"...Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for—but we fight for roses, too!"

105 years ago, there was a disturbance in the workforce. The textile workers in Lawrence Massachusetts, mostly women, were gearing up to strike.

The premise, the workers deserved fair wages and dignified conditions. This was the slogan of one of the lead campaigners:

The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too

Remember this when you're building your life, your family, your workforce. We are all working for pay to be sure, but that's only half of it. 

What are the roses you're offering for those around you?

November is a wonderful month. Fall is full and Christmas is coming and dudes get to grow felt hats for their upper lips for a great organization - the Movember Foundation. 

I am a fundraiser, this week alone our team raised over half a million dollars for charities. But, what I love about Movember is how it's engaged males (particularly Millennials) on an annual basis (not just a one off) and raised real dollars - nearly 700 million to date - to support prostate cancer, an unsexy cause to say the least. 

For those of you growing mo's without a campaign (like me), I suggest donating to my friend and dodgeball team mate Matt Gerow's campaign here:

https://ca.movember.com/mospace/5540641

I've been in and out of customer service jobs since I was 8, but I'm still not good at it. However, there has been one tactic that has served me well - asking clarifying questions.

It's not uncommon for a customer to come at you with a statement or accusatory question that will send your body into fight or flight mode. 

What do I do to help them? I'm not sure what they're upsetting about!! 

What should you do? Ask clarifying questions. 

"This is a big deal I'm so sorry. Were you upset over the quality or the price?" 

"I'm not sure if you meant you don't like the colour or colours in general, can you share with me more specifically how you feel?"

You ask because you care, but you also ask because you need to truly understand to fully resolve an issue. Don't let your brain go in a million directions wondering what they're thinking, ask and you will most likely get better information and often see that an issue is much more solvable. 

This Summer I took my six year old daughter and my mum to go see Inside Out, a delightful movie about a young girl moving cities and in the process growing up. 

I balled my eyes out. Sitting next to my mum, myself a grown up child, next to my daughter who is growing up right before me. Even writing these words I struggle to hold in tears. 

Why did Pixar touch a nerve so deep inside my soul? Forgotten memories. 

I'm 30 years old and I can only recall vividly a few events over that time. It's been 13 years since my dad passed away and, while I still remember him, I'm losing memories day by day. 6 years ago my daughter was born and I can hardly remember Christmas two years ago. My son is 3 and I'm already forgetting his early years. 

Memories have become the most valuable possession I have, but society, school, and success have all reinforced how worthless they are in comparison to the rewards of knowledge, the prestige of position, and the allure of possessions.

For the rest of my life I'm seeking to unlearn what I've been taught and do two things: anticipate and reflect. 

By visualizing experiences before and after you've experienced them you are much more likely to recall them at a later date.  

Some nights when I'm snuggling my son or daughter, I imagine that I'm actually me of 30 years from now, transported back in time to that moment. I try to imagine how I'd feel if I had that opportunity. I would soak in every moment! The smell of their hair, the touch of their skin, the sound of their voice. I would savour every moment of that time travel until I'm lurched back into 'present day'. 

What a gift we have in memories. What a curse it is to lose them.