It may often seem as if....

....life is full of things that you can't do. Either you aren't allowed to or you can't afford to or you will upset someone enormously if you do. Or maybe, there is another reason. What if deep down within, the truth is that something within you really doesn't want to. It is almost as if you are hunting for reasons to pin the blame elsewhere for this reluctance. If that's the case, you really need to think about whether you are wasting your own time.

The more honest you are with yourself, the more progress you will make.

Nothing dies more quickly than a new idea in a closed mind.

With very good reason......

When I was a small boy....

....I was given a cowboy outfit, and didn't want to take it off. What about you?  Can you remember a particular item of clothing that filled you with satisfaction when you first acquired it, and then every time you wore it since? Where is it now? How would you feel if you were to come across it again? Actually, no matter how nostalgic the rediscovery might make you, it would also cause great frustration. You have surely long-since outgrown it.

In a similar way, we all outgrow various attitudes and opinions as life makes us wiser. Don't apply yesterday's standards to today's decisions.

Always appreciate what you have before it's gone.

A recipe for success.....

The world is full to overflowing....

....with rules, regulations, protocols, prohibitions, unfortunately. Not to mention social, as well as legal, limitations. We take these in our stride. Until or unless, we discover that they prevent us from doing something that we sorely wish we had the freedom to do, we hardly even notice them. That's life.

We probably can't do much to change it. But we don't have to add to the situation by inventing new restrictions and creating artificial, imaginary obstacles for ourselves.

Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped

Try hard to imagine standing....

....in someone else's shoes. It's easy to find fault with another person's actions, but there may be good reasons why they feel what they feel and want what they want. Arguing against this won't help you make your case. If you hope to put forward an alternative idea, you should consider which words and suggestions would be most persuasive.

You mustn't make false promises nor can you say something that isn't true. But sweetness and sensitivity will take you a long way in the right direction.

Having a good discussion is like having riches.  (African Proverb, Kenya)

In war, there are....

....no winners. In love, there are no losers. We all understand this, yet we all conveniently (or rather, inconveniently) forget it. We convince ourselves that if we fight with all our might for a cause that we believe to be right, we will emerge victorious and vindicated - rather than scarred forever by our tragic losses. And, because we mistake love for 'ownership', we associate it with pain.

But a genuinely generous and giving heart can never be broken.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. 

(Edith Wharton)

So many of us forget....

If we didn't have rule books....

....where would we be? How confused our lives would soon become without patterns to follow, expectations to live up to, tried and tested formulae to apply and repeat. Thanks to all these habits, established so long ago, none of us really has to think very much.

But sometimes, the most important thing we can ever do is stand outside a situation for a moment and try to see it from a distance while we stop and think.

The important thing is this: to be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are 

for what you would become.      (Charles Dickens)

Watch....

What's more crucial....

....than life itself? Nothing - absolutely nothing. If the angry people of this world ever finally understand this, they might grow less angry. And the confused people might grow less confused. Life is not meant to be thrown away for a cause any more than it is meant to be wasted in emptiness or greed. 

It is a gift. The most precious gift you will ever be given. Appreciate it. Don't seek 'Life Plus...' or demand 'Life Minus...' Love it for what it is, and the more you love life, the more life will love you.

When you are content to simply be yourself and don't compare or compete, 

everybody will respect you.

Thank you....

We all have ideas about....

....how other people ought to act and/or think (and some even think they have a right to verbalise those ideas). In much the same way as we sometimes launch into a great explanation of where the government is going wrong or what the authorities are failing to organise properly, we can find fault with friends and colleagues too. Or at least we can, until we stop and remember that we ourselves don't get everything right all the time. 

You can help to create a much more constructive climate by making a gentle allowance for the extenuating circumstances which often lurk beneath the surface.

All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, 

it will not change you. (Wayne Dyer)

A meaningful life....

Change - I know some who are....

.....close to being scared of it.  In truth, we are all comfortable when we are in our element. We all grow edgy - some a lot more than others -  when we feel that we are out of our depth. We cannot remain in our comfort zone forever. Life has a way of challenging us to master new skills and acquire additional abilities. So we must expand our comfort zone to the point where we feel comfortable about our own ability to broaden experience and pass fresh tests. 

If you feel that you are required to cope with something difficult, look for a way in which you might be able to make this easy.

The real voyage is not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes and 

through the eyes of others.  (Marcel Proust)

The voice of caution....

....takes many tones. It can whisper conspiratorially when it suspects that this will get it the best result - or it can effectively stamp up and down, yelling through a megaphone that it has placed right up against our ear. It doesn't much care how it creates concern, as long as it gets results. There is always a reason not to do something and there may be one or two things that you have genuine reason to be wary of. 

But it could be that quite often the thing you should treat with greatest caution... is caution!

Don't give up what you want most, for what you want now. (Zig Ziglar)

To thine own self be true....

....Such phrases once passed for wisdom. These days, they raise eyebrows. It all sounds very good - 'be true to yourself' - but that assumes that you know yourself well enough to know which aspect of your personality you actually need to be true to. What if conflicting impulses pull you in two directions at once? Which bit of you are you going to be true to then? 

Being true to yourself today may involve acknowledging that you are a more complex character than you might wish you were!

Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life 

that don't really matter.

Wouldn't you agree?.....

If it hadn't been for this....

....there would have been no that. Person X is to blame for Situation Y. Problem Q is a direct consequence of Decision Z etc etc etc. We make these cause-and-effect connections without so much as a second thought. Very rarely, though, can we support them with anything more than weak and circumstantial evidence - and biased supposition. 

You may think you know why things are as they are, but you cannot be sure. But you can be quite sure that they don't have to stay as they are.

Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it. (Leo Tolstoy)

Didn't I say that normal service....

.....would be resumed as soon as I was able?  Well, maybe not 'normal' yet; more 'as and when able'.  But here's a starting point - 

If you feel there is something that you can't do, perhaps you should consider why. What makes it so impossible? How much of your resistance is based on actual experience? How much is extrapolation, projection, imagination and unjustified apprehension? You may well have more going for you than you realise. What seems impossible may not be so far-fetched. 

The more you persuade yourself that an idea should be ruled out, the more you may complicate a matter which could be very simply resolved.

A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it. 

GK Chesterton

Allow me to share.....

.....some more with you.  Enjoy -

It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one 

than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.

We can't choose our families, which makes our friends even more special, as they chose us.

No matter how hard life gets, remember to go to bed grateful that you have one.

Today will never come again. Be a blessing. Be a friend. Encourage someone.  

Take time to care. Let your words heal, not wound.

Every day there will be that one chance, that one moment, to make someone happy.  

Take it.

Yep, can't argue with this.....

Well, good people....

....I'm still homeless, and Internet access is more than a little spasmodic (being polite).  It could be many weeks before anything alters significantly, but I truly will be back.

Doors are starting to open, and that's where my focus has to be.  After all, why would I want to expend effort through looking behind me - I'm not going that way.

I'm told you can't keep a good man down.  If I ever come across one, I'll let you know if that's true.

Keep smiling.

Normal service will be.....

.....resumed as soon as possible.

I was made homeless a couple of weeks back and don't always have internet access, and won't have for a while. But I will return.

Keep smiling. Stay strong. Remember that you are a victor, not a victim.