There is no absolute truth

Frank LLoyd Wright says that the truth is more important than the facts. How frustrating is it when you know what is true, but somebody tells you the "fact of the matter is..."
Everybody always swears that what they know is the truth. But it has been proven time and time again that when something happens in real life, everybody will give their version of the truth - "I swear to God!..." Everybody knows their version is right. But why do we all tell a slightly different version of the truth. Rather than being certain, what we should say is, "to my knowlege, this is what happened".

The Elephant in the room

I love this one. It is so obvious that there is a subject that needs to be spoken about and yet everyone sidesteps the issue until... "what about THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM?...." and it then gives you the courage to speak about the unspoken. So.. can you see him lurking in the room? So obvious and yet for a lot of the time we pretend he doesn't exist and go about all our daily activities. How fooish we are. It's a bit the same as "The Emperor's New Clothes" - that old Hans Christian Anderson Story. It took an innocent little kid to speak out and say "the King's not wearing any clothes!"

If It Is To Be - It Is Up To Me

This was a line often quoted by football coach Tom Hafey and I really like it. It gets you up off your bum. You can't blame anyone else. It serves to motivate ++. N0 one else can do it. Just me. And you know that if it doesn't get done, there's no point complaining. There was one chance to do it right.

Every Man is a stepping Stone in the pathway for my greater good

This was a saying from an old wise man - Og Mandino. He wrote several Books and was I believe an inspiration for people in the Sales industry, to help them to believe in themselves. With regard to this pearl of wisdom that I have heard some 15 years ago, I believe it must hold true. Everybody on this earth that you meet is here to teach you something. Whether they are an "angel" or a "demon" - they teach you another lesson in life. I pick up so many tips on life from the people I meet. They may be excellent mothers, or loyal friends, or organised people, or humble people, or have amazing self confidence, or are polite, or artistic, or musical or WHATEVER. My husband teaches me new lessons each day (whether small or large), my daughters teach me, my siblings teach me, babies teach me, mothers teach me, friends and relatives teach me and strangers teach me. But often I am not receptive. I need to be exposed to the lesson over and over again. That's why I am a student for the rest of my life.

Only in the Present do things happen

A student for the rest of my life, I am exposing myself to a lot of old and new wisdom gained by others. Eckhart Tolle probably is the Modern Day Jesus Christ for the message that he tries to convey to those who read his words. The Power of Now is his book about living in the present moment. Not dwelling in the past. Not planning too far into the future. But making "this moment" count. It's hard to throw away old learned ways. Dwelling on past behaviours and ideas.

Happiness and sadness are a choice that we make in life.

I would have to say that for a large portion of my life, I had not realised that my attitude to things was, in fact, a choice. I used to blame circumstances and people for the way that I felt. I was often a victim to life's blows. I was at the mercy of those who decided to be the boss of a situation. I would take the lesser, more humble position and allow whoever to take control. It was not being agressive. It was being polite. It was the right thing to do. And I was not happy with the outcome, all the time feeling that I was doing the right thing. OK - I guess I could be the other person. Be the boss. Be on top. But that wouldn't make me feel happy either. I have done a lot of readings on matters of the heart and of the mind. It is really only now that I realise that everything in life is not even/ is not always fair. But it's how I react to things that is iportant. I don't want to hold grudges for past grievances. I need to let go, and to forgive both myself and others, as well as past situations. But most of all, I can choose my response. I can choose to be happy and to be at peace.

JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE THROWS YOU A BALL, DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO CATCH IT!

This is a newer saying to add to my list of pearls of wisdom from others. Bryce told it to me last year. I was always saying "YES" to people. Can you do this? YES,OK. Can you come to this event? OK, YES I CAN. And then I was finding that I was getting too "S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D" and not having any real quality time to enjoy being. It's hard to say "NO". I feel like I owe someone an explanation for why I am being so ungenerous with my time. I'm still working on some plain "NO's" without needing an explanation. But I have found on the occasions where I have said "NO", I have felt a little empowered. Like I have made the choice of whether to or whether not to and have reclaimed a little bit of time for me. But it is not easy. I wonder if there is this hinged sense of guilt that I am not obliging others. I keep repeating this pearl of wisdom when I am being bombarded with requests, especially in the workplace. I think sometimes if you say YES all the time, people take you for granted. The occasional "NO" spells out, "this person is not a doormat. They make choices" and that's got to be a good thing.