Honk and vitalise the others 23042011 - reggarters.co.nz

Keep
 flying
 in
 formation
 

When
 times
 are
 tough
 and
 they
 have
 never
 been
 tougher
 for
 us
 all
 than
 what
 
they
 are
 now
 there
 is
 a
 need
 for
 us
 all
 to
 take
 inspiration
 from
 the
 many
 good
 
things
 we
 see
 around
 us,
 if
 you
 like,
 the
 roses
 among
 the
 rubble.
 

All
 we
 have
 in
 this
 world
 are
 people
 and
 things
 and
 while
 many
 of
 the
 things
 we
 
own
 have
 taken
 huge
 hits
 the
 commitment
 and
 caring
 of
 the
 people,
 in
 spite
 of
 
the
 hits
 they
 have
 taken,
 are
 a
 wonderful
 inspiration.
 

Whether
 we
 like
 it
 or
 not,
 because
 of
 circumstances,
 we
 are
 right
 in
 the
 world
 
spotlight
 and
 the
 feedback
 from
 all
 parts
 of
 the
 world
 is
 one
 of
 complete
 
admiration
 for
 the
 courage
 and
 fortitude
 of
 the
 Christchurch
 people.
 

As
 tough
 as
 it
 all
 is
 right
 now
 our
 resolute
 commitment
 to
 rebuild
 our
 city
 will
 pull
 
us
 all
 through
 together.
 

I
 was
 talking
 with
 a
 bunch
 of
 people
 the
 other
 day
 and
 suggested
 that
 if
 they
 were
 
able
 to
 rebuild
 London,
 Dresden
 and
 Hiroshima
 after
 the
 last
 war
 we
 can
 build
 
back
 our
 city-­‐-­‐-­‐mainly
 because
 the
 same
 resolution
 exists.
 

Like
 any
 project,
 the
 one
 we
 face
 and
 the
 number
 facing
 it
 means
 there
 will
 
always
 be
 a
 huge
 amount
 of
 frustration.
 This
 is
 because
 at
 the
 start
 nothing
 seems
 
to
 be
 getting
 done,
 especially
 down
 town.
 

There
 is
 that
 tension
 between
 people
 wanting
 to
 get
 on
 with
 things
 and
 especially
 
their
 business
 as
 opposed
 to
 others
 whose
 responsibility
 it
 is
 to
 look
 after
 the
 
safety
 of
 those
 same
 people.
 

That
 will
 sort
 itself
 out
 and
 we
 shouldn’t
 get
 too
 upset
 about
 these
 tensions
 given
 
that
 both
 sides
 are
 trying
 to
 do
 what
 is
 right
 by
 the
 people
 and
 things
 of
 our
 city.
 

So
 much
 of
 how
 we
 manage
 ourselves
 in
 the
 months-­‐-­‐-­‐and
 dare
 I
 say
 it,
 years
 
ahead
 as
 we
 do
 our
 bit
 for
 the
 recovery,
 will
 come
 back
 to
 our
 own
 attitude
 
towards
 things.
 

 A
 little
 poem
 that
 always
 inspires
 me
 goes
 along
 the
 lines
 “what
 one
 approves
 
the
 other
 scorns
 and
 thus
 each
 one
 their
 thought
 discloses.
 Some
 see
 a
 rose
 bush
 
full
 of
 thorns
 while
 others
 see
 a
 thorn
 bush
 full
 of
 roses”.
 

What
 I
 like
 about
 this
 little
 poem
 is
 that
 it
 suggests
 we
 have
 a
 choice
 as
 to
 how
 we
 
react
 to
 the
 circumstances
 we
 find
 ourselves
 in,
 it
 is
 about
 the
 way
 we
 look
 at
 the
 
circumstances.
 Of
 course
 we
 seldom
 have
 a
 choice
 about
 circumstances-­‐-­‐-­‐we
 had
 
no
 power
 to
 stop
 the
 earthquakes,
 but
 how
 we
 respond
 to
 the
 predicament
 the
 
earthquake
 has
 left
 us
 in
 is
 well
 within
 our
 powers.
 

Emerging
 from
 the
 thorny
 rubble
 are
 extraordinary
 bunches
 of
 progress
 and
 
human
 kindness-­‐-­‐-­‐both
 home
 and
 abroad.
 


 In
 our
 Rotary
 club
 for
 instance,
 we
 have
 received
 donations
 from
 all
 corners
 of
 
the
 world-­‐-­‐-­‐including
 Siberia.
 This
 is
 simply
 because
 these
 people
 care
 and
 feel
 for
 
us.
 


