Quiz: Why are older people seemingly intolerant and often grumpy
(a) They are now quite prepared to give you a response, where before they might have thought it prudent to say nothing?
OR
(b) They've finally got the confidence to tell you exactly what their opinion is, as against what they knew you always wanted to hear?
OR
(c) They see that the people around them have lost their manners, so they too can interject, talk over other people, speak with their mouths full, and behave in unseemingly impolite ways, which they never did before?
OR
(d) They have to cope with people pushing and shoving, drivers taking their parking spaces, younger people taking the bus seats, and people knocking them in the shins with shopping trolleys? Sounds like reason enough to be a bit out of sorts perhaps?

Select one of the above, or perhaps all of them...
OR
(d) It's frustration, boredom, and lack of some sense of achievement, or a feeling that nobody really cares? . They know that life is rushing by and they are not making the most of every day. Complaining has become their way of dealing with it. They do know that these wonderful days and years will soon be just a blur, and that they have to change in order to enjoy the last of it... OR DO THEY?

Everyone has a story. At coffee this morning, I heard a great one recounted by the great niece of Andrew Barton Patterson, aka Banjo. He went to the Boer War as a correspondent having requested two horses from John Fairfax with whom he was good friends. When he visited the horses in their stalls at Circular Quay before the ship's departure, he noted with concern, that they were sliding around on the wooden floor. He returned to the Australia Club, the beautiful original one, and removed the large carpet from the entrance hall, put it in a hansom cab and took it to the Quay, where he promptly cut it in half, giving each horse a steady surface for their long journey. He left a letter for the club claiming responsibility for the removal of the carpet. He requested that, should he not return, the cost of the carpet be taken from his estate. The Australia Club have that letter today. He also went to the First World War, as a remount officer, working with the horses who needed to be trained to work under continual gunfire. Like a lot of amazing men, his name does not appear in the war records, because he survived. Funny isn't it? You only get your name in lights if you died. Those who worked for the whole time, and returned are not remembered anywhere in particular .... and yet theirs was an enormous sacrifice. They came back, put it behind them as best they could, and took over where the world had left off. They relieved some of the women, and rebuilt the countries again.... I hope that in the Anzac services around Australia on Wednesday, many of the very elderly gentlemen who sit in the front rows will be accorded the gratitude that we all feel, together with those who have departed this life in the last decade. Let's not just focus on those who gave the ultimate sacrifice at the time of war, but also on those who gave their very all so that we might have the life we lead today. Dad Mum and Lizzie , I will march for you on Wednesday with great pride.

Mentoring: This week I attended the Graduation ceremony for TIME - the industry mentoring group, doing a great job. It was a chance to think carefully about who had been my greatest influence. My career spanned a time when "mentoring" was not formalised, and if you got any, it was by good fortune. It took me only a little time to understand that the way I behave today is firstly because of my parents. My father had high expectations of all of us, and when he was working, we were expected to. Work was to be shared. If he was mowing the lawn, then we were all expected downstairs to rake up the grass. That stays with me today. One in, all in. Doesn't always happen, but when it does it is great. And my mother - she never stopped working from early morning to late into the night. She cooked and sewed and cleaned and washed and made things better every day of the life we spent together. She was tireless and selfless. How lucky was I to get such great lessons from them. And the other huge influrence was Qantas. They taught me to smile at every person I passed, greet them courteously, and remove my sunglasses when I spoke (I cannot speak to anyone with sunglasses on even today). They taught me to take an interest in how everyone's day was. That was what crew were expected to do. It was boot camp, and what simple lessons they were. They were re-inforced every day for fourteen great years on the Qantas Jet Base... and that sticks with me today. That was learned behaviour!! We were all young. We were not all outgoing, and confident, but we were trained to present a strong and confident front... and "front" is what it is, and hasn't that worked well! Thank you charlie Q

Starting affirmations early!

great words of wisdom from a little bike rider - with no trainer wheels