Think. Refrain. Steadfast. Fair. 2 words, 1 mouth. Goodness over greatness.
All change, no matter how big it small it may seem, is incremental. If you think it sudden, you aren’t looking or thinking hard enough.
Keep your ego in check. You are a middle manager in a small agency in a small hospital system, in a small rural community in a single state, in a one country, in only a small fragment of time, on a tiny planet, working in the smallest sliver of infinite space and time. Don’t pretend or convince yourself there is any grandeur in that.
Do good today. Be of service to someone or something outside yourself.
It has happened before and will happen again. It will happen to you. Others have endured this. You will too.
A good friend reflects back to you better than a mirror.
Don’t swim directly against the current; you’ll never reach the shore. Sometimes you should swim parallel to shore. Sometimes you should go with the flow. It is hard to know what the right thing to do might be in the moment, but fighting or swimming against the current is never the answer. Change is inevitable.
The path to the betterment of one’s self is not an independent one.
The more prepared you are, the less luck you require.
I don’t want a longer life, only a slower one.
Happiness isn’t something gotten, but rather something achieved. And it is fleeting. Enjoy it when it happens, but don’t make it your goal. Aim to be reasonable. Strive to exercise temperance. Try to be courageous when required. Work to be fair always. Those are the goals that happiness falls out of. Consistently and repeatedly.
Your greatest faculty, the thing you cherish most, is reason. Don’t succumb to the emotions that temper it. Fear. Anger. Anxiety. Bliss. Even ego and pride. Don’t allow them to diminish you.
It is easier to paddle in calm than turbulent waters. Reason is no different. You are capable of so much more when you mind is still.
On (Glowing?) Reviews:
- My last 5 star review was an Uber driver and it was a lie. The guy nearly got in an accident 4 times. Nice guy, though.
- Over the years, I’ve become most vocal about the things other people can’t know, but don’t realize it. Assumptions made. Opinions absent corroboration. Claims unsupported. Underserved certainly. I am far less eager to argue what I know, more eager to argue against false claims of others.
- Don’t seek the reviews (acceptance, praise, etc) of those whose judgement you don’t trust.
- I try to offer praise as often as I can. Proactive positive reinforcement is far more effective than reactive punitive consequences.