How many steps in a marathon?

According to Runners World magazine, it would take approximately 33,000 steps. Obviously no two people would take exactly the same. The power of small steps: that’s the message. That’s also the lesson of our quote this week.

This quote is not new to our ears; we’ve probably heard something like it many times over. In other words, it’s truly amazing how much we can achieve, by taking many small steps. Small steps often seem pointless, but if they are done relentlessly, day after day, year after year, then the result really can be “mountaneous.”

Another similar quote I’ve always liked, goes something like this: study anything for 15 minutes a day, and in five years you’ll be quoted as an expert. That makes 1,825 consecutive little study sessions! No wonder you’re already an expert!

When can you be relentless?

The key to success, then, is in that little word “relentless.” Not many people are relentless. Here’s why. We always discover a thousand compelling reasons why it’s not worth carrying on. Very often those reasons are nothing more than lame excuses. Truth is we get fed up, bored, interested in something else, the shine wears off, and then that terrible thing happens: we give up.

Of course we justify it to ourself. “I didn’t really give up, there was a good reason why it was no longer a worthwhile goal.” Or, terrified by the enormity of the goal, we decide that it’s impossible: perhaps like “moving the mountain” of our Chinese proverb.

“That’s insane”, we think, “who ever heard of moving a mountain?”

But what’s the result of this negative attitude? Failure, of course!

Goals in the trash?

Our life is littered with goals we have set ourselves, and for some reason they disappeared. I fight this problem every day. So many things to do, so many new goals that attract the attention. They seem much more important than the existing goals. 

There is of course a grain of truth in all of this, but we have to admit we often end up going round and round in circles. We’ll never achieve very much if we continuously stop and start, stop and start, not getting anywhere fast.

As a result we have a multitude of half-finished little projects, sadly resting in some forgotten corner.

Try a little more dogged perseverance

Perhaps not many of us can find that single-mindedness of purpose to achieve great things. However we might find it useful to remember this: a little dogged perseverance will pay rich dividends.

Now take a look at your own present situation. Does any of this resonate with you? Would you like to do something about it? Will you do something about it? 

Or maybe you’re a bit tired of it all. You’ll think up another feeble excuse, sit back and relax. That’s great too. We all need downtime.

But why let downtime be our greatest achievement?

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S. How does the “little steps” strategy work for you? If you like, please let us know by leaving a comment.

What do you think Shaw had in mind in this quote? This question is essential; the quote is so general, it could be understood in many ways. You could change your mind about anything, and everything, in the Universe. The quote’s too general; we need to examine just one kind of change we might need to make.

Let’s focus on stubbornness. Why? Well, many of us have a stubborn streak. I certainly do. Maybe you do, too. What drives a stubborn attitude? I believe it’s pride. I don’t mean the justifiable pride you take in a hard-earned achievement. No, but the pride that is an exaggerated view of one’s own importance. Such people often think they’re better than everyone else!

Above all, pride always wants to be right. Pride hates to make a mistake. Let’s be honest; we hate it even more when others find out we made that mistake. Our pride is hurt. We feel angry and resentful, ready to lash out at the nearest person, especially someone we consider weaker than we are.

How to “lose friends and alienate people”

It’s easy to see why such a proud, stubborn person couldn’t change anything that needed other people’s vote! A proud person has very little influence on others. That proud attitude puts people off. The last thing they want to do is listen to what that proud, stubborn person wants. Such a person is the very last person able to “win friends, and influence people.”

A proud person clings to their own view of things. They have a closed mind. Their pride tells them they’ve nothing to learn from other people. Have you ever noticed something very interesting about such people? Their conversations are completely one-sided: their own side. They want to do all the talking.

You don’t even listen!

The proud person is passionate about telling others what’s right and wrong, true and false. Notice something very telling: proud people never listen. “My way or the highway,” seems to be their operating principle, and mindset. What’s the result of such interaction? They have shut themselves off from learning anything. They only talk about what they already believe.

If anyone else tells them something different, new, challenging, they are already miles away in their own mind. They are already rehearsing and repeating their own view of the matter. They have locked themselves into a mental prison. They cannot get out, and other people can’t get in.

Can you imagine how sad and lonely that must be? How much better it would be if they unlocked their little prison gates, and shut up for once, and just listened. They would learn so much, in so little time. Their world would expand overnight. It would be like walking in a new, exotic wonderland of the mind.

