1 Of Few…

I feel very privileged to be one of few… the best part: It was all for a great cause.

I was amongst one of approximately 80 individuals in the Metro Vancouver Area that had a chance to rappel down the side of a building, legally J, which was one of my life’s most memorable and exciting moments to date.

As I had mentioned in a previous blog, my daughter’s camping trip with her Sparks unit of Girl Guides of Canada prompted me to participate in Easter Seals’ Drop Zone event in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 13, 2011, in support of BC’s Children with Disabilities.

Being up on the rooftop, on the 20^th floor, and looking down at my family waving back at me, made me second guess my sanity for a millisecond. Was I crazy enough to trust my life to a group of people that put me into a harness attached to couple of ropes, who asked me to hop over a 3.5 feet tall railing, only to lean back and have nothingness beneath me? I guess the answer was a yes!

In addition to saluting the many organizations involved with putting this fantastic and well-organized event together, I would like to thank each and every one of my 47 sponsors, who made my participation possible. Collectively, you donated $1645 to this great cause and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and your generosity. You’ll be happy to know that our group of rappellers in Vancouver raised more than $195,000. Bravo!

As for next year, I will be throwing my support behind my wife, who has committed herself to participating in 2012 Drop Zone event J

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy watching a short video chronicling day's event as it unfolded,

Armin

PS. I have developed a new level of respect for those organizations that rely on the generosity of donors. It’s not easy to ask for money. My fundraising relied solely on the generosity and kindness of the donors as I did not offer anything other than my sincere thanks. So thank you for being the real heroes!

Related Blogs:

• Camp Elkgrove
• Camp Elkgrove: Conclusion
• Bruised Ego & Bruised Ribs?
• Surrey's own "Zorro" zeroes in on bid to rappel building for charity

Where Were You When…

“Honey, wake up; a plane just crashed into one of the Twin Towers in New York!”

Throughout our lives, we come across moments that are forever engraved in our individual minds. We will either experience them first hand or hear about them through the media. But then there’re those moments that are so large and far-reaching that will be globally and collectively remembered.

“What kind of an idiot pilot would do that?” she asked in a sleepy voice, still not fully comprehending what I had said.

A short while ago, I celebrated my 39th birthday at a hidden-gem Greek restaurant called New York New York. Against the back wall of the restaurant, and well hidden from the main entrance, there’s a wall-to-wall picture of New York City skyline with Twin Towers well placed in the centre. This picture is approximately 12 feet in height and about 15 feet in length. But the image of the infamous towers appears to be larger than life.

“Honey, wake up… seriously, another plane just crashed into another one of the Towers!” I said this as I was standing in the kitchen, trying to make sense of the live images as it passed through our 21 inch Sears brand television set that was a wedding gift from my parents.

As we walked to our tables at the end of the restaurant, Isabella, our 5 year old daughter, could tell that I had a saddened look on my face while staring at the picture on the wall. She turned her gaze to the wall and asked what’s going on.

Suddenly, one of the towers collapsed and I felt an empty feeling. May be up until that very moment I was hoping for the best. After all, the towers seemed to be holding well. They had gobbled up the planes and survived it. But now, suddenly, all was lost. And moments later, the second tower collapsed and lives changed forever.

Ah, sweetheart! Some very bad people destroyed those buildings and many people died. I didn’t want to tell her that thousands of people died: Parents, Children, Siblings, Friends, Family Members and Colleagues. I didn’t want to tell her that she’ll never be able to see the Twin Towers in person; and if she does, it will most likely be in documentaries that will rehash those horrific images of people jumping out of the buildings to save their own lives, albeit knowing that there’s no chance of survival. I didn’t want to tell her that someone somewhere was so full of hate for mankind that was willing to kill en-mass.

Ten years later and I’m still in shock of what I witnessed in those two hours. I thought hatred stopped when Nazis and Fascists were stopped decades ago. I thought we had peace parades in the 60s and 70s. I thought we were better than killing each other because we don’t agree on something. I thought we were better than that!

Thanks for reading and let us not forget what hatred and evil is capable of, ever!!!

Armin

PS. I can’t wait for our trip to New York so I can pay my respect to those that lost their lives and those that carried on! “Start spreading the news / I am leaving today / I want to be a part of it / New York, New York” ~ Frank Sinatra’s lyrics to New York, New York.

Image courtesy of Google

Balancing Act!

I had the pleasure of attending British Columbia Human Resources Association (BCHRMA) Surrey Roundtable this morning. Before you yell “boring”, let me say this: This session was anything but boring. Lisa Martin, a leadership coach, author (Briefcase Moms – go ahead and use the Amazon.com search box on the right) and facilitator presented on Escape the Balancing Act: Harmonize Your Career & Life for Maximum Return on Effort.

