Thought Of The Day - Hidden

Thought Of The Day - Hidden

Termites can do devastating damage to a home, all without being seen. We can look at a house that appears to be the picture of perfection, only to discover upon closer inspection that it is being eaten away by those destructive wood-eating creatures. That's also what it's like to harbor a fear or guilt or a painful emotion that we don't face and deal with. It may not be obvious to outsiders, but if something big is weighing on our minds now, then we need to let it out. Talk to a friend. Talk to a spiritual advisor. Seek advice from a therapist. Do whatever we have to do to move beyond our problem, and we'll feel immensely lighter and happier.

Thought Of The Day - Choice and Acceptance

Thought Of The Day - Choice and Acceptance

Time is rather like the ocean. We are rather like little boats, cast adrift on those great waves. We have no option other than to go with the flow. No matter how many sails we put up or engines we fire up, we cannot go in another direction. Nor can we speed up our progress. What choice do we have? One. One very big important choice. We can choose whether to feel okay about a situation we can't change or whether to resent it. Acceptance is the key to greater buoyancy and smoother sailing in our lives.

Thought Of The Day - New Spark or Fan the Flames

Thought Of The Day - New Spark or Fan the Flames

In front of you, a small fire is starting to take light. Nearby, you can see a set of bellows. You are sorely tempted to fan those flames. But is this wise? It may be easier to intensify an existing blaze, but wouldn't it be more rewarding to gather fresh fuel and strike up a new spark? Be careful what (and who) you now bless with your encouragement, for you may long have to live with the consequences. Neither do whatever is the most convenient, nor feel that you are obliged to stick with what is most difficult. Just choose well.

Thought of The Day - Risk Avoidance

Thought of The Day - Risk Avoidance

Risk avoidance can be a risky business! When we try too hard to keep trouble at bay, we effectively create trouble for ourselves. Even if we could create a sanitised world without danger of any kind, we might not enjoy living in it. We would soon become depressed and dispirited. Every so often, we all need the rush of adrenaline that only a true challenge can provide. With this in mind, let's look again at the wisdom (or otherwise) of our strategy. We need to consider what is sensible but  must also do what is sincere.

Thought of the Day - Symbiotic Relationship

Thought of the Day - Symbiotic Relationship

There's a symbiotic relationship between order and chaos, just as there is a close connection between pain and pleasure. Love and hate are two sides of one coin. Success and failure? Joined at the hip. Honesty and deceit? Twins since birth! Strength and weakness? World's top double act! Hell and heaven? You get the point, right!  Do consider now, whether your powerful reaction to something or someone could simply be a reminder of your own need to redress an inner imbalance?

Thought of the Day - Easy and Comfortable or Satisfying and Meaningful Life

Thought of the Day - Easy and Comfortable or Satisfying and Meaningful Life

If we want an easy life, we just need to decide never to do anything difficult! Resolve not to want what we probably can't have. Develop an enthusiastic appreciation for anything that happens to be cheap and in plentiful supply. When we see trouble coming our way, get out of its path! When issues arise with a challenge, don't rise to it! There we go. There is our recipe for an easy life. I said, 'easy'. I did not say, 'satisfying' or 'meaningful'. If we want that kind of life, we must be willing to live a little closer to the edge at times.

Thought of The Day - Drama

Thought of The Day - Drama

Some people are attracted to each other for all the wrong reasons. Those, for example, who take perverse pleasure in perceiving themselves as victims will often feel irresistibly drawn to individuals with a predatory personality. And the attraction, sadly, is mutual! This happens most often when there are deep unresolved issues within both parties. These give rise to the need to play a role or act out a drama. They create scenarios where history appears to repeat itself. Such a chain can be broken. And we have the power to break it.

Thought of the Day - Start Over

Thought of the Day - Start Over

Sometimes it is easier to rebuild from a total calamity than it is to repair a minor bit of damage. That's because we can start all over. We have a blank canvas, so we can figure out what didn't work last time and take a fresh approach. We may now feel that a recent "failure" has left us in ruins. But ruins are inspiring. If we are surrounded by ruins, we have numerous possibilities. We clear the ruins, make a clearing and build from there. We can see clearly what didn't work, and we can try something new. This time, as we rebuild from a calamity, we will be stronger and more successful than ever.

Thought of the Day - Darkest before dawn

Thought of the Day - Darkest before dawn

It's always darkest before the dawn. That's very simple wisdom, but we may be interpreting it in the wrong way. Because we have dealt with a difficulty that has seemed to get progressively worse, we may be starting to think that we haven't hit bottom yet. We may fear that something will continue to spiral downward - but it won't. We have already seen the worst of a certain situation in our lives, and it can only get better from here. We need to keep our chin up! The dawn is coming!

