When children are....

....very small we give their age in months. We look at a tiny toddler and say, "How sweet." (Well, most of the time!)  And we are touched by the way in which they have learned so much during such a short time. Yet, if you live to be eighty you will only be nine hundred and sixty months old!

We don't get long on this planet and that means we are under a strong moral obligation to make the most of every moment. We are still sweet. We are still young. We are still learning.

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.  

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Santa Claus....

....Could it be that he's an alien from another world? Nobody has ever found his home at the North Pole. Perhaps he occupies the pole of a different planet entirely and his flying reindeer are robots.

Yet there is something very human about the annual charade that gets played out in millions of homes. We all want to believe that the world can be a kinder, happier, place full of spontaneous good will and gestures of generosity. We can play a big part today, in helping to make that a reality.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

Kindness in giving creates love.     (Lao Tzu)

Creativity is a....

.... polite visitor. It may knock timidly on our door from time to time. But at the first suggestion that we are too busy to let it in, it will humbly back away. If we want it to stick around, we have to offer it encouragement. We also have to demonstrate that we are willing to take advantage of what it has to offer. If it is being ignored it will soon go in search of a more receptive host. 

Sometimes, almost more than anything else, we need our imagination.

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.  (Ralph Marston)

As if we do not have enough....

 ....to test and try in our daily lives, we have our own imaginations to contend with. These ensure that we can never fully relax. Always, there is something to be nervous of. No matter what the scenario, we are capable of conjuring up negative associations. Or of seeing within it a pessimistic possibility.

Worse, our imagination will often insist that it is not even talking to us - that it is, in fact, the voice of common sense.

Sleep and indolence are not cousins of a good harvest.   (Nigerian Proverb)

You and I both know....

....that the sun is our source of light and warmth. So far, so good.  Now imagine a team of energy efficiency experts, sitting around to consider a proposal to invent the Sun. They would never give a green light to a project like this. How crazy to place this source more than 93 million miles away from its intended target.

Yet, sometimes, conventional wisdom simply doesn't represent the most appropriate way to view a situation.

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realise how little we understand about life, ourselves, 

and the world around us.     (Socrates)

Ultimately, it's up to you....

So often it's just a matter....

.....of degree, isn't it? One mouthful may be tantalising, two may be satisfying, three could be overdoing it and four, would be a sure-fire recipe for indigestion. We cannot always see how to draw the line... or where. Often, it seems, the only way to find out when enough is enough, is to carry on until we've had too much, and then try to edge back a bit.

That's an easier process than many of us fear. We should never assume that a passing sense of discomfort will become a permanent disability.

We are afraid of the enormity of the possible.  (Emile M Cioran)

Please give some thought....

....to two hypothetical people.  One buys a lottery ticket on a whim and wins a couple of million pounds.  The other goes out, trips over and breaks an ankle.  Now, of the two, which  is more fortunate?  The answer of course, is, 'We don't know'. We don't have enough information.
Maybe the lottery winner has a terminally ill child, and they'd rather witness a complete recovery than have all the money in the world. Maybe the one with the broken ankle got it by tripping up and falling down a hole. Maybe they were incredibly lucky that they didn't break their neck.

We ought to be similarly wise when assessing our own luck.

When we are motivated by wisdom and compassion, 

the results of our actions benefit everyone.

Do you shop on-line a lot?....

....Pretty easy to do, isn't it?  Another killer of social interaction though, not to mention the death kneel of the High Street. 
Anyway, you probably know that you can buy most things over the internet these days. Strangely, though, it is still not possible to purchase items or services designed to leave you feeling fed up. Why? Because such things are freely available and in plentiful supply. You don't even have to go out and get them. Give them half a chance and they will deliver themselves to your door.

You may be shown many offers for a selection of reasons to feel anxious, angry, agitated or aggrieved. You are perfectly entitled, though, to reject them all.

Live your life and forget your age. 
Do not regret getting older, it is a privilege denied to many.

We all need to....

....wrap ourselves in comfort blankets from time to time. We listen to our favourite songs, eat familiar foods, or read authors whose style we find generally reassuring. Life does what it can, though, to tempt us out into the great unknown. It will let us rest for a while in a haven of our own creation - and it knows that we will never grow if we are never challenged.