This session started with a quick Career-Life Harmony Assessment, which was an enlightening exercise in identifying where I need “to make some changes to reach my optimal career-life harmony”. But most importantly, here’s what I learned from this session and wanted to share it with you (please note that these are my own interpretations from the roundtable discussions and do not reflect that of the presenter or other participants):

• A universal work-life balance doesn’t really exist; in other words, we can force people to do something that they are not ready for or want to do. Rather, work-life balance is an individual approach. However, we, as a community, need to promote and encourage such harmony. We have to remember, a larger square block won’t fit into a smaller circle hole easily. It can be forced in but we will most likely break a few corners in the process.
• “Possibilities are endless” if one believes in the power of self and the community. In other words, “we are what we think” just as “we are what we eat”. Having a strong positive belief process that is supported by a strong foundation is the key to success.
• Personal Boundaries: I found this topic of interest as it’s an area where I need to further develop myself. I have a tendency of not sharing my personal boundaries as quickly as I should, which can lead to misunderstandings. We need to remember that boundaries are “invisible” to others. When communicating personal boundaries, Lisa says, it is important to be in an “emotionally even” state (physically, mentally and emotionally) and that one must be clear in “telling how he or she wishes / wants to be managed”.
• Guilt: This was also another relevant topic as I can be overwhelmed by guilt if I’m not careful. Lisa says that “wider the expectation equals bigger the guilt”. By “lowering expectations” of oneself, guilt may have a lesser impact on the person’s psyche. Please let me personalize this: I would feel guilty if I don’t make it to work at a pre-determined / self-mandated time, if I don’t answer an email on time, if I miss my daughter’s soccer practice, if I don’t tuck my son in at night, if I don’t get to watch the soccer highlights at 10:00 PM every night, if I don’t keep a promise, if I don’t make it to the gym, if I don’t talk to my parents or siblings, and on it goes. As you can imagine, this can be very hard on my wife, who in turn has to listen to my “guilt trips”.  Well, since this morning, I have come to realize that there are only so many hours in a day and that every minute of the day is precious and that it must be used wisely.

So, you must be thinking why I’m telling you this. Well, it’s part of my personal pledge: Going forward, I will do my best to think positively and feed my brain just as I feed my body; I will share and communicate personal boundaries so there won’t be any misunderstandings; and most importantly, I will try to let go of the daily guilty feelings by setting realistic goals, both personal and professional.

That my friends and dear readers, I hope will make me a better person.

Thanks for reading,

Armin

PS. I highly encourage you to find some time to attend one of Lisa Martin’s presentations, buy and read her book or visit her website. She has an amazing way of helping you reach a new level of personal understanding. For that, I thank her!

Butterflies & Mosquitoes?

I wasn’t nervous… no sir! Not me!

Ok may be a bit, but more on that in a bit…

Today marked another great milestone for our family! First of all, our little Baboo (aka, Brayden) learned how to drop things and laugh at me simultaneously. I mean, he would look at me, look at his toy at hand, look at me again and ever so slowly release his fist until the toy would come crashing down to earth.  For some reason, the impact and my subsequent reaction to it was a funny adventure; enough to encourage him to do it again and again.

On the other hand, my beautiful daughter started elementary school. Yup, she is in Grade 1. Going to school isn’t new as she’s been going to school since she was 3 years of age; however, I was a nervous wreck this morning; so much so that I had to make couple of trips to the bathroom. Never mind butterflies in my tummy, I had birds and bats, dragonflies and mosquitoes and everything else that flies. I even had couple of chickens flapping their wings in there.

Jokes aside, I couldn’t have been prouder than watching my little girl begin her journey through elementary school. If I’m lucky, she’ll continue loving the public school system.

Finally, my sister has started her post-secondary adventures. Somehow, she ended up with the family brains while my brother was blessed with the athletic genes. I, on the other hand, simply ended up with the good looks J

Thanks for reading,

Armin

Ps. Half way through this entry, I had to put Isabella to bed. I had to explain to her what our schedule for tomorrow looks like. After a brief pause, she asked “why do adults enjoy making things hard. What’s wrong with simple plans?” Ain’t that the truth?

Surrey's own 'Zorro' zeroes in on bid to rappel building for charity

I would like to thank the Surrey Now Newspaper's Tom Zillich for a wonderful article and Kevin Hill for an awesome picture!

Surrey's own 'Zorro' zeroes in on bid to rappel building for charity

Bruised Ego & Bruised Ribs?

Today, I had my “dress rehearsal” for the upcoming Easter Seals’ Drop Zone event that will take place on September 13^th (yes, I’m fully aware that it’s on the 13^th). This session was intended to give the participants a chance to play around with the equipment that will be used on the day of the event. Of course, I was pumped about this because I wanted to make sure that everything goes as planned on the “drop” day. I got to the gym early and anxiously waited for my turn to learn and intently listened to the instructions. Piece of cake I said to myself… after all, I’ve been indoor rock climbing for few years now and that I know everything there’s to know about repelling.

