Thought Of The Day - Worry

It is never a good idea to worry. Nor though, is it always wise to decide that if something is bugging us, we just won't think about it any more. Somewhere, between ignoring an issue and fixating on it, is the nice safe middle ground. While contemplation is constructive, keep mulling the matter over. Whenever we find it upsetting, put it down. Pick it back up again when we've done something else or been to some other happier, easier place in your mind. Our most pressing problem can be solved if we keep a clear head. 

Thought Of The Day - Web Of Deceit

'Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we set out to take control.' This is not the original quote - but, then, think about it. If we believe that it is possible to make everything turn out the way we want it to - and if we spend our lives fighting to ensure that this occurs, what are we doing? We are deceiving ourselves! In the process, we are creating the most terribly tangled web. We seem determined to ensure that a particular development takes place in a certain way. Why is it all so crucial? We need to relax a bit more.

Thought Of The Day - Forward

Once, music was played on a clockwork device that rotated 78 times per minute. Once movies were in monochrome. Prior to that, coaches were horse-drawn. Lights were made of burning wax. Once, in another era, we knew who did what. And life was very different. We can't go back, even if we want to. And we don't. Dwelling on 'what has been' will only make it harder to get to what life now has the potential to become for us. And, given how positive that potential is, it's surely time for us to look forward.

Thought Of The Day - Perfection

We are always under a lot of pressure  to do something well. This means we have to surpass everyone who has come before us. This means there can be no errors, no inhibitions, no stage fright, or any other failings that might possibly apply. But in focusing so much on perfection, we might miss the whole point. We get so caught up in the details that we will fail to see the big picture. We just need do your best and above all enjoy the experience - that is the ultimate perfection.

Thought Of The Day - Front and Back

Set the engine running in a car. Now go stand behind it. Sniff the air. What does it smell like? Or, in case you think I am being technophobic, do the same with a cow. All I am trying to suggest is that most things in this world have a 'front' and a back' - and, generally, the front is a lot more pleasant to be around. Positive processes often have stressful side-effects. We always have a choice about which end of a situation we focus on and if we're up against an awkward obstacle or a source of stress, it's true. But we just need to find a way to see the other side of it.

Thought Of The Day - Discovery

Discoveries don't always excite and inspire us. Sometimes, they upset and unnerve us. We may find out something that makes us think twice. We may have to change some of our biggest plans as a result. Perhaps we will never see someone in quite the same light again. The information that is coming to us, is significant and powerful but it really need not be problematic. We need to be willing to adapt, adjust and find the most positive way to look at what it all means - or could come to mean over time.

Thought of the Day - Rain

Rain, rain go away; come again some other day. That refrain has been sung by children for many generations in hopes of chasing the rain so they could go out and play. But rain is necessary. It makes the flowers grow, it provides us with water, and so much more. We may be wishing away a period of our life because it is difficult. We understandably want to get to a happier part of our life. But the rain, or the dark period, that we are now experiencing is necessary too. Need to immerse ourselves in it and find a way to get something good out of it.

Thought of The Day - Pursuit

If we've recently felt inclined to stop pursuing a certain goal, don't look at it as a failure. We may be giving up on a quest that has taken a lot of our time and energy. But cutting our losses while we're ahead might be the wisest thing to do. If it's gotten to the point where we're causing ourself needless anxiety and worry because of this effort, it may just be that it either isn't right for us, or the timing is wrong. We're on a path of growth, and growing pains are part of the process.

Thought of The Day - Stagnation

What did you have for breakfast on this day last year? Juice? Cereal? Toast? Would you like it again? I don't mean, would you like something similar? I mean would you like cereal from the same packet? Milk from the same carton? Bread from the same loaf? Repetition is a fine thing. Stagnation, though, is not. Somethings in our lives cry out for renewal. Once this happens, everything may well end up almost exactly as it was. But, first, we have to take it apart and rebuild it.

Thought Of The Day - Impediment

No prisons are as harsh as the ones we create for ourselves. We set standards we cannot live up to then chastise ourselves for our failure. We build unnecessary barriers and police them vigilantly. We are conscious of the way some impede our progress or impose their authority on us. Think less about this and more about the way we can escape our problem by altering an attitude or defying a self-imposed restriction. There may be many things beyond our control, but that's not the same as saying that we are powerless.

Thought Of The Day - Grudge

Watch for quicksand. Once we put your foot in it, we'll find it hard to pull it out again. Before we know it, we'll be waist deep. The more we wriggle, the worse it will get. How can we avoid such a fate? Begin by checking that we are not already stuck. Is there a grudge we can't stop nursing, a resentment we can't ignore, a fear we feel intimidated by, a complaint we are determined to make? Disentangle ourself from negative emotion. Resist the urge to get further into something we need to let go of. Then, only the right things will happen.

