My Random Manifesto

I’m going to get called on it so I may as well admit that sleep is not overrated. I’ve tried my best to improve in that department, and I’m getting there. Despite the shadows under the eyes, I’ve made a conscious effort to improve in 2015, and I’ll keep that going in 2016 too. Heck, even my fav German told me the very same last time we hung out and I never thought I’d hear that!

So I’ll compromise with you. Yes you! In return for me getting earlier nights, how about we add an extra day in the week? Or how would you feel if there were 26 hours in the day rather than 24? The logic sounds genius…….it would take a little longer between birthdays at the very least. But fundamentally, you’d feel the same, and age the same.

Well let’s be a little more creative and switch the working week up if we only have 7 days and 24 hours to play with. If I was Prime Minister, President or King (God help you us all), I’d be advocating a 4 and 3 formation. For once, I ain’t rambling about NFL defensive formations, I’m promoting the 3-day weekend. We work an extra 2 hours Monday to Thursday, and then that Friday feeling ramps up a notch knowing the weekend has actually started the evening before and not at 5pm on Friday.

An alternative to my logic is almost the exact opposite in fact. That Mon-Fri remains but the working day is cut to 6 hours. This is being applied in Sweden (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34677949) and I can see the logic behind it. Think about it – you go to school for around 13, 16 or 17 years in my case, and you have regular breaks during the day. Milk at 10.45am, Lunch at 12.30pm and then afternoon break at 2.15pm. It actually gets worse when you go to university and have 15-20 hours of lectures per week and numerous breaks during each day. Then, all of sudden, you step into the world of work, and they expect you to have an hour at lunch, but work solidly without a pause for four hours non-stop. I’ll argue there’s not a human around that was built to concentrate 100% for four hours non-stop. How unreasonable! Sounds like a good reason to start smoking to me. Alternatively, cut the hours and lunch down, and I’ll say productivity would increase massively (although as with every rule, it probably depends on the person).

So there you have it, my manifesto. The manifesto is all about just loving and enjoying life. If you’re reading this, you’re vaguely communicated to the outside world (and granted, slightly strange, related to me, or stalking me) so you’ll have heard all about Paris on Friday night. Sleep may not be overrated, but if you’re wasting time or being inefficient on some trivial matter, or not fully making the most of life, that’s as stark a reminder as there ever is, to just bloody go for it. Refining the way you work or spend some of your hours is a start!

Resolving A New Year!

Another year, another set of resolutions, another increasingly rare blog post. Not only do I have to get back to scribbling some blog posts, I have a bunch of other things that I’m committed to doing in 2015. Following the usual principle, I figure if I write them down, it will shame me into doing them….  

1. Sleep
I’m frequently torn when it comes to sleep. That generally sounds a little bizarre but I’m caught between enjoying being awake that much but knowing I should really get more sleep. 2015 is the year of more sleep.  

2. My mum
A kick ass trip with my mum somewhere this year. Last year I took my dad to Brazil for the World Cup to watch his beloved Brazil team get whipped by Germany (sorry Dad!), I’ll somehow find a way to match that with my mum this year. Suggestions welcome!

3. Running
Ok, well we’ll start with a half – Larry Budd, you and I are on! Expect some Runkeeper movement! Consider it in the diary. I won’t make the silly promise of the Vegas marathon in November again, but it’s on the tentative list if Leeds goes well #justsayin  

4. Charity
Twelve months ago, I was on the receiving end of an impromptu New Year’s Eve shave, kindly administered by my remarkably tipsy (read: hammered) cousin Kev. The generosity did not end there. The family threw some cash into a hat to go to charity. I’ve still got that money sat at home and have done nothing with it. So this year, for any longish runs I manage to get my butt in gear for, I’ll fundraise for Ehlers-Danlos – a syndrome that has affected folks in the fam.

5. Cut the Carbon
So I may have been singularly responsible for the world’s carbon footprint last year. Time to cut that down and enjoy a bit more of the UK and North!  

6. Blog more
The statistics do not lie and if I look at the right side of this page, it’s steadily gone from 75 blog posts in 2010, to 30 in 2011, 24 in 2012, 7 in 2013 and finally 5 piffling blog posts in 2014. I’m a disgrace. I’m aiming for at least one per month to get back up to 12 for 2015.

