I'm a nice guy....... most of the time

This weeks blog is on Values. These can vary for different people and can depend on Religion; the way they were raised; Their environment and previous experiances.

Now for me personally when asked to list the three most important things to me that I value the most I went for Family; Friends and Money.

The first two suggest i am a very well respected and grounded person who cares for there loved ones and then i hit you right in the face with Money. I mean lets face it without money you are kind of stuck aernt you?

You cant go on Holiday - and the way this countries climate is that is DEFINATELY a bad thing. You cant buy a nice car - Which means you will have to invest in an AA membership and be laughed at when your on the road side pretending to be 'taking a break from driving' when really yoiu are waiting for Bob to come and tell you that your engines bust and you need to get rid of the scrapheap that you drive.

There are some people that say they'd rather be happy than have lots of money. They are LIARS! (in my opinion anyway) Money makes you happy as all of the things that you cant do without money you can do when you have got money. Its not really that difficult to work out is it. You ask Richard Bransan if he would give all his money to charity and i know what the answer will be. I can just picture it him lying on his own private island and saying'yeah alright, ive worked hard for this empire but sure i'll give it all away'. He may feel good about himself for a couple of weeks but when the novelty factor wares off he will be craving the lifestyle that money and power gives him.

This is my own creation that kind of throws the convential values out of the window but I believe it rings true....

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HAPPINESS!!!

This is the best theory I have learnt since being at Uni thats for sure. It's really true to life and there are no real counter theories. This is how it works..... end of Story!

As i mentioned earlier our values can be changed by our experiances. When I got thinking about this i started to make a list of how famous events that have happened in my life time may have effected me and my values.





I will warn you there are quite a few and i shall start with the earliest that i remember and work my way up.


The first International event that i remember happening was the death of Princess Diana. I will always remember this day as although i was still fairly young i remember it being August 31st which is my Brothers birthday and us all as a family sitting in the living room and looking at my brother opening his presents (dont worry i cant remember what he got). My mum then turned the TV on and saw the news. I remember her utter shock at the news and she was sitting there staring at the TV with her hand over her mouth for a good 10 minutes. Being young still myslef i didnt quite understand the magnitude of the news but i remember being incredibly concerned about my mum and her reaction. This I suppose in reflection bought my family higher up my values list.






Secondly I remember the twin towers collapsing. Again I was fairly young so I didnt realise the enormity of the situation, however again I used the people around me's reaction to gauge how serious the event was. At school the following day we had a special Assembly where the local vicar came in and we all said a prayer for the victims and their families. I knew it was serious as the vicar doesnt get out of bed for nothing. This made me more aware of the world and made me value life itself more as there were so many people that had been killed in these attacks and therefore it detracted my attentions away from the more material things such as money and fame (which by the way I was convinced was going to be my fortay - being famous that is; exactly what i have and had to offer for that matter I've no idea)






On a lighter note I remember the World Cup of 2002 in Korea as my uncle actually got tickets and was out there for the whole tournament. I therefore convinced myslef that i'd seen him on the TV at least three times a match - Once I was convinced I was with him which on reflection is impossible but trying to tell myslef that would have fallen on deaf ears. I remember going into school early one morning as England were playing and the school was showing the match. That walk to school will probably always be in my memory as everywhere you look there were my friends walking with flags, cars going past racing home to get to the TV. Mum's and Dads come to think of it (they must have developed a fever or something - I think they call it world cup fever) briskly walking their little angels to school so they could get home and turn on the box themselves. Just a general feeling of anticipation and nervousness yet a celebration. Obviously it was the bogey stage of the tournament that England cannot seem to get past (the quarter finals) sure enough Michael Owen slotted a beaut past the goal keeper putting England 1-0 ahead at half time. The atmosphere in the school hall was palpable..... will they wont they? - can they? Obviously they ended up losing to Brazil 2-1 and the atmosphere.... well it went sour. Being a primary school attending male footbll was my life and as far as i was concerned and the other 14 boys in my class were as well. This might sound quite far fetched and hollywood but there was a feeling of comradory in the classroom that day. A sort of 'it will be alright' attitude..... oh they were the days - biggest issue was football... oh dear. Because of this though Friends suddenly became very important as we were all dissapointed but we all played football against the younger years in the playground and obviously we were England and we won the world cup so all was forgiven by Lunch time... At the time though we all helped each other through a very difficult time - i mean it was really tough - What? - I'm being serious!






Fast forward a few years and we get to the Recession - At this point i was at Secondary School and therefore thought I knew everything. Therefore when i got home one day and my mum was ironing (don't worry it gets better) she was in tears. I thought i'd done something wrong at school (she took things like that very seriously) then I looked at the TV that was on in the corner. Big Bold letters at the bottom of Sky News said 'LEHMAN BROTHERS GOES INTO LIQUIDATION'. My dad worked for Lehman Brothers and there was confusion as my mum couldnt get hold of my dad and therefore she thought he'd lost his job. All of a sudden (this sounds very shallow) but I thought 'oh no what about that Holiday'. It turned out that because of my dads role he was needed while they sorted the debts out so he was given a contract for a further year. The future however was still uncertain and I definately noticed the difference with my parents and the purse strings. I being a teenager didnt understand this at all but it definately had an affect on the way I view money and weather it is as important as i originally thought. My dad ended up staying on in the same building which is in Canary Wharf with Canary Wharf limited so he actually never lost his job really but it taught me a lesson to not to take things for granted and to not be quite so single minded as I looking back now I realise that my Mum was genuinely scared which again makes me think of Family rather than money more in my list of values

So there you have it! My values have been shaped by various things that have gone on in the world. As the time you don't think your affected but looking back you certainly are. Values are very personal and are not good or bad. I tried to find a song that repesents values. I did find it difficult if im honest but i came up with 'Bring it All Back' by S Club 7. Yes I know what you're thinking and yes it is cheesy but also tradgically catchy. It kind of explains how life can shape values and how 'life is sent to try you' and just be who you are with your own beliefs and values. Enjoy and on that rather embarrasing note i'm going for my dinner!