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Words of wisdom
Jan. 28th, 2018 10:08 pmA long time ago on another blogging platform, someone posted some random bits of wisdom and invited others to add on via comments. I did so, at the time and also years later. Now that journal is inactive and I have lost and found the entry a few times, and I am moving my favorite content here instead. So... you! What are your words of wisdom, the things you mull over and have told others and occasionally forget about, when you'd prefer to remember?
My first lover Tom was giving me one of those semi-hokey personality tests that teenagers give each other that starts "Imagine you're walking through a forest..." and at some point "You run across a dark jewel and a bright one, lying on the ground. Which do you pick up?" I said "uhhhhhhhm...." and he said "BOTH! Pick up both! You're alone in the forest, these things are not mutually exclusive." Ever since then, when facing an "either/or" choice, I look for ways to pick up both. More often than I ever could have imagined, it can be done.
From Tom, also: you can (to some extent) choose what lessons you learn from a situation. Two three-year-olds play with matches and burn themselves. One says I burned myself, I'll stop, and the other says I can create fire and survive... When hurt, try your damndest to learn the right lesson.
From the young Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged: Pain is not a valid reason for stopping. (After a while I added a corrolary: ongoing damage is a valid reason for stopping.)
From anywhere and nowhere: when the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Richard Bach: "One challenge of our adventure on earth is to rise above dead systems--wars, religions, nations, destructions--to refuse to be a part of them, and express instead the highest selves we know how to be."
Can't remember where: fear is an opportunity for courage.
Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." So work on those habits.
Fifteen-year rule: I was in the gym when I saw an older woman stretching, feet spread wide apart and resting her torso forward on the ground. "Wow, it's great that you can do that. That's my most challenging stretch," I said. And she said "Thanks! Yeah, I just always did this stretch, and after fifteen years I realized I could put my chest to the floor." I've thought about this over and over since then, and have decided that time will get you almost any skill. And you can't say you can't do something unless you've tried for fifteen years. Not everything is worth that much effort, but still, it's something to think about.
A yoga teacher: If your mind has wandered, you can't get the full benefit. You have to stay interested enough to keep fine-tuning.
A coach: When you see a positive trend, don't change anything; just keep going.
Mary Schmich, in the Chicago Tribune June 1997: "Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own."
Franklin Veaux: Lead with your hopes, not your fears.
A fortune cookie: Let the spirit of adventure set the tone.
My first lover Tom was giving me one of those semi-hokey personality tests that teenagers give each other that starts "Imagine you're walking through a forest..." and at some point "You run across a dark jewel and a bright one, lying on the ground. Which do you pick up?" I said "uhhhhhhhm...." and he said "BOTH! Pick up both! You're alone in the forest, these things are not mutually exclusive." Ever since then, when facing an "either/or" choice, I look for ways to pick up both. More often than I ever could have imagined, it can be done.
From Tom, also: you can (to some extent) choose what lessons you learn from a situation. Two three-year-olds play with matches and burn themselves. One says I burned myself, I'll stop, and the other says I can create fire and survive... When hurt, try your damndest to learn the right lesson.
From the young Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged: Pain is not a valid reason for stopping. (After a while I added a corrolary: ongoing damage is a valid reason for stopping.)
From anywhere and nowhere: when the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Richard Bach: "One challenge of our adventure on earth is to rise above dead systems--wars, religions, nations, destructions--to refuse to be a part of them, and express instead the highest selves we know how to be."
Can't remember where: fear is an opportunity for courage.
Aristotle: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." So work on those habits.
Fifteen-year rule: I was in the gym when I saw an older woman stretching, feet spread wide apart and resting her torso forward on the ground. "Wow, it's great that you can do that. That's my most challenging stretch," I said. And she said "Thanks! Yeah, I just always did this stretch, and after fifteen years I realized I could put my chest to the floor." I've thought about this over and over since then, and have decided that time will get you almost any skill. And you can't say you can't do something unless you've tried for fifteen years. Not everything is worth that much effort, but still, it's something to think about.
A yoga teacher: If your mind has wandered, you can't get the full benefit. You have to stay interested enough to keep fine-tuning.
A coach: When you see a positive trend, don't change anything; just keep going.
Mary Schmich, in the Chicago Tribune June 1997: "Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own."
Franklin Veaux: Lead with your hopes, not your fears.
A fortune cookie: Let the spirit of adventure set the tone.
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