One Weed with Enough Time will Destroy Every Garden

Do not allow weeds to settle in your garden.

“Be careful what you water your dreams with, water them with worry and fear and you will create weeds that will choke the life out of your dreams.” ~Lao Tzu

Your mind and a garden have more in common than you may think; if you consider weeds as negative thoughts, it begins to make sense. A weed with enough time will take over every garden in which it is allowed to flourish.

The same can be said of negative thoughts, if all you ever think about is negativity, it grows and grows until there’s no room for any positive thoughts to shine through. This doesn’t mean your mind is full of dark thoughts because, if you look at any garden that’s full of weeds, they flower into an array of beautiful colours and can be very pleasing to the eye.

This is the very reason why negative thoughts are so dangerous, you don’t recognise the danger you’re in until your mind is swamped with unwanted thoughts from which you will find it very difficult to clear.

The following quotes are accurate and if you think about them every time worry or fear enter your thoughts, your life will be better for it.

• “Worrying works, ninety percent of the things I worry about never happen.” ~Anon
• “Worrying is using your imagination to create images you don’t want to see.” ~Anon
• “The day you turn your back on fear, it disappears.” ~Anon
• “Fear is only as powerful as the power you give it.” Anon

Not everybody is looking for signs

If you’re not looking for a sign from God, you’re more than likely looking at star signs, good luck charms, lucky numbers, lucky colours or any of the myriad of ways you can determine without looking at what you’ve got to determine if you’re going to have a good day.

Black cats and magpies are some people’s favourites as they have special qualities that can make the difference between a good day and a bad day. Of course, these creatures have no idea of the importance of their role; I wonder does the cat or magpie look at humans and think, “It must be my lucky day I’ve just seen a human wearing red.” I doubt it but you never know.

Not everybody is looking for signs; they are the people who are too busy living their lives to worry about what numbers are important or what colour jumper to wear; they are the people who understand the only sign they need to look out for is; they have a roof over their head, they are able to wake up in the morning without pain. The have the ability to get out of bed unaided. They have clothes to put on. They know they have enough food and money to last the day. They have people in their lives who make them feel needed. They know their day is going to be taken up with useful tasks that will enable them to do the same thing tomorrow and for that they are happy.

A lot of people take those little things for granted until they don’t have them anymore and then they realise how important they were. “One day people will realise the little things in life are really the big things. “You’ll never know how important something is until you lose it.” ~Anon

Being grateful for what you have today is more important because if you spend all your time thinking about what tomorrow will bring, it will bring you nothing but more thoughts. The following quote sums it up nicely.

“Gratitude is the most important sign you need to feel today.”

What You Imagine is Not Always Based on Reality

“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,” is a sentence a lot of people believe is true until they jump the fence and find out it’s been fertilized by their imaginations. They thought other people were living a better life because they were looking from the outside; when they got to experience that life up close and personal, they were disappointed because their expectations and reality were so different.

Being tempted to jump the fence is not a bad thing unless you jump without reflecting why you need to move from your current location. When you identify the cause behind your discontent, you are in a position to fix the real reason why you’re unhappy.

If you jump without finding out the real reason, the circle will just begin again. The following quotes are worth noting;

• “The person who is unhappy in a small house will be equally unhappy in a big house.”
• “A person who his happy with themselves will bring happiness with them everywhere they go.”
• “The Devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.” ~Tucker Max

The last couple are true for most people.

• “Lead me not into temptation. I can find the way myself.” ~Jane Seabrook.
• “Let ye who have not been tempted cast the first remark.”
• “Logic will take you from A to B. Your imagination will take you everywhere.” ~Albert Einstein.

 

 

Common Sense is Not Always Easy To Follow

Common sense often over simplifies incredibly complicated situations but when you look back at how you solved the problems you were experiencing, you often resorted to common sense ideas. The following are just a few common sense ideas I’ve gathered over the years.