There may be some factors that you very much wish were different. The way to change them, is to start doing things differently.

No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's 

enemies say about him. (Napoleon Hill)

Whenever we focus....

....too intently on our fears, we create little dips in the otherwise flat, smooth, plane of our subconscious. Then, when the rain of some new worry starts to fall into our lives, it gathers in those gullies. To be as brave as we really need to be, we must try to keep our minds free from those problematic puddles.  There is rarely a need to let an old source of trouble to become the trigger for a new one. 

Try to look at your situation with fresh eyes and you will see there is really no reason to let the past spoil the future.

True life is lived when tiny changes occur   (Tolstoy)

Theory and practice are not....

...so much two sides of one coin as two sides of one tug-o-war. Superficially, the relationship can seem civil and mutually supportive, but it soon becomes clear that there are deep, irreconcilable differences. Some people feel sorry for theory. They assume that it must always lose out in the end. Actually though, theory is seductive, it can win over supporters who will resolutely reject reality - even when it is staring them in the face.

Sometimes we have to work out which side people are on.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.  (Yogi Berra)

Rumour has it.....

....that 'they' can sometimes be right.  This isn't one such time -

They say it doesn't matter what you choose, as long as you choose it wholeheartedly. Well, 'they' are totally wrong here.  They, whoever 'they' are, are having a laugh. They are confusing millions around the globe.

First of all, of course it matters - it matters greatly. Secondly, even if you are in a situation where for some reason it does not really matter, there is no such thing as a wholehearted choice. Only robots are without doubt. Humans always retain a degree of doubt, even when they are right.

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.  (Andre Gide)

I went to see the soldiers....

I went to see the soldiers, row on row on row, 

And wondered about each so still, their badges all on show. 

What brought them here, what life before 

Was like for each of them? What made them angry, laugh, or cry, 

These soldiers, boys and men. 

Some so young, some older still, a bond more close than brothers 

These men have earned and shared a love, that's not like any others 

They trained as one, they fought as one 

They shared their last together 

That bond endures, that love is true 

And will be, now and ever. 

I could not know, how could I guess, what choices each had made, 

Of how they came to soldiering, what part each one had played? 

But here they are and here they'll stay, 

Each one silent and in place, 

Their headstones line up row on row 

They guard this hallowed place.

Small children like....

....to hear the same bedtime story, night in, night out. It makes them feel comforted and reassured. (For my son it was the 3 Little Pigs to the point that I could recite it, word perfect, in my sleep!)  There is a small child somewhere, within us all, so this may be why, as adults, we often act out the same old dramas, time and time again. Unconsciously we are seeking security and stability.

It doesn't do us much good, though, if the roles we end up playing are counter-productive.

Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.   (Leo Buscaglia)

You don't have to be....

....a mechanic to know how to drive a car.  Nor is it a prerequisite for any great artist to be an expert in the chemical composition of paint. There may be many forces and factors that are difficult to understand in our lives, but that doesn't mean that we can't cope admirably and gracefully with them. 

We just have to make the most of what we've got. And when life gives us an opportunity to understand a little more, we should seize it, of course.

Remember, you cannot hold bliss in your fist. You can hold bliss only in your open hand.    (Osho)

A Soldier’s Cemetery....

Behind that long and lonely trenched line

To which men come and go, where brave men die,

There is a yet unmarked and unknown shrine,

A broken plot, a soldier’s cemetery.

There lie the flower of youth, the men who scorn’d

To live (so died) when languished Liberty:

Across their graves flowerless and unadorned

Still scream the shells of each artillery.

When war shall cease this lonely unknown spot

Of many a pilgrimage will be the end,

And flowers will shine in this now barren plot

And fame upon it through the years descend:

But many a heart upon each simple cross

Will hang the grief, the memory of its loss.

John William Streets (killed and missing in action on 1st July 1916 aged 31)

I cannot pray the Lord's Prayer

I cannot pray OUR, if my faith has no room for others and their needs.