So there I was on the ledge with my gloves and helmet on and ready for repelling. All was going perfectly. I spoke the lingo and managed to release the carabiner with one hand (I looked cool). Safety checks took place and I was hooked to my rope and ready for decent. I walked backwards like a duck (or drunken sailor as my instructor called it) and placed my weight on my harness. I then took a moment to pose for the camera. “Great picture” and “looking good” were the comments from my fellow thrill-seekers.

I straightened my legs at the edge and took the first step. I was certainly looking good until my right foot slipped, courtesy of my ill-fitted running shoe (well, I have to blame something). I dropped about 3 feet, swung to the right and bounced off the wall with my lowest right rib.

My ego was hurt so I yelled “I’m OK, I’m OK” and began to repel ever so gently until I reached the ground. Given my dismal performance the first time, I couldn’t wait to go for it again. So I did and I nailed it (or so I would like to tell people).

I guess that’s why they call it a “dress rehearsal”! This way I can screw-up couple of times and learn from my mistakes so on the event day I can have a flawless performance. I can’t wait for September 13^th to showcase my learning. I’ll make my instructor proud!

For now, I’m going to hold my head high while gently pressing an ice-bag on my ribs J

Thanks for reading,

Armin

Ps. the event will take place on September 13 at 999 West Hastings in Vancouver. Please stop by and cheer on the “daredevils”.

Pps. I'm still accepting donations. If you wish to contribute, please click here. Thank you!

i-Looters

As I watch the images of London Riots (2011 edition)  pass through my television screen and computer monitor, I can’t help but feel horrified and disappointed at how badly humans can behave.

Of course, today’s global riots are not new and are no more violent than those that our world experienced during the French Revolution of 1848, Russian Revolution of 1917, Iranian Revolution of 1979, American Revolution, etc. From the recent uprising in the Middle East to Northern Africa, from North America to Europe,  and everywhere else in between, groups are formalizing and resisting what they see as improper treatment of the general public by those very governments that have sworn to protect them. Unfortunately, during this process, the good men and women of security forces are viewed as the violent “arm” of those governments and therefore receive the most criticism.

However, what is horrifying about recent riots are that although the protests start with a legitimate cause, they quickly turn violent. The end result of these riots have been looting of stores and stealing of high-end tech gadgets, clothing, shoes, sporting goods, etc. It has then evolved into absolute disregard for human lives, where people are mugged after being severely beaten, or are beaten (or even killed as was the case in London) as they try to protect their property.

Unfortunately, I hear from many “experts" that our societies are broken; others say that “Anarchists” are at work; many blame the “suburbanites” of the mishaps in major cities; anti-consumerists put all the blame on marketers and advertisers; rich blame the poor and vice-versa. Banks blame the unemployed and job-less blame the big corporations for down-sizing. And it goes on and on. How sad!!!

As I stated in my previous blog, 1994 Riots, nothing will be accomplished by pointing fingers at different groups or organizations. Nor, is it fair to think that our societies are broken.

My point of view: There’s a tear in our societal fabric and it simply needs a skilled tailor to fix it all up. Perhaps, it’s time to revisit the one thing that has helped us reach this point in life: Humanity. Therefore, I propose the following steps in reaching the objective called Humanity!

We need to recognize that:

• Children are important and that they are not simply a financial or social burden.
• School teachers, soccer coaches, governments and police departments are not “god-parents” or guardians of our children.
• Belief in a higher power (whatever that is: God or Gods, Evolution or Creation, Spirits or Conscience) is just as valuable and important as education and financial stability.
• Societies’ collective rights and freedoms are just as important as individual rights and freedoms… we have to step away from our “I” point of view and begin to understand how our actions and decisions impact our network and society as a whole. Perhaps it’s time to replace the “I” with “We” and “You”.
• Pre-university education should be mandatory and governments from around the world should stop looking at schools as a “Cost”. Rather, governments of all levels should consider schools as an investment in our future.
• Employment and poverty have been a driving force behind most civic unrests. Each member of society wants to be considered valuable and not a burden. I refuse to accept that most people want to be on government support.
• It’s time to stop the finger pointing and take responsibility for our actions and mismanagement of our resources.
• Perhaps it’s time to stop measuring beauty based on how a person looks, what kind of make-up he or she uses and which salon she is seen at. At the same time, perhaps we should stop placing value on materials that are replaceable (automobiles are a good example of that).
• Perhaps it’s time to stop measuring success and status based on who has an i-Pod, an i-Phone, an i-Touch, and an i-Book, and begin celebrating those that have truly made a difference in the lives of others: Teachers, Emergency Response Teams, Volunteers, Red Cross members, Doctors Without Borders, etc. Maybe this will stop people from turning to i-Looters.

Thanks for reading,

Armin