• “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
• “It can take years to realise the only place short cuts work is on a keyboard.”
• “The most important lesson to learn from any mistake is to not make that mistake again.”
• “People with common sense are hard to find.”
• “If you don’t look where you’re going, you’ll end up going where you’re looking.” ~Crash
• “Give somebody enough rope and they will surely hang themselves.”
• “You can force a lot of things but you can’t force life.”
• “Experience can lead to common sense but not everybody learns from experience.”
• “Forgive your past; pay attention to the present because it’s a gift denied to many.”
• “A door mat will clean everybody’s shoes but even that wears out eventually; that’s the equivalent of trying to please everybody all the time, you become a door mat.”
• “Don’t start anything unless you intend to finish it.”
• “Actions speak louder than words.”
• “Overcome your insecurities; If you don’t know how, ask somebody else.”
• “A Positive attitude attracts positive results.”
• “Stop trying to impress people who don’t know you exist.”
• “When you cross a bridge, decide whether is needs to be burned or not, and be prepared to die with that decision.” ~ No regrets.
• “You will face enough real problems in your life, don’t invent problems by over thinking.”
• “Understanding what’s within your power to control is vital for your sanity.” ~“Let it go.”
• “Respect yourself.”
• “Successful people do not get to be successful by wishing for success, they get there by working for it.” ~ “I became an overnight success after 25 years.”
• “I don’t know but I will find out.” Is a good answer.
• “The only thing you can change in an instant is your attitude, everything else takes time.”
• “I know what you’re thinking,” is guesswork at best, and foolishness at worst.
• “People will spread lies far quicker than they will share the truth.” ~C’est la vie.
• “If plan A doesn’t work, don’t worry there is another 25 letters in the English alphabet.”
• “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” ~Mark Twain
• “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”
• “Take a deep breath and release it slowly.”
• “There is 8760 hours in a year, don’t allow what happens is 24 hours spoil the other 8736.”
• “Failure is not the end, it’s merely the beginning of a new journey.”
• Have a life motto. “I have complete control over my thoughts, emotions, actions and words.”
• “What you believe is often more real than the truth.”
• “You cannot live a positive life with a negative attitude.”
• “The most important person you need to know is yourself.”
• “Everything will work out for you in the end, otherwise it’s not the end it’s merely the end of another chapter in your autobiography.”

Please leave your own favorites in the comments section below.

Gratitude Begins with the free stuff

I bet it’s FREE

Gratitude begins with appreciating all the stuff you get for nothing because, if you don’t appreciate those things, you will not appreciate all the stuff you have to pay for.

Let’s look at some of the things we get for nothing but often take for granted.

Oxygen: It’s all around us, and we get as much as we need for nothing. Some people take it for granted, but others treasure it as a way to relax; when they feel under pressure for any reason, they go outside and breathe deeply, after a couple of minutes everything is under control again. It truly is a wonderful substance.

Light: The Sun brightens everybody’s mood, it’s a lot easier to smile on those days; it also provides us with the light we need, it helps us by providing the means to create vitamin D, and yes, it’s free. Without the sun our planet would not exist at all. Mind you, too much Sun is not good for you, but that’s a story for another day.

Life: There is no turnstile on the way in to this world, no passports or tickets need to be bought. There might be times in your life when you wish it was otherwise but in reality those events are few; we normally spend a lot more time thinking about sad times than experiencing them.

Health: The majority of people are healthy but they rarely appreciate that good health until it is taken away, then all you hear is, why didn’t I look after myself when the choice was mine.

Water: The most plentiful substance on the planet, approx 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered in the stuff, and if you live in a place called Ireland, you will find it falling out of the clouds most days.

The ability to learn: Everybody, regardless of their station in life has the ability to learn; we learn to communicate with our mothers first, then we learn how to get around, first it’s a swim backwards across the floor before we master the art of moving forward, this it’s followed by gaining control of our hands and knees to get where we’re going a little bit faster, we then find something solid to stand beside and take our first tentative steps, more than likely this will be along the couch, then it’s that first step to independence which is followed by a pirouette and a rough landing on the floor; the first of many; after a while we learn to waddle, walk and run.

You get the idea; we are remarkable creatures, capable of learning anything and everything.

Nature: We are surrounded by plants and animals; yes, even the weeds flower in wonderful colours for us to enjoy if we choose to see them as flowers instead of something that needs to be killed.

In life, there is a great deal to be grateful for, but like anything you get for nothing; nothing can be what is thought of it.

• “If you think for a while about all the stuff you get for nothing, it will brighten up your day; if you think about it every day; it will brighten up your life.” ~Positive Mental Attitude.

One positive thought at a time will improve your life

Your life will not improve until the thoughts you have about your life improves. Remember, nothing changes in a moment, not even your attitude, the only thing that changes in a moment is your decision to improve your attitude.

