Live your Life

With each post I write, I hope to at least share something new with all of you whether it be about myself, a new movie or a good book. Today at work I attended an all day course on communicating up, down and across the organization. It was actually quite interesting and I learned a few key concepts about making my messages clear and concise, not only at work but in my everyday life.
The course instructor touched upon some really valid points about how your message is intened and perceived. He explained this equation about communication in general:

I (Intention) + P (Perception) = C (Communication).

To summarize, communication can only happen when there is an understanding between two parties, therefore, if your message is somewhat misconstrued and read in a different context, you could have difficulty getting your message across. Sometimes it is hard to be 100% accurate with your intention, especially with the use of email. It is hard to read tone, and tone of voice makes up for about 93% of your message, the other 7% is the actual context. I think if we all put a little more effort into the way we create and execute our messages to others, there would be a stronger sense of understanding among one another.

This was just one of the many points that we looked at today, but one that definately stuck out for me. It seems like common sense right? But it's funny how quickly we can sometimes forget these things. We aren't all be mind readers, which is why it's very important to say what you mean and mean what you say.

Speaking of which. I came up with a little rhyme today associated with that phrase:

Life is too short. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Live life to the
fullest everyday.

Now, I like to think of myself as a happy, go lucky person who always seizes the day. But sometimes I get some depressing news and it really shakes me up and almost humbles me. Yesterday morning I got word that my already ill grandfather had yet another stroke (3rd one in about 15 years). It was a really bad one this time and the doctor's don't think he has very long to live. Of course we all knew this was coming as he was already very ill from his previous stroke, but just hearing it being validated by the doctor makes it all very real and all very upsetting. It makes me sad to think about his poor life, the opportunities he never had, the hardships he faced as an immigrant to Canada and the last suffering years of his life. It really puts things into perspective, at least for me, about what is really important in life and how precious life is. So what if you are stuck in a traffic jam one day? So what if you couldn't buy that new laptop on sale? So what that your bonus wasn't as big as last years? At the end of your life, will these things matter? Will you be remembered fondly? Did you make an impact on people's lives? Will you leave a legacy for the people you are leaving behind? What can you do today to make your life that much more interesting?
It's weird how death can provoke such emotions from people. But for me, I just want to be happy. I am currently reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchn Rubin (leant to me by my great friend Sio! I am hoping to get some good insight from it about how to make my already content and complacent life just a little bit more cheerful. So far so good. Please note this is not a book for people who are depressed! (I am the furthest thing from depressed). I will give my full review on it once complete.