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.