Just watched Invictus directed by Clint Eastwood starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Great movie!

I want to share with you this haunting and powerful poem the movie was named after, Invictus, written by British poet William Ernest Henley. This poem is Nelson Madela's favorite and served as one of his greatest inspiration and source of power during his 29 years of prison before his presidency.

When he became President of South Africa, he saw the opportunity in Rugby as a means to unite his racially divided people with adamant belief that the universal language of sport can break the barriers of apartheid. He then meets with South African Rugby Team Captain Francois Peinaar and tasked him for his team to champion the coming Rugby World Cup. As was evident in Francois' expression the hesitation and disbelief in the seemingly impossible task appointed to him, Nelson Madela gave him a hand written copy of Invictus for inspiration.

Truly an evocative piece most famous for its last couple of lines. Just wanted to share this with you hoping it will have the same effect on you as it had with Nelson Mandela, Francois Peinaar and the many more unknown men who have drawn courage and strength from it.  

Here is the theme song from the movie Invictus, 9000 days, performed by Overtone and Yollandi Nortjie, which lyrics was also inspired and some lines even taken from the poem. 9000 days is equivalent to the 27 years Nelson Mandela spent in prison.

There are just those days when it's hard to get out of bed. And don't we all have experienced that nerve wrecking moment when your boss told you not to be late for tomorrow's  very important meeting at 9:00 am and you wake up the next day and it's already 8:45?

If you're late, superiors and peers always assume you're not that serious about your career and we don't want that kind of impression at the workplace. Check out these innovative alarm clocks that'll make sure you get out of bed on time.

It's technically not an alarm clock since it doesn't have an alarm but has something way much better at waking you wake up. Before going to bed, you wear a wireless rubber bracelet with a built-in vibrating device that goes off on your set time. The snooze function is engaged by shaking your hand. However, each successive snooze you desire, more movement is required to engaged it again making you finally wake up from the physical activity. Isn't it brilliant?!

It's still a conceptual alarm clock though so it's not yet available in the market, but we're be definitely waiting for it.

2. SnūzNLūz Wifi Donation Alarm Clock

Here's one that'll make you jump out of bed right away!

Here's how to set it up. Just connect the SnūzNLūz online via cable or wifi. Once connected, select you online banking institution from the list of supported banks (1600 banks are supported). Input your login information. Then select a charity or non-profit organization of your choice from 6,200 supported charitable institutions.

What this alarm clock does is that every time you snooze it, it automatically transfers money from your bank account to your choice of charity. So when you fail to get-up, it actually costs you. That's one hell of a reason to wake up. Cause if you don't, you might go broke! Buy it here.

3. Blowfly Alarm Clock

This alarm clock comes with a flying propeller that is activated on your set time. The siren then begins to wail and the only way to stop it is for your to to get out of bed, find the plastic propeller and put it back on the clock. By the time you stop the siren, you're already awake. Buy it here.

The only way to turn this clock's alarm off (yes, it's still considered a clock because of it's small lcd screen that displays time) is to step on it, therefore physically forcing you to get out from bed and stand. Genius! If you want to make sure you really wake up, place it far from the bed so you'll be forced to walk as well.

These are some inventive stuff we have here. Get one and you'll have no more late days at work! Make that your 1st new year's resolution.

Many pass up volunteering, though they’re very much interested to, for lack of time due to work or family. Thus rendering them unable to spare time and travel. Well, that’s not a problem anymore. United Nations Volunteers (UNV) has now launched an online volunteering service site where you could easily sign up for online volunteering work.

www.onlinevolunteering.org is one of the United Nations Volunteers programme’s corporate tools to mobilize more volunteers for development. It connects volunteers to organizations working with the United Nations for sustainable human development who are in need of volunteers.

All available volunteer work listed on the site can be done from volunteers’ homes. No need to travel and work can be done by the volunteers’ own pace. Communication will all be done online as well for everybody's convenience.

Volunteer work of all kinds are available in the site. From projects ranging 2 weeks from 2 months and projects from simple editing to research. You’re bound to find volunteer work that well fits you.

If you’re interested, just go to www.onlinevolunteering.org and register. Once you’ve registered, you can easily go over the list of available volunteer work as the site is very easy to navigate. Just to make sure you do find volunteer work best suited for you, the site allows you to filter available volunteer work based on your specific skills and interests (i.e. writing and editing, translation, research, IT development, etc.).

You could also filter available volunteer work based on your desired advocacy (i.e. education, youth, crisis prevention and recovery, gender, environment, etc.)

You can even filter available volunteer work based on which region you want to offer support (i.e. Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Arab States, etc.)

You can use all three filters at the same time to find something specific for you.

After selecting your chosen volunteer work, you will be asked a few essay questions on your motivation, experiences, and skills to be submitted to the organization you are offering your volunteer work to. Depending on the organization, they might also let you submit sample works.

Once they accept you, you’ll get the project briefing and you can do your work at home and at your own pace until date of submission. At the end of the project you will be given a certificate of appreciation for your work from the United Nations.

It’s now very easy to volunteer given such online program. There’s no more excuse of not being able to travel or being too busy. What are you waiting for, volunteer now! Go to www.onlinevolunteering.org.