Picture the scene....

....You are driving down a long road, and you see one truck trying to overtake another. The two juggernauts may be of similar size and engine capacity. One, though, is ever so slightly less fully laden and thus capable of travelling a tiny bit quicker. Slowly, it begins to pull past.

Now, you may be sitting behind thinking, 'What's the big deal?' whilst waiting for your chance to leave them both behind. But progress is progress, no matter how slow it may seem.

We often need to remember that, especially in all matters of emotional involvement.

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.    (Mother Teresa)

Every story has two sides....

.... And every side of every story has a further side. And every one of those sides has another side. And on it goes. No wonder so few of us see the world in the same way. So many of us are only prepared to listen to one side of a tale.  No wonder too, that so many of us end up thinking that everything is wrong, harsh or unfair. Whenever we feel this way, regardless of the reason, we really shouldn't indulge the mood.

None of us, alone, can set this world to rights but we can all lead light and happy lives, no matter what we face, just by resolving to look on the bright side... and refusing to be drawn into pointless debates.

You think you need more than faith to help fix things? Not so. Have faith in what faith can do.

The sweetest of all sounds is praise.  (Xenophon)

They say 'success breeds success'....

....But success can sometimes create overconfidence. Great errors can be made by the victorious. The defeated tend to be more careful. Failure is a wonderful teacher. When we get it wrong, and we work out why we got it wrong, we can then see how to get it right.

As long as we learn from our mistakes, success will never be far away. And it will taste all the sweeter if it replaces the sourness of disappointment.

The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.

'Whether 'tis nobler in the mind....

.....to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune....'  Words you'll probably recognise from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Some people suspect that one single person could not have written all those plays and poems. Well, maybe that betrays a lack of appreciation for all that a creative genius is capable of.

And speaking of gifted individuals who are different to the 'norm' let us remember that you are truly unique.

Remember, this is not our home; so while we have things, let us use them 

reverently, thankfully and wisely.  (A W Tozer)

One of the lines from....

....Jiminy Cricket in the Disney cartoon, Pinocchio, was 'If you get in trouble and you don't know right from wrong, give a little whistle.'  This, insisted the little talking grasshopper, is the sole prerequisite for a happier, less stressful, existence. Ah, but what if you don't happen to be a little wooden boy or an articulate locust. Does the recipe for success apply just as much to you and me?

We too must nurture the virtue of patience and adherence to ethical principles. Just let your conscience be your guide.

Every drop in the ocean counts     (Yoko Ono)

From an early age we're....

....encouraged to repress some of the characteristics that mark us out as different. Even if our parents are enlightened enough to encourage a sense of individuality, we may decide for ourselves to play all this down when we go to school. The children who stand out from the crowd are often the ones who get bullied.   All so very wrong, especially when that bullying encroaches well into adulthood.

There may be many reasons why you have learned to repress some talent or proclivity but there is a far greater reason to let it loose.   How can you be successful if you are not truly being yourself?

The opinion that other people have of you is their problem, not yours.

Once upon a time....

....there was a storyteller. The storyteller had a favourite story. This is how it went: 'Once upon a time, there was a storyteller. The storyteller had a favourite story. This is how it went: "Once upon a time..." Beware the tendency to go round in the same old circles, acting out the same old dramas, getting nowhere.

The story of  life may seem similar to a tale that has been told before. But it can have a very different outcome this time, if you want it to.

Everyday you wait is another day you won’t get back.

Two wrongs do not....

....make a right. Nor, despite our occasional moments of self-doubt, do two rights ever make a wrong. Sometimes, we begin to wonder whether there is really any point in being laudable and applaudable. We watch aghast as amoral individuals appear to get clean away with inexcusable outrages.

We see our own noble efforts to be ethical, creating tension and apparently holding us back.  And then we forget that we are merely looking at a snapshot. A freeze-frame from a film.

Big results require big ambitions.   (Heraclitus)

I think I ought to be....

....more considerate and make sure that this post complies with health and safety regulations. After all, we don't want anything regrettable to happen to you while you are reading these words. Are you sitting down? Then stand up at once, your chair may have a broken leg. Are you standing up? Sit down, quickly, before you lose your balance.

Sometimes, we can take too many precautions. Sometimes, we can worry too much. Try trusting the wilder side of your heart.

