Each breath....

....you take is an affirmation of your own existence... and of your own importance. Fortunately, you don't need a license to breathe. Nor is there a tax on this process - well, not yet anyway. It's about the one process in your life that nobody can boss you around over. So enjoy it. Allow yourself that luxury. And then, having granted yourself the right to do that much at least, look around at what else is happening.

You matter. You count. You have a right, at all times, to be heard... to be respected, to be proud of yourself.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

A little more...

....than 100 years ago, an amazing event took place amid the carnage of the First World War. At Christmas, British and German troops stopped shooting. They went over to each other's trenches and exchanged seasonal gifts. Some even sang carols and played football. The next day, they got back into their positions and continued with the carnage. Stories like this often leave us wondering whether to laugh or cry.



Through our choices and our actions, we can take what is bad and make it good.

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up 

in order to exist at all.      (William Faulkner)

History is peppered....

....with tales of famous battles. Those who compile the chronicles, name the winners and the losers with great certainty. But that hardly does justice to the immense sense of loss suffered by either side whenever they incur so much as a single casualty. In war, there are no winners. Indeed, the outcome of any conflict can only involve stress and sorrow for every participant.

The only true victory is a compromise, one that allows all to feel as if they have won something. Something we should always remember.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

Let's discuss....

....a hypothetical question. You are a passenger in a vehicle. The driver is reversing round a tight difficult corner. You can see what they can't see, a wall very close to your side. So, should you keep quiet and be polite because you don't want to be a backseat driver? Or attempt a quick, gentle word like, 'You have noticed this, haven't you?'






And if the wall does get hit and you have not said a word, whose fault would it be?

The reward of a thing well done is having done it.  (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

May I ask a favour....

....from you?  Please find a mirror. Stand in front of it. Close your eyes. Open them again. See that person looking at you? Say hello. Smile. Make friends! Oh, by the way, you don't know them as well as you think you do. There's more to them than meets the eye! They've got hidden depths. Talents as yet undiscovered. Abilities just waiting to be developed.

That person you are looking at could be someone very different, surprisingly soon. All you have to do is help them.




If you spend time being down on yourself or doubtful of your own entitlement to a happier life.......Well, now I need another favour......I need you to ask yourself why.

People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

It can be easy....

....to forget that when people say, 'Oh, I don't mind how things turn out. I'm easy-going and relaxed.' This isn't always true. It may be better heard as a statement of aspiration. They may be saying, 'I wish I could develop a more laissez-faire attitude. Or it may be that they feel socially awkward about expressing deep desire and determination, so they try to cover it up.

Success can often involve refining the ability to distinguish between what someone is saying and what they really mean.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else 

is the greatest accomplishment.     (Ralph Waldo Emerso)

If you want....

....to be popular, go to charm school. Learn how to make others like you by showing them how much you like them. Don't just find some way to tolerate the people who annoy you; suffer fools gladly. Smile a lot. And if you don't care whether you are popular or not? Do all this anyway. It's polite. And it's good for you.
  







But stop short of accepting what you ought to reject or betraying what you know you must protect.

The true meaning of being misled is to believe oneself finer than the others.  

(Francois de La Rochefoucauld)

There's love and....

....there's love.  Relationships, by and large, involve conditional love. No matter how much one person loves another, they can usually bring themselves to stop if the other person behaves badly enough. A particularly tolerant soul may forgive more... but the kind of love that flows between two people, wonderful though it may be, is not the kind of love that makes the world go round.

That's love for life itself.

Great relationships aren't built in a day.  Great relationships are built daily.

When an artist....

....puts their very first brushstroke on a blank canvas, nobody else can tell what they are intending to paint. It is even possible that the person with the paint brush in their hand may not know. Creative impulses are powerful forces and many of the world's most inventive individuals soon learn that there is more to be gained from taking the odd giant leap of faith than from making a long list of complicated plans. 

The question we must always ask is not, 'where am I?' But, 'where, if I try, can I get to from here?'

Love is a better teacher than duty.    (Albert Einstein)

What's the point....

....in going all the way to one place, just to turn around and go all the way to somewhere else? Unless, that is, you are making deliveries. Or, perhaps, collecting things. We must be very careful before we ever allow ourselves to conclude that a venture or an expedition has been 'a waste of time'. 

If we have acquired but one small piece of information, it may all have been worthwhile. Don't focus too hard on the destination. Try to enjoy the journey. 

Liberation is not deliverance   (Victor Hugo)

When trees....

