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Rawle Austin's Blog - Positive life commentary...

Just recently I did something I've been meaning to do for over two years.

I got myself a violin.

Music is something I've casually enjoyed throughout the years from RnB and Hip-Hop to Classical music.

I never quite knew what fascinated me about classical music until I discovered I was drawn to the sound of the violin.

Especially the slow pieces. Those haunting concertos really make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and demand my attention.

Learning this will be a gentle pastime and one I plan to keep up for a lifetime.

Just setting it all up was an education in itself and learning music, something I haven't done since Primary School, will be a long term challenge I will relish.

All in my own time. I don't presume I can teach myself this so I'll be looking at taking classes.

Making dreams a reality.

As someone once said 'Make an effort, not an excuse.'

With all this talk about global stock markets dropping like stones it can be overlooked that this can be seen as an incredible opportunity.

To learn to invest.

With the rise of sovereign wealth funds and the like, bargains are being picked up for long term gain.

Remember, for someone to sell in a market there must also be someone to buy.

Wealth is being transferred as we speak.

Just some food for thought.

Every so often in life you get a shock that forces you to stop and reflect on life.

These can come from many sources, positive and negative, including arguments and breakups with loved ones, bereavement, unwelcome news from your doctor or even falling in love, going out with friends and seeing something amazing for the first time.

The wealth of feelings that you go through can seem to overwhelm at the time, but in reality they are building you up and making you stronger, wiser and more emotionally robust than before.

Life is full of these defining moments and I know for me, though I may not know it at the time, I welcome the growth that I get from them.

Those feelings that you go through are how you know you are truly alive!

Helping you on that journey, the journey of life!

One thing I loved about being in China was meeting new people and speaking, albeit limitedly, in Chinese. I picked up more vocabularly but realised that I have a mountain to climb.

A feat I relish.

Still in contact with many friends who I made over there it really helps to get texts and emails in Chinese that I can use to aid understanding.

I've got this great piece of software that can translate Chinese text which is a great help. It all leads to greater understanding.

Starting from the beginning to build a great foundation I'm steadily working my way through GCSE textbooks to gain an eventual solid spine and skeleton of knowledge.

I can then beef it up with numerous other textbooks I've collected over the years.

It helps to have a structure and I find I work better working towards an exam as an end goal. I'm forced to revise and commit to memory with is a great foundation for the long run.

What always amazes me is when I've finished an phone call with a friend in China and realised that I've just had a basic conversation in another language.

It's fantastic!

Learning a new language is definitely a lifelong pursuit and this is one I'm all over. My dream is to one day be able to speak, read, write and understand fluent Mandarin Chinese.

So bring it on!

CDs have given way to MP3s. The future has arrived and is moving full steam ahead. Anything that can be digitalised will be, in the not so distant future.

Print is still here but you have to wonder how long.

One reason I believe print is clinging on by its fingernails is that a viable alternative hasn't yet been invented. There's only so long I want to stare at a computer screen.

The current generation of handheld devices seem to have issues like screen resolution that will be ironed out with upcoming innovation.

But don't get me wrong.

When a near perfect reading device comes along that could encompass books, newspapers and magazines - basically the internet - I will dive in head first.

I love reading books and many of them are hefty tomes. Beasts of hardbacks that can be cumbersome to carry around.

An A5 (screen size) style device would be perfect and could store many titles, indeed a whole library of books thus saving bookshelf space.

If there was a way to make an all in one device that included a mobile phone, music player, TV, radio, games console, language translator, sat nav, computer and book reader that would be fantastic, but I think the screen would have to be somewhat expandable as such a gadget would need to be pocket portable.

But who knows what tomorrow's inventors will accomplish.

So here's looking forward to the future.

Change is good.

Here's a little poem I came up with while lying in bed, waiting for sleep to arrive;

Inspiration leads to motivation,

motivation leads to action,

action leads to results,

results lead to knowledge,

knowledge leads to wisdom,

and wisdom leads to inspiration.

Ok, I'll admit it. Prior to reading the biography of Walt Disney (I'm still reading it at roughly a chapter a night) all I knew of him was that he created Mickey Mouse, conceived the DisneyLand theme parks and produced animated films of old fairy tales.

Was I into a rude awakening! The sheer drive of his ambition from an early age was breathtaking.

Prior to creating his famous mouse he had two previous animated series which didn't quite work out but both gave him experience to build on and, rather than giving up, he perservered.

What I didn't know was that he had a main collaborator in the form of illustrator Ub Iwerks who co-created Mickey Mouse. They were the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (of Marvel Comics fame) of their day.

Disney and his team went to extraordinary lengths to promote Mickey Mouse in the early days. This was the 1930s and the character became huge.

What amazes me is that Mickey Mouse and the Disney name (brand) are still huge today and give off good, positive vibes when mentioned.

I never realized the extent Walt Disney pioneered sound and quality in animation and most cartoons that you see today are based on techniques he and his team invented.

A truly lasting legacy and testament to what you can achieve if you hold on to your goals and dreams and never give up.

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