For all our....

....supposed sophistication and expertise, we humans know little about how the world really works. This makes us anxious and insecure. To compensate, we focus like lasers on the few factors we can feel sure of. They become, to us, like lifeboats on the ocean of confusion. 

Sometimes, though, new events cause us to question even our greatest certainties. At such times we fear we may be in danger of drowning - but, actually, whenever we reassess old assumptions, our boats get bigger, safer and stronger.

You can't test courage cautiously   (Annie Dillard)

Why do some people....

......say that 'the past is predictable?' Because, whenever you go to look at it, you see much the same thing within it. 

But the past doesn't always have to be quite so tediously predictable. It is healthy to question a narrative that was once based on what seemed to be the most likely interpretation of an event, and has since been recounted so often that it has begun to sound like a gospel. 

Free yourself from an old idea, and you may yet delightfully liberate yourself from much else, besides.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.  (Laurence J Peter)

We get things....

....into our heads.  We figure they have to be a certain way. When they work out as we want them to, we celebrate. When they don't, we feel disappointed. So deeply attached do we become to these expectations that we cannot bring ourselves to question their importance. We are not interested in any other view of reality. 

Success equals what we wanted to happen. Failure equals something else. Sometimes, by avoiding that attitude, we can experience a very pleasing development.

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.   (Johann Wolfgang von Gothe)

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.

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

Let bygones be bygone....

.....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. Remember that a grudge is the heaviest thing to hold.  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.

We cannot embrace God's forgiveness if we are so busy clinging to past wounds 

and nursing old grudges.     (T. D. Jakes)

It's easy to feel....

....thankful when all is going smoothly. Not so, though, when you feel restless or unhappy. Under such stress, an enlightened perspective can vanish faster than a politician's promise. If you have something to complain about, no matter how justified it is make a special effort to see the beauty and magic that exists in your world. 

Each time you lose track of it, stop for a moment, breathe deeply and find it again. What's wrong won't go away if you do this... but it will back off and leave you alone long enough to regain the clarity that you need.

Let deeds match words.  (Plautus)

Inspiration is rude....

....and badly behaved. It strides boldly into our life without knocking and, once it forces its way into our mind, it acts as if it owns the place. Then, when it feels inclined to depart, it just vanishes without so much as a by-your-leave. It won't, though, ever come when we call for it.

This elusive force gets away with such outrageous activity because it knows that it is always welcome.

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible;
and suddenly you are doing the impossible.   (St Francis of Assisi)

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)

What's more crucial....

....than life itself?  Nothing. If the angry people of this world ever finally understand this, they might grow less angry. And the confused people might grow less confused. And the depressed might be less sad. Life is not meant to be thrown away for a cause any more than it is meant to be wasted in emptiness or greed. 

It is a gift. The most precious gift you will ever be given. Appreciate it. Don't seek 'Life Plus...' or demand 'Life Minus...' Love it for what it is, and the more you love life, the more life will love you.

Respect is what we owe; love, what we give.  (Philip James Bailey)

Space is infinite....

....So is time.  We all know this, yet none of us truly understands it. We can't. Our brains can only operate in the context of an artificial limitation. We can only think about the space we already know and the time-frame of our own identity. So, no matter how often we hear the truth, it makes no sense to us.

These are not the only factors that blow our minds. Sometimes a point that is hard to grasp needs to be grasped again and that can worry us.  Maybe we shouldn't worry at such times, but come at it from another angle.

Sit in reverie and watch the changing colour of the waves that break upon the idle

seashore of the mind.    (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

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 that there are times when you just need faith.

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen   (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Everywhere you go....

....your shadow goes with you. Psychologists have another meaning for that word 'shadow'. They say that everyone, no matter how nice they may be - or try to be - has a dark side. We all experience unreasonable emotions. Or naughty thoughts. Or powerful impulses that secretly shape our plans and attitudes.

We either accept the existence of our shadow and learn to recognise the way in which it influences us, or we live in denial and are surprised by the problems we encounter.

The heart has reasons which scholars cannot understand.  (Algerian Proverb)

It's perfectly possible....

 ....to take a secret with you to the grave. Sooner or later, though, perhaps long after you've gone, it will find its way to the light. Secrets are like pockets of air in the river of existence. They naturally have to find some way to reach the surface.

As with information, so with emotion - but here the pressure to reveal is stronger. We can't hide the way we really feel forever.

To the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs assistance,
to the future in the distance give yourselves.       (Carrie Chapman Catt)

Contrary to what many....

....unenlightened people think, there's nothing wrong with getting it wrong. There's nothing problematic about having a problem. If you really had nothing to worry about, you'd have something to worry about!

Life is all about challenge. It is about growth, discovery, education and elevation. It is about the quest for enlightenment. It is about going beyond entrenched attitudes and opinions. Opening the mind... and the heart.

In seed time, learn; in harvest, teach; in winter, enjoy.   (William Blake)

We know that seeds sown....

....in fertile ground will take root and grow. Similarly we can expect ideas and experiences to expand and increase in our imaginations over time. And in the same way that plants often look strikingly different once they have become established, so our memories and impressions stop resembling the realities that first gave rise to them.

That's why we should always be wary of overly romantic notions, and it is also why we should mistrust many of our deep-seated regrets and resentments.

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere. 
(Francois de La Rochefoucauld)

Without hope or inspiration....

....where are we? Strangely, though, we consistently undervalue these. Instead, we become amazed by the mundane - or fascinated by the fiscal. It's almost as if the light of true joy is too dazzling to look at... so we turn our eyes towards whatever reflects it least! 

How else do we explain our peculiar propensity to feed flames of fear while starving our optimism of oxygen? 

One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives  (Euripides)

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? (Me neither.  I threw my copy away!) You probably skipped the introduction. Most folk do. 

So many of us set ourselves rules which we follow for years without further question. And we all 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.

Humility is attentive patience   (Simone Weil)

Most governments won't like this....

....but the air that you breathe is free. You don't need a licence to receive the light from the Sun and the stars......yet!!  Plants, when they burst into bloom, don't suddenly produce leaves covered in numbers and letters that turn out to be invoices for decorative services. It may be the 21st century and we may be overwhelmed with and by overt materialism... but there are still some things that companies can't market and governments can't tax.

Nature is a gift for you. It's worth more than all the money in the world.

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
(Kahlil Gibran)