How I Celebrated Canada Day 150



A little spontaneity is good for the soul.

Two days ago it was Canada Day 150 (July 1, 2017).

I was listening to the radio at around 8:30 a.m.

I was reminded that the annual Canada Day Parade would start at 10:00 a.m. and would wind its way around East York and disband near Stan Wadlow Park at 12 noon.

This parade has been taking place for 57 years.

And I’ve never attended this parade.

This year was a special year however – Canada Day 150.

What better way to mark the occasion than to attend this parade.

And so I up and went.

I left at 9:50 a.m. and walked over to near where the parade started.

I arrived at 10:15 a.m.

During the parade I received a miniature Canadian flag from one of the young marchers. 

The parade ended from where I was standing at 10:35 a.m. 

I missed half the parade.

I walked over to Stan Wadlow Park to check out the Canada Day festivities.

It was only 11:00 a.m. and someone confirmed that the festivities would not start until 12 noon.

With a cloth bag in one hand (from the Wright Sisters Group booth) and Canadian flag in the other, I turned to head home.

It just so happened that I crossed paths at the point where the parade would disband.

I caught the beginning of the parade that I missed earlier.

I marked Canada Day 150 in my own small way.

I think to myself how lucky that I am a Canadian and live in a peaceful country.

This morning I opened up an e-mail from Brian Rashid.

In this newsletter, Mr. Rashid includes a video called “Magic Moments Monday #5.”

In this video, he talks about not over-thinking things and just doing it.

This is great advice!

Sometimes you just need to overcome any initial hesitation you might have and just do it.

Having a “damn the consequences” attitude can be helpful.   

A little spontaneity is good.



Also Published on LinkedIn on: July 3, 2017
Image Credit: Pixabay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Zone

Image
Yesterday I did something that was out of the ordinary for me.   I signed up for an 8 week improv class with the  Bad Dog Theatre Company . The idea for attending such a class was suggested to me when I attended  DisruptHRToronto  (a networking event) where I heard a speaker named Lori Pearlstein on December 1, 2016. Ms. Pearlstein owns a company called  Playworks .  Ms. Pearlstein’s company provides improv classes to corporate clients and helps people to improve their public speaking, team building and brainstorming skills. I thought to myself that improv is something that I would like to try. As is usual with me, I filed the suggestion away in my head perhaps to re-visit in the future. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were talking about food preferences. He noted that I could be more adventurous when it came to food. Point well-taken.    I wrote a LinkedIn post called “ Ham .”...
Read more

Human Nature

Image
Yesterday (June 19th) was very hot and humid in Toronto, and Environment Canada issued a heat alert. Today promises to be another hot and humid day with the humidex expected to rise to 40 degrees Celsius. When it’s hot in Toronto, we wish for winter and cooler weather; and when it’s winter, we wish for summer and warmer weather.  I suppose this wishful thinking of thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else is a part of human nature. When we’re working, we think wouldn’t it be nice if we had more leisure time, and when you’re in transition (like me), you think wouldn’t it be nice if we were working? When I was working at Combined Insurance, that’s all I thought about was work.  Never thought about stopping and reflecting on things.  In transition I’ve seen the other side (the leisure side), and I know that when I find a job, that I’d want more of a balance between working hard and pursuing leisure activities (maybe going to see a Toronto Bl...
Read more

Positivity...Let me count the ways

Image
In a previous post “ Always On My Mind ” I mentioned to job seekers to “stay hopeful and positive.” I would like to expand on how exactly job seekers (or anyone else for that matter) can “stay positive.” First I’m reminded of a  FISH! Philosophy  tenet of “Choose Your Attitude.” We can choose to have a positive attitude in a number of ways. Be nice to yourself   We can’t always feel positive (or up or cheery) all of the time. Sometimes we feel down.  I suggest that we accept that we feel down at this moment and that this feeling won’t last forever. We can think to ourselves that things will feel brighter tomorrow. Give yourself permission to feel down at this moment and take comfort that tomorrow is another day.  We can do some basic things to take care of ourselves: get enough rest, drink lots of water, eat healthy, get some exercise, etc. Other than these things, we can participate in activities that...
Read more