I cannot pray FATHER, if I do not demonstrate this relationship to God in my daily living.

I cannot pray WHO ART IN HEAVEN, if all my interests and pursuits are in earthly things.

I cannot pray HALLOWED BE THY NAME, if I am not striving, with God’s help to be holy.

I cannot pray THY KINGDOM COME, if I am unwilling or resentful of having it in my life.

I cannot pray ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, unless I am truly ready to give myself to God’s service here and now.

I cannot pray GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD, without expending honest effort for it; or if I would withhold from my neighbour the bread that I receive.

I cannot pray LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, if I deliberately choose to remain in a situation where I am likely to be tempted.

I cannot pray DELIVER US FROM EVIL, if I am not prepared to fight evil with my life and my prayer.

I cannot pray THINE IS THE KINGDOM, if I am unwilling to obey the king.

I cannot pray THINE IS THE POWER AND THE GLORY, if I am seeking power for myself and my own glory first.

I cannot pray FOR EVER AND EVER, if I am too anxious about each day’s affairs.

I cannot pray AMEN, unless I can honestly say “cost what it may, this is my prayer”.

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. Be wary about the conclusions you draw from yesterday.

Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.   (Napoleon Hill)

If you think that....

.....satellite navigation systems haven't been around all that long, you'd not be alone and neither would you be right.  Salmon have had it for millions of years. In fact, that's how we all used to get about in the old days. Trap a salmon. Put it in a bowl of water. Then sit it on the dashboard and follow its tail. You don't remember that?

Alright, I admit, I was being a tad impudent, but there are many things that we do seem to have forgotten. We take the modern world for granted and sometimes, in the process, older, wiser, values get ignored.

We each get the same 168 hours each week. What we do with it is the difference between 

a life well-lived and merely staying alive.

We can all contemplate....

....the things we would do, if only we had enough money or opportunity and time. Normally, these grand visions involve a great deal of activity. Yet sometimes, we can achieve far more by sitting still, than we can by running a hundred miles. We can learn much more from listening than we can from talking.

We can achieve far more from doing the right kind of nothing, than we can through doing the wrong kind of something.

Reflection and action must never be undertaken independently.  (Paulo Friere)

How did the world's....

....first bridges ever get built? Imagine two communities, separated by a wide river. First, they must decide that they trust each other enough to consider a permanent connection. What if residents on each side disapprove of some who live on the other bank and might prefer to restrict their movements? Plus, who pays for the construction? How do they share the cost of labour and resources? Such problems are tricky but they are clearly not insurmountable.

 

I think that should be an inspiration to all of us.

Life is either a great adventure or it is nothing    (Helen Keller)

Do you remember....

......your school biology lessons? Under a microscope all kinds of grim and grisly sights were seen. But once we looked away, though, we realised that these existed in a separate little world of their own.
  

We have to keep a sense of proportion if we are to avoid being drawn too deeply into dramas that seem enormous and overwhelming, yet are ultimately irrelevant.

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.     (Buddha)

There's nothing sensible....

....about life on Planet Earth. We are not here because someone had a committee meeting and developed a careful plan.

We exist in bodies that have not been approved by Health and Safety, and we make our most important decisions on the basis of irrational needs and fears.

The probability that we may fail in struggle ought not to deter us from the support

of a cause we believe to be just.  (A. Lincoln)

I used to think that....

.....disestablishmentarianism was the longest word in the English dictionary.  Then I read that it was in fact floccinaucinihilipilification.  Ah, but what about  antidisestablishmentarianism? Dictionaries are full of words, and really big dictionaries contain really big words? Many of which nobody ever uses. 

Anyway, even the most erudite and articulate amongst us would be hard pressed to use all of those terms and descriptions in the course of a lifelong literary career. So what are all those other words for? That's easy. They exist to prevent us from properly understanding one another.

   

People get along a lot better when there's an element of ambiguity in their conversation.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud  (Maya Angelou)

No prisons are as harsh....

....nor punishments as severe as the ones we create for ourselves. We set standards that we cannot live up to and then chastise ourselves for our failure. We build unnecessary barriers and police them vigilantly. You may be conscious of some way in which your progress is being impeded or authority is being imposed on you. Think less about this and more about the way you can escape your problem by altering an attitude or defying a self-imposed restriction.

