Loving someone or....

....knowing that they love you is not a licence to abuse or antagonise them. It is never okay to hurt someone's feelings, just because you suspect that you will be 'safe', even if you do.

 

 

We all need to learn to show each other more respect and to treat the people we are closest to with the same degree of deference and civility that we might show to a stranger.

How many books....

......offer to test your personality or measure your IQ?  (I can't tell you that without an abacus.) None, though, offers you the opportunity to assess your sanity. Now, why might this be? Because such publications would not sell? Or because, despite the claims of erudite professionals, there is absolutely no reliable way to make such a judgement. One person's sanity is another's madness - and vice versa.

 

 

So who can say what's crazy now? If you are happy with what's happening, enjoy it. If not, change it.

Yesterday I had to go....

....to a small village in the countryside.  A temporary hold-up, on a fast road, made all of us road users slow down. As I slowed to walking pace, I glanced over to my right.  Between the hedgerows I saw a small piece of rough pasture land with nothing more than a large puddle in the middle of it.

 

 

The frost and the bright morning sun turned the mundane into a truly beautiful image. It was so beautiful that I said 'thank you' for allowing me to see it.  This was definitely a case of being in the right place at exactly the right moment.  And, for once, road works were a blessing. 

 

(I used to be an out-and-out 'townie'. I still love the hustle and bustle but it seems that I continue to evolve.  We all do.)

History doesn't have to repeat itself.....

 .....But today of all days brings into sharp focus that as often as not, though, that's precisely what will happen. Syndromes and patterns; be they physical, social or psychological, have an awe-inspiring tendency to develop in much the same way, time after time - often painfully. 

(I once saw an old photo of an elderly lady giving her grandson a kiss before he went to his fate in WWII.  The caption said that years earlier, she'd done the same to her son at the outbreak of WWI; and her husband had seen action in the Boer War.)

 

 

 

Only when we make a deliberate effort to learn something from the past and try to make things turn out differently, do we break those ingrained habits.

Let's start the week....

....with some words from a well known song - well, it was well known once upon a time..!!!

Grab your coat, and grab your hat, leave your worries on the doorstep, just direct your feet...' The thing is, though, what if the street has no sunny side? What if dark clouds are hovering overhead? What if it never stops raining? Well, perhaps that should be 'sunnier'. Or perhaps it should just be 'least bleak'.

 

 

 

One side of any 'street' will always present a more attractive proposition than the other, even if the difference is only slight. Pick the best option you can identify, and don't worry.

I once read about 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!

Let's discuss a hypothetical situation....

....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?

Please take time to think about....

.....going to some lengths to procure the seed of a rare and valuable flower. You bury it, you water it and then you begin to feel more than a little hacked off because no shoots are appearing. Does this mean you should now decide to dig it up and plant something else instead? Why not apply just a little more patience to your project? You may not yet be able to get a clear idea of how long it is going to take. You may not even be entirely sure that it will ever come to fruition. But something drew you to it in the first place. Try trusting that impulse.

 

 

You may still have to wait a while for the bloom, but you could at least see exciting new leaves if you persevere.

Now you knew that this.....

.....was imminent - They say - What they say is, 'Whatever doesn't destroy you makes you stronger.' Oh yes. Very good. Very wise. Very comforting - I don't think. It may be true. But surely we all want better than a life during which we are continually taken to the brink and back, just so that we can be 'strengthened'.

 

 

 

Well, here's another saying -  'Whatever you can avoid putting yourself through makes you smarter.' We have options and alternatives. Nothing prevents us from taking these.