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The Archive
Welcome to the archive. Here you’ll find pages of life advice on personal values, emotional intelligence, relationships, finding purpose, and much more.
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“Best Supporting Actress”
It is essential to understand where we are in the current comedy of life and play our part. Whether that be the leader, a star, a walk-on part or a supporting actor or actress. We may also be asked to play supporting roles driven by needs and the world’s circumstances, the people around us or those we love. Michael Caine has often quipped that “I got paid the same for a bad film as a good one, one film I made, so I could buy a house for my mother.”
We may not like the role, but fate nonetheless asks us to play it.
Let’s get into it.
“Lies We Tell Ourselves”
“I’ll call you” is the number one lie men tell, according to Dory Hollander PhD in her bestseller “101 Lies Men Tell Women.” That’s up there with that other number one lying moment – “Does my bum look big in this?
Is there a correct answer?
As couples, we lie to each other apparently 30% of the time. One of my friends was surprised it was that low. Lies permeate every aspect of our day, and to be frank, sometimes we’re glad.
Yet the lies we tell ourselves can have the most significant repercussions on how our lives turn out. I believe there is one grand lie that we tell ourselves, which sets up the ripples that flow through the rest of life.
Let’s Get into it…
“Don’t Eat Your Seed Wheat”
In times of crisis and upheaval, it is always good to look at what you can control compared to what you cannot. It pays to look at the fundamentals again to set the foundations of your life as secure as possible. As the great political strategist and opportunist of the 1500s, Niccolò Machiavelli is quoted as writing,
“Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.”
One of the critical foundations is looking after the money we earn and use it for its maximum results. These principles are easy to implement and easy to forget, so a good reminder, is always worthwhile. Like a drifting boat, it is incredible how far you can travel when you’re not paying attention.
So here we go.
“Beware High Minded Lunacy”
In my last post, “Will Destiny Prove You, Hero?” I explored how we judge history and often look for simplistic ideas to solve its inherited problems. And more often than not, take a quick fix rather than the more difficult questions and solutions. I looked at how we forget that we too have flaws and fail to see how history will comment on us – if it comments at all. I also explored the substance of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s famous saying,
“A man’s shortcomings are taken from his epoch; his virtues and greatness belong to himself.”
This week, as a bookend perhaps or a cousin of ideas, I will delve into the concept of “High Minded Lunacy” and its resultant impact on our macro and personal worlds, what may cause it and some ideas on avoidance.
Something’s to think about – Enjoy.
Let’s get into it.
“Will Destiny Prove You, Hero?”
As we look back at our histories, our family trees, our cultural foundations, we build stories and narratives of those who bear significant responsibility for the foundations on which our lives and countries are constructed. They are not the whole truth and can never be so. Yet, we build them, highlighting our species’ qualities that we either seek to encourage or negate in ourselves.
But how do we know what to do with the past we don’t like, or whose values are significantly different from our current time? Do we risk throwing out the baby and the bath water? Do we just tear down their memories?
Let’s get into it…
“Questions Without Answers”
Through our life, we run across questions that seem to have no answers. They may be questions in our own lives or indeed problems in society that seem insolvable – so what do we do? Do we bury our heads? Do we leave it for someone else to find? Do we give up because it is all too hard? If we fail to seek answers to questions that don’t have answers, we forget the people, the families we love and the countries we share. Perhaps the answers lie in what questions we ask? Maybe we need to examine some profound aspects of our foundations?
Quiet, Simple Acts of Courage
There are quite simple acts of courage occurring every day. In many ways, we are surrounded by them, often without our knowledge and often in ourselves. They are not the acts that receive the media attention or any attention at all in many cases. Yet they dip into the same human well all great hero’s bathe. What acts of courage have you missed, perhaps in your own life? What acts of courage are you called to perform today?
“Seven Resolution Foundations”
Either by choice or our cultural environment, this time of year, we look back at the last year and look forward to the next. We start to think about how we would like next year to be different, better, and our lives to be improved. We will make a list either on paper or at least mentally in our heads, of the things we want to look back on in twelve months and be pleased. However, we will also be aware that by the third week of January, for many, those resolutions will already be assigned to the dust bin of history.
If those resolutions are built on sound foundations, not only do you increase the chance of success, but you will have foundations that will last a lifetime.
“Best Supporting Actress”
It is essential to understand where we are in the current comedy of life and play our part. Whether that be the leader, a star, a walk-on part or a supporting actor or actress. We may also be asked to play supporting roles driven by needs and the world’s circumstances, the people around us or those we love. Michael Caine has often quipped that “I got paid the same for a bad film as a good one, one film I made, so I could buy a house for my mother.”
