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)