The Weekly(ish) Update - Issue 0004

The Weekly(ish) Update
17th AUGUST 2008
Issue Four

“It cant rain all the time”...

Those six words are from 'The Crow', which is one of my all time favourite movies.

The film is based on an underground graphic novel, a comic book, by James O'Barr, around the plot that love conquers all, even death, and it starts with a young girl saying “People once believed that when people died a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead, but sometimes a terrible sadness is carried within and the soul cant rest, then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back, to put the wrong things right”.

It stars a guy called Brandon Lee (martial arts expert Bruce Lee's son) who was accidentally killed when real bullets were used in a gun during one of the last scenes of the movie to be filmed.

There were heaps of 'lines' in the movie that I connected with, which I guess is something that makes a good movie stand out from all the others, but this week I am reminded of those six words, 'It cant rain all the time', because this week it 'stopped raining'.

Things have not been going so good the past few weeks for me.

I was unhappy with comments that were made to me regarding my relationship within a particular area of my family, something that I grew up with that I am unfortunately reminded about and have to live with, but something that makes me uncomfortable regardless of how well I deal with it.

Things started to break all around me, things that I had not planned for like my bike, and the memory card for my camera that my niece chewed on, which combined with my part time job cutting back my hours, had me seemingly being unable to pay my bills, repair and replace the things that had broken, or move forward towards my goal of starting my business.

I hate money and what it does to some people, but I am also smart enough to now that money can also provide options, give choices, and in the case of what I want to do with “Custom Vision”, it can also provide people with hope.

I have always used everything i've had to the best of my ability, to enjoy as much as I could with what I have had at any given moment, but money has never been important to me, because so many other things are.

I have often got myself into trouble financially, but I have also always got myself out of trouble financially.

I have stood on my own two feet since I was about fourteen when I started working, sure I have made mistakes, some huge, but I have also done some pretty amazing things considering the various situations I have been through.

One of the things throughout it all that stands out for me is when I have been genuinely needed some assistance, very few have offered the same assistance that I would in the same situation, and of those that have assisted me even fewer have not held it against me later, that amazes me and yet is what will ultimately drive me to succeed with 'Custom Vision'.

I want to help others simply because at various points in our lives, we need it. It is what I am working towards, and initially that will be done by a percentage, at this stage I think it will be ten percent, that is donated from the sale of each Limited Edition Print to my favourite charity, Canteen, which supports and assists young people with cancer.

I am also exploring the idea of allowing people to choose their own charity to donate to, but this is all just the start of what I want to do long term, because a few people have shown me that it is possible to give without wanting anything in return, except perhaps for those people to learn to give to others.

I know I should ideally save at least ten percent of what I earn each week so that I do not get into financial trouble, that of that ten percent maybe sixty to seventy percent should be put into a long term saving scheme, with a guaranteed slow rate of growth, and thirty to forty percent used on the stock market, with a much higher return. I have known this theory since I was sixteen years old and yet I still live from day to day, week to week, never really having enough to do what I want to, because it seems when I put myself into a position to do things 'properly' financially, something happens to change my financial situation drastically, and I have to change that.

This week I have kept up going to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, but instead of going for a ride on my bike on the in-between days because my bike is broken, I go over to the gym and use one of their exercise bikes for an hour, not quite the same thing, but it allows me to keep my commitment to looking after myself a bit more as I get older.

I sent my “How do I become a motor sport photographer” letters to half a dozen top magazines in New Zealand and Australia, working with the 'there is no harm in asking' theory.

I also designed a business card, joined Flickr.com (where I can show my photos to people) and I have decided that I need to find more work, as I am struggling to pay my bills, let alone get ahead.

I am now mature enough to know that I need to do something to achieve financial freedom, I now want to not have to worry about, or see the 'funny side' of, me not being financially secure when I can be.

It is ironic that when I decide to get myself into a better position financially that I get less hours at my part time job, or for that matter get dismissed from my bus driving job when I had put myself into a position to enjoy working towards my goal of setting up my own business that would ultimately help others, and the fact that I was dismissed for an alcohol related event almost three weeks after I decided to stop drinking for reasons that were not related to my dismissal.

Sometimes I do struggle to be happy, things happen around me that often put me in a position where I have to question myself and what I am doing, but I have learnt asking myself these questions is a good thing, that the challenges I face are what makes me 'me', and one day I will look back and see the funny side of all the things that led me to achieving everything I wanted to do, and so much more.

I am not going to give up until I succeed... and I will succeed, because “It cant rain all the time”.

Till soon.. Stay safe.. Be You!!!

.K