Great painters rarely waste....

....a single brush stroke. Great storytellers keep track of every strand and sub-plot. Whether through design or through instinct, the owners of such talents find a way to make the most of their every idea and opportunity. Even their mistakes become the foundation of future success.



As with art, so with life.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.  

 (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Instead of worrying....

How important is....

....a second? Usually, not very. One ends, another begins and very little alters in the interim. Some seconds though, are vital seconds. They are the ones that can make the difference when running for a bus or trying to escape sudden danger.

Thoughts can change our lives in a split-second. Suddenly, an idea pops up in our mind and it will not go away. You cannot ignore it, even if you try with everything you have to do so.  From that instant onwards, nothing will ever be quite the same again.

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it    (Helen Keller)

Everyone I've ever known....

....has, at various points in their lives, been constrained by a ball and chain round their ankle.  (Metaphorically speaking, of course.  Then again.....)   Anyway, it's possible to go a long way with a ball and chain. All you need is a wheelbarrow in which to transport the ball and the ability to hop. If you are obliged to live with this impediment for any great length of time, it is possible that you will become adept at the art of coping. You can get used to most things if you try.

Remember, though, that when you are offered the use of a pair of wire- cutters, it is wiser to take advantage of the opportunity than to say, 'No thank you, I haven't got any room for these in my wheelbarrow!'

Just because you're not understood doesn't mean that you're on the wrong path.

Life's lesson....

There was an Native American Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. 

The first son went in the Winter, the second in the Spring, the third in Summer, and the youngest son in the Autumn. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment.

The Chief then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's Winter, you will miss the promise of Spring, the beauty of Summer, and the fulfilment of Autumn.

Moral of the story:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time.

Have you looked to the horizon....

....and seen any fairy tale castles lately? How about knights in shining armour? We do not live a fairy tale existence, yet we still expect happy-ever-afters. Happiness, though, is like sunshine. Even in the warmest climates, the sun disappears every night. When we expect a situation that will stay exactly the same forever, we expect too much of anything or anyone.

Please remember that, and remember that even a relationship with a seemingly dark situation is actually just the other side of a very bright coin.

Assigning blame is a waste of time

I have a desperate urge to share a....

....'they say....' moment.  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.

He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded 

with fret and anxiety.   (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Did you pay top dollar....

...for your vacuum cleaner?  Well, no matter how good it is, there will always be a little bit of dust lurking in a corner somewhere. Even if you become obsessively fastidious and catch it all, you can rest assured that more will come into your world rapidly. That's the nature of dirt. You can keep it down but you can't keep it out completely.

Much the same can be said of fear. Conquer as much as you can by all means, you will never, though, free yourself entirely from reasons to worry. Those reasons may sound convincing - but you don't have to listen to them!

Courage is knowing what not to fear   (Plato)

For some strange reason....

....we seem to imagine that miracles need to be dramatic. They must involve things we weren't expecting; things that some of us have witnessed and struggle to properly explain; things that somehow make no sense. But is a flower not a miracle? And what about a snowflake? Does not every atom, every molecule, every tiny building block of this amazing universe represent a miracle in its own way?

And what about you? Aren't you made out of miracles? Why then would miracles not happen around you?

Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.   (Horace)

Those that are....

....rigid at all times, tend to be rather weak people. Strong people can afford to bend a little. You can resolve to be weak, or you can decide to be strong. It doesn't much matter which position or which view you take, as long as you are consistent. If you are going to do something, do it wholeheartedly. If you are not going to do anything, be proud, clear and firm about your decision to let things find their own level.

Don't even think in terms of weakness and strength. Just think about what's needed.

Most of the shadows of life are caused by standing in our own sunshine.  (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The world is full of celebrities....

....of a sort but, actually, our impression of those characters is based mainly on a superficial façade that they have chosen to project. What they are truly like may be a very different story. But, largely, it suits us not to ask too many questions and it suits them too. 

