Category: General

*Batteries Not Included

On By Chris BuddIn General, Health1 Comment

Through much of 2019, I’d noted that I had light bulbs acting weirdly around me. They would frequently start flickering for a few minutes then stop. We had a number of bulbs that just stopped working. (Yes, I realize that happens with light bulbs, but some of these were replaced and died again on us shortly afterwards) We even had one light bulb that burned out 3 times in the past two years. Each time, it would be out for a day or two, I’d touch it to take it out and then it would light up again and last months before happening again. After the third “resurrection”, I was forced to replace the bulb.

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Manifesting Your Dreams

On By Chris BuddIn General, Power of PositivityLeave a comment

One year ago yesterday, I was starting in a new role with my employer. I’d spent the better part of the previous 8 years in leadership roles and felt it was time for a change. As luck would have it, my Director had a new role being created and I was one of the lucky candidates who moved into this still-undefined role.

Flash forward a year. While I wasn’t disliking my job, I wasn’t fully loving it either. I had a lot of freedom in the role – I didn’t have any direct reports, but also didn’t have any daily tasks that kept me at my desk Monday to Friday. It helped stretch my capacities and gave me a chance to develop and grow.

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7 Things for 2020

On By Chris BuddIn General, Musings, Reading ChallengeLeave a comment

Happy New Year!

As we turn the page on the calendar and usher in a new decade, I thought it would be the opportune time to plan out what I want to do in 2020. While I’m not a believer in setting “resolutions” in the traditional sense, I do still like to set goals for myself. I’d much rather approach these as goals than resolutions, but I don’t want to get into a contextual discussion about the use of goal vs resolution.

As a compromise, here are 7 things I will do in 2020:

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Ho Ho Holiday Cheer

On By Chris BuddIn GeneralLeave a comment

It’s that time of year! We are under two weeks away from Christmas Day. Can you believe that? Two weeks! This year has just flown by faster than I can even begin to understand. Yet here we are.

By this time in December, I’m usually knee deep into my Christmas viewing, listening to Christmas music, etc. But this year, I’m not there yet. I have only watched one single Christmas movie/special (Noelle on Disney+). I’ve just been too tired, both physically and mentally to invest myself any further.

But with two weeks to go, I recognize that it’s time to jump in with both feet. I think this might just be the boost I need to re-energize me for the rest of the year. So this week, I will let the spirit of the season wash over me. It all starts tonight.

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Gratitude and Thankfulness

On By Chris BuddIn General, Power of Positivity2 Comments

This past weekend, my family and I celebrated an early Thanksgiving.  Although the holiday is only next week, Isabelle and I will be out of the city for most of the weekend, so we thought we would simplify matters by inviting the family to our house for an early Thanksgiving dinner.  This got me reflecting on everything that I am thankful for in my life.  And this, in turn, got me thinking about my topic for this post – gratitude.

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And Now for Something Completely Different (for us)

On By Chris BuddIn General, TravelLeave a comment

It was a new experience for my wife and I over the last two weeks of August. While we always take vacation during this time of the year (both of our birthdays fall at the end of August, some 5 days apart), it was a bit of a departure for us this time. Firstly, my wife, no longer working in the school system, was relegated to only having a few weeks of vacation to use for the year rather than having the summer off. Secondly, we opted to not take any trips this year for our vacation. This meant that we had two weeks of rest, relaxation and quiet.

And boy did I need it.

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Mental Junk Food

On By Chris BuddIn General2 Comments

While walking to work recently, I was catching up as I often do with some of my favourite podcasts. The selection for this walk was an episode of Chris Hardwick’s ID10T podcast, featuring Chris Jericho as the guest. (You can listen to the podcast here.) I would be remiss if I were to say that I truly wasn’t expecting the conversation to become as deep as it did. The portion that struck me the most was when they began discussing what they referred to as “Mental Junk Food”.

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The Trouble with Negativity

On By Chris BuddIn General, Musings5 Comments

Show of hands – how many of you have that friend, that family member, that co-worker who’s just plain old negative? No matter what’s going on, they’ll find some way to complain and criticize something. I’m guessing that most of you have your hands in the air. (You can put your hand down.) Now, take a step back and wonder if maybe you’re that person in someone else’s life.

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