We may not like the role, but fate nonetheless asks us to play it.
Let’s get into it.
“Lies We Tell Ourselves”
“I’ll call you” is the number one lie men tell, according to Dory Hollander PhD in her bestseller “101 Lies Men Tell Women.” That’s up there with that other number one lying moment – “Does my bum look big in this?
Is there a correct answer?
As couples, we lie to each other apparently 30% of the time. One of my friends was surprised it was that low. Lies permeate every aspect of our day, and to be frank, sometimes we’re glad.
Yet the lies we tell ourselves can have the most significant repercussions on how our lives turn out. I believe there is one grand lie that we tell ourselves, which sets up the ripples that flow through the rest of life.
Let’s Get into it…
“Don’t Eat Your Seed Wheat”
In times of crisis and upheaval, it is always good to look at what you can control compared to what you cannot. It pays to look at the fundamentals again to set the foundations of your life as secure as possible. As the great political strategist and opportunist of the 1500s, Niccolò Machiavelli is quoted as writing,
“Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.”
One of the critical foundations is looking after the money we earn and use it for its maximum results. These principles are easy to implement and easy to forget, so a good reminder, is always worthwhile. Like a drifting boat, it is incredible how far you can travel when you’re not paying attention.
So here we go.
“Beware High Minded Lunacy”
In my last post, “Will Destiny Prove You, Hero?” I explored how we judge history and often look for simplistic ideas to solve its inherited problems. And more often than not, take a quick fix rather than the more difficult questions and solutions. I looked at how we forget that we too have flaws and fail to see how history will comment on us – if it comments at all. I also explored the substance of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s famous saying,
“A man’s shortcomings are taken from his epoch; his virtues and greatness belong to himself.”
This week, as a bookend perhaps or a cousin of ideas, I will delve into the concept of “High Minded Lunacy” and its resultant impact on our macro and personal worlds, what may cause it and some ideas on avoidance.
Something’s to think about – Enjoy.
Let’s get into it.
“Will Destiny Prove You, Hero?”
As we look back at our histories, our family trees, our cultural foundations, we build stories and narratives of those who bear significant responsibility for the foundations on which our lives and countries are constructed. They are not the whole truth and can never be so. Yet, we build them, highlighting our species’ qualities that we either seek to encourage or negate in ourselves.
But how do we know what to do with the past we don’t like, or whose values are significantly different from our current time? Do we risk throwing out the baby and the bath water? Do we just tear down their memories?
Let’s get into it…
“Questions Without Answers”
Through our life, we run across questions that seem to have no answers. They may be questions in our own lives or indeed problems in society that seem insolvable – so what do we do? Do we bury our heads? Do we leave it for someone else to find? Do we give up because it is all too hard? If we fail to seek answers to questions that don’t have answers, we forget the people, the families we love and the countries we share. Perhaps the answers lie in what questions we ask? Maybe we need to examine some profound aspects of our foundations?
Quiet, Simple Acts of Courage
There are quite simple acts of courage occurring every day. In many ways, we are surrounded by them, often without our knowledge and often in ourselves. They are not the acts that receive the media attention or any attention at all in many cases. Yet they dip into the same human well all great hero’s bathe. What acts of courage have you missed, perhaps in your own life? What acts of courage are you called to perform today?
“Seven Resolution Foundations”
Either by choice or our cultural environment, this time of year, we look back at the last year and look forward to the next. We start to think about how we would like next year to be different, better, and our lives to be improved. We will make a list either on paper or at least mentally in our heads, of the things we want to look back on in twelve months and be pleased. However, we will also be aware that by the third week of January, for many, those resolutions will already be assigned to the dust bin of history.
If those resolutions are built on sound foundations, not only do you increase the chance of success, but you will have foundations that will last a lifetime.
“It’s Beginning to Look…”
Yesterday, at 5pm, my mother’s cousin died aged ninety-one. With only three days to Christmas, it is a reminder that no matter how much we like to imagine, we only have so many celebrations and family gatherings allotted to us. Let us remember to make it a good one.
“Reflections From My Garden.”
When life gets a little tough, I take time out in my garden. I find it calms the spirit and invigorates the soul. It is a constant reminder of the cycles of life and difficult times are a mere speck of dust in universal time. Life given the chance will always win out, as will joy and happiness. Enjoy…
