it started when I was quite young

An inspiring an true story about free Hugs for all of us

"When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better."
- Pauline R. Kezer

Merry Christmas to all of you &
don't forget to leave a message

Merry Christmas

Perfect Sunday: Mood swings part II

Life is hard for a single father of 4 Children.
Woke up early and wrote some emails to people I love, worked on my blog, went into a research mode about mood swings and then was served breakfast in bed by my kids.

I'm peaking again ... :-)

Click on the triangle to listen to the music

mood swings

I've been confronted with huge mood swings latelly. Looking at what is available on the internet it seems that I might have a version of "bipolar disorder" that doesn't have full manic episodes and that I should definitely have my thyroid hormone checked ??

I love my friends, over the years they saw how one day there would be no end to happiness and the next day no reason to get out of bed.

In fact for this patient it's more about mood peaks and valleys than swings.

Santa

Santa is coming soon,

You better beware, 'zwarte piet' is with him ...

Kids love it

je weet dat je in 2006 leeft... ... ALS

1. Je per ongeluk je paswoord ingeeft in de microgolf-oven...

2. Je in geen jaren "patience" gespeeld hebt met echte kaarten...

3. Je een lijst hebt van 12 telefoonnummers voor een familie van drie personen...

4. Je een e-mail stuurt naar de persoon van het bureau naast het jouwe...

5. Je reden om geen contact te houden met bepaalde familie of vrienden is dat ze geen e-mail adressen hebben...

6. Je je eigen oprit oprijdt en dan met je gsm belt om te zien of er iemand binnen is om de boodschappen mee uit je auto te laden...

7. Elke reclame-spot op tv een website vermeldt onderaan het scherm...

8. Je huis verlaten zonder je gsm, die je de eerste 20, 30 of zelfs veertig jaar van je leven niet gehad hebt, is nu reden om in paniek te raken en als een gek terug naar huis te keren om het verrekte ding op te halen...

10. Je 's morgens opstaat en eerst online gaat alvorens koffie te zetten...

11. Je je hoofd schuin begint te houden als je glimlacht... : )

12. Dat je dit allemaal al knikkend en lachend leest...

13. Erger nog, je weet precies naar wie je deze mail gaat doorsturen...

14. Je zelfs te bezig bent om te merken dat er geen nummer 9 is op deze lijst....

15. Dat je zelfs terug gescrold bent om te checken of er inderdaad geen nummer 9 IS !

EN DAT JE NU MET JEZELF ZIT TE LACHEN....

Conservative me?

Do the World's Smallest Political Quiz
Take the Quiz now and find out where you fit on the political map!

Click here to do the test

ACCORDING TO MY ANSWERS, The political description that fits me best is...

CONSERVATIVE

CONSERVATIVES tend to favor economic freedom, but frequently
support laws to restrict personal behavior that violates "traditionalvalues." They oppose excessive government control of business,
while endorsing government action to defend morality and the
traditional family structure. Conservatives usually support a strong
military, oppose bureaucracy and high taxes, favor a free-market
economy, and endorse strong law enforcement.

"The Quiz has gained respect as a valid measure of a person's political leanings." - The Washington Post

SELF-CONTROL

Lao-tzu

"He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty."

Lao-tzu is reminding us that the mark of a truly strong person is his ability to control himself and his actions. Very often, when I seek to control others I do so because they cannot control myself, in a mistaken belief that controlling other will make up for lack of self-control.

I'm sorry Martin

INTEGRITY = Walk the talk

What is the one most important character trait to hold? We could debate thatfor a long time, but let me offer integrity as a very likely candidate.

Integrity is the measure of how close are the things we say we believe (bywords, in our thoughts, etc.) and what we show we believe through our actions. The integrity gap is the space between what we say we believe and what we showwe believe.Everybody falls into the gap sometimes. People who believe in the law, driveover the speed limit. People who think steeling is wrong will take things whenthey think nobody will miss them. People who believe we should leave somethingbehind for future generations still consume oodles of unnecessary items. We become happier when the integrity gap is small, because we are doing theright thing by our own standards.

What more should I do to narrow your integrity gap?

Yann Arthus Bertrand

http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com/yann2/

Amazing pictures, taken from the sky,

Cradle to cradle: No time to waste !

William McDonough and Michael Braungart

William McDonough's new book, written with his colleague, the German chemist Michael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. Through historical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution; commentary on science, nature and society; descriptions of key design principles; and compelling examples of innovative products and business strategies already reshaping the marketplace, McDonough and Braungart make the case that an industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes" can become a creator of goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value.

There are two kinds of people in life: people who see the world as it is and wonder why. People who imagine the world as it should be and wonder; why not?

George-Bernard Shaw

sexsomnia:

Sexual behavior in sleep (SBS)
Sleepsex, "sleep sex" or "sexsomnia" or "SBS" is sexual behavior that occurs during sleep. Some people seem to enjoy it and view it with a sense of humor. However, it can be disturbing, annoying, embarrassing and is a potentially serious problem for some couples and individuals.

www.sleep-masturbation.com
www.sleepsex.org

please no comments on this one, it is not my fault !

