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells.

Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: ‘Look, Lord. See my shells.’ That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.”

When I finally ‘retire’ I want to continue to contribute to building a kingdom that will last forever. That’s just what Bob and Christine are doing. Take five minutes to watch the video and let them inspire you.

You might not be able to commit all your time and resources in the way that Bob and Christine are doing but maybe you could consider sponsoring a child through Compassion.

You may even decide that you’d like to do a little more and help organise a Compassion Sunday for your church.

Whatever you do, don’t waste your life.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Don’t Waste Your Life? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.