7. Take my own advice
Funny how most of us are geniuses when we offer others advice. It’s generally solid advice and it’s generally what others would say to you. Yet somehow, we decide to completely ignore it instead of applying it to ourselves! No excuses Roberto, listen to your own advice!

Happy New One folks!

The Blind Side

Humans are interesting. The things we do, the things we say, the things we choose. The things we don’t do, the things we keep quiet about, the things we choose not to do. The human mind fascinates me. With so many aspects in my life, I try to understand the reasoning behind things. This often leads to over-thinking things far too much. This is a positive as well as a negative, depending on the occasion and instance.

I wonder to what extent other people think as much as I do. The reason why I don’t sleep as well as I should is because I think too much. I have no issues going to sleep, but I wake up thinking about all the things I want to do the next day, and then I go back to sleep. Then I wake, and think some more. It is not a case of worrying about things. I do not worry about much, and if I do, then I am intent on doing something about it. But I think about what challenges and ideas I have, and how I can get wheels in motion. It goes back to when I was a child and I had very random sleeping experiences where I would sit up and talk in my sleep. It was usually a discussion around how a piece of Lego may or may not fit in my bedroom. We all have random quirks, and sleep is one of mine.

I wonder what makes me like Boxing and UFC. There is nothing in my childhood that explains why I enjoy seeing blokes in tight shorts beat each other up. I love watching it, it fascinates me, but at the same time, it does make me grimace on occasion. Some may find that strange, and I can accept that. I attended a UFC event in December with three good chaps who had never been to one previously. It was all going swimmingly well, with entertaining fights, but nothing too brutal, until one fighter’s arm snapped. Possibly not some people’s cup of tea I suspect. Some people take enjoyment from other people’s misfortunes or problems; I enjoy watching UFC and Boxing.

Watching is one thing but why do people actually become UFC fighters? What makes somebody decide to become a UFC fighter? There was an interesting dispute recently between ESPN and the UFC. ESPN were questioning the UFC and how they pay their fighters. Did you ever wonder how much a guy gets to fight in the UFC? They release the basic payments per fight with some of the top guys getting $250k per fight, and others getting as little as $4k-6k per fight. ESPN’s argument was somewhat flawed, but still, it does not hide from the fact that some guys will struggle to make $20k per year fighting. On the flipside, if you win or entertain fans, you get paid a fair bit more. I love watching it, but I find it hard to understand how some of them can fight for so little money. Though they probably cannot understand why I do what I do.

I read an interesting article today about boxing and how the sport desperately needs the star fighters to fight more often – currently Pacquiao fights twice a year and Mayweather once per year. My take on it is that the fighters themselves have a greater awareness of the risks involved and they too probably think long and hard about themselves and their careers. Easy advice to offer telling them to fight more, but the issue with those guys is that they get paid so much, they do not need to. Sadly, the guy making $4k per fight, has not option. Even tougher when they are probably equally aware of the dangers of their profession, but need to earn a living.

At what point do we decide to stop thinking? I am not sure. I can do it most of the time, but certainly there are things which linger in my mind. Working from home, I have a lot of time to think about things. If I overthink everything little thing, particularly the negatives, I would lead a pretty sad and miserable life. Thankfully I can often move on after the occasional sulk and slot them in the mind’s filing cabinet.

Last night I watched The Blind Side. It has to rate as one of my favourite sporting movies and definitely one of those feel good movies that I thoroughly enjoyed. I only realised at the very end of the movie that I was sat watching the very same Michael Oher a week ago when my Patriots were beating the Ravens. I had no idea about his story. I guess we all have stories. Some are more interesting than others, but we all have them and I enjoy hearing, listening, watching and reading about them. You can bet your life that the UFC fighters and Boxers that I watch have plenty of interesting stories too.

I like to think that I put a lot of time and effort into my relationships with friends and family, but sometimes I tell myself I should put more into certain relationships. Other times, I do not always feel like it is completely appreciated or returned. Watching that movie, it just reminded me that you can get so much pleasure and satisfaction out of what you put into other people….it is not always what you get back from them. And if you do not get anything back, they do not have that feeling of contributing to other lives. Their loss. A case of sticking to your beliefs and try doing the right thing regardless of what others do or think.