Thought Of The Day - Somebody Else

What would we do if we were somebody else? Where would we go? How would we behave? We cannot possibly answer this question. We have no idea. We can only be ourselves. Why, then, do we sometimes feel inclined to emulate the examples of others? Or even to assume that their ideas and actions are worth more than our own? Without becoming arrogant, and whilst remembering that it is important to listen and be sensitive, it is imperative to trust our own judgement.

Thought of The Day - Avoidance

When we don't know something, we feel bad. Especially if it's something that we believe we ought to know. Often, rather than discover the appropriate information, we look in another direction entirely. We try to blank the problem from our mind and sometimes, we can avoid an issue for weeks, even years. Sooner or later, though, life will put us in a position where we have to master the art. We may not enjoy this, but we will be grateful for ever after. We are emerging from a tricky time. We may not yet know it, but we have made a brilliant breakthrough.

Thought Of the Day - Choice

We are under no obligation. We really don't have to do something if we don't want to. We are perfectly free to make a different choice. Or to go in another direction. Perhaps we do not believe that this is true. Perhaps we feel that there is no alternative other than to pursue our current course. Think again. Think creatively. Keep thinking until the obvious - which has been staring us in the face for some while now - finally becomes clear. We have resources that we are not using. Slowly but surely we can make them work for us.

Thought Of The Day - Conformity

Why were we placed here on this earth? To behave ourselves. To conform. To do as we are told. Our purpose in life is to make life easy for our parents, our teachers and our neighbours by rocking no boats, making no fuss and questioning no decisions. It is also very good for us to accept whatever we are given in life - no matter how sub-standard. Er... that's right isn't it? To hear some people carry on, you might think so! You have every right to get stroppy. Better to make yourself briefly unpopular than to become permanently compromised.

Thought Of The Day - Resentment

Resentment is a dangerous thing. It erodes confidence, fuels addiction, provides an apparent excuse for bad behaviour and destroys integrity. Worst of all, it ruins humour. Resentful people find very little to laugh about. We need to make a promise to ourself to act out of love and inspiration, not out of need or obligation. Then we will neither incur nor experience a negative reaction. We can free ourselves from all that makes us feel bad by reaching for the very best within ourself.

Thought Of The Day - Dream

'You've got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?' So goes the old song, Happy Talk, from the musical South Pacific. It all sounds so simple when we put it like that. And in a way, it's true. Our dream can't come true if we haven't got a dream, any more than we can win the lottery if we haven't got a ticket. It's just that that principle doesn't necessarily work in reverse. We've got to have slightly more than a dream.

Thought of The Day - Fear

Sometimes a fear can become larger than life. If there's something that frightens, inhibits, or intimidates us, it can take hold of our rational brain and stop it from functioning properly. Over time, we may be plagued by unwanted fantasies of all the bad things that could happen. And as we spend time worrying, we give the fear more strength and greater power over us. Things we fear is much smaller than what we are, but we don't know it yet. Face it, deal with it, and move beyond it by looking it in the eyes and summoning our courage. Once we make a leap of faith, we'll find that fear was the only thing we needed to fear.

Thought of the Day - Compromise

We are often willing to bend over backwards to keep the peace and we do so with great flair. Even when we give in, though, you we it known that we are doing so for the harmony it will bring. Sometimes we may consider a compromise that isn't really fair to us. Even if it will be a way to maintain harmony and a civil atmosphere among a group of people with the potential for discord, it may not be the best thing for us personally. Don't sacrifice our peace of mind.

Thought of the Day - Coloured Outlook

Some people enjoy finding imagery in the clouds, but it's open to interpretation. For example, someone having a difficult day might look up and see a cloud that looks like an animal with four legs, a long tail, and a snout. That person might see that cloud as a fire-breathing dragon. Another person, someone in a happy mood, might see the same cloud and think it looks like a puppy dog. Something in our world is being colored by our outlook. We may be fearful of it because of our mood. But we have the power to make our situation into anything we want it to be. Change our outlook, and we can transform our life.

Thought of The Day

'It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion.' So said the author William Inge. Yet, though we are not a wolf... we are not a helpless sheep either. We can keep an argument at bay... or defend ourself against attack, by being firm yet fair. It is important, as we end one phase and begin another that we recognise the full extent of our power. Never mind what we can't control. What we can influence is all we need to transform!

Thought of The Day - Can't change the past

We can't change the past. We can, though, change the way we think about the past. We can see it from a different perspective. We can adjust your understanding so that you feel more positive, even about the matters that are almost too painful to recall. We can become aware of our fears and we can see how they have influenced our decision-making over the years. We can vastly improve our prospects for the future in the process. Something no longer has to be the way it used to be.