A friend is a gift you give yourself   (Robert Louis Stevenson)

No matter how many people....

....we know and how closely involved with them we may be, there are times when we can't help but see ourselves as all alone in the world. We feel isolated and estranged. It seems nobody understands us. Ironically, we are not the only ones who feel that way. It's a surprisingly common experience. We are all in this together. We are not alone in feeling alone!

And yet, most likely we are more loved, supported and admired than we realise.








Jesters do often prove prophets.  (Joseph Addison)

Tense times....

....are almost always productive times too. Stressful situations trigger the 'fight or flight' mechanisms in our minds. When our adrenaline is flowing and our ire is up, we become more creative and resourceful. Suddenly, we see solutions that we previously could not envisage.

 

We find ourselves able to break bad habits and change old, entrenched behaviour patterns.

The best teacher is your last mistake.  (Ralph Nader)

I read that in some....

.....cultural traditions, buildings are deliberately left unfinished. Even if the entire structure is an intricate work of art, one little section is kept incomplete. This is a spiritual gesture, an acknowledgement of the idea that there's always room for improvement! Nothing is ever as good as it can get.

When we claim to have it all or pretend that we have solved all our problems, we are kidding ourselves. To be human is to wrestle with incompatible urges. Something in your world may be far from complete, but in it's own way it could be perfect.

And plenty makes us poor.  (John Dryden)

Isn't it fun to be.....

 .....judgemental? It is not just our friends and loved ones that we approve or disapprove of. We can even find ourselves glancing at strangers and forming opinions about them. From their looks, their clothes, their body language, we decide what it is that they may be guilty of - or very occasionally, if we are feeling generous, deserving of praise for.

But the point is, we don't know. We really don't know. And when we think we probably do know, that is when we are most likely to be wrong!

The fool wonders, the wise man asks  (Benjamin Disraeli)

5 days into the New Year....

.....without a 'they say....' moment.  Best remedy that.  They say, 'If it isn't broken, you shouldn't try to fix it.' That's good advice as far as it goes but, sometimes, people persuade themselves that something isn't really broken, even when it is lying in pieces right in front of their very eyes. Through some misplaced fear of making things worse, they walk away from their chance to make them a whole lot better. If you get an opportunity to repair some damage that's been done; to do that successfully, you must begin by entering the painful process of recognising the full extent of the wound or the break.

If you can do that without pity, fear, regret or resentment, you can really do some healing.

              

Don't listen to those who constantly speak. They have seen nothing. 
Listen to those normally silent. They have observed and seen the truth.

We all know that we should....

....always try to learn from the past. But the past isn't necessarily geared up to provide any of us with an education. It contains no classrooms or desks. It may appear to offer lecturers but these are often self-appointed, with axes to grind and biased points to make. We may discover, if we listen too carefully to those tutors, that we have studied the wrong curriculum and have gained no useful admission to any further course.

We must always be wary today, about the conclusions we draw from yesterday.

Every scar has a story. Don't be afraid to tell it.

One of the oft quoted parts....

.....of the Bible is the piece that contains some strong remarks about the wisdom (or otherwise) of judging people. But it's not just biblical writings that deal with this.  Many ancient texts express a similar note of caution against this very natural, very human tendency. Of course we all pass judgement on one another. Worse still, we do it in an instant, in a heartbeat, in the blink of an eye.

What can possibly give us that right? How can such snap conclusions possibly be right? Do as the good book says -  'Judge not, lest ye be judged.'

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by 

what we have already done.    (Longfellow)

When trains first came....

....on the scene, some people were too scared to travel on them. They were deemed to be too noisy, fast and dangerous. These days we all hurtle along at great speeds in various vehicles. But if certain people in a position of power and authority had once had their way, we might never have fully developed such technology.

  

Sometimes, it is appropriate to be a traditionalist. But, maybe, more often it is important to be a pioneer.

We are all born mad.  Some remain so.   (Samuel Beckett)

There are times....

....along the journey of life when we ask - Why are things as they are? How have they got this way? Shouldn't they be different? We all have the power to create change. And we do have opportunities to do so. Before you ring in the new, though, you may just want to think a little harder about what was so wrong with the old.

It is always easier to criticise that which already exists. Theories and philosophies sound fascinating. As they have not been put to the test, they cannot have been found wanting.

The poetry of the earth is never dead  (John Keats)