Delight in an open mind

Perhaps we could sum up the general sense of the quote in this way: have an open mind. An open mind enjoys a feast of learning, a feast of relationship with everyone they meet.

A closed mind learns nothing, gives nothing, enjoys nothing. A closed mind desperately needs a loving person to reach out, forgive him, accept him. A closed mind needs an open mind to love him, befriend him, and gradually open up his mind, to a new world of human sharing.

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S. Have you any examples of stubborn people that you’d like to share? Please leave a comment  below.

Many men have been challenged, by their wife, for failing to do something that she sees as important. This could be the wife’s complaint:

“Excuses, excuses! All I hear from you is excuses!“

How many times have we all heard that one? Maybe we’ve even  been the person told off!

It’s so true isn’t it? Life is full of excuses; and what’s the inevitable result? Countless things get left undone, that should have been done. It’s a huge temptation for every one of us. We often hear words such as these:

“It wasn’t my fault. I couldn’t help it.”

“Why not?”

That’s when the excuses begin:

“Well, this happened; that stopped me; I didn’t have such and such.”

On and on flow the excuses, one after another. Why are we so weak in this way?

Not rocket science, is it? Why do we make excuses? Because we all detest being wrong. We all hate to admit we’ve failed. We never want to suffer the shame of blame. We refuse to accept responsibility.

So, whose fault is it then, that it didn’t get done? Who, or what, do we blame?

The quote from Thomas Carlyle hits the nail on the head: circumstances are to blame!

Have we any control over circumstances?

So, is Carlyle right or wrong? Are we at the mercy of circumstances? Or is it rather that we ourselves create the circumstances, and therefore must accept responsibility for what we do?

Like most things in life, it’s not a simple yes or no. It’s a bit of both.

Yes, of course, we are creatures of circumstances, to a certain extent. There are countless things, all around us in life, that are beyond our control. Therefore they stop us from doing all kinds of things, we might want to do.

Take the neighbourhood, for example, or the country where you’re brought up. That circumstance, that environment, can have a massive influence on who, and what, you become.

But that’s not the end of the story, is it? Why not? Because, as we know very well, we all have free-will.

Personal Freedom versus circumstances

We have the power of personal choice. We can decide how we live our life, what we think, what we do, what we love, what we hate. Circumstances do challenge our choices, but they never destroy our personal freedom.

There are so many living examples of people, who learn to overcome the circumstances of their birth and upbringing. They start to take better control of their life. They choose a better way; so can we.

Let Robbin Island inspire you

Many difficult circumstances really can be overcome; they don’t have to dictate our life. Think of Nelson Mandela, 28 years in prison on Robbin Island. His case is famous, because he freely chose not to let that terrible circumstance destroy him. In his body, mind and spirit, he rose above his difficult surroundings, and emerged a world-wide hero for so many people. So, how did he do that?

In spite of the appalling circumstances of prison life, his heart and mind were still full of love, forgiveness, and peace. Many others would have surrendered to such awful circumstances, and become angry and bitter, filled with thoughts of hatred and revenge. Life’s all down to how we choose to respond.

So, we see that circumstances are indeed a huge part of our lives. Nevertheless, how we react to them is up to us. We always have a choice. We can be positive or negative in our response.

The wisdom of Carlyle

Thus I feel that Carlyle’s quote contains a huge amount of truth. We’re all invited to make best use of our gift of personal freedom, and become the architect of our circumstances. We’re free to react, in any way we wish, to the circumstances that surround us: negatively, or positively.

We can choose negativity: we can give up, throw in the towel, and blame the circumstances of our life.

Or we can be positive: we can choose to decide for ourselves many of the circumstances, that we will allow into our life. For the most part, we can choose how we respond to what life throws at us.

We are in control. It’s our life. We have inner freedom. Let’s never forget what Mandela taught us.

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S. Please leave a comment about one circumstance in your life that’s been a problem, and what you did to overcome it.

I must confess that, at times, I’m as bad as anyone when it comes to prejudice, criticism, and judging others. Why are we like that? Do you know what the problem seems to be? A judgmental mindset seems to be written in our souls, our fixed and final DNA.

