There will always be a cost if it’s genuine giving.
In Care – But Not Too Much I mentioned that giving of ourselves to others always comes with a cost. It doesn’t have to be financial; it may be our time, our resources, or our energy. But there will always be a cost if it’s genuine giving.
What, though, about the hidden costs? What are the risks in giving of ourselves?
What’s In It For Me?
Continue reading “Count The Cost of Lost Opportunities”One of the best ways to find peace in our lives is to give of ourselves.
Yes. I know. How can you care too much? That’s a very good question which I hope to answer.
Consider a pride of lions. Each member is concerned with the welfare of his or her family. But he or she would also walk away if the circumstances dictated. If one of the pride was to die, he or she would have no worries about eating it. Not that I’m suggestion eating our friends, of course!
One of the best ways to find peace in our lives is to give of ourselves. Look around you. How many people are smiling? What about you? Are you smiling? Life, today, can be very hectic, leading to stress, misery, and ill health. In my previous post, Be Yourself – or Change, I mentioned that one way to change for the better involves taking an interest in other people. In The Power of Two I highlighted that we can all benefit from a trusted confidante.
Continue reading “Care – But Not Too Much”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.
Continue reading “Be Yourself – Or Change”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.
Continue reading “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?
Continue reading “Not My Choice”
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