What to do??

I was watching TV yesterday and saw that this weeks lotto jackpot is 50 million with around 50 additional prizes of 1 million each up for grabs and I started thinking… What would I do with 1 million (Let’s dream small right.)

For quite a while now I’ve been dreaming of the day when I can go to sleep without wondering if I’m going to loose my studio and home next month or the month after that so I guess I would start by paying off all of my debt, then put a little bit away for old age. Now comes the good stuff; I’ve also spent a lot of time in the past few months dreaming of being able to build and fund an orphanage in India, a school in Nepal and funding a local guy who does work with inner city at risk youth. As I thought about these things I was amazed by how little money they all require although after doing all of them my million would actually be a much smaller number.

I have to admit I would spend some of the money on other things as well, My studio still needs some roofing work done and In the neighbourhood we live in a garage would be a real asset and of course I would claim back the insurance money from My classic truck that was torched last year (Again, a garage would have been helpful) which went to pay for the first book we published (Just As I Am) and buy a used convertible “Date car” for me and Sonya or the kids.

I’ve been reading a book on living the life of your dreams and one of the suggestions is to live like you are there already; so I’m planning on doing that. I have no money to support anything but I can take more of my time and support charities and causes within my community more than I am currently doing, that is step one, step two is if any of you have a million and are wondering what to do with it, feel free to steal a few of the items on my list starting with India, Nepal, or the youth worker, feel free to contact me for more info on these things.

We have all been blessed with so much, lets all start living like it and we can change the world, one million at a time.

Rodney

On the radio!

Listen here for Sonya's radio interview today, talking about the project in relation to some current events.

Coming Together

Everything is settling into place, and we're so excited for what you are all going to experience this Wednesday. So many positive stories. A chance to challenge our thinking. A message of beauty, hope, truth, and love (my new mantra).

So, come out. Tell your friends. It starts at 7:30 (doors open at 7:00) at the Gas Station Theatre on River and Osborne (next to Subway). Tickets $10 at the door.

I'll close with another story from one of our readers:

I love looking through Just As I Am again and again.

It's so refreshing to be able to look at photography of people that hasn't been airbrushed, and where the people haven't been chosen for their "beauty". The amazing thing is, that every person in the book is incredibly beautiful: how does our culture fail to recognize that? I love that I can look through the book and see people of different ages and genders, and see the aesthetic in each and every person.

It's been eye-opening to see how the removal of clothing seems to create a window through which to see the spirit of each person. While clothing can be used as a means of expression, I think nudity somehow expresses who that person is on a different level.

I think it must have taken a lot of courage for each person to step in front of the camera, and I hope that their courage will teach others to accept themselves. This book has created a chance for me to discuss with my children how they are perfect exactly the way they are. They are still at the age where they recognize that. Hopefully that doesn't change.

I've found this book to be inspiring, and I love the purpose behind it. It's a message worth spreading.

Tracey

207

Some of you may know that on May 1^st I went out and bought a pair of running shoes with the intention of doing something good for my body.

Just over 10 years ago I went for my last run; I needed to because I was applying for a job that had a physical requirement so I trained for two weeks and did my testing….and never ran again. It wasn’t always this way, in high school I was one of the best in the city in my age group in distance running; I was lean and loved to run. Now in my mid to late thirties and 60 or so pounds heavier than in high school I felt the need to start running again.

I actually starting running for two reasons, one was that in the last year I was feeling my weight run away from me; I had put on about 20 pounds in just over twelve months and it wasn’t looking or feeling good. The second reason was that my wife was starting to get concerned with my overall health, and I was finding myself hiding health concerns from her (Always a bad sign).

My goal as of May 1^st was to lose 10 pounds in the month of may but I changed that goal after talking to a doctor friend who suggested that a healthy level of weight loss was 1.5 pounds per week or 6-7 pounds a month. As of June 1^st I now weigh 207 lbs and my waist looks and feels better as well as the side benefits of my skin looking great and heart liking me a lot more.

My first run was a killer, I think I let my left lung on the sidewalk at the 1 km mark but continued on for another 1.5 kms. Now a month later I can run 4.5 km in about 22.5 mins and I have a goal to get that time down to 20 mins.

I have learned many great lessons in the running process; put one foot in front of the other, put the other foot back in front of the first, now repeat the last two movements again, and again, and again. If Oprah and I can do it, you can too.

Have a great day.

Rodney