Thought of the Day - Identity Crisis

Thought of the Day - Identity Crisis

People usually use the phrase 'identity crisis' in a negative context. Yet, sometimes, a bout of self-doubt can be healthy. That's especially so if we have started to see ourselves as some kind of a loser... or if we have wrongly decided that we know where our limits lie. Just as we look odd in old clothes that no longer fit us, so we feel odd in habits we ought to have outgrown.

Thought of the Day - Life Sentence

Thought of the Day - Life Sentence

Few things in this world ever seem to come to an end. Our stories, our dramas, our processes just trundle on relentlessly. There are some who say that to take up residence in a human body is to be given a life sentence. If so, it is a sentence with many commas and no full stops. Why, even the end itself is not really the end! So, are we now heading for a 'happy-ever-after'? No! Just a 'happy-for-the-time- being'. But time being what it is, that could last a surprisingly long while.

Thought of the day - Life on TV

Thought of the day - Life on TV

Watching a film in a movie theater is a much different experience than watching it on the couch in our living rooms. In a theater, we face a gigantic screen, which makes us feel like we're a part of the imagery. We are also surrounded by sound - so much so that we can even feel the vibrations of the words and the music. When we let negative thoughts take over our minds, the experience is like being in a theater. It becomes real and involving. If we're suffering from worry, we need to envision our fears on a TV screen. Then picture ourselves walking up to it and turning it off. We are in control.

Thought of the Day - Play to win

Thought of the Day - Play to win

The odds against winning the lottery are astronomical, but there are people who win it every single day. Many of those people probably bought a ticket thinking that they would never see their numbers flash across the TV screen, making them millionaires. We are always considering  ventures that could have a really big payoff. In the back of our minds, we probably don't think it will succeed. It seems too good to be true. But if we don't try, we will surely fail. We have to play to win.

Thought of the Day - Detachment

Thought of the Day - Detachment 

Whenever we stand back from a situation, we soon start to see it very differently. Things change their appearance when we find ourselves looking at them from the outside. But the process is highly instructive. We make our most useful discoveries when we put a little distance between ourselves and our problems. In a similar way, we can liberate ourselves from unhealthy obsessions. There are many things that we think we like, but which we might never miss if they were to leave our lives. A very helpful reality check.

Thought of the Day - Say and Do

Thought of the Day - Say and Do

There is often a surprisingly big difference between what people say and what they actually do. But we don't like it when those inconsistencies are pointed out to us, and others are similarly prone to react badly when faced with tricky truths. We are inclined to mistrust a promise that someone is making. It is not that we doubt their integrity, more that we suspect that we can see a reality more clearly than they can. Making an allowance for this in our private plans but don't have to make a big song and dance about it.

Thought of the Day - Difficult Road

Thought of the Day - Difficult Road

There's a way to get from A to B. It is obvious. But it is not ideal. It involves crossing tricky territory or incurring undesirable expense. So we're looking for another route. Is that feasible? In our hearts, we know the answer. We've somehow got to travel down the difficult road... and we must do our best to gain the co- operation of those who can help to make it more accessible. It may take negotiation to obtain co-operation. But surely it is better to hold an honest conversation than to keep up an impossible pretence.

Thought of the Day - Do unto others

Thought of the Day - Do unto others

Do as you would be done to. Don't (as many people rather sadly seem to do) do unto others what others have done unto you! Two wrongs never make a right. Bad behaviour is never a justification for more bad behaviour. We have a duty to set a standard that others can then recognise and aspire to. We can't do that if we are going to lower ourselves to the same regrettable level that some folk in our world seem to have sunk down to. Will that make our life difficult? No. That's fulfilling our highest potential.

Thought of the Day - Riddles

Thought of the Day - Riddles

If we feel like we're being confronted with a series of riddles, well, that could be because we are being confronted with a series of riddles. Did they really mean what they said? Or are they talking about something else entirely? And what is the meaning of life, anyway? We need to give ourselves time to contemplate these questions, but do our best not to let these puzzling puzzles drive us crazy. After all, not every puzzle is meant to be solved! Some are there just to remind us of the limits of our own capacities of comprehension.

Thought of the Day - Poverty and Happiness

Thought of the Day - Poverty and Happiness

Some people live in mud huts, others have palaces. But no amount of wealth can prevent depression or alter the inevitability of death. And true poverty is not an empty purse; it is an empty heart. Poverty does not create unhappiness any more than wealth creates joy. All that comes courtesy of comparison and expectation. We should not look at what anyone else is thinking, feeling, saying or doing! But look only at what's in our heart. Then we will see how to become truly happy and why our life is wonderfully blessed.

Thought of the day - Mysteries

Thought of the Day - Mysteries

Sherlock Holmes has planted, in the mind of every would-be detective, the idea that all mysteries can eventually be solved. We forget that he is a fictional character and his exploits have been carefully engineered. We try to emulate him. We gather up our clues. We study our suspects. We weigh up motive and opportunity. But somehow we forget that real life is illogical. There is no sensible answer to the question we find ourselves contemplating. There is just a silly one. Accept that. It is still a good answer.