Saturday, December 31, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 16

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 16

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.  Ask yourself this:  “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”


Start cheering for other people’s victories. – Start noticing what you like about others and tell them.  Having an appreciation for how amazing the people around you are leads to good places – productive, fulfilling, peaceful places.  So be happy for those who are making progress.  Cheer for their victories.  Be thankful for their blessings, openly.  What goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering for will start cheering for you.

Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


46. What’s something that’s harder for you than it is for most people?
47. What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend?
48. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long?

Friday, December 30, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 15

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 15

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry about what others doing better than you.  Concentrate on beating your own records every day.  Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.



Start competing against an earlier version of yourself. – Be inspired by others, appreciate others, learn from others, but know that competing against them is a waste of time.  You are in competition with one person and one person only – yourself.  You are competing to be the best you can be.  Aim to break your own personal records.



Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


43. What’s a common misconception people have about you?
44. What’s something a lot of people do that you disagree with?
45. What’s a belief you hold with which many people disagree?

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 14

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 14

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet.  Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you.  But most importantly, some will bring out the best in you.


Start giving new people you meet a chance. – It sounds harsh, but you cannot keep every friend you’ve ever made.  People and priorities change.  As some relationships fade others will grow.  Appreciate the possibility of new relationships as you naturally let go of old ones that no longer work.  Trust your judgment.  Embrace new relationships, knowing that you are entering into unfamiliar territory.  Be ready to learn, be ready for a challenge, and be ready to meet someone that might just change your life forever.



Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?



40. What never fails to frustrate you?
41. What are you known for by your friends and family?
42. What’s something most people don’t know about you?

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 13

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 13

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely.  It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company.  There’s no need to rush.  If something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.


Start entering new relationships for the right reasons. – Enter new relationships with dependable, honest people who reflect the person you are and the person you want to be.  Choose friends you are proud to know, people you admire, who show you love and respect – people who reciprocate your kindness and commitment.  And pay attention to what people do, because a person’s actions are much more important than their words or how others represent them.

Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


37. What recently reminded you of how fast time flies?
38. What is the biggest challenge you face right now?
39. In one word, how would you describe your personality?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 12

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 12

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises.  Because most great opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel totally comfortable at first.


Start believing that you’re ready for the next step. – You are ready!  Think about it.  You have everything you need right now to take the next small, realistic step forward.  So embrace the opportunities that come your way, and accept the challenges – they’re gifts that will help you to grow.

Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?



34. What worries you most about the future?
35. When you look into the past, what do you miss most?
36. What’s something from the past that you don’t miss at all?

Monday, December 26, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 11

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 11

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place.  Evaluate situations and take decisive action.  You cannot change what you refuse to confront.  Making progress involves risk.  Period!  You can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.


Start giving your ideas and dreams a chance. – In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s about taking a chance.  You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.  Most of the time you just have to go for it!  And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be.  Either you succeed or you learn something.  Win-Win.

Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


31. What’s something new you recently learned about yourself?
32. What do you sometimes pretend to understand that you really do not?
33. In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Royal dilema

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question.. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.


The question?....What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.


He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.


Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.


But the price would be high, as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.


The last day of the year arrived, and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.


The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!


Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.


He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.


He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.


Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:


What a woman really wants, she answered...is to be in charge of her own life.


Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.


And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom, and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.


The honeymoon hour approached, and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened .


The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.


Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day....or night?


Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch ? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?


What would YOU do?


What Lancelot chose is below. BUT......


make YOUR choice before you scroll down below. 




OKAY? 


Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.

Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.

Now....what is the moral to this story?

Scroll down


The moral is....If you don't let a woman have her own way....Things are going to get ugly.

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 10

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 10

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term relationship with anyone else either.  You have to create stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone else.  Read Stumbling on Happiness.


Start creating your own happiness. – If you are waiting for someone else to make you happy, you’re missing out.  Smile because you can.  Choose happiness.  Be the change you want to see in the world.  Be happy with who you are now, and let your positivity inspire your journey into tomorrow.  Happiness is often found when and where you decide to seek it.  If you look for happiness within the opportunities you have, you will eventually find it.  But if you constantly look for something else, unfortunately, you’ll find that too.  Read Stumbling on Happiness.

Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?

28. What is the biggest motivator in your life right now?
29. What will you never do?
30. What’s something you said you’d never do, but have since done?

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 9

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 9

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire are expensive.  But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.


Start enjoying the things you already have. – The problem with many of us is that we think we’ll be happy when we reach a certain level in life – a level we see others operating at – your boss with her corner office, that friend of a friend who owns a mansion on the beach, etc.  Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and when you get there you’ll likely have a new destination in mind.  You’ll end up spending your whole life working toward something new without ever stopping to enjoy the things you have now.  So take a quiet moment every morning when you first awake to appreciate where you are and what you already have.

Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?



25. What was the most defining moment in your life during this past year?
26. What’s the number one change you need to make in your life in the next twelve months?
27. What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next five years?

Friday, December 23, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 8

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 8

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us.  We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past.  But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.  Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.


Start being more polite to yourself. – If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?  The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.  You must love who you are or no one else will.


Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


22. What is worth the pain?
23. In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money, love, health, fame?
24. What is something you’ve always wanted, but don’t yet have?

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 7

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 7

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.  Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every failure is leading towards success.  You end up regretting the things you did NOT do far more than the things you did.


Start valuing the lessons your mistakes teach you. – Mistakes are okay; they’re the stepping stones of progress.  If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not trying hard enough and you’re not learning.  Take risks, stumble, fall, and then get up and try again.  Appreciate that you are pushing yourself, learning, growing and improving.  Significant achievements are almost invariably realized at the end of a long road of failures.  One of the ‘mistakes’ you fear might just be the link to your greatest achievement yet.


Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?



19. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made?
20. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
21. What are you most grateful for?

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 6

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 6

Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now is a miracle.  Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you.  Right now is life.  So stop thinking about how great things will be in the future.  Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past.  Learn to be in the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening.  Appreciate the world for the beauty that it holds, right now.


Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


16. What do you want to remember forever?
17. What makes you feel secure?
18. Which activities make you lose track of time?

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 5

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 5


Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else.  Someone will always be prettier, someone will always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be you.  Don’t change so people will like you.  Be yourself and the right people will love the real you.


Start being yourself, genuinely and proudly. – Trying to be anyone else is a waste of the person you are.  Be yourself.  Embrace that individual inside you that has ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else.  Be the person you know yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms.  Above all, be true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.


Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


13. What are you scared of?
14. What has fear of failure stopped you from doing?
15. What will you never give up on?


Monday, December 19, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 4

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 4


Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use

Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.  Yes, help others; but help yourself too.  If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.


Start making your own happiness a priority. – Your needs matter.  If you don’t value yourself, look out for yourself, and stick up for yourself, you’re sabotaging yourself.  Remember, it IS possible to take care of your own needs while simultaneously caring for those around you.  And once your needs are met, you will likely be far more capable of helping those who need you most.


Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


10. What does the child inside you long for?
11. What is one thing right now that you are totally sure of?
12. What’s been bothering you lately?





Sunday, December 18, 2011

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Some pointers - Day 3

Need a change? Life got you wondering. Here are some pointers... Day 3


Original pages and great information is from http://www.marcandangel.com/ I have borrowed and rewritten for daily use



Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the world, but you can’t lie to yourself.  Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest with ourselves.  Read The Road Less Traveled.


Start being honest with yourself about everything. – Be honest about what’s right, as well as what needs to be changed.  Be honest about what you want to achieve and who you want to become.  Be honest with every aspect of your life, always.  Because you are the one person you can forever count on.  Search your soul, for the truth, so that you truly know who you are.  Once you do, you’ll have a better understanding of where you are now and how you got here, and you’ll be better equipped to identify where you want to go and how to get there.  Read The Road Less Traveled.


Some questions for you to answer:
In one sentence, who are you?


7. Happiness is a ________?
8. What stands between you and happiness?
9. What do you need most right now?





Saturday, December 17, 2011

Deepak Chopra's 7 step plan to releasing emotional toxicity




Deepak Chopra shares a simple but very effective 7 step process for identifying, expressing, and releasing emotional pain. 

"Conscious awareness is the 1st step to mastering your emotions, providing you with the tools to tap into that divine intelligence guiding you to the highest evolution of your soul's purpose." ~Enza Currenti~
 ✔ 1 Take responsibility for your emotion
✔ 2 Witness the emotion
✔ 3 Define or label the emotion
✔ 4 Express the emotion
✔ 5 Share the emotion
✔ 6 Release the emotion through ritual
✔ 7 Celebrate the release and move on

Let's now go through each one, which you'll be able to view & listen to if you click on the video link.
  VIDEO SCRIPT & LINK► http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIHbyIf1gT0&feature=related%EF%BB%BF 

There are at least 7 steps to releasing emotional toxicity. The 1st step is
✔ 1. Take responsibility for your emotions. (Identify the emotion)   
So if you think that somebody else is causing your emotional toxicity - than you have to wait for them to change which means you could be waiting for the rest of your life. 
Take responsibility for what you are feeling. Understanding that you have a choice in how you respond to and interpret your experience is the key to healing the emotional body. 

The 2nd thing is to
 ✔ 2. Witness the emotions in your body.
Think of an experience you had, an interaction with someone that was uncomfortable.
 
