Legendary Blog

Singer Keith Duffy cycled 320km through the alps in Europe to help raise money for Irish Autism Action, a charity that helps in raising the quality of life of individuals and their families affected by autism.

This cause sits close to heart of Boyzone's lead singer, as his daughter has been diagnosed with Autism.

Duffy's actions speak louder then any amount of words.  "My knees are sore, but are holding up so far, but all the pain will be worth it," he said.

This is not the first stroke of action Duffy has taken.  He completed the London Marathon this past April to help raise awareness for autism.  With his first hand experience, he knows what a difference the right support can make - and make a difference he intends.

It has been nearly a year since the chaos and catastrophe of the BP oil spill.  Still remnants of oil are surfacing on shorelines and an entire eco system faces sizable risk.

Besides Kevin Costner's reoccurring roles in ecologically minded movies, he has taken a more direct step in safeguarding the environment from catastrophe.

Partnering with Ocean Therapy Solutions, Costner has developed giant drum-shaped machines that act as giant vacuum cleaners, separating the water from the oil.

Costner wants to ensure that a crisis like this does not come up again.  Even after the spotlight of the media has shifted off BP, Costner keeps the pressure on these corporate giants and their accountability.

These giant vacuums can suck 200,000 gallons of oil and water a day.  A significant difference compared to the workers that used hand held suction devices collecting oil one, tiny patch at a time a year ago. It's like trying to bail out water from an ocean liner with a thimble.  Costner's apparatus is designed to separate oil from huge volumes of water, creating a sizable difference, and saving an ecosystem that is already at risk.

We interact with life through a set of contexts, a scale of possibilities.  The bar gets set and everything under it becomes achievable.

We become familiar with the scales of our lives telling us what we can or cannot do.  Everything within it, achievable.  Everything beyond it, unknown.

If a 3 mile run is part of a person’s daily workout, they generally accomplish it with little doubt.  They have a resume of successes from all their past runs.  It acts as evidence for their ability - known, definite, and achievable.

Now say this person is asked to go on a 10 mile run.  “Woah, hold on a sec now. That’s far.”

It is far if you’ve been used to 3 mile runs, but if you’re a person training for a marathon, 10 miles is a breeze.

It’s all about the context of the situation and the scales you have built in your life. They tell you what you can do just as much as they tell you what you cannot.

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.”

These words echo from singer, life lover, and activist Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.  This is one of my favorite Marley lyrics.

The world around us is a creation made from our mind.  It is a projection of our perception facilitating our interaction with the world we’ve created.

Abilities and potentials are perceptions and perspectives our mind creates.  It is the puppeteer, conductor, and orchestrator of our world.  Whatever it believes or expects, it will do all in its power to make that prospection come to fruition.

Think about when we swallow a sugary placebo pill. We believe it is a potent antidote to our current illness and even though its just sugar we’re ingesting, we still get better.

With warmer weather on its way, I escaped the confines of indoors and took a trip to the local driving range.  I warmed up a little, and with a cool, fluid swing hit a straight 140 yarder with my 9-iron.  Phew, I thought this was going to be uglier after not touching a club for the entirety of the off season.

What if there was an immeasurable power that existed. This power could transform your reality.  It could bring hope, optimism, motivation, change, love, achievement, and beauty to your life.  Would you use this power, going after everything you wanted, or would you simply let it go to waste?

This power is the story of you.  It is what makes your life so interesting, so authentic, so...empowering.  Think about the structure of a story.

A story made up of chapters. Chapters containing sequences of events.  Some foreshadowing others.  Others prefacing some.  And the rest are unknown twists of irony eluding any means of prediction.

The pages written can serve a versatile function.  Those pages could be setting up events to come or they could mark the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

Ever hear of Shiners Hospital?  It provides free healthcare for children living with burns, spinal cord injuries, orthopedic conditions, and cleft lip and palate.  At the backbone of this awe-inspiring organization is none other, but that one time boy band pop star, Justin Timberlake.

His career has taken notable steps forward, but so has his ideas of contribution.  Justin does not shy away from challenge, and what could be more challenging then one of the most controversial  and debated topics in the US - healthcare.

But Justin circumvented petty politics and got right to the real issue at hand, children who need help. This hospitable is a forum of change, for it impacts hundreds of lives every week.

Don't have your StillerStrong headband!? What are you waiting for? Ben Stiller has ignited a viral effect of StillerStrong headbands.  The cause of these bands runs deeper then their general aesthetically pleasing effects.  It carries with it an impact.  Based on Stiller's core beliefs that all children deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential, he has tipped the first domino to making a difference.

Stiller's awareness shifted after his trip to Haiti.  You can see pictures on the internet and hear about it on your TV, but the ultimate experience lies in the heart of Haiti, in meeting its people, in rebuilding its lands. Stiller immediately sought action after becoming aware of a community school's lack of classrooms and access to clean drinking water.

It is the tiniest parts of life that can make the the biggest differences.  A chess player won’t overlook the necessity of its pawns and a sprinter knows the importance of a tenth of a second.

A moment is valuable. Some more then others, but if we start to chuck them out the window like worthless pennies, we will most definitely neglect some of the most worthwhile ones.

Life comes at us in waves.  Literally, giant, oceanic, swirling waves.  Heaps of water crashing down, each with different breaking points.

Ever find yourself hanging on to the good stuff in life?  We just don’t want certain things to stop. Whether it be an amazing movie, a beautiful symphony, an exciting date, or some quality conversation, all share a common fate - we don’t look forward to them ending.

I catch myself doing this all the time.  In the midst of something good, I think, “Gee, I really don’t want this to stop.” Now, instead of continuing to enjoy this pleasurable event, I find myself in this paradigm of temporary good versus inevitable discontinuation.  I have directly withdrawn from maximizing the optimization of this event, by taking my focus off enjoying the moment, and placing it on worrying about it ending.

There was an Indian tribe residing in the Shuswap region of British Colombia.  This specific region was considered by the Indian people to be a rich place.  There was plenty of salmon and game, vast amounts of below-ground resources, and plenty of fertile land.  They built village sites and had elaborate technologies to effectively cultivate the resources.  The Indians looked at their lives to be rich and good.

Yet, over time the elders began to find predictability throughout their days.  With everything so readily available, challenge began to go out of life.  Without challenge, life had no meaning.

So the elders gathered and discussed what they should do.  Through discourse and in their wisdom they decided the village should move.  Every 25 to 30 years, the entire population would move to a different part of the Shuswap land, and there, they found challenge.   There were lands to fertilize, new game trails to learn, new areas to navigate.  Life would regain its meaning and everyone would feel rejuvenated and happy. Incidentally, it also allowed resources in one area to recover after years of harvesting.

This past Thursday we brought our legendary intent to 900 very extraordinary SFL employees in Quebec City with the launching of our Sole Purpose event.  Partnering with Soles4Souls, we are taking a joint effort to get shoes to the 300 million inhabitants of developing countries who have no such luxury.  But instead of just shipping out a bunch of shoes, our goal was to empower people to make a difference.  To be the change creating a lasting impact.

Sir Ian Mckellen, might better be recognized with long, white hair and a tall, magical staff.  This actor played the part of a heroic, wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In East London, there is a charity called Step Forward.  They provide information, advice, counseling, and personal training to the youth of Tower Hamlets, a province in the East End of London.  This service holds no cost and services people aged 11-25.  With a goal aimed at enhancing lives, Step Forward actively challenges discrimination welcoming people from all sections of the community regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or social economic status.