Take Syria for example. What do we see? Huge division, and civil war for 7 long years. Mention Syria to anyone, and immediately they believe they know exactly who’s to blame. It seems obvious to them who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong. The other side of the argument, of course, is equally convinced they’re right.

The blame game

Both sides would say to the other: “You’re only saying that because you’re biased.” The person making that condemnation is, of course, as biased as the next man/woman. Heated arguments seem to be such a common part of human life. We all feel we know exactly who’s to blame, who’s the bad guy, who’s the good guy. It’s totally natural. We do it without even having to think.

Why? Let’s see.

It’s because we are utterly convinced we have every right to condemn wrongdoing. We are convinced we are making a fair and honest judgement. We hate being accused of bias, prejudice.

“Biased? Who me? No way. Can’t you see? It’s obvious who’s right and who’s wrong.”

Prejudice, judgement, condemnation pour from our lips. Yet we believe we are being fair and honest.

Has Dale Carnegie got this one wrong?

Let’s take another look at what Carnegie says:

“Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain, but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.”

Dale Carnegie seems way off the mark here. Maybe we’re convinced he’s wrong, and we challenge him. This is the kind of thing we might say to Dale:

“I have every right to condemn wrongdoing when I see it. How dare you accuse me of not understanding? Even a child can see who’s right and who’s wrong.”

What do you think? Has Dale Carnegie got it all wrong in this quote? Does he wrongly accuse people of lacking self-control and character, when they condemn what seems a clear case of evil?

Above all, we may take issue with his belief that, in these cases, we need more “understanding.” We may answer:

“What’s there to understand, when it’s as clear as day that evil things have been done for all the world to see?”

Beware of second guessing another person’s mind

Such talk, of course, is no more than guessing what’s going on in the other person’s mind. We can see and judge external things. But we can’t see into the mind of the person doing these things. That’s an essential distinction we need to keep in mind: external actions, and thoughts in the mind.

There are countless cases throughout history where a person, judged by all to be evil, has a totally different view in his own mind. Yes, maybe they were confused, mixed up, wrong thinking, feeling compelled to do certain things. But they still see themselves as a good guy.

OK. Let’s admit that their thinking may have been all mixed up. That doesn’t make them evil; evil in the sense that they deliberately, consciously, knowingly and willingly did something very bad. In their own minds they seem to have a good reason to do what they did.

Let’s take an example from the Bible. The Pharisees, who condemned Jesus to death, also believed they had a good reason to condemn him. They were convinced that, if they allowed Jesus to continue his preaching, the Romans would invade, and take over their country .

Yes, they thought they were doing something necessary for the sake of their people: “Better for one man to die for the sake of the people.”

A pathway to forgiveness?

Even Jesus, crucified on the cross, could understand the probable mindset of those who condemned him. He realised that they thought they were doing what they felt they had to do.

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Jesus gives us an awesome lesson here. He asks us not to judge others, because we may be so very wrong. If we could open our minds to this kind of thinking, maybe we wouldn’t be so quick to judge and condemn others.

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S. Would like to hear what you think?

Do you feel you have much more to offer? Do you feel that life is passing you by? Do you want to do more in your life, live life to the full?

What would you say if you were told you’re not just the product of circumstance? That you do have a choice, that those choices have helped make you who you are, and what you have done up to now.

Are you thinking,

“What me, you must be joking? If I had a choice it would be quite different” 

Put away those pitiful, power-leaching thoughts; because you do have a choice to be the person you want to be. You are what you make yourself.

You could be . . . the person you want to be.

You know that the person, deep down inside of you, knows this is true. That part of you that knows who you could be, who you want to be, who you’re meant to be.

Each one of us is the sum of what we alone have decided, or allowed ourselves to be. Once we reach adulthood, we have the opportunity to choose the kind of life we want, the type of person we want to be. Who we want to spend time with, surround ourselves with.

We make daily choices about hundreds of actions, and decisions we make. We alone decide what type of food we enjoy, what music we like, colours we prefer, who we spend our leisure time with.

You alone have the freedom to change who you are, and what you do, every single day.

“Well, Susan, I didn’t choose my life, my parents. my circumstances. So how can you say it’s my choice?”

