Making choices

If you don’t like what’s happening, you have to consciously make new choices about how to think, feel and act. Roger Allen A few years ago, a young lady and I were talking about some issues in her life. She was having trouble accepting responsibility for her part in these difficulties, so I asked her a question: how good are you at making choices? She was quick to reply that she always made good choices. She went on to say that she thought things through, weighed all the possibilities and felt like she made good decisions. I then asked her …
Continue reading…

Giving and getting

For it is in giving that we receive. St. Francis of Assisi c. 1181 – 1226 When I was a young child, I wasn’t particularly fond of returning to school after the holidays — though not for the reason you might think. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t like school as the fact that all my friends asked the same question: “What did you get for Christmas?” I’d have to recite the items I got and then ask them what they’d received. And naturally, each of us made a mental note of who got more. We judged ourselves on …
Continue reading…

Life is hard

Suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Dan Millman 1946 – If your childhood was anything like mine, you grew up hearing fairy tales and absorbing lessons from them. Most of these children’s stories have a common beginning: “Once upon a time…” They also tend to have a common ending: “And they all lived happily ever after.” While my childhood was far from ideal, there was one theme that was continually repeated: someday, things will be better. Here are some of the thoughts …
Continue reading…