Tag: Personal Development

Grandma’s Clock (Part 3) (or Give Yourself Time!)

Grandma’s Clock (Part 3) (or Give Yourself Time!)

Back in the day while staying at Grandma’s the clock was ever present, chiming every fifteen minutes and the announcing the hour with chimes on the hour. It seemed like Grandma never heard it – she slept through it all night while we seemed to be restless and eventually settled when Dad shoved a handkerchief in the mechanics to disrupt the timing mechanism.

I don’t remember exactly how I came to be the guardian of the clock, but it was put under the house in Kingsland in 1990 after Grandma died. It wasn’t working. It took ten years until I had the mechanism overhauled and assumed a pride of place in several houses. It stopped working again after several years and the verdict was “a complete overhaul” which I had completed.

When I recently moved, I forgot to take the weight out that you must do when moving a clock like this and it stopped working. So it was out to a watch and clock repairer in New Lynn for an overhaul. They agreed to also restore the wooden casing and the gold lettering and face. “Could be three months” I was warned. No problem I said. It was a year actually – the watchmaker who was to do the work sadly died – “quite inconvenient” I was told – but when I collected it recently it was an unexpected moment of joy. My very own “The Repair Shop” moment!

The watchmaker was as proud as I was satisfied

It’s got pride of place in the landing at my home and keeps almost perfect time. Living in a new modernist style home the chimes transport me to another place and time. A place of warmth, care, holiday excitement and the anticipation of what each day might hold – sometimes the amazing and quite new St Lukes Mall with its beads of water cascading down invisible plastic threads from ceiling to ground, Waiwera Hot Pools, Stanmore Bay for swimming, and the Auckland Zoo.

The original instruction booklet

I don’t really enjoy the burden of physical objects that might fit the category of “take if the house is burning down”, but I definitely have one now. Well two actually, but that’s for another day. For now, finally, it’s back to its former glory, functional, and permanently home. A contented feeling.

Stephen

The style of the Clock is known as a Striking Mantel Clock. It is “The Enfield Full Quarter Westminster Chime” and the instructions which I still have record “Give yourself Time!“. It appears to have been popular in the 1940s and 1950s when it is thought that Grandma and Grandad purchased the unit. You can purchase a good second-hand one for $600 in New Zealand, but if you want to restore one be prepared for a multiple of that figure! I am hopeful that one of my sons will one day take guardianship of it for another generation of memories. The Westminster Chimes come from Big Ben’s chimes in London.

A walk in the park

A walk in the park

It’s quite a different city from when I left four decades ago, and coming back – settling in the city for part of the week and some weekends – has felt both easy and foreign. Christchurch is largely built on the flat, and walking through the three Hagley Parks and one Botanic Gardens today, I did wish for a bit of challenge to the heart! You can get in a good groove though – audiobook and easy paths – and although it was cold, it was clear and there were lots of runners, dog walkers and cyclists. I’m not sure you need a motor vehicle living in the city, it’s very walkable, safe, and quite attractive too. I’m not sure if locals quite realise how stunning Hagley Park is on foot. Small children play football in the freezing cold – that’s a memory of the Linwood Rugby Club!

I chose to live in the city here now, it’s got a bit of spark, fantastic walking and cycling with some quite exciting architecture and of course the greens and river, and modern streetscape. Ideal for an addicted walker like me!

I’ve been a reasonably frequent visitor over the years to my southern hometown, and when I took the leap to lead a team here, I knew that I had to have a fresh start and not go back to any old ways – a new apartment in the city for a start, live a flexible life, walk everywhere and get a bike on hand.

I didn’t articulate to myself why all those things needed to be true but it came clearer to me in the park. I try and keep my mind in the moment for those moments that bring up easy reflections and learnings – a glance at the kids playing football on the wet cold sunny grass did it at one point this morning – but I don’t enjoy living a life from that past at all. A fresh start in Otautahi keeps me forward looking, with the luxury of many old memories coming back full of rich memories to make life fuller.

Like a favourite old movie, remastered in stunning high definition!

Stephen

It’s in your head

It’s in your head

I’ve been grappling a bit over the last couple of years with resilience – the concepts more than the actual thing (I think!). People talk of building it up, focussing on your wellbeing to make sure you are resilient, especially during this Covid era when uncertainty about work, health, travel, whanau is ever present. It’ll be coming up four years soon since I saw my eldest son, now settled in Ireland with children of his own, one I’ve not seen in person. There are thousands of similar, and far more challenging situations for many Kiwis. I’m thinking especially those who have lost their employment or had their earnings restricted from business, or who haven’t been able to say farewell to loved ones who have died. It’s tough. And resilience is needed.