I agree, we had very little choice as a child. As adults, we’re often already bound on paths we don’t want. But don’t let that stop you from choosing what you want to do, or be, or changing your course. Let go of that past mindset, those beliefs, excuses and boundaries you may have set up for yourself, or feel tied into.

The chains, of limiting thoughts, that had hold you a prisoner of perceived circumstance and choice. I know it’s not easy to admit. I often felt I had no choice, but I did; maybe not the choices I would have preferred, but I still had them. Once this was revealed to me, I realised I had real power; I was no longer a victim to lame limitations.

We cannot change what life throws at us, or what other people do, or say. However, we can change how we act, think and feel about our own life.

We can decide how we will live our own lives, and what we can make of ourselves.

I want to share with you 7 good reasons why you have the power to be the authentic you.

1. Only you have the right gifts to live your life.  You’re unique; you must develop those gifts, for they give your life meaning. Hone your gifts, every single day, so that they can be used to help others; this is how you can make a difference.
2. Only you can build your confidence and self-respect. Don’t search for these from other people; you must find these yourself. You can earn confidence and self-respect by trusting yourself to do what you set out to do. By learning to have faith in yourself. By believing you are of value.
3. Only you are responsible for your thoughts and actions. Not your parents, not your loved-ones, not your teachers, not your peers. Your thoughts and actions are your job, your responsibility.
4. Only you have the power to motivate yourself, to dig deep and discover the reason (whatever it is) you need to focus on, to keep going when life’s hard.
5. Only you can do the work, or take the steps that you need to take, towards your dream.
6. Only you can make or break you. Nobody else has the power to control your mind, unless you allow them to.
7. Only you have the right to decide what you want to do in life. This is your freedom: it’s why you have free will. Never enslave yourself to someone else’s will. Don’t live someone else’s agenda. Decide for yourself.

You know, deep down inside your heart, what’s right for you. You deserve to be the person you want to be. You can decide today – right now – to build the right life for you.  It’s never too late to change your course. While you’re still alive and breathing, you still have time to go for your dreams.

You have 7 good reasons why I think you can be the person you want to be. I ask you to think about them. Look for your own reasons, and add to them every day.

Continue to strive doggedly to be the person you want to be. Never give up on yourself. You are here for a purpose. That purpose is to live your life to the full, to bring love, joy, peace and happiness to those around you.

In doing so, you will fulfill your life, and the life of others. That is the person you are meant to be, the person you are deep in your heart.

Be that person and live your life to the full.

Susan J McCann

@susanjmccann

PS I’d love to hear what motivates you. Please feel free to share this post.

Do you ever find yourself re-living past mistakes? You know, something didn’t quite work out. You know and recognise that it’s your fault. So you keep on beating up on yourself.

You spend valuable time today re-living the past. Going over and over it in your mind.

“You idiot,” your mind shouts at you,”what possessed you to do that?”

I’ve found that it can even disturb your sleep. You find yourself lying awake in the middle of the night, playing it over and over in your mind, like a broken record.

So, how can you stop that little voice in your brain, pestering you day and night?

Today

Simple. Move on. It’s happened. It can’t UN-happen. Get on with today’s tasks.

However, maybe easier said than done.

I think one way to conquer this little gremlin is to learn from what happened.

First of all tell yourself, “O.K. I screwed up! Fair enough. No-one’s perfect. My job now is to LEARN from my mistake.”

Just let your logic and reason calm down your emotions. As we know, there’s always a hiden gem in every mistake. That’s the wonderful thing about it. You learn something new and important.

Just think of classic examples, like Edison and his light bulb. How many times did he find something that didn’t work? Hundreds! He never got depressed, moping about, beating up on himself every time it didn’t work.

He just moved on.

“O.K. That didn’t work. What else can I try?”

Little disagreements

I find that this “moving on” helps even in trivial little, day-to-day matters. My wife and I are debating about some issue. We disagree. We make our points firmly. Sometimes we feel so strongly about our point of view that we start to argue. We both hate arguing. I often say, trying to close down the arguing, “O.K. That’s history. Let’s agree to disagree, for the moment. Let’s move on.” And we do.

Even a minute ago can be seen as “history”! What’s been said’s been said. “Fine, let’s not waste any more time, energy and love repeating our own point of view.”

As Dan Millman points out in the quote, we waste energy keeping on and on about the past. We often experience that too, don’t we? We can feel a bit worn out after such a discussion.

