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Studies have shown that approximately 65% of people suffer from normality. This disturbing evidence has failed to ignite action within the population with most choosing to go about their daily mundane lives as per usual.

It is believed several mechanisms in western society are at play towards this epidemic. Examples include excessive comfort, ego-tripping, mortgage payments and materialistic pursuits.

If left unchecked it is possible that the moral, emotional and spiritual elements of human nature will stagnate, leaving human existence irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

To combat this dilemma it is suggested individuals look within and to each other and then proceed to change something.

After 210 days at sail around the world Australia’s daughter of the seas has returned home and we couldn’t be more proud.

However, with the wide selection of accolades that can be given to this 16 year old girl from Queensland, none has caused more controversy than that of “hero.”

Throughout some of the responses to the media observed there seems to be a division between whether Jessica can be labelled a hero or not. The most popular argument being something along the lines of her ‘not saving any lives’ and therefore should not be considered a hero. Not even the girl of the hour agrees with the label.

But for what it’s worth I believe it pays to revisit the definition of “hero.” And in Jessica’s case, I do believe she’s a hero. After all, she did pull off 210 gruelling days at sea, silencing the critics and curbing conventional preconceptions of teenage girls. Who knows what extraordinary things could spring up from this (see: the Ripple Effect).

And for those who complain about the ‘excessive’ coverage and think “who cares?” I suppose you’d rather enjoy news that reminds of the cruelty and suffering around the world? Finally some good news comes our way amongst the mountains of crap going on – soak it up for what it’s worth while it lasts.

When reflecting on what insightful nuggets of knowledge have shaped our views of the world it is truly a wonderful faculty to be able to quote such works, whether it be a renown novel, a breakthrough journal or an insightful article. The victories of each generation are a reflection of the works that came before them.

But for us millennials and the generations following where are our works finding their home? Social media and networking is facilitating a wealth of ideas and experiences in ways never before imaginable, but with text flowing through like a rapid current where will the people of tomorrow quote our ideas and values if the words we write don’t stay still?

Perhaps it’s time for us to log off Facebook and log on paper…

Ever have an opinion, where in your mind it makes such an unprecedented level of sense that anyone that disagrees with you must simply be a fool? Well, chances are you are right, lots of ideas in this world make sense and it’s no surprise you just happen to have one, or two, or more of them. Or maybe you know someone who has a great idea or two that you’d like to spread. But how to push them forward?

The trick is to start a movement. And there are 2 ways to start one: you can either spam a message to as many people as possible and pray that it sticks; or, you can communicate sincerely to people that have the capability to make a difference.

One of these methods relies on hope and luck. The other, works.

“Moral Complexity” is a term I recently came across on a video gaming blog post which got me thinking about our collective pursuit of sound sense of morality (well, at least I like to think we are pursuing it). We come across situations, particularly those regarding life and death, that overwhelm us with uncertainty over a choice that has or will be made.

And when we do come across such situations we label them as complex.

It is almost as if applying such a label is a get-out-of-jail-free card in that if we have made the ‘wrong’ choice (in the eyes of a higher power) then that is ‘OK’ because it was too complex for us in the first place. We stay in the grey area because it is believed to be safe. And our acceptance of our imperfections is what is keeping us there.

Whether or not this is the case I hope there is something profound in us all that is trying to achieve the opposite: a simpler view of morality; where there is no over-abundance of rules and exceptions for different situations, no fear in approaching a choice to make, and no remorse shown no matter the outcome.

“As long as you’re enjoying it”

I often find myself and others say this when someone talks about their job. But when I say it, I lie.

Think of it this way – imagine if everyone in the world only did their 40 hour weeks for their own enjoyment. Where would our Mother Teresas, Nelson Mandelas, Martin Luther King Jrs and Mahatma Gandhis be? While it can’t be expected that everyone and anyone rise up and be humanitarians I don’t think it’s unreasonable for each of us to think for a moment about what we are doing to help our fellow man, woman and child. Even if it is something small.

“As long as we enjoy it”

After visiting a friend’s place the other night I picked up a book he received for Christmas: The Bumper Book of Rude and Politically Incorrect Jokes. Flicking through it I noticed pretty much every social, cultural, and personality class is taken a stab at so I can’t exactly say the book is biased. However the interesting thing I noted was that as I read through some of the jokes my type of laughter varied. Sometimes it was a straight out typical ‘oh that is so funny’ laugh, then there were those ‘oohhh that’s nasty funny’ laughs. Afterwards I thought about my reactions and came to the conclusion that my laughs varied depending on how offended I believed the targeted segment would be.

From a broader perspective, racism, sexism, religious attacks – they are all born out of the sensitivities of the segment at hand; the more sensitive a particular group is the more of an ‘issue’ the type of insult or stereotype is. And as a result society becomes ‘soft’ so not to upset the sensitives.

Simply put: they all need to harden up… so I can check out how much further volume 2 can push the boundaries

If there is ever a phrase that irks me it’s “I’m going to spend time with/doing <blah>”

‘Spend’ time? Since when has time been equivalent of a currency? Not only has consumerism have us obsessed with wanting more stuff it also has warped our concept of time – as if it were a commodity we knew we were going to run out of.

And now there seems to be some underlying necessity to cram our lives as a sequence of events, scheduled to maximise our return on investment – cashing in time in calculated increments in the hope to make us feel ‘balanced’.

My theory on being ‘balanced’ – it’s pedestrian. All you really end up doing is juggling one part of your life with another. Hardly anything extraordinary comes out of a juggling act. Unless you are juggling flaming chainsaws with puppies.

So don’t be afraid to take your work/family/friends/leisure ‘balance’ and change it up a bit – go with the flow; do what comes naturally; focus on something extraordinary or turn something ordinary into something extraordinary. And don’t worry about any downtime – daydreaming is good for you. After all there is no hurry.

With the sheer amount of information and relationships we have to deal with I’d say ‘hyperactive’ be a very appropriate word to describe our generation. And with hyperactivity comes a great deal to juggle in our life – so how to handle it?

By redefining the word “multitasking”. Instead of doing multiple tasks at once, do multiple tasks sequentially. Think about it this way:

We have two eyes to focus on an object;

We have two ears to place a voice;

We have two feet to take one step forward;

And We have two hands to hold our child.

Just because we like to think we can do more things at once in reality it’s not in our nature.

So next time you feel overwhelmed remember only one thing is ever at the top of a list of priorities. Others will remember a job well done long after the wait.

Something happens. You go forth at the best of your ability with the best intentions. Things seem to pan out alright – you did what you had to do according to plan. Then you turn around to find that others around you respond in ways you didn’t anticipate. It may even be the case the response was undesirable.

What went wrong? You trace back through your steps – nope, everything occurred as intended. Except the response.

Well, being as unpredictable and illogical as we are it is no surprise the ‘human factor’ is at play here. While you may understand your own actions very well, it’s not in our nature to put in the effort to try and understand other people’s circumstances. At least off first impressions. We lean towards simplicity and the ‘easy way’ – no one has time or patience for explanations.

And to me, that itself is a tragedy of human nature.