Category: Grandpa’s Way

Be Yourself – Or Change

The best way to get comfortable is simply to be yourself; no pretence; no masks, no hypocrisy. Just be yourself.

Actors in the ancient Greek theatres would use masks to portray different characters. Even today, the international symbol for theatres is a pair of masks, one happy, one sad. The ancient Greek word for actor was hypokrites. It came to refer to one playing false, or putting on a pretence. It’s where we get the English word hypocrite.

The problem with trying to be something or someone else is that we are never going to be comfortable with the role. The best way to get comfortable is simply to be yourself; no pretence; no masks, no hypocrisy. Just be yourself. It is the most natural thing for us.

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My Choice

No one can “make” us angry. Whatever happens to us, we have a choice as to how we respond.

We have looked at the value of solitude, confidants, and groups. We have looked at how to deal with other people’s choices when they impact on our lives. Now it’s time to look at the things that we can control. And it’s important to start with our choices.

We have already touched on this subject in the previous post, Not My Choice, where we looked at our circles of influence and concern. We highlighted the need to concentrate on those matters that we can influence. Now let’s go deeper.

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Not My Choice

How do you stop someone else’s bad planning, or even their poor decision-making, from upsetting your day?

I used to have a sign above my desk that said, “Bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” There are other versions of this but they all carry the same message: “I have no intention of becoming stressed just because you are.”

But how do you stop someone else’s bad planning, or even their poor decision-making, from upsetting your day?

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The Power of Three

How can we use the power of a third person, or more, in calming our anxieties?

We have looked at the importance of solitude – having time to ourselves. And we have looked at the importance of companionship – having a confidante. Now we are going to look at the importance of having more than one or two people in our lives.

There are many references to the benefits of a large circle of friends. Nearly three thousand years ago the Bible said that there is wisdom in the multitude of counsellors. And even today the concept of a neutral observer or arbitrator is widely recognised. So how can we use the power of a third person, or more, in calming our anxieties?

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