The more you feel the sensation, the more you get in touch with the emotion.  
Notice where you feel the emotion in your body. Observe the feeling and allow your attention to stay on the sensation. Breathe into the feeling. Fully experiencing the physical sensations allows the emotional charge to dissipate. 


✔ 3. Define it: is it anger, fear?
(When you find yourself in a state of emotional turmoil, find a quiet place & ask yourself, “What am I feeling?” The answer may be anger, sadness, fear, and so on. Define and describe what you’re feeling as clearly as possible.) 


The 4th is
✔ 4. Express it: write down happens.
Express the emotion to yourself. You can write about your feelings or speak them out loud in private. Describe the situation and the effect it is having on your heart and soul. This will help you gain clarity and insight as well as release the emotional toxicity.



After you've expressed it, then
✔ 5. Share it with a loved one.
Share the emotion. Once you’ve released and calmed down, share what you felt and experienced with the person involved in the situation.
If you have processed steps 1 through 5, you should be able to share without blame and without trying to manipulate the other person for approval or pity.



✔6. Then do a ritual to release the emotion: burn it, thrown it to the wind. Experiment to find what works best for you. Dance with abandon, do some deep breathing, get a massage, or go on a long run or walk along the beach. Allow your body to release the tension that is stored with the emotion.

And then once you release it, CELEBRATE! 
✔ 7. Bring that to a closure by going out and celebrating."
Why Celebrate? Because it’s time to reward yourself for identifying and releasing the painful emotion.
Do something special for yourself . . . listen to your favorite music, buy yourself a present, or enjoy a delicious meal.

That's how you release toxic emotions! 

Chevy HD to HD videos

http://www.chevrolet.com/hd-to-hd-truck-comparison/











The dinner date

Jack Layton head of NDP dies from cancer


Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton dies after second cancer battle

