Although there is one reality, one series of events taking place in time and space, our perception of those events – and the data that we filter out – varies significantly from person to person. There is but one reality – or is there?

The world we live in, our personal map of reality, is largely shaped by our self perception and self image. Perceived competence and self-efficacy is derived from how we are treated, especially in the early years of our lives. How we are treated affects how we see ourselves, which in turn affects how we treat others and subsequently how we are treated by others.

The irony is that the one thing that provides us with the potential for personal transformation beyond our wildest imagination is that same entity that can provide us with a lifetime of challenges and limitations in our relationships and within ourselves. It’s all in the comfort zone.

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There are moments that make you stop - and pause. Moments in which your awareness is heightened, and your mind goes into "retrospective mode".

I had one of those moments a few days ago. A sad moment. A funny moment. A disheartening moment.

I still get my Queen's Alumni newsletter sent to me. Some months, I read it with greater attention than others, and as luck would have it, this was one of those months. Sitting at the kitchen table, cereal bowl in front of me, Queen's Alumni Review being reviewed. I like reading the sections that have brief little reports from my decade of graduation. Occasionally I will see a little tidbit on someone I know, or perhaps someone that lived in Gordon House (my dorm) or was affiliated with the physiotherapy program. It's great to see what has happened to people as they have gone down the many roads that life provides all of us ... and where we end up - mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually - in the process.

They have birth notices, career and life updates, and death notices.

And as I turned the page, there it was - on the bottom of page 43 ...

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If you ask 10 athletes or 10 coaches what a warm-up is supposed to consist of – and why – there will probably be at least 7 different answers. The warm-up (and cool-down) - and their importance in an training session - tend to attract a lot of debate and discussion.

Some people will tell you that the warm-up is the time to stretch. Or is it the cool-down that is important for stretching? Do you need to stretch at all? Better yet, do you need to warm-up at all? Should I care? Does it really make that much difference?

There is very little consensus on what a warm-up should entail. Little consensus, and a great deal of misinformation and anecdotal experience thrown in for good measure.

So what is the purpose of the warm-up? Once again, the answer lies in the brain.

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It's a strange new world in Alaska this Independence Day. Sarah Palin has resigned as Governor of Alaska.

In a bizarre press conference yesterday, she rambled her way onto the national stage - again. What a strange speech, full of bizarre analogies, half-baked thoughts - and a lot of deep breathing. I really had thought that her 15 minutes of fame might be over (at least for a couple of years), and that Tina Fey was going to get a well-deserved break from her Palin skit (brilliant though it was). I guess I was wrong.

The bottom line is this: she gave up on the job with 18 months remaining. She gave us the analogy of a basketball point guard moving the ball up the court. Well, based on her day yesterday, she may have broken the full court press - just long enough to turn the ball over and walk off the court. She quit. It is pretty hard to "create change" when you give up the reins to the horse (using an analogy I am sure she would appreciate). But I am sure there are many self-promoting reasons why she did this.

This is beyond being "quirky". This is beyond "Sarah just doing her thing" . and don't believe the spin about lame duck governors at the end of term or that she is a "political maverick" or that she is no longer going to be in politics - though somehow she will continue to fight for change.

As Anderson Cooper noted yesterday - "how is she going to do this - her own TV show?".

Stranger things have happened.

Let's face the harsh reality of politics - yesterday displayed the beauty of true Washington politics. And here's how .

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