Olympics reminds us about passion and legacy

Passions create legacy

As I watch the 2010 Olympics, I find my jaw drops at how amazing these athletes are in their craft.  I was doing my usual surfing and found a blog that was somewhat critical about the sacrifices it takes to become the best and whether it is worth sacrificing friends and family to pursue the Olympic dream.  They asked some questions which I thought I would share my answers.

How much time and training goes into becoming the best?

I guess that’s where passion has to come into play.  How can you spend that much time if you don’t love what you do?  How many people are spending a lot of time doing things they don’t love to do?  I think there is a lesson here work may not appear to be work it you are doing what you love.

Our world today is big on balance. Seeking balance also has it’s own set of sacrifices. Sometimes I think ‘balance’ is a cope out for laziness.  This may be a little extreme but we need to encourage hard work, especially when our society has developed a sense of entitlement.

There’s an old saying “Work Smarter, not harder” which was born from the time management industry.  I think there may be a place for this saying but I believe that the more appropriate saying should be “Work Smarter AND harder.”  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting successful people and they will all tell you that their success came from hard work.  I believe you get out what you put in and these athletes should be proud of their sacrifices.

Is there really such thing as the best?

When I watch the downhill skiers, snow borders or speed skaters, and look at the difference between 1st and 6th, the difference is a fraction of effort but it is the difference between a medal and no medal at all. 

When you look at 20 competitors, these people are the ‘Best’ in their field but only 1 can the best at the moment.  Some feel bad for the person that comes in fourth or just misses the gold by a fraction.  I think the person that comes in fourth needs to relish in his or her accomplishment even though they did not get a medal.  I am about competition but I think there is something about the journey.  Just getting to the Olympics is a feat in itself.

Is training for the Olympics too much of a sacrifice?

I think it is a ridiculous question.  These people make choices and this choice is to create a memory or experience that will last a lifetime. 

When I look at these Olympians, my jaw drops in awe at the commitment and work ethic it takes to get there. I think we should celebrate their accomplishments and encourage people to follow their passions in life. If you love what you do, it is easy to spend time working hard at it. In fact, it may not feel like work when it is their passion.

The way I look at it, is these athletes have started the process of writing their own legacy. Being a strong advocate of creating, diarizing and sharing personal life legacies (www.MyLegacyOrganizer.com), I can’t think of a better way to spend your time.  Add in the lessons of hard work, dedication, and motivation and I think you have a sure fire formula for future success.

A parent’s perspective

If my kids ever decided to compete at a really high level I am going to encourage them and help them follow their passions and create their life legacy.  I want my kids to know that I support following their passions.

If my kids have the drive, passion, talent or ability to become great at anything, I will encourage them and be supportive in their endeavors. How proud would I be if my son’s competed in a future Olympics even if they came in fourth? That journey and experience is invaluable and is a life lesson that can be applied to all facets of life and I believe the experience will make him a better person.

If we relate this back to money (because that’s what I do for a living) . . . In my own life, I made big time sacrifices early and worked really hard to create the business. I saved money and made some fantastic financial choices (thanks to my profession). It is those sacrifices that give me choices and my current ability to work part time as a parent of four boys and afford a good lifestyle. I think encouraging people to work harder and become better is a good thing. I think we need to encourage people to find their passions in life. As a parent, these are things I want to encourage my four boys strive for. I want my boys to always try their best as opposed to have to be the best.

Brandon's poop story

OK, I'm sure every parent has a good poop story.  You would think with 4 boys, I would have lots but the truth is I don't . . . until this weekend.  Yes, you probably guessed it . . . Little Brandon was quite the story maker this weekend!

So Saturday morning was the usual routine as Robbie had a soccer game and when we got back, I could tell Liz needed a little break as Brandon is really, really, really busy these days.  Out of our 4 kids, he is the busiest of all.  We never had to childproof for any of our other kids like we do for Brandon.  He is curious and into everything.

So when I got home, Liz went upstairs to do whatever and mother does with 4 kids - clean, laundry, sleep, shower, poop, scream - whatever.  Doesn't matter.  I had the responsibility of watching Brandon and some of the other kids which is not a big deal because we do it everyday.  Well, suffice it to say, I was distracted (which is normal in my house) and Brandon was quiet (which is abnormal in my house) so I immediately got suspicious and went looking for the little bugger.

I found him in the bathroom playing.  He was playing dip the toilet paper in the toilet bowl of brothers pee and throwing it on the floor.  Arghhhhhhh!  I carried him upstairs (carefully) yelling at the other boys to stay away from the bathroom, give a lesson on how to flush after peeing and institute a new rule in the house . . . bathroom doors stay closed!!!  This is the mild event.

