I tend to be one who enjoys what are known as “self-help” books.  Maybe they are authors of yesteryear, but they were the ones I would read.  Authors that included, Napoleon Hill, Robert Schuller (I really enjoy his grandson Bobby Schuller), Zig Ziglar, Steven Covey and of late James Clear.  I consider the Bible the greatest self-help book I have read.  It is infinite rather than finite. And I have never thought “that’s not right.”
Somewhere I recently came across a saying by Sir Winston Churchill that said, “The further back you can look the further ahead you are likely to see.”  I had never heard such a thing, but DNA research would seem to indicate the correctness of that saying.
It took my mind back to an Ancestry ad that had a women telling it is no wonder she has an affinity with the sea as she had discovered in her background was a life saver.
The point being made (and seems to me to be valid) is who we are and what we would like to achieve is built on characteristics within us that have been in our family tree.
I don’t have to look far to see that was true for me.  Dad was a businessman.  Mum cared deeply for others and would do anything to assist.  While I never went into business, I can see characteristics in myself and my brothers that reflect both parents.  Anyone who knew one of my brothers before they passed away knew they cared and were very meticulous.  That brother spent a good deal of their life assisting me.  They were also the most detailed people I know.  They could spend hours doing stuff that I found boring, but produced results.
When they passed, I was amazed to see the other brother with a folder under their arm and having sorted out things.  He to is considered a very likeable chap, and has an incredibly caring heart.
It seems to me important to go with my natural bent for certain things rather than fight against them.  After all, who I am is built on where I have come from.

This is a quote from someone who knows a lot more about this stuff than I do.  Yet for me what is said rings true. “The strategy required to find a great opportunity (lots of saying yes and exploring widely) is different from the strategy required to make the most of a great opportunity (lots of saying no and remaining focused)."
I find it really easy to say yes and then regret it.  What I am saying yes to is often built on the needs of another rather than what I feel I am supposed to be perusing.  I will always assist another for a one off or to help tide over, but sometimes yes is a long-term commitment.
I have known times when I saw the implications of a yes and realized it was long term and greater than I originally thought.  That is one of the reasons why I for many tasks prefer to see a job description, so I know what I am committing to.  It seems at times I say yes to things and I am really unaware of what I am committing to.  I may have a general idea and be happy to help out in the short term but the “fine print” of it shows I have really signed up for something that is not where I was going.  The yes limits my scope for the future I am going after.
I often ask people if they are willing to do something.  I must admit I do admire those who say no.  Naturally I am disappointed as there was a reason for me asking in the first place.  Yet I know saying no is harder than saying yes.  Yes is sometimes the response for a number of reasons.  The person may think they need to say yes to remain friends.  Or they may think something is a great idea without knowing that all great ideas do not mean it is a great idea for me to be involved in.  Or they may want to just get me off their back.
I need to take people at face value.  I don’t necessarily know the motivations.  I am relieved with a yes, and sometimes only find out later it should have been a no.
Uncertainty about such things does not deter me from pursuing a worthwhile goal.  There are those of us that are right for a particular task.  Building a team is a process.

Once a month we put on a free meal for anyone who would like to come.  I tend to write about it each month as it is very much a part of my life.  Merril and I set up the tables for eating at.  This is done the day before the event.  A number of other people cook on the day while others prepare what is to be consumed.  While it may not be a sumptuous Chinese meal it is a sumptuous other sort of meal.
Two organizations donate food which a few volunteers cook.  Chicken is donated from Nando’s and sausages from Super Butcher.  Both lots of food are gratefully received.  Our cooks and the helpers do a great job.  All contributes to making the meal really really nice.  In fact, I have trouble believing how nice the meal is every time.
All this is done not knowing how many will turn up.  Without fail though there is a good turnout.  I know I would want to be there even if it was not done at our place, as it is always a great time.
We are tending to see more and more doing it tough.  Yesterday I sat at a table where one girl was living out of her car.  She said it was the first time ever she had been.  She had spent time in Sydney and was used to seeing churches provide meals.  Another guy at the table is their quite regularly.  He too lives out of his van which he has lived out of for the last 10 or so years.
I was amazed that the girl from one couple came from my hometown of Townsville, and lived down the road from where I grew up -  the same street at which I used to visit a friend to play back yard cricket.  For her this was the first time ever she had experienced a church providing a meal. Another couple I sat with come from a retirement village in Morayfield.
One thing everyone has in common.  The appreciation of what is put on.  It is a bit of work to do, but more and more we are like a well-oiled machine.  I think good food, good company and good news sums it up pretty well.