Today’s Links

• I’m already on British Summer Time – how one guy just never turned the clocks back and he’s loving every minute
• We could not look the survivors in the eye if we didn’t build this back door – emotional arguments always win over a logical argument. But, how do you get the public to understand legal precedent?
• Tell me about when you failed – the higher up the ladder you go, the tougher the questions get. Here’s some killer interview questions to get your teeth around
• How to use LinkedIN groups – becoming the savvy networker you know you should be 

What To Do In An Active Shooter Situation / Attack

Since the events of Paris, it’s clear that investigators are busy unraveling the ISIS terrorist network. My prediction is this has caused them to step up their attacks before they lose the chance to. 

There’s also the risk, in our daily lives, that some plain old crazy guy “talking to God on a two way radio”  might decide tonight is the night (couldn’t resist a bit of George Carlin).
So, what can we do if we find ourselves suddenly thrust into the middle of a terrorist attack / active shooter scenario. 

Turns out, quite a bit. This is morbid stuff, but just thinking this stuff through and being aware can do you a bunch of good.

Over the years I’ve talked to a lot of military, tactical, and law enforcement professionals who’ve spent their careers training and dealing with violent individuals: U.S. marshals, SWAT officers, and special forces operators. And I’ve asked them all this same question: What’s an average joe civilian like me supposed to do when faced with a gunman 

Read more.

Moving On – Facing Tragedy, Loss, and Rejection and the Wheel of Life

 As I write, this is the view that I have from our new apartment in Greenwich, London. But, recent events could have dissuaded us from moving here. It is my birthday, but before I begin to celebrate, I wanted a moment to reflect.

It is one week since the tragic ISIS attack on Paris, only weeks since the bombing of a Russian commercial airliner, and the bombing in Beirut. People have lost loved ones, people have incurred life-changing injuries, or seen sights that will stay with them forever.

Sadly, this is all part of life. There are the good times, where everything is rosey, and full of life. And there are the bad times, where darkness draws in, and we have to fight through horrors, and the loss of people and times that are important to us.

If we allow these bad times to cast a shadow over the rest of our lives, we will be doing ourselves a disservice. As an individual, we need to remember that we have the rest of our lives ahead of us.

Period of Mourning

When we lose people that are dear to us, it is right for us to mourn them. It is only natural. And mourning is a strange time, because it is a process that keeps on taking its toll on you.

The stages are roughly:

1. Loss / Sadness
2. Anger
3. Guilt
4. Depression

But the most important step that seems impossible to reach whilst you are in the other stages of mourning is:

1. Closure

You might go through every stage, you might go through only a few of the stages. The speed at which you move through the stages is also entirely dependent on the individual.

It is easy to become lost, to be swallowed by grief. It is a process that is completely internal, and no external force can truly influence it. It is up to you as individual to reach that final step.

When you’re ready – and this might be something you have to consciously decide to do – it is time to package up that memory of mourning, of loss, the acceptance that you will never get back what you have lost. You have to decide that it is time to stop looking backward, and that is is time to start looking forward.

Looking Forwards

There is nothing wrong with living your life following a tragic event. Yes, it is right to grieve, to come to terms with what has happened, but it is also just as important, just as right, to live your own life.

Even if the events have not directly affected you, you can feel an impact on your own life. For me, the attacks on Paris were an attack on the kind of City Life that me and my wife were looking for from our move to London. I felt anger, I felt sadness, and I knew that it could easily be us. But, I realised that a life lived in fear of what could happen, is no real life.

We decided to look forwards. We decided to live life how we want to live.

The Wheel

I have this belief that life is a wheel. It is like a gameshow wheel, with sections labelled Good Times and Bad Times.

As the wheel turns, the giant arrow can point to the Good Times. Things in your life will be great, your stress will be low, and you will allow yourself to grow. But, at times in your life, the wheel will turn and the arrow will point to Bad Times, and we know how that will feel.

But, what is most important to remember, especially when we have landed on Bad Times, is that the wheel will keep on turning.

When I’m in the midst of depression, stress, anger, or loss, I remember that life is a wheel and the Good Times will come around again. This thought has gotten me through many a dark time. And, in the end, I have been right, life did progress its way out of those darker periods.

Allow yourself to look forwards, to close the dark chapters in your life, and remember that life is a wheel.