Tomorrow

Much better to devote your remaining energy to creating something new, beautiful and useful. I’m reminded of the biblical saying, “Let the dead bury their dead.”

The past is dead and gone. Learn from it, yes. But then move on, and devote all your energy to today and tomorrow.

Yesterday’s already fading into the past. Next year, you won’t even remember it.

Why play around in the ashes of yesterday, when you can be creating the fire of tomorrow?

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S  Feel free to share this Quote with a friend.

Where are you headed in your life?

Are you going in the right direction?

How could you even know what is the right dirction for you?

These are very big questions. Maybe very hard to answer. You should try, they are important.

That’s why it’s a good idea to take a little time out, now and then, to simply stop, be quiet, banish all interruptions, and just think about your life.

In this way, you can move away from living most of your life on automatic pilot. This rather unthinking way of life is not good. You may not really being going in the direction you want.

It’s so easy to drop into a pattern of life, that may not be what you really want. After all, there’s so many “things to do, places to go, people to see.” Routine can take over. Little dreams, plans, wishes, hopes can take a back seat.

Perhaps you need to take back a little more control. You are a free agent. You have the power of choice. The future, your future is not a movie script, not a groundhog day. You can make gradual changes, step by step in another direction. The future is open to whatever you want it to be, even though there are a thousand challenges to our personal freedom.

I invite you to take a few moments to reflect on these little questions:

“What direction is your life going? Is it what you really want? If not, what will you do about it? Where do you stand in the sliding scale of life control? Are you drifting, at one end of the scale, or are you your own person at the other end of the scale?

As Jim Rohn reminds us, in this quotation, we can change the direction of our life.

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S  Feel free to share this Quote with a friend.

Want to find inventive ways on how to amuse your kids, impress your partner, entertain your friends – but are running out of ideas?

Are you a student, writer, or blogger, and struggling to come up with what to write about, what topics to choose, that you can make a real difference with?

When you have free time, and your loved-one asks “what would you like to do today?”, do you look at them, and say, “I’m not sure; what would you like to do?”

Or do you just do the same old things, go to the same old places you usually do?

Well, you’re not alone in running out of ideas, not being able to decide what to do. Most of us, at some point or other, come across this problem.

There is an easy solution that you can use; one that will get your brain working overtime – without any hard effort on your part.

It’s a game called “what if you could . . . ?”

A fun game to play

You ask yourself  “what if I could do anything?”

What could you do, enjoy, have, experience or create?

You play it by making up lists. You write those lists in your list book, or file on your computer, tablet or phone. You can do them anywhere, any time, and make them however long or short you want. You can add to them, build them over time, or just keep making new ones.

I’m a great believer in lists: not lists that rule your everyday life, to be bound by an “I must do today” stick. However, lists can be useful when you need to focus on important deadlines. Yet this game is not about deadlines or goal setting. No, for me this game is about having fun.

Lists expand your thinking, help your imagination and creativity

If you spend a few minutes each day playing this game, you’ll soon discover the fun you can have with it, and love making your lists.

Your subconcious will love you for it, because you have given it more possibilities to work on: you’ll expand your thinking. You’ll lift your spirit, through feeling the enjoyment of experiencing them while you’re writing them, or re-reading them.

Your imagination will come to life, using its power to visualise what it would be like to do, or experience, some of things on your list. The more you allow your senses to feel these, the better you will enjoy making the lists.

For example: imagine your favourite food. See it now, in your mind’s eye. Watch it being prepared by your favourite chef. Listen to the sound of it cooking or sizzling on the plate. Smell the delicious fragrant aroma, notice the vibrant colour and shape of it.

How juicy, succulent and delicious it is; feel each mouthful, as you slowly bite into it. Notice the taste in your mouth as you chew each bite. Is it smoothe, sweet, creamy and buttery, or is it sharp, spicy, crispy or flaky? How yummy does it taste?

Enjoy imagining similar experiences, as you write your lists.

Fill your mind with new possibilities

I love using lists to get my creativity working, to help fill my mind with possibilities. I use lists to develop my imagination, get me thinking about a new project, a DIY job, things I’d like to learn to do, or places I want to visit.