....shed their leaves in autumn, do we bemoan and fear the loss? We know that, soon enough, things will get back round to how they were before. We ought to be comforted. We should see nature as the generous provider of signs that point to our own capacity for renewal and revival. Yet, because the cyclical nature of our own existence follows a more complex set of rules and rhythms than those simple seasons, we doubt if this will apply to us. 

What's changing in your life, will yet change again.

To oppose something is to maintain it.  (Ursula K Le Guin)

What is worthwhile?....

....There are some people who, when asked such a question, might well start to think, immediately, about which activities are most profitable. Our mercenary society seemingly rewards those who can train their brain to think in terms of pure financial strategy. But how can an existence which has such a base base, be considered worthwhile? 

It takes courage to assess a situation using values that are more spiritual and less material. But such a process may yet prove rewarding in every sense.

Better a tooth out than always aching  (Thomas Paine)

When is a gain....

....really just a loss in disguise? When we think that we are going to benefit from a development, when in fact it is going to cost us so much to take advantage of an apparent opportunity that we might be better off allowing it to pass us by. And when is a loss actually a gain? When we cannot yet see the hidden benefits to letting go of something that we see as an asset but which is actually the cause of many problems.

There are often times when we need to look more closely at whatever it is we think we don't like the look of.

Failure is success if we learn from it.    (Malcolm Forbes)

The past is....

....a cancelled cheque.  The future, a promissory note. The present is the only hard cash that we have, so we should spend it wisely. That's what the wise people say. Of course, we should make the most of the moment. It can't be good to dwell too long on dreams or memories. But that does not mean that if we perceive potential in a proposition or a plan, we cannot invest energy into it.

Faith is a kind of energy. It helps make tomorrow sweeter and it makes today more palatable too. Invest some.

Love is a better teacher than duty.   (Albert Einstein)

Who needs money....

.....when you've got love?  Often, some of us are not so sure we've got either; when we've most likely got both. Maybe not in the kind of quantity that we'd like to have but then, quantity is not the issue. It's quality.

And yes, money is something that can be measured in quality as well as quantity. For where it comes from, how it is acquired, and what it is used for matters far more than just how much of it you have.

It always seems impossible until it's done.  (Nelson Mandela)

Dou you like acting?....

....Actors know how to put on a mask and keep wearing it, day after day, week after week. Good actors can provide an impressive impersonation of any character they care to emulate. That's an option open for any of us, if we really want to put up a pretence. But why should you want to do that? Does it really matter what others think of you? Are issues of superficial status really so important?

You don't have to be anyone today, other than yourself. And that's the you that you are now, not the you that you used to be.

If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water's edge. 

(Napoleon Hill)

One of the things....

....I can remember hearing a lot of when I was a child was that playground taunt - 'Simple things please simple minds.' Come to think of it, I've heard it quite a few times since.  But a simple mind is not something to be ashamed of; it is something to aspire to. People wrongly confuse simplicity with lack of intelligence.

True depth, wisdom and insight stems from the ability to appreciate that which is subtle and straightforward.

Live each day like it was your last. The past is gone and tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

Let bygones be bygones....

.....Life's too short for rancour and recrimination. Build bridges, don't burn them. Reach out the hand of reconciliation. Let loose the white dove of peace and tolerance. Be big-hearted and generous. And look a little more forgivingly at that person in the mirror, after all, there but for the grace of God goes you! 

Things happen from time to time, we have to learn from them and move on.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain; but it takes character and self control 
to be understanding and forgiving  (Dale Carnegie)

You need to imagine....

....that you are standing in someone else's shoes. It's easy to find fault with another person's actions, but there may be good reasons why they feel what they feel and want what they want. Arguing against this won't help you make your case. If you hope to communicate an alternative idea, you should consider which words and suggestions would be most persuasive.

You can't make false promises nor can you say something that isn't true. But sweetness and sensitivity will take you a long way in the right direction.

True strength is delicate.   (Louise Berliawsky Nevelson)

Look at a flower....

......Look at a tree. Look at a bird. Look at a mountain. Look at any example you choose to, but look please at nature. How beautiful it is, how magical, how breathtakingly intricate and how awe-inspiringly graceful. Now, look at yourself. Who are you? What are you? You are a part of nature.

You are every bit as magnificent and majestic as that flower, tree, bird or mountain.

Too clever is dumb.   (Ogden Nash)

People see....

.....what they want to see.  How, then, are they ever persuaded of anything? Well, when you need to make someone see things from your point of view, you first need to find out what their point of view is. Then you have to convince them that, in supporting your idea, they are actually confirming their own. 