A positive thought is really a positive moment. It’s the moments in your life when you realise you are doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing.

Positive moments aren’t necessarily happy moments. For example, you could be behind a line of traffic, or at the back of the Queue for the checkout; you just know that’s where you’re meant to be. When you know you’re supposed to be there, you can relax and just enjoy the moment.

The more positive moments you experience throughout your life the more positive your life will be. And the most positive moments will be when you’re not thinking at all.

 

 

How well do you know yourself?

You think you know somebody but then they do something that makes you question everything you know about them; this is more profound when that somebody is you.

There are 18 questions to be answered. The answers to the questions are listed from one to five. How well do you know yourself?

1. No.
2. Rarely.
3. Sometimes.
4. Most of the time.
5. All the time.

There are no right or wrong answers, however, I believe the higher your score the more content you are with the life you’re living. The highest possible score is 90.

1. Do you let other people see your true personality?
2. Does your behaviour change depending on who’s in front of you?
3. Does your behaviour reflect your thoughts?
4. Do you believe other people talk positively about you?
5. Do you listen to other people?
6. Are you open to change?
7. Is there more than one way to accomplish tasks?
8. Are other people’s opinions important?
9. Do you forgive people who offend you?
10. Do you accept everybody else for who they are?
11. Do you only concentrate on what you can control?
12. Can you talk about events from your past without getting emotional?
13. Do you control your emotions?
14. Do you like what you see when you look in the mirror?
15. Do other people have to agree with you?
16. Are your thoughts positive when you’re alone?
17. Do you believe you have to act a certain way because of your age?
18. Are you happy with who you are?

Can you guess which answer will be the most popular? I’m guessing it will be number 3 sometimes.

Knowing how difficult it is to know yourself, you will realise it’s virtually impossible to know anybody else, the best you can hope for is to appreciate the version they show you.

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~Aristotle.

You have requested everything you have received

Remove the if and you’re right.

Imagine if before you entered this world you made a list of everything you wanted to experience; yes that means every good, bad and ugly event is something you requested.

Now, look back at your life and see how each event you experienced changed you into the person you’re today. Which event brought about the greatest change? I can say with some certainty it wasn’t the happiest moments because it seems to be human nature to take those events for granted. The events that brought about the greatest change will have been the events you would have preferred not to have experienced at all.

If you’re happy with who you are today, you’ve passed those examinations with flying colours and the happiest times of your life is ahead of you.

If you’re not happy with who you are today, I can say with certainty there will be more experiences coming your way because the purpose of life is to find happiness within you.

Happy people do not have everything, however, they’re always grateful for everything they have. I’ll leave you with one final thought.

You were born with the strength to overcome every obstacle to happiness you requested.

You cannot live a positive life using negative words

Positive words have a positive impact. Negative words will leave you feeling drained. And that’s why the words you choose are so important.

YOU: I can and I will, are positive statements of intent. If you use any other words to begin your sentences, you’re merely feeding doubt into your mind before you start, and that’s not going to help you accomplish anything.

Positive people: There are a lot of positive people in the world; of course, you will not hear from them too often because they don’t complain about the life they’ve been given, they’re too busy living it. However, you will always know when you’ve interacted with a positive person because of the positive impact they have on your emotions.

Negative people: If the people you interact with are constantly complaining, where there every sentence begins with, “if only,” “I can’t,” “I’m not good enough,” “It’s impossible,” or “I’m useless.” There’s a good possibility you will need to find new people because negative people drain the energy out of positive people. You might say, you can help them but that’s not possible until they decide to help themselves.

Future: I can control my words and by concentrating on positive words I’m choosing to have a positive attitude.

And that’s good because, a positive attitude has a positive impact on everything we do.

 

The mundane will not be remembered

If you don’t give somebody a good reason to remember you, they will forget you before you become a memory. You only have to look at your own memories to see the proof in that statement. Everybody you remember from your past has something unique about them.

However, your mind is capable of remembering everybody you’ve ever met during your life if and only if you pay attention to everybody you meet because everybody is special in their own way, but you don’t and that’s why you will forget more people than you will ever remember.

Remember: Regardless of what you do in life, you’ve got to make an impression if you want to be remembered because the mundane will always be forgotten.

Simple words are easier to understand

There are 171,476 words in the English language and according to some, it’s the most difficult language to learn because there are two, to, too, I mean their, they’re, there is more than one way of spelling a word that sounds the same when spoken.

