About bringing up our children to be strong

Let us not cosset our children or molly-coddle them if we really love them. We must love them but be firm.

Life is lovely. It is a precious gift but it is also hard. Messiness is always at the door, knocking to come in. If not kept at bay, chaos awaits around the corner.

We all need to be strong to deal with the everyday ups and downs, the 'minors', let alone the 'majors', when they force their way in.

Let us prepare our children to deal with and weather the squalls and storms of life as it is.

About parenting and appreciating the world around us

If we point our children towards the beauty of clouds and trees, 

of sunsets and storms, of rivers and mountains, of hills and streams, 

we give them an everlasting treasury, 

their own art gallery to carry with them everywhere, 

regardless of wealth or status.

                                                                                                                          

New silent e words

flak flake  chin chine  trip tripe  ban bane  

About creativity

What is it that distinguishes human beings from all other forms of life on this planet?
Surely it is our capacity to be creative.

We know that some species of animal life can be and are 'inventive' as we are, to a very pronounced degree.

Creativity however, bringing something into being purely for the joy or desire or irresistible urge to do so, is something else and is, as far as I know, only a facet of human life.

About trying to help a friend

For quite some years, I used to call regularly on a friend who struggled to deal with the 'clutter' of everyday life. I attempted to help her as best I could, understanding and sympathising to quite a large extent, finding these things difficult myself.

After more than 10 years, the situation had not advanced one jot, going, perhaps, 40 steps forward, then 39, or even 41, steps backwards! In the end, sadly, I had to stop going because I found it frustrating and upsetting, helping neither my friend nor me.

We have stayed in touch over the years and, during a chat on the phone, when I expressed my sadness that I hadn't been able to help in any permanent way, she said the following, which made all the difference.

"You kept my head above water. You stopped me from drowning. "

It meant so much that I wrote it down straight away and have been meaning to share it on a post because it showed me that we never know how we may be helping someone, even if we think we are failing.

Maybe it's the effort and not the outcome that is important. 

About our opinions

Our opinion of others should be more important to us

than their opinion of us.

I say this as one who is far too bothered about what people think of me.

About being different

Being peculiar, odd, strange or different, in one way or another, is probably not that unusual, I suspect.

As with most aspects of our lives, things are rarely either/or, yes/no, black/white but are points on a spectrum along which, our particular ways lie

.
What matters, I think, is what we do with our different ways; how we use them for others; what we make of what we are.

A popular saying from many years ago still holds good for me at least, and that is

                                            VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!!