Later that evening, Liz's parent came over to watch Brandon while we took the other three boys to the Golden Bears Hockey game.  Liz was getting ready with Jason and Connor.  I was downstairs with Brandon, Robbie and the grandparents.  Count the adults . . . that's 3 adults with 2 children (But Robbie's easy so it's really only one child or should I say terror).

I'm talking to the grandparents when once again things are too quiet.  Oh my **!@ , Brandon has done it again but this time in a different bathroom.  This time Robbie took a poop and did not flush.  Brandon decided to play dip the toilet paper again but this time he thought he would take the toilet bowl cleaner and stir it around and paint the walls with poopy water and mushed up toilet paper.

Up he went while I yelled at Robbie about flushing the toilet and keeping the bathroom door closed and I yelled at the other boys to stay away from me and the mess unless they wanted to eat poop.  I ripped off Brandon's clothes and get him into the shower talking to him about how this in unacceptable behavior and the bathroom is off limits and how this is really disgusting and he will never find a woman to marry if he keeps this up and that he is destined to be alone for the rest of his life.

At that moment of relentless squawking (that's me squawking), he looked at me with his round eyes silently saying "Dadddeeeeeee"  It wasn't the words that said the message, it was the look that said "What's wrong dad?  Do you need a hug? I love you!"  And he gave me a hug in the shower.

I know this poop story has been experienced by many.  Kids are kids - frustrating, a lot of work at times but yet so innocent, loving and perfect.  I love you too Brandon!

Brandon is walking

You might think that after the 4th kid, watching my son learning to walk is old news but it's not!  Brandon is just learning to walk and for the past weekend he is feeling more and more comfortable on his wobbly legs.  For me this does not get old.  Instead, it brings back precious memories of watching Robbie, Connor and Jason go through the same thing.  In fact. I might argue it's more special because he's so different and really proud and excited to discover a whole new world but more importantly, because it's the last time we will go through this.

It is so important to capture these memories either with pictures, videos, or stories because it is so easy to forget.  Watching Brandon bring back memories but I must admit they are a little foggy and with the four boys, I sometimes get mixed up.  Cherish all moments because you can find significance in so many things!

The holiday season - our family holiday update

The time has come again to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and thank everyone for their friendships.  As we get Christmas cards from great friends, it makes us feel a little guilty for not send cards out but here's our online version to share with all.  If you want to view pictures, I have posted them at our Holiday update site

With four boys under the age of 6, life gets pretty busy.  In fact our lives revolve around our boys and their activities and their friends and special holidays. But amidst this business, we would wouldn't change a thing.

Robbie just turned 6 and he is in grade 1 loving school.  In fact, just today we talked about his last day at school and he was sad that school was ending.  He's got some great friends in the neighborhood and is just the perfect big brother.  If there is one word to describe him it would be 'special'.  He is caring and considerate, athletic and determined to succeed at whatever he does.  We are very proud of Robbie and his accomplishments and he's only 6.

Connor has had an interesting year because his role in the family has shifted from Robbie's little brother to Jason and Brandon's best friend.  Connor, now at the age of 4 has taken on the role of big brother and is doing a phenomenal job at it.  The word to describe Connor is creative.  He loves to play make-believe and create fun and interesting games with his brothers.  He is very artistic and will color, draw, cut and create things any chance he gets.  We built a craft room for Liz in our house but Connor has definitely assumed ownership of that room.

Jason is two and half but turning 10.  Having two older brothers has definitely advanced our little JJ.  Jason does not officially go to school but he often spends time in Connor's pre-school.  All the kids love him and if it wasn't for his size, you would swear he was 4 like all the other kids.  The word to describe Jason is 'sooooooooooo cute!"  OK that's two words but we often look at each other as parents and giggle about how cute he is.  In terms of activities, he is athletic like Robbie and loves crafts like Connor so it will be interesting to see where his passions develop as he gets a little older.

And then there's Brandon (aka Brando).  But to the brother's he's known as Brandy.  Brandon's word is 'perfect'.  Truly perfect.  God really was looking out for us when he gave us Brandon.  From the day he was born, he came out smiling and giggling and is nothing but joy in our lives.  When anyone is having a bad day, all they have to do is get near Brandon and he changes everything.  Brandon is now just over a year old and he's starting to walk and talk and communicate in his own special way.  He has truly made having four kids easier than we ever thought.