However, as Billy Connolly, one of my favourite comedians once said, “if you put two English words together, you will be understood by everybody,” the words he was referring to were, “f##k o##.”

He reckoned that when spoken with the right tone they can be understood by everybody except for the fool who replies, “what do you mean?” He said, if you hear that question, it’s time to stop talking to them and just walk away and admit defeat. “Never argue with a fool, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” ~Mark Twain.

Of course, if you happen to be visiting Ireland, you may be confused when that particular term is used as a way of saying, “you’re kidding, really,” but that’s a story for a different day.

You will understand or you will not

There’s more than enough light for everybody, however, some people will never appreciate the light they’ve been given because they haven’t prepared their mind to accept their share of the light.

Forgiveness is at the heart of preparation; you’ve got to forgive everybody, including yourself for any events from your past that created negative emotions within you.

Once you’ve forgiven everybody, you’ve got to visualize them with everything you think they would like in their life. If you can’t visualize things for them, just visualize them being happy with the life they have been given because, in reality, you can’t change their lives anyway, however, your visualizations will create positive emotions within you which prepare your mind to accept your share of the light.

You can’t find the light; you’ve got to let the light find you. Some people will understand that sentence, while others will not, because they’re too busy blaming other people for their emotional state of mind.

Remember: You, and only you are responsible for your emotions.

There are no quick fixes for anything worth fixing

“The most important things in life are not things.” It’s a saying that’s been around for generations and if you live long enough, you’ll know the truth in those words.

Let’s clarify what things are: Things are material possessions that can be easily fixed, however, if they can be fixed in seconds, they can be broken again as quickly; sometimes they’re not worth fixing at all, they’re just replaced.

The things that can’t be easily fixed or replaced are your physical health, it’s something most people take for granted when they’re young, but as they grow older, good health is something they cherish more than anything else. They know that if they lose their health it can take time to get it back.

The most important thing any person will possess in their entire life is good mental health. It’s the cornerstone of everything they will accomplish or wish to accomplish in life. Good mental health is not guaranteed to anybody regardless of their age, education or upbringing and if it’s lost there’s no quick fix to getting it back.

Acquiring good mental health again requires dedication to identifying the source of the illness and then finding a solution that works for each individual person. Needless to say, it’s an uphill struggle, however, it’s a battle worth winning because:

“What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.” 

A positive mindset is the key to every locked door

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~Albert Einstein. When Einstein coined this phrase I don’t know what he was referring to, however, it perfectly fits his positive attitude approach that allowed him to become one the most famous theoretical physicists of any generation. He allowed his imagination to see what had never been seen before and he used his logical mind to prove it.

Logic is your academic qualifications and it doesn’t matter how many of those you possess because if you don’t have a positive mental aptitude to go with it, they will only get you to B.

Your imagination is your positive mental attitude, this attitude has the power to get you to everywhere you want to go because every locked door you encounter is an obstacle you know you can open, ignore or go around. Your positive mental attitude is your super power.

There are quite a number of famous people in the world who have reached the pinnacle of their chosen profession and it seems from the outside the only reason they got to where they are is their belief in themselves.

Remember: The positive thoughts you have about yourself will define your future.

Know the risks before entering the ring

If I can touch you or you can hear me whisper? You’re in my personal space. If we have a good relationship this is a good space to be, however, if we’re not friends this can be a perilous place to hang out. They’re the risks you take when you enter somebody’s personal space without their permission.

A good example of the risk is: I saw a video recently of somebody (we’ll call him Jack) confronting a person leaving a court room, Jack was putting his phone up to the person’s face asking him, Why did he do it? The person didn’t take kindly to Jack invading his personal space and expressed his dissatisfaction by giving Jack a box into the face. After a few seconds in a daze on the ground, Jack said, “you hit me.” The person walked away without replying. Jack didn’t get up and follow; I believed he may have learned a valuable lesson about entering people’s personal space without permission the hard way.

Getting hit is just one of the risks, however, most confrontations end up with people arguing until they remove themselves from the other person’s personal space where they whisper to their friends, “wait til the next time.”

When I see this happening, all I think is: They haven’t learned their lesson yet, or life’s too short, if you don’t like somebody, don’t interact with them.

The quotes that spring to mind are: “If you mess with the bull, you get the horns.” Or “Disrespect other people’s personal space at your peril.”