 Locally
 we
 have
 seen
 extraordinary
 examples-­‐-­‐-­‐the
 way
 the
 students
 have
 taken
 
the
 lead
 with
 wonderful
 results
 has
 made
 our
 admiration
 for
 these
 young
 people
 
go
 through
 the
 roof.
 
 The
 generosity
 of
 the
 farming
 community
 who
 have
 come
 to
 
town
 to
 help
 those
 in
 need
 has
 been
 amazing-­‐-­‐-­‐the
 term
 Farmy
 Army
 will
 stick
 
and
 the
 town
 and
 country
 will
 forever
 be
 closer
 because
 of
 their
 sincere
 concern.
 

One
 little
 example
 which
 put
 the
 whole
 thing
 in
 context
 for
 me
 was
 when,
 along
 
with
 a
 couple
 of
 mates,
 I
 
 participated
 in
 a
 deep
 sea
 fishing
 competition
 in
 a
 tiny
 
 
coastal
 resort
 in
 the
 far
 North
 called
 Tutukaka.
 Two
 women
 members
 of
 the
 
organizing
 committee
 of
 the
 competition
 decided
 to
 turn
 the
 wide
 spread
 
sympathy
 for
 Cantabrians
 into
 positive
 action.
 
 

These
 two
 ladies
 took
 the
 lead
 by
 offering
 their
 illustrious
 locks
 up
 for
 auction—
the
 highest
 bidder
 winning
 the
 right
 to
 make
 the
 first
 cut.
 

Not
 to
 be
 outdone
 an
 ex
 Cantabrian
 now
 living
 in
 Tutukaka
 entered
 into
 the
 swing
 
of
 the
 evening
 as
 his
 moustache
 of
 38
 years
 was
 put
 under
 the
 knife-­‐-­‐-­‐at
 a
 price.
 

Some
 prize
 winning
 fishermen
 donated
 their
 prizes
 back
 for
 the
 auction
 and
 a
 
strategically
 placed
 red
 and
 black
 bucket
 became
 a
 welcome
 repository
 for
 
donations
 to
 their
 Southern
 soul
 mates.
 

When
 the
 counting
 was
 done
 at
 the
 end
 of
 the
 evening
 $2500
 had
 been
 raised
 for
 
Cantabrian
 earthquake
 victims.
 

There
 are
 thousands
 of
 stories
 like
 this
 and
 as
 we
 build
 back
 our
 city
 we
 should
 
not
 forget
 them
 because
 these
 generous
 people
 are
 putting
 their
 faith
 in
 us
 and
 
they
 can
 be
 sure
 we
 won’t
 let
 them
 down.
 

As
 leaders
 our
 challenge
 will
 be
 to
 keep
 everyone
 we
 have
 direct
 responsibility
 for
 
flying
 in
 formation
 even
 though
 there
 will
 be
 huge
 frustrations
 and
 storms
 along
 
the
 journey
 threatening
 the
 formation.
 

You
 may
 recall
 many
 years
 ago
 now
 an
 advert
 on
 television
 for
 Satchi
 and
 Satchi
 
 
showed
 
 geese
 flying
 in
 formation
 and
 the
 things
 they
 did
 to
 stay
 in
 formation.
 As
 
leaders
 I
 believe
 we
 can
 learn
 much
 from
 the
 geese
 as
 we
 start
 the
 long
 journey
 in
 
our
 city.
 

As
 each
 goose
 flaps
 its
 wings
 it
 creates
 an
 uplift
 for
 the
 birds
 that
 follow.
 By
 flying
 
in
 a
 “v”
 formation,
 the
 whole
 flock
 adds
 71%
 greater
 flying
 range
 than
 if
 each
 bird
 
flew
 alone.
 

The
 obvious
 lesson
 we
 can
 take
 from
 these
 facts
 is
 that
 when
 people
 share
 a
 
common
 direction
 and
 sense
 of
 togetherness
 they
 can
 get
 where
 they
 are
 going
 
quicker
 and
 easier
 because
 they
 are
 travelling
 on
 the
 thrust
 of
 one
 another.
 

As
 leaders
 we
 have
 the
 responsibility
 of
 keeping
 things
 in
 formation
 and
 we
 can
 
best
 do
 this
 by
 pointing
 out
 the
 progress
 and
 encouraging
 all
 who
 are
 making
 
things
 happen.
 Again
 we
 can
 learn
 from
 the
 geese-­‐-­‐-­‐they
 give
 their
 
encouragement
 by
 honking
 and
 they
 do
 so
 often-­‐-­‐-­‐so
 should
 we.
 HONK
 HONK.