PRETENSIONS

People aren't petty, are they? They don't devote their precious lives to scoring points and winning trivial disputes, do they? Isn't it true that they appreciate the importance of every moment, recognise how lucky they are to be alive and dedicate their time to feeling thankful and to bringing out the best in one another. Isn't it? Well, it would be nice to think so, wouldn't it? And you know what? Even if that's not what other people do, people like us really ought to at least try, ought we not? 
 Where do we always find the thing that we are looking for? In the last place we look! We are not going to look for it any more once we have found it, are we? Indeed, if we ever feel unsure about whether what we have found actually is what we have been seeking, one test is to ask whether we are still looking for anything else? Try it  NOW. If you are not, then no matter what you may be trying to tell yourself about being too busy or preoccupied with other things, it may just be that what you have got truly is all you need. 
We can't always be sure where roads will lead and plans will take us. There is always a possibility of a surprise. But that's rare. Most roads lead exactly and invariably to their advertised destinations. Most plans, especially if laid with enough care and carried out with enough commitment, work out in the end. The element of the unexpected will have more to do with the amount of traffic on the road or the eventual cost of sticking to the plan. But don't waste time now, worrying whether an aspiration is attainable..  
Just as seeds, planted in fertile ground, will take root and grow, so we can expect ideas and experiences to expand and increase in our imaginations over time. And in the same way that plants often look strikingly different once they have become established, so our memories and impressions stop resembling the realities that first gave rise to them. That's why we should always be wary of overly romantic notions, and it is also why we should mistrust many of our deep-seated regrets and resentments.
 Institutions are often required to spend significant amounts of money on services and facilities. Dutifully, they put out their contracts to tender. Unless budgets are excruciatingly tight, the lowest bidder isn't the automatic winner. Issues of reliability and quality must also be considered. You can't always promise both of those when you are operating on a shoestring. Plus there is such a thing as false economy: 'If you buy cheap, you buy twice'. If a deal done today isn't fair to all, it won't be fair for any.
Journalists must not take sides. Whilst they may need to tell us what some folk think of the facts, this should only be for context and they should not inject their own opinions. But being truly neutral about anything is hard. First, you must check for your own hidden bias. Even if your conscience is clear, someone somewhere will accuse you of spinning. Maybe you can't help but see a situation from one particular angle or another today. But you can at least make a conscious effort to see it in the most positive light
'The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said.' So went the refrain in Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds, a musical homage to the book by HG Wells. In 1938, the same story was dramatised for American radio, so convincingly that millions of listeners truly believed that the Martians were invading. But they weren't - and they still haven't done - and nor are they ever going to! Some people, though, still see this as a genuine potential threat. Now, what's bugging you for no good reason today.
Great music will sound good, even if played through the tiny little speaker of a laptop or mobile phone. And the finest, most expensive stereo system in the world can't turn a dreary dirge into a sumptuous symphony. Nonetheless, if you've got something good, it surely deserves to be presented in the best possible way. In your life now, there is a situation that is full of potential and opportunity. Yet it has not been exploited for all the positive benefit that it may be able to bring. It deserves more - and so do you. '
What if all the banks collapse and currencies crumble? Maybe it won't matter. We could be about to pay the price for our collective culpability in neglecting the fragile ecosystem of the planet. The seas might rise and wash us all away. But then, that may not matter, either. If a stray asteroid of the size that wiped out the dinosaurs were to collide with Earth, we would be goners anyhow! Oh, and let's not forget North Korea! In your life now, similar doomsday scenarios compete for the attention of your anxiety.
 Willy Wonka's life-long devotion to chocolate began as an act of rebellion. As a child, his controlling dentist father, forbade sugary sweets. Roald Dahl's fictional character here provides us with a very useful example of how lives can turn in response to powerful early experiences. But we always have the power to stop them turning quite so dramatically if we wish to resist some of the strong impulses which drive us. First, today, look at why you feel what you feel. Then consider whether to continue feeling it.  
Perhaps our planet is past its 'best before' date. Perhaps whatever or whoever made the place and put us all here, has long since moved on. It was a very long time ago. But then, to an eternal being, a few million years or so are like a couple of days to you and me. But what else is there to do in the vastness of all space and all time but remember, forget and remember again? You may fear that you have been forgotten by the forces that protect our universe. But you are about to see that you are very much remembered. 
Should we all accept things just the way they are and recognise that there is really no point in trying to change anything? What gives us the right to complain or campaign? Don't others know better? Surely, you should respect the good judgement of the politicians, the captains of industry and the institutions responsible for setting standards of public morality. They have worked so hard to shape the modern world. How churlish to suggest that they could have done a lot better! Or maybe not. Today, you are right to fight for what's right!..............JONATHAN