Just as we get surprised when someone famous manifests an unexpected quality, so we surprise ourselves when it turns out that we are capable of more than we think.

Don't watch the clock; do what it does.  Keep going.  (Sam Levenson)

In the days of my youth....

....there used to be this old saying - 'There is more than one way to skin a cat.' You don't hear that any more. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, have done their work well. I can't even tell you if it was ever true. I never had any desire to attempt to prove it - nor, I'm glad to say, do I know anyone who has tried. 

 

Most things in life, though, can be done in more than one way. Keep that in mind as you consider your options. There is an alternative way to proceed, if the most obvious route isn't working.

You have to know you can first.  How comes later.     (Vanna Bonta)

I know you like something to ponder on, so....

....does the world owe you a living? Some would say that it does. An influential philosopher/prophet once observed that birds rarely go short of food, even though you never find them planting seeds or gathering in crops. If nature provides for them, surely it can take care of humans, too. Whether we are 'owed' a living or are just lucky that our world offers us a living wherever it can, the fact is that we live on a benevolent planet.

       

When we act generously we become more in tune with its purpose.

There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why. 

(William Barclay)

We are all a bit....

....like mirrors. We reflect back whatever comes our way. When we feel particularly defensive, we become even more inclined to shroud our sensitive souls in this way. We just give back whatever we seem to be getting. If we hear negativity, we echo it. Thus we increase the extent of negativity's range.

So what are we supposed to do? Absorb it? That's even worse. We need to try to transform it.

The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed in the same scales    (Aesop)

With the sheer force....

....of our will, we can achieve a lot. We can focus our energy and determination and psychically strive to make the cosmos do our bidding. The technique doesn't always work - but sometimes, it seems to. Is it, though, the only way to reach our goal? Can we not be just as successful by being relaxed, trusting, open-minded and open-hearted?

This technique too, only seems to work sometimes, but it works as least as well as the other method and it does not leave us frustrated and depleted.

The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you've come.

There are quite a lot of people....

....who look at a cat, and see a cute, clever, cuddly creature. To a mouse though, it represents an enormous marauder. It's all a question of perspective. Too often, too easily, we take the mouse's viewpoint. 

We see ourselves as smaller than the difficulty that we face. We then find it hard to believe that we could ever rise above the situation and take control over it.

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.    (Seneca)

The way some people act....

.....you wouldn't know it, but life is definitely not a race. We do not come to this earth so that we can compete with one another. Nor are we born to fight. We may experience an instinct to argue or an urge to conquer - but it is hardly the point, or the purpose, of our existence. Those who think that 'winning is everything' are the real losers. They are the ones who are afraid to lose; the ones who feel there is some shame attached to a lack of success.

How, though, can a person be any more successful than when they are expressing warmth, kindness and compassion?

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.   (Robert Louis Stevenson)

There is a song with an appeal....

....in it.  Come to think of it, there's far more than one such song.  But the appeal I'm thinking of is - 'I don't believe in fussing or grieving, worries or cares or strife.  Give me the simple life.'   But it's an appeal based on a misunderstanding. All we are given is life which is intrinsically simple.  

The complications come from us - and though we can argue that they come from each other, we have the right to reject them when they are imposed. We give them to ourselves.

Human beings are the only animals that blush, or need to.  (Mark Twain)

How would you like to try....

.....your luck and skill at the Crazy Casino? Change your money into chips at the counter... then come and sit at the table. OK. First game. I'll roll two dice. You guess what number the top faces will add up to. Pick any number you care to, from 13 to 100. Bet high. You don't want to miss your chance! Why are you reluctant? Oh, right, you think you should be offered the chance to bet on numbers 1 - 12, don't you? Sorry. We can't allow that. You might win!

If whatever you're offered isn't fair, don't accept it.

Foolishness is indeed the sister of wickedness   (Sophocles)

The only way you can benefit from....

....reading this blog, is to read it while  you're standing up.

