Think. Refrain. Steadfast. Fair
2 ears. 1 mouth
Goodness over greatness.
Even when you feel like you have nothing left to give, you always have your attention.
The greatest mistakes are made not from false passions but instead from false impressions.
Whose goals are you achieving? If they aren’t yours, you are a slave. Work towards your own goals. Perhaps they might align with someone else’s goals, but the intentions need to be aimed at your own.
You can’t live in isolation. If you can’t live in solitude, you need to be with people. If you need to be with people, the only virtuous path is one of kindness, empathy, and fairness.
Every day’s objective is achievable, but the long term goal never is and will forever be elusive.
Don’t lose sight of your goal. What goal? To be purposeful. To what purpose? To be better. Better at what? Goodness. Good at what? Wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. And. Not or.
Quality is cheap, I heard on a recent podcast. Do it right the first time, because it is easiest to do it that way. The easier it is, the cheaper it is.
The price of quality is always the same. Pay the full price up front; discounts are costly and you’ll eventually pay more anyway.
I met a guy at Aurora who is the full time caregiver for his partner with dementia. Want some perspective? His wife can’t talk to him at all. Not even as little. And we can’t get through/past this?
Trust love? Perhaps, but remember that trust is always broken eventually. Hope? Perhaps, but remember that hope has its price.
Who feels something and asks themselves if they’re the cause of their own bad feelings? Someone who has been in therapy.
Today is the day. For what? For anything. For whatever. Either way, today is the only day you are assured of.
Strive to be who you aim to become, fail, repeat, fail differently, repeat. Keep striving. Keep failing. Just keep doing it differently. That is the sign of personal growth.
On going the “It’s a trap!”:
- Occasionally, I’ll be pulled into a no-win scenario. The goal is to recognize it quickly and extricate oneself as soon as possible.
- There was a time in my youth when I thought I could account for everything and everyone, like pieces on a chess board. Of course, it was an illusion manifested by biases. Life humbles you like that.
- I’m lucky that I’m not trapped by the things that’ll kill me quickly, only the things that kill me slowly. Need to continue to eat less and exercise more.
- Physical traps I recognize. Intellectual traps are usually exposed. Emotional trap? The play an unfair game of hide and seek
- Fortunately, I’ve been wise enough to avoid most bad commitments.
- .It is easier to drive out of a tricky spot than it is to talk your way out of one.
- I fall into traps when I think people have changed or have reason to think or choose differently. They might, but it is a rare occurrence. Better to be pleasantly surprised by the rare than frequent.