There may be many things that lie beyond our control, but that's not the same as saying that we are powerless. Allow yourself freedom, and the world will allow it to you too.

To make one good action succeed another, is the perfection of goodness.    

(Ali ibn Abi Talib)

Life is full....

....of questions we cannot answer. Where did we come from? Where are we going? We may have our deep beliefs, but we do not know. This is unnerving. To compensate for the insecurity of being so ignorant, we either become passionate about our assumptions or we get fascinated by life's smaller facts. We focus on what we can know, not on what we can't.

The downside of this is that we repel magic from our lives by being too closed-minded.

To be great is to be misunderstood.     (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Did you realise....

....that it's been more than 48 hours since we had a 'they say...' moment.  That will never do........
They say that we should not look at life through rose-tinted spectacles. Yet, this is precisely what we all do. It must be! What else explains the odd judgements that so many of us make and the peculiar preferences we exhibit? We all, inwardly, wear custom-built, self-created glasses. That's why what looks rosy to one person looks pale to another.

If you are looking at something you find unacceptable, consider fitting an extra pink filter into your frame before you reject it.

Care is a state in which something does matter; it is the source of human tenderness.    (Rollo May)

If one good deed....

....deserves another, what does a bad deed deserve? We live in a world that is somewhat obsessed by crime and punishment. We appoint authorities to pass judgement on individuals and to issue sentences that must be served. If they are seen to be too lenient, we criticise them. 

But in our dealings with one another, we would always hope to give and receive some sympathy and understanding.  If you have the option to be harsh or to be forgiving, why would you not choose to do as you would be done by?    

One today is worth two tomorrows.   (Benjamin Franklin)

Have you been following....

....the stock market lately?  No?  Just wondered because we are not placed on this earth in order to trade in stocks and shares. Or to work in jobs that don't fulfil us. Or to struggle with situations that continually frustrate us.

We are here to make wonderful discoveries. To share meaningful experiences. To find and follow inspiration. To be creative, loving, kind... and happy. It's just that sometimes, we forget this.

"You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?"

Strap yourself in for....

....another 'they say...' moment - They say 'It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it.'  Well, guess what.  They are wrong.  All too often, it absolutely IS what you do. The way that you do it has nothing to do with it. In many situations style is irrelevant, substance is everything.

 

Only once you have satisfied yourself that you are doing the right thing - and that isn't the same as the easiest thing -  only then can you then set out to do it in the best possible way.

Leave the past where it belongs.

With sheer force....

....of our will, we can achieve a lot. We can focus our energy and determination and psychically strive to make the world 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.

A minute of your time can make someone's day.

I'm in great need of someone....

....to explain to me why 'they' say 'Wake up, and smell the coffee'? After all, I can't see how that's going to bring anyone to their senses. Surely, we need to wake up and drink the coffee.

Then 'they' say, 'It's time to face reality'. Ha, what a load of .....!!!  Have any of us actually ever seen reality? We see what we choose to perceive as real. Ultimately, all of existence is illusory. Nothing lasts forever and everything boils down to a matter of perspective.

Any way you look at it, you will see it differently.

If you never take risks, you’ll never accomplish great things.   

Everybody dies, but not everyone has lived.      (C.S. Lewis)

Well, it maybe.....

.....a combination of the two -

Two wolves....

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.   

One is Evil: It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.  

The other is Good: It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The young grandson thought about this for a minute or two and then asked his grandfather “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee replied simply ..... “The one you feed!”

Let's be different....

......Let's have a quiz. The answers could prove very helpful. Q1: When is the darkest hour? Q2: What do you have to recognise that you've got, before you can find a solution? Q3: What never lets you down if you never let it go? 
(I suppose I should write the answers upside down, but even I'm not that clever! So, instead, just stand on your head please!)

A1. Just before the dawn. A2. A problem.

Did you get those right? How did you do with Q3?         

A3 is 'faith'.

Often, that's all any of us need to remember.

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.  (Khalil Gibran)

A few years ago....

.....I was introduced to some of the works of a poet who went by the name of Khalil Gibran.  One of the things he said was - 'Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.'

And people who do seek wisdom soon discover that wisdom cannot be sought. Unlike information - which you can most definitely go out hunting or fishing for - wisdom is nobody's prey and nobody's quarry. If you wish to encounter wisdom - you must stand still and allow wisdom to catch you!

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.      (Henry David Thoreau)

What's the first rule....

....in the book? "Rule one: None of the rules in this book are set in stone." You don't remember seeing that when you last read the rule book? You probably skipped the introduction. Most people do. 

Far too many of us set ourselves rules which we follow for years without further question. And then we find, from time to time, that some are no longer as appropriate as they once were. Forget what you think 'ought' to be happening. Appreciate things as they are.

Beauty without expression is boring.      (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

We don't always have to....

....solve a problem to be free from it. It can be sufficient to simply acknowledge that it exists and then allow for it. Acceptance is not always advisable; it can be the last resort of the meek and the indecisive. But sometimes it does make sense to live with what you cannot change. 

You may be walking down the road to happiness. If so, it's likely to lead straight down Disenchanted Drive along through Acquiescent Avenue, until it eventually emerges on Blissful Boulevard.

Life is given to us, we earn it by giving it.   (Rabindranath Tagore)

How do you know....

....what someone else is thinking? How do they know what you are thinking? You may think you know. They may think they know. But sometimes, there can be a world of difference between what we know and what we think we know. And, for as long as we think that what we know is what we really know, we cannot really know what needs to be known because we cannot see past what we think.

 

There should always be clear communication.  Confusion arises from assumptions, and sentences starting with 'What I meant was.....' help nobody.

It is better to give more than you take.

When you were at school.....

....if a teacher told you to do some homework, it never occurred to you to come in the next day and say, 'Actually, I was going to carry out this task but I suddenly had a strong feeling that this was not a good idea. Instinctively, I understood that it would be wiser for me to leave the work undone.'   (Certainly in my school days you wouldn't have dared to make that statement.)

We have all been brought up to believe that action is meritorious, whilst inaction implies laziness. There are, though, many times in life when it is infinitely more sensible to do nothing than to do something.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, 
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Once upon a time....

.....a very long time ago there was a man who went by the name of Khalil Gibran.  A poet, apparently.  One of the remarks he's said to have made is - Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.

And people who do seek wisdom soon discover that wisdom cannot be sought. Unlike information - which you can most definitely go out hunting or fishing for - wisdom is nobody's prey and nobody's quarry. If you wish to encounter wisdom - you must stand still and allow wisdom to catch you.

Ultimately the happiest unions have less to do with perfect partners

and more to do with our inner self-worth.

Rewards and incentives.....

....don't have to be dramatic to be effective. Would you rather see one slight smile flit across the face of someone you feel fond of or watch an entire crowd adopting an expression of false amazement and feigned rapture? Would you rather be given the one thing you most need to complete a collection or just accept a whole stack of relatively random but expensive prizes? 

A small but significant development can be worth more than its weight in any precious commodity you care to think of. 

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety 

or the handle of faith.      (Henry Ward Beecher)

Due to popular demand

....and with no expense spared, I bring you a 'they say....' moment -

They say, 'You always hurt the one you love.' If that's true, how should we protect the people we care most about? Do we just stop loving them? Love is a mark of the highest respect, yet it can become the reason why two people fail to respect each other's most basic needs.

It is the ultimate expression of empathy, yet it can sometimes give rise to the most intense experience of isolation.

The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war     (Viaya Lakshmi Pandit)

Are people who wear....

....suits more important than those who dress in casual clothes? (I know some who mistakenly think they are.) Mind you, if you had to manifest an air of authority to help control a volatile social situation, wouldn't you prefer to be clad in a uniform that conferred a look of power upon you. Even the most free-thinking and unconventional among us find it hard not to be taken in by appearances.

Yet you may miss out on something valuable if you judge anyone by their superficial features and evaluate a situation entirely by the first impression it gives.

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues   (Cicero)