Tuesday 30 May 2017

Scientists have done....

....a little research and discovered that our social circles are somewhat wider than we realise. The people we know, know other people and sometimes, the people that they know, can end up having quite an influence on us. Just as we can pass on viruses, we can communicate sad or happy moods and help to spread these surprisingly far afield. So there you have it (and someone was paid a lot of money to come up with this 'discovery')


You need to feel good today, for the sake of some stranger that you haven't even been personally introduced to. It won't do you any harm, though, either.




If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.   (Maya Angelou)

Monday 29 May 2017

Children soon learn that.....

....there are good times and bad times to ask favours of their parents. In all relationships, emotional or practical, similar issues arise. Talk in the right way to the right person at the right time and amazing developments can arise.


Yet if we're too demanding, too hasty, too anxious or, worst of all, if we broach a subject in the expectation of a negative response, we vastly increase the chance of getting to the outcome we least desire.



A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge    (Thomas Carlyle)

Sunday 28 May 2017

Brilliant ideas do not....

.....turn up in chauffeur driven cars, so I've been told.  If I ever get one, I'll let you know!!  Men in shiny peaked hats do not roll out red carpets before ushering these ideas out and bystanders do not invariably jostle for position on the pavement, striving to get a good view of the celebrity. Sometimes, indeed, it is the bad ideas that turn up in a manner like this... while the great ones sneak in through a side entrance and just start doing what must be done.


Does it matter, who gets the credit for what - just as long as the right thing starts to happen.



Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Do you know anyone...

....who actually has gone looking for a needle in a haystack? No. Nor do I! How strange then that we both feel so willing to trust the suggestion that this is such a difficult thing to find. We hear people say this and we nod sagely in agreement. 'Oh yes, those needles. Those haystacks.'




Well, here's something that's extremely easy to find. Fault. In anything - or anyone. You don't even have to track it down!!





The right words won't have any effect when they're uttered with the wrong attitude.

Wednesday 24 May 2017

Children's storytellers of ancient times....

.... have a lot to answer for. All those fairy godmothers and happy-ever-afters. All that honest endeavour rewarded, and evil greed thwarted. What a pity the world isn't really like that. Why isn't it? Because we all think of ourselves as the innocent heroes, even when we happen to be acting like the dark villains. None of us ever says, 'I'm being bad now.' We have our justifications and we believe in them.

 
 
 

Often, there will be no true progress unless you are honest with yourself.
 
 
 
 





 
Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.  (Thomas A. Edison)

Tuesday 23 May 2017

The Clod and The Pebble

....is a poem by William Blake.  In it, a little Clod of Clay sang -

Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.

Taken out of context, these lines make Blake, sound a little simple and soppy. But then love can do that to us all - especially when that love truly is given unconditionally. To give without thought of receiving is one of the bravest yet wisest acts we can ever perform.



To build a heaven, all you have to do is express your heart in the highest, most noble way possible.


Love isn't a decision, it's a feeling.  If we decided who to love, life may be simpler
but far less magical.

Sunday 14 May 2017

It must be that time of week again....

......when there's a 'they say....' moment coming on.  I can feel it in my bones.  They say tomorrow never comes. True. But, then, tomorrow never goes away either. It is always on the horizon no matter what you do with today. Does your tomorrow look like a beckoning ray of light or a dark, daunting cloud? Don't answer. Just keep on lifting up one foot after the other and walk along your path through time.


Reserve judgement on the future. You don't yet know enough about it.


Righteous wealth can only exist where no one is in need. So in our society there can
be no righteous wealth.