Lists are like brainstorming ideas but, if you write them down in a notebook or journal, they will be there anytime in the future, to look over and think about.

Life changes in so many ways; what you might want or dream of doing today, may not be what you want next year, or even 5 years from now. That’s why lists are so much fun; you can make up as many new ones as you like, about anything you want.

Lists are also a useful way of asking yourself questions about how important those things are for you.

They help you to create new dreams, and make new decisions, about what you want to do. Lists help you to open up your mind to new things to think about.

Warning! Lists can become addictive

Why not make a new list every day just for fun, about anything you want? Or revisit old lists, and see how much of them have been ticked off, one way or another, in your life?

Don’t just make a bucket list of things you want to do before you die. Make others about food you want to try, books you want to read, music, films, theatre, sports, hobbies, restaurants, places to visit. List anything you want to spend more time on, or experience.

Allow the sensations of all your senses to come alive with each and every item you put on your lists. Imagine what it will be like. Let the experience of enjoying them become real in your mind.

Imagine yourself on that beach, or going to a concert, cinema, theatre, or socialising with friends. In short, don’t just wait to do these things to enjoy them. Make sure you enjoy just thinking about them while writing your list.

Get into the habit of doing this daily: while traveling, or enjoying a cuppa, or hanging around in a waiting room – in short, any time you have a few spare minutes. You will soon find that this fun habit becomes quite addictive.

It’s the one addiction that is good for you. You will improve your creativity, imagination and thinking daily; all, while having lots of fun.

Enjoy

Susan J. McCann

@susanjmccann

If you like this post please feel free to share it out. Many Thanks

PS Please tell us how you use lists, and the benefits you found from making them, in the comments below.

We’ve all heard of the old cliche “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words cannot hurt me.”

The logic of that phrase is so hard to swallow; it leaves us cold. We cry out in pain,

“You’re wrong. So wrong. Words can hurt me very deeply. I’ll remember them for the rest of my life.”

I’m sure most of us would feel that way. So, let’s look at it again. “Words cannot hurt me.” Or can they?

Logically speaking, of course, the saying does make complete sense. Words can’t hurt us. A word is just a word. However logic’s not the whole story. Far from it.

It’s obvious words can’t hurt us physically.  But we can be hurt in other ways too. We can be hurt in our feelings.

There’s a mountain of deep and powerful emotions in every one of us. These emotions react almost on automatic pilot. We feel hurt. We react with anger.

We get upset, even furious. We think only of how we can get our own back. Sweet revenge beckons. Logic goes out the window.

As Carnegie teaches: “Our logic is like a birchbank canoe tossed about on a deep, dark, stormy sea of emotions.”

So, what can we do? If anything! Must we allow our emotions to dictate how we deal with people?

It’s a times like these that we need to remember, “I’m a mature character.”

Mature people have had to learn self-control, self-discipline. Focus on this fact: you’ve got some control over your emotions. You simply need to “bite your tongue, count to ten.”

Pause. Take “a time out”. Pause again. Pause yet again.

Stop blindly reacting. Now, start to think. Let the anger subside. Let your mature self take over.

Why allow some negative comment to dictate your life? After all, it probably took them all of 5 seconds to say it! You really do have the power to get over it. You’re not a kid. You can move on.

• Why allow a passing comment to steal your happiness?
• Why be upset for the rest of the day? The rest of your life? All because of a 5-second comment!
• Why keep playing it over and over in your mind?

Get on with your life, the way you want it to be. It’s your life, to live as you choose.

Your sense of humor might help here.

Learn to laugh at yourself. No-one’s perfect. Let’s be happy to accept that we, too, have many faults and failings. Even the greatest humans, that ever walked this earth, have had their fair share of weaknesses, mistakes, false beliefs and opinions. So have you. So have I.

Just relax. Let go. Have a good laugh at your immature, negative reaction.

Maybe you can go even further, raise your game. Maybe you could tell yourself,

“You know what, maybe they have a point.”

As we have heard it said, so many times,

“You’ll get more truth about yourself from your enemies than your friends.”

Why? Because your friend doesn’t want to hurt you, tell you the painful truth about yourself. So?

So the friend lies to you. Keeps you sweet. Panders to your “deep, dark, stormy sea of emotions.”

If we were really honest with ourselves, we might even think,

“If they only knew the half of my faults and failings!”