Now where, you may wonder, does argument enter into any of this? It doesn't! Argument is only for people who actively want to grow further apart.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.   (Horace)

Are you losing...

....your enthusiasm?  Do you feel that you can see through the emperor's new clothes? And would you really, rather be spared this less than edifying view? You can't pull the wool back over your eyes, once it has been raised! You can't narrow your mind, once it has been broadened. You can, though, regain your optimism and your faith, no matter how many times it has been beaten out of you by the relentless march of mediocrity and indifference. 

We seemingly live in a world full of people who aren't just happy to settle for second best, but are thoroughly delighted to embrace it as if it were the finest that life has to offer. We all deserve to be pickier than that.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.    (Ray Bradbury)

How can we....

....make the world a better place? It has to be partly by recognising how much is wrong with it. But we also have to be objective. We won't help if we complain without taking action... nor if we rail against things that are actually understandable or even, in a slightly different frame of mind, acceptable. We have to make sure that we campaign only against the most severe transgressions.

Often we become more upset than we ought to be about a matter that really doesn't matter. Save your energy for a battle that's truly worth fighting.

We will not have peace by afterthought.   (Norman Cousins)

Sometimes, the only way....

....to get it right is to risk getting it wrong. If we try too hard to be wise, we risk making ourselves look foolish. Those who want perfection in all things will only ever fail.  The truly wise understand that there is no shame in accepting that you don't know the answer to a question and that, indeed, you may never be able to know it.

Only fools imagine that all the answers are attainable.

Love is never wasted or lost, the person may be gone, but their love is with us forever

Something to give away, and still keep....

Why limp....

.... through the door to the future, clutching a big bag of clothes that don't suit you, dragging behind you a cart of other people's problems that they have asked you to help carry? The door is only so wide. With all that baggage, you may not pass through.  You may have to wander round in a kind of eternal version of yesterday...

...until or unless you put down what you no longer need.

Make a commitment to be a master of change, rather than a victim of circumstances.     (Brian Tracy)

Sometimes, all that's needed....

....is a conversation. A thousand thoughts can be flying around in the back of the mind where also a hundred worries may lurk. Few of us can manage to remain clear-headed on our own. If we talk to the wrong person, those ideas get even more jumbled up and the hopes start attaching themselves to the

fears.

But then one simple process of dialogue with a like-minded individual can bring us all the insight and understanding that we have been hoping for.

People will hate you, rate you, break you and shake you. 

How strong you stand is what makes you.

Very rarely does stress....

....and pressure come from other people.  Virtually all of it comes from somewhere deep within ourselves. We react badly to expectations that we feel we must live up to. We push ourselves too far in an effort to meet these, and then others find us irritable at best.

They can't hear the thoughts in the back of our minds. Nor can they grasp why we see them as partly responsible for our stress. And, in a way, they are not.

Confidence isn't defined by walking into a room and measuring yourself against everyone in it and thinking that you're better than them.  

It's not having to compare yourself with anyone at all.

Back in the days....

....when I was defying my parents by listening to T Rex - 1970s, in case you're wondering - another type of song topped the charts.  'I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony.' by The New Seekers.  A song of hope and peace, of universal love, trust and forgiveness, and strangers stopping to smile at one another in the street. It became an enormous hit, not just because the tune was so catchy but because the sentiment struck such a chord.

We wanted it then, we still secretly want it now. We might yet get it. But not by chasing rainbows indiscriminately.

He who is brave, is free.   (Lucius Annaeus Seneca)

Practice, they tell us....

.....makes perfect. (Here 'they' are, again!!)  Surely, though, that rather depends on what it is that you're practicing. If you are attempting to refine the art of mistake-making, then the more you do it the more imperfect you will become. Now why, you may wonder, would anyone want to do that? Consciously, I'm sure they would not. But hidden agendas are funny things. Sometimes, we inwardly set out to scupper our opportunities.

If you want something to change, don't do what you've always done.

How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.       (Ann Frank)

You know those times....

....when you begin to suspect that no matter what you do it won't be enough? They can make you contemplate drastic options; can't they? It is always important not to drive yourself into an unnecessary frenzy, at such times. You may well be dealing with a situation that is difficult but the only way to make it easier is to respond with a lighter heart and a more relaxed attitude. 

You can't abandon a responsibility but nor can you allow the weight of it to press so heavily on your shoulders that you can hardly stand!

It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience.  (Immanuel Kant)

'The past is a....

