A true friend and amazing force in this world, Jimmy Royle, passed away on Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

It feels as though there has been a great loss in the world, like the life force that I am made of has changed in some resonant way.  I have known Jim, not as well as I would have liked, for most of my life but only in the last few years did I really get to experience his amazing energy and much of it I credit to Newfoundland.

This is a place in the world that makes me long for change in my world.  Having family and friends there I yearn to feel more a part of it because of the qualities it seems to bestow on its inhabitants.  Jim was a true blue Newfoundlander and whenever I think of the energy I want to possess, and the man I want to be remembered as, I will think of Jim, my roots in Newfoundland and know that this island is an even more powerful place with his energy deeply married to it.

I want to thank all of Jim's family, friends and neighbours for being a part of him and for carrying on his energy so that every time I get down home he will not be too far.

Kitchen parties need to become a part of our culture, my culture.  Soccer, some kind of active play and music need to become a part of this culture, people and energies like JR's need to become a focal part of this culture.

Thank you for making me want to make this a better place to live for us all Jim.  Thanks for the spot to crash.  Thanks for everything.

Thanks Jim.

Just before I began typing this latest entry I vividly recall numerous excuses runnning through my head as to why at times my written journal holds my thoughts and I falter at my chosen task of transferring them onto this blog and my others.

These excuses ranged from the mroe benign ones like wanting to keep some thoughts more to myself to the most dissappointing, "I don't have the time".  As soon as that thought popped into my head I thought of all those fits of passion, starts of release and feelings of dissappointment after each fit and start that was followed by a lack-luster follow through.

I have over the past year put more and more of my time into learning about the human experience with regards to habit formation and the process of change and as such, might find myself more down on my efforts than others because much like nutrition and exercise, "I know what it takes".  However, to quote GI Joe, "Knowing is half the battle".

What exactly does that mean you might ask? Or rather, how is this article going to give me the tools to move past my own fits and starts?

The science is fascinating but the conclusions are wonderfully common-sensical.  To make change you have to want to.  Deeper yet, to make change you have to be ready to.  Yet further down the rabbit hole, you have to know yourself.

To get to know yourself you have to ask deep questions and take time to listen just as deeply.  Nearly all of the religions of the world praise this practice of inner reflection and wisdom building as essentially to truely making the most of your life... but there is one glaring BUT.

Today, more than in any other day our mental/neural circuits and physical/physiological systems are overloaded, PERIOD.  So, to maximize this life you have you need to unplug with solid commitement and find support in the process of learning how to communicate with your mind:body.  Whether it is coaching or psychotherapy/analysis you need to unplug and communicate with real live people that don't have flashing icons all around their heads and words!

I need help to clarify my direction and over the next year I plan to find the best help I can to become the best most effecient Master and Commander of this mind:body ship that I have control of... sometimes moreso than others!

The fits and starts of making change can go on for a long time in that "one step forward two steps back" fashion that has become a common idiom for our lives, or you can choose to take control.  You can choose to stay well.

I am making a move to Toronto in the New Year and looking to build a health team to achieve my goals so if you know of some excellent and commited practitioners eager to showcase their abilites to promote and sustain human change, please be happy to direct them my way and put them to use for yourselves!!

In health and happiness for the holiday season,

Scott