"Blue Zone" cares!

Last week my son purchased a 4WD vehicle and, over the weekend, went out bush with his mates. The group took several 4WD's and they are experienced 4WDers. This was serious "bush bashing" in an authorised area and they put themselves and their vehicles through some pretty testing stuff. The end result, fortunately just as they were about to come home, was that the clutch failed on my son's Nissan. It was interesting to be told of how the whole group worked together to get his car back to Sydney and to his workshop (as it happens most of them are mechanics): it has been equally interesting to hear how everyone is now helping him get the car fully repaired and back on the road in the shortest possible time.

They call it "helping your mates".

Also over the weekend we all heard of the disaster in Haiti. Again it is heartening to see the worldwide response of people seeking to provide help of all sorts to those who are in desperate need.

Some call this emergency international aid.

It doesn't really matter what you call it. Nor does it matter whether we are talking about a small group of friends working together or an international response to a disaster. The fact is that, for the most part, people are prepared to help others - even when there are significant costs to themselves. Its one of the really great things about humanity and it is totally independent of any religious, racial, cultural, or other perspective. We do it because we are human.

In another arena (http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/5178/summary.php) I have talked about the areas of our brains that control how we see the world and how we respond to the various issues that confront us on a daily basis. I have also referred to this in a previous blog (Leaders and the Brain). In both of these, as well as in The Success Zone (2009, Mowat, Corrigan, Long, Global Publishing Group, Melbourne: http://www.thesuccesszone.com) I have talked about "red zone" areas of brain control as opposed to "blue zone" areas of brain control. Being "human" - caring about people and trying to find appropriate solutions when disasters strike is a blue zone activity.

Wouldn't it be great if we all had much more "blue zone" control in our lives?

More information about Doug Long at http://www.dglong.com