If you haven’t seen it, watch The Blind Side. Cheesy as this blog, but a great movie.

Sleep is Overrated

As I sat in the O2 arena on Friday night, it crossed my mind for the first time that it may be time to seek help. We all do crazy and random things occasionally, some more than others, but it is often when we reflect on them, that we delve deeper into the reasons why we did them or why we do them.

Last week was a hectic week. Great fun, plenty of travel, a thousand laughs, the occasional uncomfortable moment or two, a bit of sun, a lot of rain, some new faces, some old faces. All combined make some great moments. Even the bad moments, they all contribute to memories. The secret is trying to have some great memories and trying to ensure the great ones outweigh the tough ones, and not letting the tough ones weigh more heavily on one’s mind than the ten amazing ones. So, when I was bent over a Toronto toilet last weekend, producing the goods from my stomach, it was not exactly a moment I hoped would stick in my memory for too long. Note to self: several beers and car rides are not a good combo for sensitive Bobby. They never have been and they never will. Walk Bobby, walk. Hardly a proud moment but we move on.

Fast forward to Friday night and I find myself sat in the fantastic O2 Arena in London watching an old favourite of mine. Barry and I go a long way back. Back to the old days when Auntie Joan and Uncle George used to take my sister and I on these great long road trips to Primrose Valley and Filey. Thankfully I had not been introduced to alcohol at that point, or my love for Barry may not have developed so positively.

Friday night was fantastic. There is absolutely nothing like singing at the top of your voice, no matter how bad a singer you are, and just not having a care in the world apart from that very moment. Whether it be in the O2, in the shower, or in the car, there is something very cleansing about it, even if it is Barry. So, to give you a taste of Barry, I strongly recommend you click here and enjoy this song – bare with me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5IifdSv9Gk

Rewinding back to midweek and I found myself in Barcelona. I have been to one Clasico before – Figo’s return in white. While this was not quite the best game I have ever seen, it was a fantastic occasion and what better way to get absolutely drenched in a downpour than to be sat in the Camp Nou enjoying one of the greatest teams in the history of football. That may seem like a slight exaggeration, but I cannot think there has ever been anything better than this Barca team, and this Lionel Messi and I doubt anybody could genuinely oppose that. My man of the match was Lassana Diarra – amazing display for Real, and I was amazed once again by the midfield duo of Iniesta and Xavi. Everybody talks about their play on the ball which is special, but their work rate as that of the team itself, is often underrated as they work so hard to win the ball back. A different world to the O2, but an absolute pleasure to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIw-J60gsZM&feature=channel_video_title

Rewinding further back to Toronto and UFC 129 – the first ever Mixed Martial Art event in Ontario and 55,000 fans came out to visit – some further than others. An amazing event, even when one is struggling with a hangover. We visited the Expo on the Friday and enjoyed a fantastic Q&A with Dana White – the UFC president. Fans could ask a question to the Dana, followed by any request they would like, and Dana would do his best to make that come true. Requests ranged from tickets, to sitting with the ring girls, to putting the belt on the champion, and Dana did his utmost to make them reality. What sporting organisation or federation in the world does that? I am unaware of any and that is what puts the UFC at the top of the chain as far as interaction with their fans goes and many could learn from this. A slight contrast to Barca and Barry, but an absolutely fantastic event but for different reasons. The highlight of the event for me was the gutsiest display I have seen in a long time from Mark Hominick, who will now have more fans after this fight than he did prior to it. This one is neither for the feint hearted, nor those with a queasy stomach from a hangover but here goes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YROSBBBlDE4

I sincerely hope you watched all three videos. It will give you a clearer idea of why I was sat watching Barry on Friday night, wondering what exactly was wrong with me. Maybe there is a reasonable crossover of fans between football and UFC, but throwing Barry into the mix, in the space of a week, has psychologist written all over it. I guess we cannot help how we are, and how we are made up, and there is not always a reasonable explanation for any of it. Probably best just to enjoy it all, even the less glamorous moments in the bathroom, keep smiling and store the moments in the memory bank.