Sexsomnia (SBS) in the Popular Press
ABC Primetime
Anderson Cooper 360 (transcript)
Details Magazine
WSVN Miami
Lowell Sun
WHDH Boston
The New Hampshire

Love

Une femme à son mari :
- Chéri, dis-moi ce que tu préfères : une femme jolie ou une femme intelligente ?
- Ni l'une ni l'autre, chérie, tu sais bien que je n'aime que toi

Beautiful Heidelberg - probably last ride of the year

1100 km

I went to the SAS Emea Headquarter for a training and discovered this wounderful city/region. The weather was beautiful and I decided to go there by bike. It was fun to drive around there, German drivers treat bikers with respect, what a pleasure.

I'm starting to like Germany, what should I do ?

2nd marriage ????

"A second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience."
-- Samuel Johnson

Favourite blogs:

http://mysteely.blogspot.com/ Robert's blog
http://bloodagent.blogspot.com/ Charles' blog
http://in-stavanger.blogspot.com/ Geert in Stavenger

I love my bike, I love : 'the long way round'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzqjnu2u4zI

Els Menu elected !!

One every 32 citizens in Hoeilaart elected Els to represent them in the town council.

We want Els for BurgerJuf.

Do I have Elections ? Yes of coulse evely molning.

Walk the talk

" Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Mahatma Gandhi.

The Torch Bearer

Moving Foreward

Many means to get to a destination but the importance is to enjoy the ride.

question is what happens if your destination in mind is not accessible ?

Harley David, son of a bitch

I did it, I drove a Harley Vrod for about 500 miles. And you know what?

It was great !!!

The analogy between Sales and Surfing

Last week-end came as a welcome break in a 2 weeks sales training in the US. After having spend a few hours in the ocean, I started to feel some analogy between surfing and selling, or better put, trying to surf and trying to sell.

Here are some thoughts:

• In order to catch the wave, you need to have the same speed as the wave.
• The effort to take a short wave or a big one is the same.
• Bigger waves do surf much better.
• You should choose your wave carefully and not jump on the first one you see.
• When you are tired you need to rest.
• The good waves are not always where all the surfers are. (Surfers tend to flock together randomly)
• Whatever you do there will always be people giving you advice from the beech or at least comment your actions amongst them.
• The adrenaline rush when you are surfing and when you are closing a sales is the same.
  

However the analogy stops with following remarks:
You cannot surf 2 waves at the same time
In surfing, you cannot take over the credit of someone else.
Sales is not an individual sport.

any more ideas ???

The fine art of Mourkezit

Not easy to understand, certainly not easy to practice. The fine art of Mourkezit is certainly more complex than Tai Shi. For outsider it appears basic: just sit down on the wall and watch people pass. For people like us it is an art, a new way of life.

a brother killing the brother he was prepared to die for

It shows how easily communities, indeed families, were torn apart by divisions over the best way forward to achieve Irish freedom and how desperate people were.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc61Cjmmbkg

Spinning

I took up spinning yesterday in a desperate attempt to get fit. From now on, once a week I will spin me to a healthier life.

Stop smoking = 84,7kg

As I stopped smoking early July I slowly started to gain more weight.

In order to give my life more meaning I've decided to start to get fit again. My target is to loose 7kg. Current status: 84,7kg.

Please help me !

Back to normality

Back to school for the kids today.
Back to normality for the parents.

Enjoy daily happiness

It would be so much better to learn to enjoy the little things we do every day instead of waiting for to next big thing to be happy.

easier said than done, thanks, where do we go on holiday in November?

Question of Size?

What was the importance of the size of the wave?

Belgian Style

It is all about style.

Belgian men like their body, any patatohead will confirm this. When we go on holiday we like to keeping up appearances.

healthy bodies with a beatifull mind

Snails are eating my post !

After 30 days of rain in Belgium we are now infested with snails in the garden. They are now even after my mail, ...

"excuse me Judge, I did not receive that letter, it was eaten by the snails."

Problems with my shadow.

My shadow is going mad.
Personally I'm very much 'aware' of my appearance and have worked hard all my life to benefit from such a perfect shape. Recently I had noticed that my shadow was not looking after itself well enough, but once it got to Bracz, it really lost control of itself!

What can I do? (Please don't comment on this one!)

2006-08-14 Brussels - Split: 1700km

Imagine driving this car in the streets of New York

Is this bad taste?


(look at the numberplate)

2006-08-14: Tallinn - Brussels 'thinking fast'

We had a very hard few days in Tallinn and only a few hours on the plane to get back in shape before driving down to Croatia.

No,no, I was not sleeping, just thinking with my mouth wide open ...

2006-08-12: Zotte Pots trouwt in Tallin

Wat zijn onze vlaamse jongens mooi, dat denken de meisjes daar in ieder geval.
We waren blij dat Patrick ons had uitgenodigd op zij eerste huwelijksfeest.

Amaaai mijn kluuuten

2006-07-21: New York, USA

Niets beter dan de nationale feestdag te vieren in New York.
Els was 14 dagen les gaan geven aan een paar kindjes daar en we hebben samen het week end niet ver van de Empire State building doorbracht.

I made it there, can I now make it anywhere?

2006-07-01: Surfing in France

A new sensation, far less painfull than snowboarding. A thrilling experience for my 2 oldest boys and me. It is all about reading the waves, paddling at the right speed, and gliding ...
We camped near the beach, watched the football final, visited 'les Patoux' in the Pyrenees.
It's not the size of the wave, it's the motion of the ocean

Banané 2006

Happy 2006