Okay guys, thank you very much for all of your support so far. But I think it has now got the stage where we are in need of a new thread since it has been weeks since the last.
This thread does follow on from Thread 1: Getting to know the Man of Steel, so if you haven’t already checked that out, you might want to do so first before reading this thread, so you can begin to realise how far I have come in life when it comes to achievements. From what you read in this thread, it is for you to decide in your own mind at present what I have achieved, until Thread 3 exists.
However, as we’ve just recognised, the achievements come later in Thread 3 – it’s my hobbies and interests that really matter for the time being. But I first, want to talk to you about my main interest. My main interest is in others. I enjoy not only talking to people and having my say but where possible which I am sure is quite often, is actually helping others which of course requires me to hear people out and to some extent, work with them.
What do I mean by that?
Well, this can be both personally and physically or in any other ways which may be necessary. Let me give you an example of somebody I helped offering both of these types of support:
I was invited out for a Tennis match by a close friend. As I’m sure many of us know, I love my sport. But, unfortunately the day didn’t go ahead quite the way we expected. My close friend was going to cycle to a meeting point, which was a good 2 or 3 miles away from the place we were going to initially meet at. However, in short it turned out that he got stranded which wasn’t even half the distance away from where we were going to meet. I found this out by receiving a phone call, already being told beforehand that he had problems with his bike. At this point, I thought in my own mind “Well, there is no point in getting upset about it” – and they were my very words to him, after telling him not to worry about it as he was extremely apologetic and felt potentially embarrassed and awkward as I politely advised him that he shouldn’t have attempted to ride out on it, knowing it was in that state.
At this stage, he only told me that he couldn’t make it to where we were due to meet but it was only a few minutes later until he tried to end the phone call with “Well, I should tell my Dad I’m stranded then”. Now, I could not go away knowing that somebody with a rucksack full of tennis equipment and a pushbike was stranded, whether they were a friend of mine or not and would probably have the risk of his Dad giving him a telling off which none of us young adults like.
Before we go on, in an event like this – we should consider what a good sportsman or sportswomen actually is:
A GOOD SPORTSMAN/SPORTSWOMEN IS:
- A good listener
- A good thinker
- A good communicator
- A good team worker
Forget about Tennis for the time being, and if you want to talk about sport then I am sure Footballers do all of these 4 things whilst they are on the pitch. They cooperate, communicate and in order to do these things above all, they listen and do indeed think before they speak and take action. This also sums up to what I believe a good person really is.
When I was helping my friend, I definitely did all of these things. You are about to find out how I did these things in the same order as I’ve listed them:
Good listener:
I listened to what his issues were regarding the bike and of course to the main matter, himself. The chain slipped off the gears causing the rear wheel of the bike to ‘lock’ – in these conditions, it was much too dangerous to even wheel the bike on your own let alone ride it, and thus also too heavy to lift it on your own for such a distance.
Good communicator:
I told him what I had plans of doing, which was to drop off everything I had so I had free hands and stayed in contact throughout the entire process before meeting him, letting him know where I was –I also asked him to clarify where he was so I could easily find him.
Good thinker:
I picked up a £10 note I had lying around in my bedroom and brought my mobile phone with me, and contacted him again to let him know I was on my way, and to keep him at ease. At this point I had nothing else on me other than the money and my phone, which gave me a good cause to run there, getting there as quick as possible.
Good team worker:
When I got there, after I contacted him for the final time, I found him. Using all of the qualities I listed previously including this one, we had a chat. And we both came to a sensible agreement that one would lift one side of the bike and the other would lift the opposite side. There was a big hill we had to take so with this in mind I offered to take his rucksack and wear it since he had at that point been wearing it for a long time. We both agreed that we would lock the bike up at the local train station which was probably about half a mile away than we started, it took us a good 20-30 minutes to get it there and when we got there, I advised him to remove all valuables attached to the bike such as his front and rear lights/the CPU and sensor etc. which he did.
Good thinker:
This quality once again comes into the equation. You know why I brought my phone, but not yet the £10 note. The reason I initially brought the money, was for lunch. There was a Subway local to the station which we walked to in about 15 minutes. I treated both of us to lunch, and gave my close friend enough change from the meal for a bus fare back to his home, to save him from walking the minimum of 1 or 2 miles back.
He was extremely grateful for everything I did for him that day. So there you have it. I helped this individual both personally and physically; helping him personally by being supportive, cooperative and communicative, which would not have helped anyone else but him personally during this situation. And I of course helped him physically by helping him move the bike that was virtually unmoveable as neither of us on our own would have been able to lift that for a relatively long distance. At the end of the day, sportsmanship or sportswomenship is all to do with team work or my 4Gs. And to remind you what my 4Gs are – I have relisted them below:
- A good listener
- A good thinker
- A good communicator
- A good team worker
So there you have it, that’s my main interest. I quite clearly implied back in Thread 1 that at the end of the day, all I’m currently interested in doing is really helping others alongside with my studies and future developments in life and I have above given an example of how I have both physically and personally done this.
Other interests and hobbies include and feel free to use these as a talking point also in my thread:
1. Computing: Networking, Web Design, Hardware and Software installations and upgrades etc. and a small amount of gaming. I own 6 working machines, one of which is a desktop networking/electronics system and the others are all laptops/notebooks; each have their own unique Operating System and use.
2. Electronics: Breadboarding (for prototyping circuits), theoretical research on various components and taking an interest in how various parts work and link up together in a circuit – I do have a small Breadboarding electronics kit including various diodes such as LEDs, Transistors and Capacitors and other parts such as jumper wires, the basics and a small amount of Programming (I own a K150 Microcontroller, which I have not yet used but shall very soon!) The desktop I mentioned in point 1 would be the one used to program my Microcontroller.
3. Fitness & Sport: This includes the gym, running, swimming, tennis and snooker. I have spent quite a lot of money on various decent fitness equipment including a HRM watch. Due to a high level of success in running, I have planned to run the London Marathon in 2014 for Autism!
4. Computer Graphics – This sort of ties into the computing sector, but not quite; though it is the creative side. I have various graphical software packages and enjoy creating special effects on screen for any occasion such as virtual birthday cards and even logos for companies or redesigns of company’s logos. I am the individual responsible for redesigning South Eastern - The Train Operating Company’s logo back in 2011 and received a positive response that my design had been forwarded onto senior management for their consideration! (This will be logged as an achievement during Thread 3)
5. And others: And that is about it really apart from the odd board game in Chess and picking up one of the 50+ Yo-Yos I have and doing a few tricks with them. I am also interested in music, not only listening to it but also making it. I own 4 different musical instruments: A Keyboard, an Electric Guitar, an Acoustic Guitar and a Ukulele.
Thank you for taking the time to read my 2nd thread. I should inform you all, that the idea of this one is to motivate individuals to keep an open mind about things and to enjoy life by keeping themselves occupied. The more things you know in your own mind that you can do and/or enjoy doing, then the more you shall have to talk to people about.
Finally, don’t see any hobbies as things that you must be able to do for you to even consider them as valid hobbies/interests. For example, in Electronics, as I said – it’s early days for me particularly in the K150 Microcontroller Programming and I know far less of that than other things I enjoy doing such as the Computing as a general subject. At the end of the day, the fact you have taken an interest in things, and have tried them – IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
Thanks again.