Are you standing up? Well then, please sit down. OK. If you are sitting down now, please stand up! Ignore the bemused looks of the people around you. Suppress your own irritation with the person who has posted this. Just keep doing as you are told. Stand up, sit down, and while you're at it - agree with what is being suggested, and accept whatever is being offered. Question nothing.

There now. Isn't that making you feel good? It isn't?.......It's always best to refuse to take daft orders.

To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself   (C S Lewis)

Way back in the mists of time there was....

....this old Greek guy who went by the name of Heraclitus.  He was born an aristocrat but lived as a hermit and believed that his wisdom stemmed from his loneliness. It seems that he was a critic of other philosophers, including Homer and Pythagoras, which may explain his isolation.

His wise observation, that change is the only constant, remains beyond question. Less so, his grasp of medicine. He died trying to cure an illness by covering himself in manure and lying out in the sun.

To know some things, is not to know all things. We should always remember that.

Habits are first cobwebs, then cables…the chains of habit are too weak to be felt 

until they are too strong to be broken.  (Samuel Johnson)

Did Jack And The Beanstalk....

....form part of your childhood?  Remember the giant stomping around yelling - 'Fe, fi, fo, fum' in his attempt to catch Jack?  Hardly subtle, was he?  If only he had proceeded with a little more stealth. There are, though, times when many of us seem to be more interested in making a noise than getting a result. 

Indeed, there are some people who confuse the two and figure that as long as there's plenty of fuss and bother, something must be happening - a strange conclusion to reach. 

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.    (Nietzsche)

You don't find out what you....

....are capable of until you try. What if you try and you don't succeed? Then, at least, you discover that you are capable of trying! That's something to be proud of, all on its own. It's also worth remembering that effort is never wasted. Even if it does not achieve the desired result, it has an impact of some kind. It shifts something, somewhere.

 

Often, what's more, the result we think we desire is not quite the one we truly need.

Blame keeps us stuck in the past. Forgiveness opens the door to the future.

Most of the shops on the....

....high streets are filled with gifts. The retailers expect hardly any customers to make purchases on their own behalf. Many people are starting to think of the festive season, if they haven't already started doing so. Yet not all gifts come wrapped in pretty patterned paper, adorned with bows.

Many of life's greatest gifts are not objects but experiences.

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.    (Ethiopian Proverb)

You may not know this....

....but shortly after you were born, you were issued with a handbook. I suspect that the angels gave it to your parents at some point in your first year.  Now, you're not telling me that they didn't pass it on to you on your 13th birthday; are you?  Haven't you poured over the carefully phrased instructions about how you must lead your life? If not, how do you know what's good for you? On what basis are you making your most crucial choices?

If you have read it, remember the bit where it says, every so often, you absolutely must take some time away from tension?

You are inferior to no one. others may treat you that way, but that is their problem. 

You are above all of this. (Leon Brown)

This is something of an....

....alarm call.  Please watch out for the following symptoms. Are you less interested in judging others? Less interested in judging yourself? Less interested in conflict? Less anxious? Grateful for what you've got? Well disposed towards those around you? More inclined to let things happen than to make them happen? Inspired to be spontaneous?

If you can answer 'yes' to more than two of the above questions, you may well be experiencing an intense case of 'inner peace'. There is no known cure and the condition is contagious.

To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to be in good physical condition.

 (Jawaharlal Nehru)

If you want to be aware of endless.....

....examples of the human race at its least humane, just tune in to a news channel.  Whether it's a past atrocity like the Holocaust or World War 1, or something labelled 'current affairs'; you'll find them seemingly in abundance.  They're usually interspersed with experts droning dryly on about matters that are immensely emotive and important. When they are not commentating on conflicts, they are telling us about the other seemingly insolvable problems in our world.

Yet what is it that we truly have a shortage of? Just two things: imagination and compassion. That is all the world needs.

If you desire to make a difference in the world, you must be different from the world.

There's an old folk song....

.....which got a lot of air time in the 1960s. Children loved it. It went something like this - 

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza...', Henry complains. 

Liza tells him to fix it. 