 ....cancelled cheque. The future is a promissory note. The present is the only hard cash that we have, so we should spend it wisely.' That's what the wise people say. Of course, we should make the most of the moment. It can't be good to dwell too long on dreams or memories. And it can be quite soul destroying to revisit things that were said years ago.  But that does not mean that if we perceive potential in a proposition or a plan, we cannot invest energy into it.

Faith is a kind of energy. It helps make tomorrow sweeter and it makes today more palatable too.  Invest some.

The past is your lesson. The present is your gift. The future is your motivation.

There are many times....

....in life when we wish we were dealing with different circumstances, and it's nothing more than a passing thought.  Then there are those times which we know we are on the cusp of something considerably more far-reaching, so we have to nurture that desire which will eventually take action that leads to its fulfilment. 

Change sometimes comes organically but most arises from dedicated effort - not always huge effort, but dedicated. That idea becomes all the more profound when we remember Mahatma Gandhi's exhortation, to, 'Be the change that you want to see in the world.' All that needs to happen, for things to be different... is to start doing a few things a little differently!

Without dreams, we reach nothing. Without love, we feel nothing. 

And without God, we are nothing.

A relatively ordinary meal....

....can be made to sound delicious, with a few well chosen adjectives. Provided the person due to eat it is hungry enough and the food doesn't look bad, that enticing description may be sufficient to imbue the dish with 'special desirability' even when it arrives at the table.

When we think something is going to be good, it takes a lot to persuade us that it isn't. And when our expectations are negative, the reverse of course applies.

              

Our first teacher is our own heart.   (Native American Proverb, Cheyenne)

There's great satisfaction....

....to be gained from creating order out of chaos. Yet there is always a risk that if chaotic energy is too carefully contained, it will build up pressure until it blows the lid off that container. And if a chaotic force is somehow neutralised, then it may lose much of what once gave it a very special kind of magic. 

You can't, for example, hope to achieve structured spontaneity or regimented inspiration. Some forces must just be allowed to forge their own path. Be careful what you suppress.

We are symbols, and inhabit symbols.   (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

I don't know if you've noticed....

....but the world is full of people who are trying to change the world. Perhaps that's what's wrong with it. Perhaps, if we really want to make it a better place, all we need to do is get rid of the folk who are trying to make it a better place! Or maybe we should just tackle the folk who think that everything is fine the way it is. Perhaps they are causing all the problems. Or maybe, none of us are to blame.

We should always be careful where we look for fault. It is not really something we want to find in ourselves... or with anyone else!

People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones. 

(Charles Kettering)

Faith exercise....

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might...
So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunrise to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!
Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: (He will do it every time)!  'You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't moved.' Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.
Satan said, 'Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough.' That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

'Lord,' he said, 'I have laboured long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimetre. What is wrong? Why am I failing?'

The Lord responded compassionately, 'My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done.
Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed.  But, is that really so? Look at yourself.. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.'

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.  By all means,

exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong.......................... Just P.U.S.H.
When the job gets you down......................................Just P.U.S.H.
When people don't do as you think they should..............Just P.U.S.H.
When your money is 'gone' and the bills are due...........Just P.U.S.H..
When people just don't understand you ....................Just P.U.S.H..

P = Pray   U = Until   S = Something   H = Happens

Life's full of ideas....

....that don't really make much sense, arrangements that don't work quite as well as they ought to and explanations that sound good until you really start to think. We all know this, but we generally prefer not to dwell on the defects and drawbacks. We find it easier just to pretend that all is more or less fine.

Sometimes, though, we are obliged to confront the inadequacy of a belief, a situation or an assumption. Annoying, maybe -  but definitely not the end of the world.

The only person who is educated is the person who learnt how to learn and change.   (Carl Rogers)

Do you. like me, have those moments....

.....when we take a pregnant pause and wonder who can tell us why things have turned out a certain way - sometimes seemingly not for the better? If so, plenty of people can offer ideas; I have no doubt. Some versions of a story sound more likely than others, but then, we live in a world where all the normal rules of reality can be reversed at the end of a bad day's trading on the stock market. So who can really see how mechanisms are truly moving? And anyhow, what does it matter.

There's little to be learned from going over old ground, but there's usually a lot to be gained from breaking new ground!

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path 

and leave a trail.   (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Politicians pursue policies....

....(when they can find the time).  Physicists follow formulae.

