A Final Thought For 2023

 "On either side of faith lie certainty and doubt.  Of the two, certainty is the greater enemy of faith." 

Reality vs Possibility

"It is not so much that we accept reality as that we accept a limiting perception of things that then becomes our reality. Would it not be better to see reality as possibility, not something to accept but to explore, a perception not of constraints but of opportunity?"

The True History...

 "The true history of any era is of what human ingenuity accomplished while some would-be conqueror was distracting historians."

The Eyes of Faith

 "No matter how devoted you are to cold, hard fact, you should always allow yourself enough religious faith to recognize your blessings."

The Artist Within

 It is said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, which is to say that the satisfactions of life lie in our own perception.  The happiness we pursue is ours to define.  The rainbow we seek is ours to color in.

Stray Thoughts

 "Ah, the quest for fame -- the idea that you can find happiness by increasing the number of strangers who know who you are."

"I think the  attraction, for many people, of religion over science is that religion has done the better job of sticking to its story."

"I believe this -- that you can be knowledgeable enough to be called wise but not doubtful enough."

Just Sayin'

 "You might sometimes convince me by arguing from greater experience, but you will seldom convince me by arguing from greater revelation."

From Our Resident Curmudgeon

 "Man is the only animal who lives in a zoo of his own construction."

"No one ever took free advice who had a chance to pay for it."

"The requirements of living conspire every day to overwhelm the purpose of life."

"There are people who are like a vehicle whose turn signal didn't flip off, and they go through life forever signaling a turn they don't make."

"As a rule of thumb, figure that the words you say will be misinterpreted in as many ways as they can be rearranged."

Happy People

 "While there's pleasure to be found in good food and drink, it is not happiness.  What you discover about happy people, in fact, is that they are usually late for meals."

The Fruit Untasted

"Life is more a basket of kumquats than a bowl of cherries, a recollection of so many things you kumquat find a moment to do." 

September Morn

I love the meadow  in the dew

Of early day as dawn sifts through

The last gray strands of morning mist,

And wild flowers, softly kissed,

Turn their faces to the light,

And now the meadow glistens bright,

As nighttime's shapeless shadows flee

Into the shade of a linden tree.

Three Thoughts

 "It is easier to live with a bad thing that used to be worse than a good thing that used to be better."

"The first thing to ask when something goes wrong is whether you ever gave it a chance to go otherwise." 

  

Before assuming that someone knows they're appreciated, it is perhaps wise to review your "Ways They Would Know" list.

The Greater Pretender

It may be true that the person you see in your mirror is not the person you pretend to be in pubic, though you might ask, "Which is the greater pretender?"

Twelve Thoughts

If you follow an old recipe, do not expect a new dish.

There is evidence of a God perfect in all things except creating beings in His own image.

How can you not be optimistic about a world where armies of little angels, disguised as devils and launched under cover of darkness, keep coming back with candy.

What do you say about a creature who, seeing a lion in the jungle, concludes that he, not the lion, is the one made in the image of God. 

Ever notice how we meateaters prefer to eat animals that eat a healthy vegetable diet?

If you do not believe in miracles, then how exactly can you believe in yourself?

Complexity is what causes your brow to furrow.  Simplicity is what causes your mouth to drop open. 

I don't know that laughter is the best medicine, but, if not, it has wondrously curative side effects.

Man is a creature of pranks whose God has never been pictured laughing.

The secret of a long life is to invite ardor into your heart, also known as ardoring of the hearteries. 

No one ever says, "That's a very good question," and answers it.

If your life were a movie, which Oscar would you most like to win:  best actor or best film? 

Hope

 "You find hope the way you find happiness -- you give it to someone else and borrow a little of it back."

Another Day

 "Another day of being old enough.  Still waiting for the knowing better to kick in." 

Their Own Private Business

 "If you would find a truly contented person, it would likely be someone no one thinks to envy, who seeks no attention, invites no comparison, whose contentment is their own private business." 

Wednesday Whimsy

 "I've come to see life as partly fate, partly free will. The fate part is that our life story is a completed script, handed to us at birth. The free will part is that we get to make the movie."

Observed Along The Way

 "You can be sure that someone who disparages others in your presence disparages you in their presence."

Serious Advice

"If you're an apple, don't try to be a peach.  It can lead to a life of fruitlessness."

What You Often Find...

  "What you often find when you reach out to someone who seems cold and aloof is that they are just aloof."

Sunday Sermonettes

 "Oftentimes, the person you think needs to be taken down a peg really needs a small word of praise.  It is hard to be humble when no one is proud of you."

"The world knows how to straighten out a spoiled child but never makes it up to a child deprived."

"Sometimes the difference between a sense of loneliness and a sense of community is just a silent nod  of greeting from a passing stranger."

Easy Way Out

"There is always an easy way out, and it often comes disguised as some kind of noble act, as when you decide that someone who deserves better from you would be better off without you." 

Thursday Thought

It is hard to change someone's mind who, after you've presented to them an indisputable array of contrary evidence, says to you, "You're just trying to change my mind." 

How To Succeed

 A common failing of management is to mistake efficiency for redundancy.  If a job is going well, management's first instinct is to assume that those doing the job are unnecessary and expendable.

The sad reality is that the more quietly efficient you are at your job, the more vulnerable you become at the next downsizing. Better to be seen as a problem solver, even if you must cause the problem in the first place.

