I'm an incredibly fortunate individual. I express gratitude each morning, sometimes in the shower or when I'm late and bearing a peg to place over my nostrils, while spraying myself with deodorant.

 

So I know that, daily, I have more good fortune than approximately 95% of the global population.

 

I'm wilfully oblivious to suffering and pain, be it that of Mother Nature or the guy selling the Big Issue down the street. I don't take pride in restricting my emotions, but it's ingrained in me. I think in some small way I see it as justice for being bullied as a kid. This is why I need to spend more time thinking about Giving Back. To avenge my nonchalance and ignorance. That's the way it's going to be.

 

It's especially topical since I asked a few people today about their experiences of random acts of kindness. One example saw a man sacrifice his life to save others while people attempted to escape the sinking ferry at Zeebrugge. Another was a woman who, despite being sizeably debilitated by a range of medical conditions, devoted her life to finding solace and safe haven for those in need. Heartwarming, stark, real.

 

We just hit home base after watching Avatar. It lasted about three weeks, and queues to the toilets were 19 deep as the credits started to roll.

 

It's a thought-provoking tale about how we're plummeting into the epicentre of a natural disaster so momentous it will threaten the whole of civilisation. Princess opined it was more serious - all about a modern-day tribe of Smurfs.

 

Blue people aside, it's a cinematic triumph by James Cameron. And like its big brother Titanic, which took another 8 months of my life in one sitting, it's got more reasons to see it than reasons not to.

 

I needed a distraction this evening. I've spent far too many hours and days chained to a PC figuring the ins and outs of a WordPress site for my client. In doing so I learned a valuable lesson: do not, under any circumstances, underestimate the time it takes to complete a project when you're doing it for bread.

 

I did that. And so far I've committed roughly four times more time to it than I'm being paid for. I don't think this is unlucky; in fact, if ever there's a more worthy lesson to be learned about being in business, I've yet to encounter it. Having said that, chances are it'll be just round the corner.

 

Business makes you realise your strengths and, to a larger degree, your intimate weaknesses. Those deficits you would never reveal to the world - but are forced to by the challenges of commerce.

 

I'm reading a fantastic book right now called The E Myth. It tells of how we all as business owners have a trifecta of personalities we have to balance out. The entrepreneur, who innovates; the manager, who needs to keep on top of the job and keep the entrepreneur in check; and the technician, who just wants to get on with it while dismissing the efforts of the manager and entrepreneur as trifling and restrictive.

 

We all have the power and ability to empower each of our personalities, but few ever give it a thought. We're all capsules attached to the wheel of life, too inhibited by the shackles of our own enterprise to break free and give ourselves a chance.