Actions speak louder than words. And when actions are not performed, when things don't happen, then we are being sent a message via megaphone. Don't look today, at what is being accomplished - pay heed to what is seemingly being ignored. What conclusion can you draw from this? How does a key relationship need to change in order to embrace a more realistic expectation of what someone else understands - or perhaps simply fails to understand? That's how to find a constructive way forward.
When we smile, we inspire other people to smile too, but negativity is contagious as well. If we communicate a sense of mistrust, we will subtly encourage others to feel more wary. If we express our anger and frustration at the way the world seems to be, we will only encourage an outpouring in sympathy from others who are equally aggrieved. That's why we ought to be so careful about what we say and do. Don't take in (or take on) someone else's bad attitude today. Generate a good one of your own.
We define our sense of self by our tastes and preferences. We further create an understanding of our identity by relating very strongly to the family we grew up in, the culture we were born into, the job we now do, the place we now live and the people to whom we are closest. All these factors may be pieces of a jigsaw but none on their own give the whole picture. The biggest part of you is simply a heart that wants to beat, in safety, as an expression of love. Do more to meet that need now and all else that you require will come.
Bubbles don't conduct feasibility studies before they start to expand. Those soapy molecules, as they start to fill with air, don't shout, 'Hang on, this could be dangerous. We probably haven't got very long before we reach an unsustainable level of surface tension and then explode.' They just carry on getting bigger and bigger. To the untrained eye of the casual observer it is easy to imagine that the process will carry on forever. But if you want to stop something from happening now, you will be surprised how easily you can do this.
It is one thing to enjoy the thrill of the chase. It is another to be so addicted to the adrenaline rush that you start chasing after things you don't even really want to get. When, for example, we are so excited about the birds we can see in the bush that we lose all interest in the birds we may have in our hand, it is probably time to stop and ask whether we are really respecting the contents of our aviary. Be wary now of a temptation to re-enact a battle you have actually long since fought and won.
We've all seen the scene. A stranger walks through the swing doors. Every head in the tavern turns. Is this the outlaw gang leader? Or a new naive arrival who can be plied with cheap whisky and fleeced at poker? Oh, the joy of the West and the way it was won. Yet for all the edge of danger that any wild situation may present, especially if it has ill-defined rules and negotiable hierarchies of power, there's a kind of magic that can only emerge in such chaotic circumstances. Don't stifle all chance of that.
Some things in life, as I'm sure you have noticed, are sent to try us. We find ourselves in situations that we can hardly believe that we are now obliged to face, and we think, 'What have I done to deserve this?' Instead of bemoaning our lot or cursing the cruel fates that have driven us into this position, we might be wiser to stop and ask, 'What can I learn from this? How can I turn these circumstances to my advantage?' Now I recognise that this philosophy is much easier to preach than to practise. But it is still worth a try