So laugh at yourself. Join the club.

We’re all only human.

May I wish you lots of love, peace and wisdom in your life!

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S.   I’d love to learn how you deal with criticism; please share your comments with the rest of us.

P.P.S  Feel free to share this Quote with a friend.

I turned 80 recently. My wife and had I spent weeks, trying to decide where to go, and what exciting things to do, in order to celebrate and enjoy yet another memorable milestone in my life.

In the end I decided on a simple, peaceful and profoundly moving experience. Looking at trees.

Visiting the grounds of an ancient Castle situated a short drive away from our home in Kent, UK.  We sat on an old wooden bench for quite a while, gazing up at the panorama of old trees all around us, filling our field of vision. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping gloriously. A tiny robin darted in and out, all around us and sat by my feet, almost like a messenger of peace.

Slowly ambling around, taking in the trees, the flowers, the formal gardens, the fields, the ancient stone walls.  Feeding our minds, bodies and spirits with the joy of just doing nothing.

Taking time out to just enjoy life. Feeling gratitude for nature in all her beauty, being grateful for just being alive.  We even treated ourselves to a rare ice-cream.

I was reminded of an old poem that has always been a favourite of mine, written in 1911 by W.H.Davies, the Welsh poet.

I often meditate on his opening lines “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?”

In our mad, frenetic modern world, full of haste, violence and stress, perhaps too few of us stop and meditate on the awesome beauty and wonder of nature all around us. For me personally, especially as a retired Christian Monk, I see heaven, I see God in every blade of grass, each perfect leaf of a tree.

Countless people suffer stressed-out lives. I have also known the sting of stress. Opening our eyes and ears to the beauty of nature all around us, helps us to slow down, take notice of the present moment and gain a little perspective. Trees radiate peace, not manic rush and stress.

Learn from the trees to pause and meditate. Ask yourself the poet’s question “What is this life?”

May I wish you lots of love and peace in your life?

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S.   I’d love to learn how you find peace; please share your comments with the rest of us.

P.P.S  Feel free to share this Quote with a friend.

What I mean is you tell yourself that you’re going to do something. Then, as they say, “life happens.” Guess what? You never actually got round to doing it.

Can you honestly say that you always trust yourself to do what you say?

But, why wouldn’t you trust yourself?

Because, very often, you don’t always do what you say you’ll do. You decide to do something. Yet, somehow, for some reason it never happens.

Is there anything you can do about it? Could you find that IRON STRING that Emerson talks about?

Yes, of course you can. A simple remedy is to find out what went wrong, and why. Pause, and ask yourself:

1. Did I think it through enough? Or maybe it was a spur of the moment thing.
2. Did I really mean what I said? Or maybe it was more wishful thinking.
3. How important was it for you? Or maybe you’ve not taken it seriously enough.
4. What stopped you? Or maybe it just . . . sort of . . . got pushed out.
5. Is it still a good idea? Think about it again. Ask yourself “do I still really want it?
6. If I do still want it, then when will I actually get round to doing it?
7. Then, simply renew your promise to yourself, and then . . . do it!

By asking yourself these questions, you’ll gradually learn to trust yourself more. Why? Because you won’t be so quick to decide to do something, and then let it slide away from you.

You’ll take the promises, you make to yourself, a bit more to heart.

Bit by bit you’ll learn to say “when I say I’m going to do something, I really mean it. It will happen!”

You’ll be amazed how good that makes you feel. Try it and see.

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

P.S. There’s a bonus too. Others might believe and trust you a bit more. How good is that? Awesome!

P.P.S. Maybe you’d like to share this little quote with a friend. Feel free to leave a comment.  I’d love to hear from you. Thanks.

This becomes a problem when so much of this stuff, coming into your head and heart, clashes with your values and beliefs. It can be a battleground. You’re tempted to surrender.

It’s just so easy to follow the crowd. You compromise on your own values and convictions. Perhaps that’s why great people, life’s heroes, are so often misunderstood, rejected and lonely.

They refuse to conform to any behavior that negates their deepest values. That’s why they stand out from the crowd. They inspire others. They experience the inner peace and joy of being genuinely, doggedly authentic.

Why not raise your game too?

Gerry McCann

@themerry_monk

PS  If you like this quote please feel free to share it