Liz is the mother of 4 boys and the princess in our house of testosterone.  She is amazing in so many ways but everyone knows that she lives for her family.  She is the calm voice in the house and she makes raising four kids look effortless.  This past year, Liz has found a passion outside of her family - running.  She ran a 10K race with Carmen and is planning to run a half marathon in the not too distant future.  She's found some great running partners and takes any chance she can to strap on the shoes and hit the paths. 

And then there's Jim.  Everyone seems to be bewildered by what Jim is up to these days.  Is he retired or retarded?  Is he working or pretending to work?  After taking some time off, he is back to work as a professional speaker talking about money, investing, retirement and life.  He has been working hard on developing new products including books, software, DVDs, CDs and is excited about getting back to work (if you can call it that).  You can check out his brand new website JimYih.com and see what he is up to these days.  Drop him a line . . . he would love to hear from you.

All in all, 2009 was a great year.  We moved into our new house and have settled into a really good routine.  we love our house, we love our friends, we love the neighborhood and our neighbors and quite frankly we just love life!  We hope you enjoy the pictures.  We just put together a family calendar and these are the pictures we used to summarize our year. 

From our hearts to yours,
love, peace and happiness

The Yihs
Jim, Liz, Robbie, Connor, Jason and Brandon

Robbie's Birthday

So Last Saturday we hosted Robbie's 6 year birthday party at home.  We had 24 kids at our house which was everyone in Robbie's class plus a couple of extra friends.  Here's a FAQ format of the event:

"What would ever compel you to have that many kids at any 'drop off' birthday party?"
(The most common question)

So when we started to talk to Robbie about his birthday and ask him about who he wanted to invite, his untainted response was that he wanted to invite the whole class because not everyone gets invited to all the birthdays in the class and sometimes people's feelings get hurt when they are not invited.  Robbie did not want to hurt anyone's feelings so he wanted to invite the whole class.  In my eyes, that's pretty special and I was not about to deny him that

"Was it mayhem?"

Actually it was not that bad.  Liz and I talked about it afterwards and although we were tired aftwerwards it went pretty smooth.  We had an activity or demonstration right at the beginning where we played with dry ice and made some home made pop with the dry ice.  Then we had a magic show, followed by the cake and some snacks.  The kids were awesome.

The only part that was a little crazy was the end where we decided to have a candy scramble in the backyard in the snow.  Our secret plan was that all the kids would stay outside and play for 20 minutes until their parents came to pick them up.  All the kids had to put on their snow gear and although many kids were independent, they were mostly 6 and needed some help.  Thank goodness for our friend Yvonne who walked into our front door at the perfect time to help.

The scramble itself, went pretty well but the problem was that some of the kids were cold and wanted to come inside.  This created the mayhem because anyone that wanted to come in needed help with taking off their boots and snow gear which meant someone had to be inside to help.  But more than half the kids were outside which meant that someone had to be outside to stay with these kids.  In retrospect, we would have just had them play inside in the basement which would have eliminated the issue of putting on and taking off coats.

In the end, everyone was happy and especially Robbie.  Liz and I spent the rest of the weekend cleaning and I think a week later I was still recovering to a certain extent.  Let's just hope Robbie or any of my other kids do not have a dose of morality and consideration in the future and we don't have to invite the whole class again (just kidding)!

I cut my wife's hair

Yes, it's true but how did this happen?

Last night my wife was complaining about how she had cancelled 4 hair appointments because with 4 kids and working part time, something always came up.  So in what I will now call a bizarre moment, she said, do you want to cut my hair for me.  With little thought I said "SURE"

now, the preamble to all this is I cut my kids hair and for someone not professionally trained, I do an OK job and with 4 boys, that saves me a lot of money.  I even trim my own hair from time to time.  Yes, I know, there is a big difference between cutting little boys hair and my wifes beautiful long curly hair.

Back to the story, I asked Liz how much she wanted cut off.  About an inch and a half.  Great, that should be no problem.   So i start cutting and feeling OK about the whole thing.  I finish.  Liz looks a the pile of hair on the ground and says you cut off a lot. She proceeds to pick up a few strands and while most of them are about an inch and a half, there are a few that are closer to 3 inches.  I start to sweat!  She starts to sweat.  She says my hair is wet.  When it dries, it curls up and will be much shorter.  I start to panic.  What have I done!!!

The next day, Liz makes a hair appointment to fix the fiasco I created.  She hates her hair and will not cut it for a long time.

What did I learn from this experience?

• Yes, the obvious is never cut your wife's hair, even if she asks.  You can't win no matter what!
• I truly love my wife . . . until she brings this up at our next fight to make me feel guilty
• I think she truly loves me.  If out marriage survives this, then we should be able to survive anything!