Mid-Week Musings

 "I don't claim to know everything, but based on my observations of people who do know everything, or claim to, it's not one of the secrets to success anyway."

"If there is no afterlife, then what is life but a rigorous course of study that offers no degree."

"There are personal secrets I am very reluctant to reveal.  There would have to be an awkward silence at a cocktail party or a stranger sitting next to me in tourist class."

Sunday Thoughts

Just because you support an injustice doesn't mean you will one day become a victim of it yourself, but that would be the opening line in Las Vegas.

We are all biased when it comes to judging ourselves, although it is questionable whether this actually favors the defense.

It is always just one thing.  When it goes right, it seems that everything is going right.  When it goes wrong, it seems that everything is going wrong.  But it is always just one thing.  The rest of the "everything" is inconsequential.

Tuesday Tickler

"One of the hardest things to do when you have no explanation is to keep it short." 

Perspective

"To the cynic, it is risking betrayal, disappointment and ingratitude.  To the person of belief, it is ... 

This Happiness Thing

The greatest obstacle to joy is a fully paid-up joylessness.

You can look ahead to happiness, or you can look back on it, but it's so hard to notice it to your left or right. 

We fancy that we would be happier in some far away place, as if you could catch a plane to a state of mind.

The key to happiness is pretty much the same as the key to worry and anxiety -- you must learn to make a big deal out of nothing.

Mirthful Monday

"One thing you learn in a long marriage is not to assume someone is dead just because they're unresponsive." 

Weekend Whimsy

 I wonder sometimes if you have to do some terribly evil thing to go to hell or whether it's more like a lifetime achievement award, based on your whole body of work. 

Sign Over the Gates of Hell

"YES, THIS DOES MEAN YOU'RE A BAD PERSON."

Tuesday Thought

 What a joy it is...

 after a day of seeking advantage in the world...

 to come home to someone over whom the last thing in the world you would ever seek...

is an advantage.

Weekend Wildcard

 "It's important to listen carefully.  It keeps things from getting into your head that you may later mistake for your opinion." 

Wistful Wednesday

 "It is said that nothing lasts forever, but there are moments in our lives when we think something will, and it is the memory of those moments...

                                                    

         

         ...that lasts forever." 

Monday Musing

 "It seems, in youth, that everything we do is practice for the real thing, a rehearsal for some future grand debut.  And then the years go by, and we look back and realize that the practice was the real thing, the rehearsal the grand debut."

~~ from my book A Few For The Road

Monday Musings

Questions For The Home Commute

"Did I make some complicated thing simple today, or did I make some simple thing complicated?"

"Was it wise to spend another day trying to accomplish Thing B as a means of accomplishing Thing A?"

"What are the things in my life I most cherish, and what did I do today to cherish them?"

~~ from my book A Few For The Road

Friday Flyer

 "You learn this -- that no situation in life that tests your patience is going to test just some of it."

Sunday Sermonette

I had this dream.  It was my memorial service, and a friend said, "He was a person of good intention and sincere regret unfairly judged by his actions," and I'm thinking, "Yes!" 

Thoughtful Tuesday

 "Most sinners know who their forgivers will be, and that, more than anything, is what makes it a sin."

Weekend Wildcard

 "One of the great frustrations of knowing history is having those who do not know history drag you back into it."

 

Wednesday Whimsy

 There's nothing like someone saying, "You're smarter than that" to make you wonder what other unfounded rumors might be circulating about you.

Thursday Thought

No matter how varied and complex our daily responsibilities, at the end of the day Mother Nature has just one question for us:  "What life did you nurture today?"

Sunday Sermonette

 What a treasure is a person of true self-esteem, who need not be humored or appeased,

  who does not see disagreement as a personal affront or agreement as a show of weakness, 

 who does not feel threatened by the honest aspirations of others,

         who does not mistake pride for honor, or prejudice for principle, or privilege for merit. 

 With such a person, conversation is possible; compromise is possible, and, dare we hope, even common civility is possible. 

 

Friday Flyer

 A phrase you hear a lot these days is, "You're overthinking this," which, to be honest, is not something I've noticed to be that widespread a problem.

Monday Musing

  "You come to realize - while there is still time, hopefully - that your potential for happiness is a vast virgin land, your current comfort zone just an encampment at its edge."

Wednesday Whimsy

 "A good rule of thumb for determining what's really important in life is that you wouldn't trade it in on a new one."

The Ladder of Hope

    A Mind to rule the brain,

A Spirit to fire the mind,

A Heart to temper the spirit,

A Soul to guide the heart,

A Grace to nourish the soul.

Thoughtful Thursday

  "There is nothing owed with so little sense of debt, and given with so little thought of repayment, as a happy childhood."

*See Below

"The stars in their myriad constellations:  a trillion asterisks and no explanations."

Wednesday Wildcard

  "I've learned this about making a good first impression -- that obviously trying to do so works better than obviously not trying."

Ah, Wistfulness!

  "I love to go down to the open sea 

For the solitude -- and the company."

Thoughtful Thursday

 "If I choose to believe that we're all God's children, it's because I'm darn sure it's all or none."

Monday Musing

 "I don't know that love conquers all, but it conquers a lot, and a little forgiveness usually does for the rest."