The dog was barking non-stop in the neighbours garden, it was drowning out the slow hum of traffic in the streets, nobody was attending the dog's needs or request for attention. Maybe it was lonely, locked up in the garden with no way back into the house? Who knows why it was barking and all of a sudden out of nowhere there is a shout from a man, I can't quite make it out, it sounded like he wanted someone to do something about the non-stop barking of the dog. It sounded like "sort you dog out" or something like that, but of course I could have made that up, it didn't help, the dog continued and maybe it sounded like it even got a little louder after that man's shouting.
Mind the Gap
This popular phrase was made famous on the London Underground. If you use the Tube for your commute every day, you probably hear the words "Mind the Gap" many times each day, possibly every time your train stops at a station.
It's a pretty simple phrase and we all know what it means - reminding passengers to watch out for the gap between the train and the platform on the Underground, which to be fair can be quite big sometimes.
The origins of "Mind the Gap" on the London Underground dates back to 1968. It came about all because it was discovered that an automated message made much more practical sense than station attendants and drivers having to warn passengers all the time.
If you have ever travelled on the London Underground you will undoubtedly have heard it.
There is another meaning for this phrase in my own dictionary and all because I am reading a book titled the Gap and the Gain, co-authored by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy. It claims to be the High Achiever's Guide to Happiness, Confidence and Success. I'm not 100% sure about that massive claim, but it has changed my thinking considerably.
Your Mind is Conditioned in The Gap
Last year I discovered "Dependent Origination", a Buddhist teaching. During my mindfulness enquiry I came across a podcast episode on the Ten Percent Happier podcast, I highly recommend it. On it was Andrea Fella of the Insight Meditation Center, Redwood, California, USA.
Listening to her being interviewed I could have sworn that she was almost shouting, well at least talking at an elevated pitch to try and get the concept of Dependent Origination across. I was thinking, wow this person is quite aggressive, actually I'm not sure if I want to listen to this, but I persisted as she was talking about matters I had never heard of or understood, except to say that after a while I started listening so attentively that I needed to learn more and investigated Andrea further. She was obviously 'shouting' for a reason and that was for ME to pay attention!
Why do humans inflict suffering on other humans?
If you turn on any news channel or read any news publication or social media channel and pay careful attention to what is being said or written, you will discover that they basically report on human suffering.
It could be wars, ethnic cleansing, shootings, knife crimes, sexual assaults, human trafficking, drug offences and the list goes on, stories of countless human suffering inflicted on humans by other humans.
I've only started to wake up to human suffering after hearing the Dalai Lama speak about it a few years ago. He says that everyone is entitled to their human suffering and instead of interfering with it, we should have compassion for their suffering.
Everyone's entitled? But what if it is inflicted on the innocent, what if those that have been inflicted with suffering were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Is the U.K. Government Invincible?
Of course I’m taking about Boris. With each step on his journey he’s found to be wanting, he’s found to be lying, he’s found to be incompetent, he’s found to be making poor decisions, he's found to be out of touch, confused, passing the buck, over promising and under delivering, should I go on?
And yet millions of citizens in the UK voted for him to lead this country, to lead us into a pandemic of epic proportions, with an epic death toll, that is still rising every single day.
We gasped when even one person died from COVID19 and now we don't even bat an eyelid when the death toll totals 96 (on 20 July 2021).
Leadership in government globally has been the worst in decades, but how do we know this? We only need to look at Gareth Southgate, the England Football team manager or Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister. Why can they be outstanding leaders but our governments can’t?
Could this be the end of English racism?
Maybe the racists tweets following the England final with Italy were a gift? I know this will sound very controversial, but hear me out please.
Firstly it has meant a massive public outcry towards the racist abuse targeted at these wonderful football players who stepped up for their team and country, an event they will never forget for the rest of their lives!
It has meant that comments flowed from Royalty, Government and ordinary citizens up and down the country, the country that calls itself England. My mother was brown, she was from India and my father was white, he was from The Netherlands, I am sure she faced racism in The Netherlands but I was just not conscious of it. Can you imagine my Mum and Dad getting married in the days when mixed marriages were just not seen? What must it have been like for them.
England Euro 2020(1) Final
There are so many lessons to be learnt from watching England move through the Euros 2020, which actually was played in 2021, because of the Pandemic. Every team they faced, English men and women were nervous that they would lose the game, after all England never does well in major competitions or do they?
Gareth Southgate's management style is being hailed as superior compared to all previous managers that have come before and indeed it is. The team appears to be more cohesive, supportive and genuinely enjoy each other's company. Inevitably the pressure on manager, support staff and players must be immense. Having to play mainly in front of an English crowd who will cheer when you do well, but will sneer when you don't. The press is the same too, the headlines will be celebrating every win and destroy the team when they lose.
This year appeared to be different because England were not losing any games and had a clean sheet and made it all the way through to the semi-finals. England has been there before actually, it was the world cup in 2018, but didn't make it through to the final that year. This year and for the first time in 55 years England made it through to the final of the Euros in 2021.
Are you responding like your parents or like your teachers?
There are 2 role models that shape how we respond in life. Role model no 1, your mother or father and role model no 2, the teacher who gave you the hardest time or maybe several who did.
Usually the way we were treated, when our parents and teachers felt we had done something wrong and gave their response to it in the way of punishment, ridicule or showing us up in public, is the way you now respond to situations in life. In particular your reaction and response to your loved ones, partners, siblings and children. You basically are copying what they did to you, to now doing it to those nearest to you.
Just stop and think for a few minutes and consider how you treat your nearest and dearest when I’m your opinion they have done something wrong.
Maybe have a think about how you react to drivers on the road when in your opinion you believe they have done something wrong? A tiny bit of road rage, maybe a lot of road rage? How did your father react to drivers when he drove you around or maybe your mother? Did they curse at bad drivers, at certain models of cars, at cyclists, pedestrians, older drivers? Does any of this ring true?