OTTAWA - Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton has died.
The party issued a statement this morning, just weeks after a gaunt Layton held a news conference to announce he was fighting a second bout of cancer.
The party says Layton died peacefully at 4:45 a.m. ET today at his Toronto home, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Funeral details have not yet been announced.
Like some political Moses, Jack Layton led his people out of the wilderness, only to die within sight of his own Promised Land.
In the preface to his 2006 book, "Speaking Out Louder," Layton wrote a passage that turned out to be eerily prescient:
"Oftentimes, life's highs and lows are inextricably linked. That has certainly happened to me and, occasionally, the ups and downs were virtually simultaneous."
In eight years as leader of the NDP he took his party to heady heights, but fell himself to a tragic disease at the age of 61.
The end came with a terse announcement.
"We deeply regret to inform you that the honourable Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, passed away at 4:45 am today, Monday August 22," said the statement from his wife, Olivia Chow, and children, Sarah and Michael.
"He passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family and loved ones."
Funeral details have not yet been announced.
Layton rebuilt his party, muted its internal squabbles, united its fractious factions and weaned it from old-style dogma to present a face more palatable to middle-class voters.
He starred in the most successful election in the history of his party and won the title of Opposition Leader, which had eluded his more storied predecessors.
Layton hobbled across the hustings last spring, leaning on a cane against the pain of a surgically repaired broken hip. He shrugged off the effects of treatment for prostate cancer. His dogged campaigning as Le Bon Jack won him a majority of the seats in Quebec, a cherished but illusory goal for New Democrats for decades.
He slew the Bloc Quebecois and saw the long-dominant Liberal party reduced to a battered hulk.
Layton was ready for a new Canadian political alignment that would pit left against right across the moribund Liberal middle.
But the victory cup was dashed from his lips by the onslaught of another, more brutal cancer that wasted him to skin and bones — and killed him just 16 weeks after election day.
Layton went, in one short summer, from triumph to tragedy and left behind less a political legacy than a political question: What if?
He was a man who carried politics in his genes. A great-grandfather was a Father of Confederation. His grandfather, a Quebec provincial cabinet minister in a Union Nationale government. His father, a Tory cabinet minister under Brian Mulroney.
He was a believer. He made that clear in the first sentences of "Speaking Out Louder:"
"Politics matters. Ideas matter. Democracy matters, because all of us need to be able to make a difference."
Layton was born in Montreal on July 18, 1950. He grew up in Hudson, Que., an Anglo community complete with a celebrated yacht club. It was a small town, but hardly typical of small-town Quebec.
He was a child of the placid Fifties in a well-off family in a well-to-do town. He was a teen and university student of the Sixties, with all that went with a decade that has claimed the word "turbulent" as its singular descriptive.
Layton took his BA at Montreal's McGill University in the late 1960s, when radicalism blew through campuses like a stiff gale. The rebellious vigour of the times led him to political activism. He doffed the conservativism of his family and embraced socialism.
"Events in the Sixties and Seventies were formative for me," he wrote in "Speaking Out Louder."
"My path grew out of the tumultuous days of the October Crisis."
He became an activist, canvasser and organizer for a community movement in Montreal as a student.
By the time he earned his master's degree at Toronto's York University in 1972, his political genes had clearly activated. He had studied under Jim Laxer, a key figure in the Waffle movement that rocked the NDP at the time.
Layton taught at Ryerson University in Toronto. But by the time he received his PhD in 1984, he had already largely abandoned academic theory for community activism and then the practicalities of municipal politics.
"I was hooked on local politics and neighbourhood engagement," he wrote.
First elected in 1982, he served on Toronto and Metropolitan Toronto councils for 20 years, honing his instincts and skills at the level of retail politics. He was a politician in the mould of a people's tribune, with rolled-up sleeves, 14-hour days and seven-day weeks. Every hand was there to be shaken, every story was there to be heard, every windmill was there to be charged.
His politics were those of the poor, the homeless, the alienated, the disenfranchised. He served as vice-chair of Toronto Hydro, chair of the Toronto Board of Health and president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. He twice ran federally and lost.
Layton's first marriage to high-school sweetheart Sally Halford, which had produced two children, ended in 1983.
He would eventually team up with Olivia Chow, another municipal power-broker. Together they would become the go-to couple of the left in Toronto politics. They rode a tandem bicycle along the waterfront, entertained, led rallies, marched in parades, ran for office and won.
Chow would follow Layton into the House of Commons in 2006. And she would be beside him in the dark summer of 2011.
In his rise, Layton gained a reputation as a brash, aggressive, even abrasive figure.
On a trip to Calgary for a meeting of the federation of municipalities, he raised local hackles with dismissive comments about the city, its appetite for new buildings at the cost of older properties and even its ritzy new city hall. There was an outcry in the local media and Art Eggleton, then mayor of Toronto, dispatched his own apology for Layton's comments.
He also gained a reputation as a master of the political stunt and the over-the-top comment. Some joked that the most dangerous place to be around city hall was between Layton and a microphone, where one might get trampled.
Rightly or wrongly, the image of a loud lout shouting into the mike from the left side of any issue clung to him after he won the NDP leadership in 2003.
It was a leadership contest that pitted Layton and the trendy new left against Bill Blaikie and the traditional, Prairie populist wing. Blaikie was a United Church minister in the best traditions of NDP and CCF champions of old. Layton was an academic and a firebrand. Blaikie was a Manitoban, Layton was from Toronto, font of all evil for many Canadians, especially westerners.
Layton won on the first ballot and went into renovation mode. He began to rebuild and re-brand his party. He was a people person whose BlackBerry kept him linked to hundreds of organizers, fund-raisers, recruiters and policy wonks. He worked through meals and vacations, pushing himself and his goals.
He toned down the wild rhetoric, although he raised an uproar in the 2004 election campaign by accusing then-prime minister Paul Martin of responsibility for the deaths of homeless people because he failed to produce affordable housing.
Despite that, Layton won his Toronto-Danforth seat in Parliament in 2004, an election that left Martin's Liberals with a minority government. The NDP raised its seat total to 19 from 13.
It was a start. Layton criss-crossed the country to raise the party profile and in doing so, became the public face of the NDP. The trademark grin, the brush moustache, the earnest optimism, the trademark head tilt were the tools of his trade. The hellfire rhetoric cooled. This was reasonable Jack, optimistic Jack, the Jack of the kitchen table, not the street corner.
The approach seemed to strike a chord with regular folk.
In 2006, Layton's campaign produced 29 seats, but boosted its vote to 2.59 million. Momentum was building.
In 2008, Layton campaigned not as a third-party leader, but as a prime minister-in-waiting. The vote total slipped slightly, but his campaign won 37 seats, just six short of its then all-time high under Ed Broadbent.
By 2011, Layton was ready for a breakthrough. Despite the prostate cancer diagnosed in early 2010, despite the mysterious hip fracture, he was everywhere. In Quebec, his working-class French and his call to action on behalf of the ordinary family struck a note with voters grown weary of the Bloc and leery of the Liberals.
On May 2, about 4.5 million people cast ballots for the NDP, giving the party 103 seats — 59 from Quebec — and making Layton leader of the Official Opposition.
Just over two months later, looking pale and gaunt, he called a news conference to say he was suffering from another, unspecified cancer and he would temporarily step down as party leader. Nycole Turmel, rookie MP and veteran labour leader, took over in the interim.
Deuteronomy 34 says God took Moses up to a high place and showed him the Promised Land in the distance.
"I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord."