I've been struggling to understand....

....why I haven't been able to sleep too well of late.  Then it dawned on me - I haven't had a 'they say....' moment for ages.   This just has to be the reason, so I best rectify it -

They say that stress is a modern disease. Really? So nobody stressed out over the Black Death, then!!  I guess 'they' believe that weeks on end in a WWI trench was a picnic.   Do we really think life was any less tense in the Middle Ages?

The only thing that is new, is the understanding that it is a condition in itself and doesn't always have to be related to physical or psychological circumstances. That is a key point. Most times, the only change that you need, if you are to rise above stress, is a change of outlook.

Don't worry when you are not recognised, but strive to be worthy of recognition.   (Abraham Lincoln)

Give one defensible reason.....

.....why you wouldn't -

Some arguements aren't....

...worth getting into. We know, before a word is spoken, how they will play out. We can hear our set-piece speech forming in our own head... and it doesn't require much imagination to guess what will be said to us in return.

Conversation that doesn't actually involve listening, absorbing, digesting and allowing for some possibility of change as a result of the exchange is never very worthwhile.

With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate,

and the wisdom to be humble. 

Courage is the foundation of integrity. 

(Keshavan Nair)

Nobody is ever right....

....about everything all the time.  (But I've met a few who actually believe that they are.)  Nor, actually, is anyone ever completely, unremittingly wrong. Even the wisest and most experienced amongst us make mistakes. Even the most misguided and naïve will have the occasional success.

That's why we have to be careful about 'using our judgement' and even more careful about judging the judgement of others.

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.    (Lao Tzu)

Darkness is just....

....the absence of light. It isn't a presence in its own right. It is just something that is there, while something else is not there. The minute that 'something else' arrives, it vanishes.

Much the same can be said for unhappiness. As soon as even a tiny amount of joy turns up, misery hotfoots it out of the door without so much as an apology or an explanation.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.   (Buddha)

Some wounds never heal....

....Some ailments never fully clear up. We must learn to live with the challenges that they pose and try our best to turn these, somehow, into constructive, even positive, factors. The idea that things could be worse is not just some flimsy form of self-deception intended to make discomfort more bearable. It is potentially the seed of some tremendous tree of inner strength and wisdom. Much the same can be said of old emotional injuries and upsets.

There are times when past problems can becomes future opportunities.

Bring the past only if you are going to build from it. (Doménico Cieri Estrada)

There are many....

....who believe that the most powerful therapy of all is what was once called 'the talking cure'. The power of psychological analysis should never be underestimated. Once we understand why we feel a certain way under certain circumstances, it becomes far easier to break a habit and alter an entrenched pattern.

It's only when we refuse to look at what lies behind a situation... or when we deny that a problem exists, that we stay stuck. Share honesty from your heart and all that's wrong will start to right itself

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. 
(Oscar Wilde)

Let's have a spot of sophistication....

......'You say yes, I say no. You say stop, and I say go, go, go.'  Alright, I admit, they're not the most sophisticated lyrics ever produced by the Beatles.  Then again, Lucy in the sky with diamonds wasn't high on that scale either!
Before I get into an essay about the 1960s pop/drug culture.....  Their hit record 'Hello, Goodbye' said plenty about the human condition. We may not all be born with disagreeable dispositions, but we are all disposed to disagree from time to time.

Life without conflict of interest or clash of opinion is dull. It's only when this bubbles over into violence or cruelty that it poses a problem.  Even if we don't get peace and harmony, that should never stop us reaching for a compromise.

Friends are born, not made.   (Henry Adams)

Some things seem totally....

....illogical.  Colour TV is one such thing.  I jest not.  After all, most people seem resolutely determined to view the world in black and white. They want clear-cut, simple, unambiguous answers to even the most complex questions. They yearn for rights and wrongs that they can easily relate and react to. It is a very natural human thing to seek certainty but it is often, too, a dangerous and divisive quest.

If something now is unclear, that is most likely because it is multi-faceted. Seek a deeper understanding, not a swifter resolution.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.   (Buddha)

We can spend....

....a lot of time with someone - live the same life, share the same environment and feel so sure that we know them. Then, one day, we suddenly realise that somewhere in the relationship, a point of mutually convenient misunderstanding has been allowed to develop. We actually don't know this person as well as we thought we did. Nor do they fully know us.

Times like this are challenging, but potentially more rewarding than an eternity of polite pretence.

Nothing we learn in this world is ever wasted.    (Eleanor Roosevelt)