I was out at my little piece of paradise this long Waitangi weekend, doing some cleaning up, after a big clean up – moving bits of old metal, some electric power line fittings – trees in pots that had fallen over and so on. I’ve been very cautious – one of my legs is not what it used to be and I’ve been looking after my resilience by protecting it, having others to do the hard graft, leaving me for such strenuous activities as watering and fetching cold drinks from the fridge in the container (should you leave it on? – I hope it’s alright!).

Something switched – maybe I suddenly reached a tipping point and got tougher, but I grabbed all the old metal, electrical fittings and some bits of timber and lugged them up the hill to the bin. Cripes it felt good. Then I did it again. Then I moved the plants back upright. Then I attacked the door to the bore shed that’s been jamming – fixed that.

I’m certain it wasn’t all in my head, I have been weaker, but it had got in my head and now it’s out and I’m free and strong to do what I can. Well that’s what it feels like – probably won’t make the Olympic team quite yet, but you get the drift!

Mount Taranaki

In The Mental Toughness Handbook by Damon Zahariades he separates resilience from mental toughness. He says Resilience:

“is the ability to bounce back from unforeseen complications. It’s the ability to adapt. For example, suppose you leave your home at a normal time en route to your workplace. Unfortunately, you run into expectedly heavy traffic on the freeway. This setback is sure to make you late for a meeting scheduled that morning.
A resilient person might grit his teeth and curse under his breath, but he’d ultimately adapt to this circumstance. He might seek a different route to his workplace, using his phone’s GPS feature. Or he may call his office and reschedule the meeting. Or he might compose an explanation for his tardiness that allows him to avoid others’ disapproval.

Mental toughness is a mindset. It not only reflects our ability to bounce back from unforeseen complications, but also demonstrates a positive outlook during the experience. It’s not just the ability to handle stressful situations. It reflects how we handle them. For example, a mentally tough person caught in unexpectedly heavy traffic might take the opportunity to listen to an inspiring audiobook. In fact, she might be pleased with her circumstance because it gives her the opportunity.”

Obviously there’s more to it in the book than I can relay here, but think about the times when things go wrong – do you see it as an opportunity? Or do you try and make sure the tracks are covered?

I’m not advocating pulling yourself up by the bootstrings necessarily but there is something to be said for thinking of the opportunity. But it’s tough. Mentally tough, but it might just be in your head as to which way you choose.

Resilience vs Mental Toughness. Subtly different.

Stephen

Day 23

Day 23

Who would have thought that almost the entire New Zealand inside is painted the same colour – more or less? Or that it took only 2 days and everyone started wearing Saturday morning sloth clothes?

I started the day on a video call – Hangout as Google calls it – with Ireland, and then it never really stopped until about 7.15pm. You see lots of the inside.

Working days at home on constant calls I’ve found really quite tiring, so I was tempted to break the walking chain. Of course not! But it was only 3 km and now I’m watching Unorthodox.

It’s the story of a young woman who escapes from her Hasidic Jewish Brooklyn community and goes to Berlin.  She’s taken in by a group of musicians. It flashes backwards and forwards from her old life to her new one: charming, funny and poignant all at the same time. It’s only four episodes so it’s a pleasant change from ten episodes in Sweden about a series of murders orchestrated by those high up in society!

iStock-990192782.jpg

We’re all living out of our normal environment right now. When you’re outside your norm you can learn unexpected things about yourself. I haven’t minded at all the  non-contact. I’ve enjoyed the meetings that start promptly on time. Everyone gets heard. I’ve lived in a more structured manner, and enjoyed it. I work less in the evenings and weekends than I ever have. I walk a lot. I eat better. It’s okay, but the economy can’t survive this indefinitely, or much more at all.

Brandenburg Gate In Berlin. Germany

The finance minister said today at the 1pm briefing that the government had paid $9.8b in wage subsidies. We can’t run an economy for much longer by borrowing. So let’s hope the projections of the 2 weeks in Level 3 then down to the working level – level 2 – turn out to be true. By the way, why is the 1pm broadcast orchestrated like a piece of propaganda? The flashing banners to dob in companies about prices, the STAY HOME! warnings, the repeat instructions telling us what to do and not do. That might be newsworthy but it shouldn’t be pumped out as instructions. That’s not the media’s job. But I forgot, we’re in a national state of emergency. Is it supposed to feel like this?

So whatever the level, I think us knowledge workers will still be working from home for some time yet.

It won’t be so bad, in fact the new environment is an ongoing opportunity for personal growth for all of us.

Have a great weekend. I’m thinking about a COVID-19km walk.

Stephen