Henry asks 'How?' 

Liza says 'Use straw'. 

Henry says 'The straw needs cutting. 

Liza says 'Use an axe' 

Henry says 'The axe is blunt' 

Liza says 'Sharpen it.' 

Henry says 'But the stone is dry' 

Liza says 'Wet it.' 

Henry says, 'How will I get the water?' 

Liza says 'In a bucket.'

Henry says... 'But there's a hole in my bucket.' 

But you are not Henry. or Liza - or at least, not this Liza or Henry; and you don't have to go round in a circle

Life is a coin.  You can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once.

Some people are much easier....

....to get along with than others. Some agree with us, support us, share our tastes and believe in our causes. Others, it seems, take a positive pleasure in upholding an opposing point of view. Should we then, avoid the company of such folk and stick with the ones who are 'on our side'?

Not if we want to grow, not if we want to learn, not if we hope to achieve change.

Everyone can be great – because anyone can serve.   (Martin Luther King Jr)

I'm truly sorry, but I have to give you....

....some bad news.  You can't fly. Facts need to be faced;  it doesn't matter how hard you flap your arms. You can focus your mind as intently as you like upon some imaginary white light, in the hope that this may help you to levitate. Still, though, you won't get off the ground.  Although, you can, of course, board a plane. That's different. That's feasible.

There are times when we become keenly aware of a strong limitation.  When that happens, don't resent it, just look for a way to achieve the next best thing.

Be the change you want to see in the World.      (Gandhi)

Peace....

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.

At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.

We listen carefully as it gathers strength.

We hear a sweetness.

The word is Peace.

It is loud now.

Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound.

We are thrilled by its presence.

It is what we have hungered for.

Not just the absence of war. But true Peace.

A harmony of spirit, and comfort of courtesies.

Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,

Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.

Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves,

And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My Brother.

Peace, My Sister.

Peace, My Soul.

(Maya Angelou)

 

What shall we talk about?....

....What shall we consider? And what shall we simply ignore? In real life, we rarely ask ourselves such questions. We simply find ourselves pursuing the same old patterns, thinking the same old thoughts, doing the same old deeds. We get caught in a rut. We flow with the force of habit. We rarely explore fresh territory. And then we wonder why nothing ever changes.

Yet when we allow our train of thought to travel along an unfamiliar track, we risk running into the buffers of emotional confusion. But that shouldn't stop risks being taken.

If you want to make enemies, try to change something.     (Woodrow Wilson)

Talk is cheap. Anyone can say anything......

.....and they generally do. Hollow words unsupported by actions. What does it matter? Words, ultimately, are expressions of the intellect (or lack of it), which is cold and dry and slightly robotic. The language of the heart by comparison is distinctly non-verbal. Yet that, surely, is the one we truly want to be fluent in if we are genuine.

But then, sometimes, a few well-chosen words can make the world of difference.

Nature always wears the colours of the spirit.  (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Wherever there is love....

....there is hope. Wherever there is hope, there is possibility. That's why it is so important to feel love in your heart for someone or something, no matter what is tempting you to close off or to hide behind a psychological barrier. Love leads to inspiration. Inspiration leads to the discovery of opportunity. Never mind who loves you, or doesn't, or why. Never mind what you feel about what anyone else feels.

Just find some love from deep within yourself and let it touch you, soften you and uplift you.

Love is not blind.  It sees more, not less.  But because it sees more, it is willing to see less

Please sit down....

.....before you read those immortal words - They say....  Right, are you sitting comfortably?  They say you're only as old as you feel.
I suggest now that you strap yourself in because - surprise, surprise - this is one of those rare times when 'they' are right.
If you are young at heart, you will be full of attractive energy, no matter how many grey hairs you have. If you take life too seriously and become distracted by difficult memories, you can end up having 'senior moments', even in your teens! But to be young at heart, doesn't automatically mean to be peaceful or mellow. The young are often more prone to be argumentative and unreasonable.

