Yellow Dog Blog

When Jesus told Peter to, “Get out of the boat”, he didn’t hesitate.  He didn’t stop to over-think the situation or over-analyse, he just did it.  So why are we so hesitant to step out of our own comfort zone?  Why do we not put ourselves forward more often?  Why do we convince ourselves that we simply aren’t good enough? In my career in charity, I climbed to the position of Chief Executive Officer and I quietly, inwardly questioned, “How did that happen?”   As a teenager (nearly 50 years ago), I was not a very likeable person, though I met a beautiful girl and I married her 40 years ago.  Again, I question, “How did that happen?”  I kind of fell into being a youth worker and a Christian Rap Artist, impacting thousands of young lives, but still, that question lurked in the back of my mind, “How did that happen?”  I now know that this negative thinking about our own abilities is referred to as, ‘Imposter-Syndrome. ’ This lack of self-belief...

In 1597, Sir Francis Bacon  published his work, Meditationes Sacrae.  In it he first used the phrase, “Knowledge is power” and the world believed him.  Throughout the centuries since, people have craved knowledge and more knowledge. “I have two degrees”, quips the first person.   “I have three”, brags another.   A farmer eavesdropped as they passed him, then, commented, “Yet, you are ignorant, rude and have no common sense.   You ignored me and my sign and now my bull is going to get you… You had best run.” I spent many years believing that Francis Bacon was right, that is until I had a ‘Eureka’ moment and I started to share my knowledge openly.   The farmer above shared his little bit of knowledge and he averted a potential fatal wounding.   In my charity development work, I had risen to the considered powerful position of CEO, but it wasn’t until I stepped down from that position and started to share my knowledge that I had a revelation. ...

I’m busy preparing for a challenge set by author Wendy H Jones.  The challenge is to use the national celebration days throughout October to market your books.  There are some interesting days, such as; national vodka day, boyfriend day and handbag day.  Who on earth dreams up these things?  It is a great challenge, but before I tell you my two favourites, I’ll tell you a short story. A youth worker friend of mine was chatting to a young person who had been dealing with a lot of struggles and the lad said to him, “Why can’t people just be nicer?” My friend responded by telling the boy that this is the second of the Ten Commandments, ‘to love your neighbour.’ Getting back to Wendy’s challenge , one of my favourite days is ‘Do Something Nice Day.’   As I think about this and my friend’s story, I ask the same question as that young lad and I question, “Why do we have a, ‘Do Something Nice Day?”   If we all did something nice every day, then there would be no ...

I published my first book, The Golden Thread, in 2015, so I've been writing for over 6 years and have now published 8 books.  Though I have written blogs before, this is my first venture onto 'Blogger' and so far I am most impressed.  As this is my first blog, I thought it best to introduce myself a little. I love to investigate the meaning behind names, particularly when creating a character for a novel.  Their name must have an appropriate meaning to reflect the personality, temperament and nature of the subject.  Do you know the meaning of your own name? My name, Brendan, is derived from the Gaelic name Breandán, which is in turn derived from the earlier Old Irish Brénainn and it means, ‘Prince’ or ‘King.’  Wow, I am royalty.  This may explain why I was not at all daunted on the two occasions when I have been honoured to meet members of the Royal Family.  The first time was when I was invited to one of the Queen’s garden parties and the second when...