We all have views that seemingly help us to make sense of a crazy world. We develop techniques for coping with the silliness of it all and sometimes, these become ridiculously complicated. We end up baffling ourselves with long explanations and growing almost superstitious about the best way to keep chaos at bay. And then we wrestle with a pile of ifs and buts and maybes.

Sometimes we benefit more by not thinking about them and keeping things simple.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.  Happiness never decreases by being shared.    (Buddha)

Many seem to believe....

....that corners are for cutting. If there's a short cut, why not take it? If there's an alternative, why not exploit it? The more enlightened we are, the easier we realise that, often in life, the journey counts at least as much as the destination.

It's not a question of where we end up, it's a matter of how did we get there. What steps did we take? What lessons did we learn? What depth of appreciation have we gained?

The more we know, the better we forgive.  

Those who feel deeply feel for all living beings.   (Madame de Stael)

How confused would you....

....like to become? Be careful how you answer that question because, while there are no real limits to the amount of confusion that a human being can experience, the most confused folk of all are the ones who consider themselves to be completely clear!

There will always be some things that create uncertainty. It will be eternally possible to see certain situations in one of several ways. If you seek true clarity, acknowledge your doubts. Don't just try to suppress them.

Nothing is easy to the unwilling    (Thomas Fuller)

Poite society reminds us....

.....to watch our words and mind our manners. We must take great care not to cause offence or to touch upon sensitive subjects. Perish the thought..!!  Some of us, indeed, are so fastidious in our adherence to these unwritten rules that we all but avoid saying anything meaningful to anyone, ever.

No wonder communication between human beings is often such an unsatisfactory process.

If you live your life with the regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow,

you will have no today to be thankful for.

Have faith....

Doubt is like....

....a single celled amoeba. It self-replicates. It grows without the need of assistance and encouragement. If you've got even so much as a tiny little bit of it, you just have to wait a while and you will end up with a whole lot more. Unless, that is, you interfere with its environment and reduce the number of ideal conditions under which it can thrive. 

Just remember that certainty is self-perpetuating too. Then, deliberately apply positive, hopeful energy to whatever is making you feel most anxious.

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm but to add 

colour to my sunset sky.    (Rabindranath Tagore)

How do you reach....

....a state of happiness? How do you become truly comfortable? How do you fill your heart with so much enthusiasm that you can overcome any obstacle, override any negative development, overthrow any unhealthy habit pattern? By relaxing. By trusting. By making a real effort not to get stuck in old fears. By trying hard not to get emotionally drawn into new dramas.

But mainly, by asking/praying for the ability to be appreciative of all that's so wonderful in this world!

              

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is

when men are afraid of the light.   (Plato)

Do you remember the tale of Red Riding Hood?....

....You do?  That's good, but here's a line from Snow White!!  'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?'   (Me?  Awkward?  As if...!!!) 
Anyway, what a ridiculous question that was.  No wonder the wicked witch was such a nasty piece of work. Even her own reflection had a poor opinion of her. Although... in a strange way... we all have bits of ourselves that we don't much like. Physical attributes that we might prefer to change. Attitudes we wish we could alter.

It's one thing to identify room for improvement and another to lose self-respect.

Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and your actions be louder than your words.

In days of yore....

....before the breathalyser, the police had another way to see if a driver was drunk. They would say, 'get out of your car and walk in a straight line.' An inability to do as much was considered evidence of incapacity.
But it is not just alcohol that can influence us to steer a confused and meandering path through life. Diversions and distractions, positive and negative alike, can make us deviate from our missions.

Often our challenge is to remain straight and sober enough to see the difference between what is truly important and what is not.

A friend is someone who reached for your hand and touched your heart.

When we borrow....

....from the bank, we have to pay them back more than we took. When we place our funds into a saving account, we expect a reward for our investment. And if our financial situation is neutral, with neither debits nor credits to consider, well, that is not necessarily the kind of economic heaven that some people might imagine. 

As with money, so with affection, attention, energy, indeed, any process that requires a degree of give and take. As long as arrangements are moderate, not extreme, all will be well.

A good garden may have some weeds.   (Thomas Fuller)

Move in any direction....

....you care to, but go there gently. Lose that angry edge. Ignore that sense of urgency. We inhabitants of earth in the 21st Century face more social, material and mental pressure than any other humans who have ever dwelt on this planet. We encounter sources of potential stress from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep. 

There's only one way to cope with it all. By refusing to let it get to us. 

I wish they would only take me as I am.   (Vincent Van Gogh)

How is it that....

....colour television ever caught on?  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 you fail to respect your dreams and goals, those around you will do the same.