There's no reason why any of us shouldn't be childlike, at times.  But we should always steer away from being childish.

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. 

 (William James)

Have you ever reflected on the....

.... power that you have and the difference you can make? In this vast world, full of so many people, what can one individual do to create change? Who will listen when you talk? Who will notice when you act? It is easy to feel helpless and hopeless, forlorn and frustrated by all that's wrong.

Yet you have a unique position in this world. Just as, when you smile at a stranger you can send a cheerful mood halfway around the world, when you shout into the wind you can send a message for miles.

Don't underestimate your ability.

When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.   (Malala Yousafzai)

Money can't buy you love....

......And how often have 'they' told us this?  The thing is few people know what love is. They mistake lust for it, or romantic excitement, or some other form of emotional intensity. There is a sad shallowness attached to those who love only money.
There are some who argue that the only real love is 'unconditional'. Yet, who can swear that we will continue loving a person, no matter what they do? Perhaps we don't really know. 

Maybe money can buy you love, and maybe it can't. It certainly can't buy health or happiness. Or wisdom, or peace of mind.

Love is life.  and if you miss love, you miss life.  (Leo Buscaglia)

What's easier? To get what....

....you have been wanting or to want what you have been getting? That's a trick question, I admit it. The two issues are not so much related as interdependent. While you strongly object to a set of circumstances, you are filling yourself with negative energy, no matter how justified.

The minute you at least attempt to understand, accept and forgive, you can create positive energy that in turn can greatly enhance your ability to attain an elusive goal.

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.    (Khalil Gibran)

To feel threatened....

....we don't have to face real danger. We just have to put ourselves into a situation that seems threatening or creates an impressive illusion of imminent trouble. Consider, for example, fairground roller-coasters. They terrify the wits out of their passengers, yet they have a safety record much better than that of public transport!

Don't confuse a sense of apprehension with a genuine reason to worry.

The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you've come.

A little more than....

 ....220 years ago André Garnerin left a hot air balloon and made the first recorded parachute jump.  That was some leap of faith!

If all of us had Garnerin's level of faith in our beliefs, this world would be treading a completely different path, and one of greater benefit to all.

It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills

cost Him crucifixion     (C S Lewis)

It's easy to talk....

......It's difficult to listen. That's why there are so many misunderstandings. We can all hear what we want to hear, but few of us seem able to recognise what the people around us are really trying to say. This is made harder by the fact that few of us ever state quite what we mean. If you need better communication in your life, your ears will help you achieve this more efficiently than your mouth will.

The more you disagree with a point of view, the more important it is to at least make an effort to see what lies behind it.

I'm grateful for always this moment, the now, no matter what form it takes.    (Eckhart Tolle)

Yesterday I quoted Confucius....

.......So I think I'll jump forward a few centuries.  Mohandas Gandhi said - "A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble."  Mohandas didn't just say a lot of good things; he did a lot of good things. He lived according to his deepest belief... that no matter how wrong or oppressive the force a person is fighting, it is always possible to create positive change without violence. 

If you've got something very right to defend, be strong but not fierce.

Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.  (Robert Kennedy)

We all like to receive....

.... gifts, and presents, don't we?  They are a good example - we want them to be pristine. If the box or the packaging is battered, we feel that it does not make an appropriate offering - even though we know that within moments of handing it over those bits of card and plastic will be consigned to the rubbish. We want the wrapping paper to look right too, yet it is the very first thing to be removed and discarded. 

We should always take care not to value presentation more highly than content.

People are funny: They spend money they don't have, to buy things they don't need, 

to impress people they don't like.

The sayings of Confucius....

.....Wasn't he a loquacious individual?   Here's one of his sayings -  'A person who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make their words good.'   Obviously a great believer in humility.  So, he would have been shocked that many now equate it with humiliation. 

We all like to pretend we are perfect. When we are criticized, we persuade ourselves that our accusers are at fault - and that to concede a failing is to show weakness. There's a big difference between being humble and being humbled.

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.  (Kahlil Gibran)