Archive for June, 2018
Pragmatism
To be pragmatic is to be concerned with the practical consequences of our beliefs and our actions.
Pragmatism means looking at ourselves, our behaviors and our ideas to see if they are working in constructive rather than destructive ways.
The only constant is change, and as the world around us keeps changing, it is incumbent upon us to employ flexibility, reason and spiritual integrity to effect positive change.
“What you pay attention to grows. If your attention is attracted to negative situations and emotions, then they will grow in you.” ~Deepak Chopra
Pragmatism is accepting reality and making the best of it. It is figuring how to employ our integrity; our power in the world. It’s spending our energy for positive change, effecting relationships and using our power to create a better world.
“Greatness is not manifested by unlimited pragmatism, which places such high premium on the end justifying the means and any methods.” ~Margaret Chase Smith
“For all of its well-deserved reputation for pragmatism, American popular culture frequently nurtures or at least tolerates preposterous views and theories. Witness the 9/11 ‘truthers’, who lacking any evidence, claim that 9/11 was a Bush administration plot.” ~Michael Hayden
Tolerance for ambiguity is essential to human survival, tolerance for totalitarian propaganda is a death sentence for the common man and a flourishing democracy.
“Idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit is very exciting. It’s very real. It’s very strong.” ~Bono
Wishing you all a wonderful summer!
Courtesy
“Please” and “Thank you” such simple, easy words to use. Polite, courteous words, that are seemingly used less these days.
Courtesy can be such a balm of connection and pleasure even in the most difficult of social and intimate discourse. It is freely available. It has great power. Yet, it often appears starkly absent in the thrust of dogmatic opinion.
“If we accept being talked to any kind of way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And if we have the effrontery to talk to anybody with less than courtesy, we tell ourselves and the world we are not very intelligent.” ~Maya Angelou
It is one matter to be taught and to learn courteous behaviors, it is quite another to integrate them into the art of daily living. However, it is a very worthwhile endeavor as courteous behaviors engender unbiased respect, tolerance for ambiguity, peaceful discourse and greater appreciation and gratitude for diversity.
“Courtesy is a silver lining around the dark clouds of civilization, it is the best part of refinement and in many ways, an art of heroic beauty in the vast gallery of man’s cruelty and baseness.” ~Bryant H. McGill
My gracious ‘thank you’ to all of you for your ongoing support, today and everyday.
“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.” ~Henry Clay
I am grateful!
Blessings to all for a week full of simple and tender courtesies.
Graduation
Ah, Graduations, rites of passage. Pomp and Circumstance, thoughtful, inspiring speeches, proud Graduates, prouder parents and family; a joyous, noisy celebration with somber overtones.
Watching my great granddaughter graduate from high school, was a moving experience for me. I found myself looking back and looking forward at the same time. A pivotal moment. The world I am leaving behind, the world I am moving into… on so many levels. I wondered when the day comes for the class of 2018 to sit where I am sitting now, what they will be feeling,
“A real education is the architecture of the soul.” ~William Bennett
“Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree.” ~Marian Wurst Edelman
“It makes little difference how many university courses or degrees a person may own. If he cannot use words to move an idea from one point to another his education is incomplete.” ~Norman Cousins
“In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation. As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Colemen, used to say: ‘We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.'” ~Jimmy Carter
Wishing the pursuit of authentic expression, passion for life and profound inner peace to all 2018 Graduates everywhere!
Uncertainty
Uncertainty is defined as something that is unknown, unsure or in doubt. What can we say that is actually certain, beyond a doubt? How then do we live in and with this uncertainty?
“There is nothing so uncertain as a sure thing.” ~Scotty Bowman
“That man is prudent who neither hopes nor fears anything from the uncertain events of the future.” ~Anatole France
“To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.” ~Rebecca Solnit
“The more ambivalent you are and the more uncertain you are, then you can get something that you cannot anticipate.” ~Elia Kazan
“I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.” ~Brene Brown
“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.” ~Ursula Le Guin
“..and you get to be at home with change. You get to be at home with uncertainty. You get to be at home with not knowing how it comes out. And you make a plan knowing full well that it may be totally irrelevant a moment later, and you’re at peace with that.” ~Ram Dass
