Perspective. Advice.
Humour. All gifts a-plenty in this life, except when we think we need them
most they often ‘appear’ to be absent. Perspective often comes through
experience. Yet according to Steven Wright, comedian, “Experience is something
you don’t get until just after you need it.” Then there’s Advice, which
is often free, and one should remember that you get what you pay for! Then
again, “Free” is, after all, my favorite price. You see what I’m getting
at… with a bit of humour, we have a choice. Practice one and you’ll end
up with at least one other as well, even if it comes in the form of free
advice for someone else. That’s a two-for-one I can’t resist! Here’s another
gem of Wright Thinking: “A conclusion is the place where you got tired
of thinking”…
Living and thinking “outside the box”, being a peg of
another shape, marching to your own drummer and seeing things in a different
light isn’t at all easy in this world, yet whose life and perceptions would
you rather experience? Carrying through and forward when we’re generally
encouraged to stop and ‘be sensible’ is a far cry from actually living.
From the Brain Droppings of George Carlin; “Life is short. Sorry. Life
is not short, it’s just that everything else lasts so long - mountains,
rivers, stars, planets - life seems short. Actually life lasts just the
right amount of time. Until you die. Death on the other hand, is short.”
There’s perspective. Steven Wright muses, “I intend to live forever. So
far - so good.” This too is perspective. And optimism! Robert Fulghum,
author of several mindful provocations adds, “All I really needed to know
about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.
Remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest
word - look.”
These are wise folk (with lots of FREE advice!). No doubt,
they had quite a chore of making it their livelihood, but I insist you
don’t have to make a living at it, rather IT ‘makes’ YOUR living, as well
as something to pass on. It is a gift. Perhaps sense without dollars attached…
the proverbial stuff you can’t buy. Precious! At this time of year as many
of us take “inventory”, perhaps we ought to check whose list we’re actually
following…
I wish you all a Happy New Year!
More ‘perspective’
from Steven Wright…
~ I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.”
~ Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet
engines.
~ The early bird may get the worm, but it’s the second
mouse that gets the cheese.
~ I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
~ He who laughs last thinks slowest.
~ I feel like I’m diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
(it’s o.k. Steve - we’re with you)
~ The sky is falling!…no, I’m tipping over backwards…
*Brain Droppings - George Carlin - 1997 Hyperion Press
*Steven Wright quotes - www.weather.net/zarg/Zarpages/stevenWright.html
*All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten -
Robert Fulghum - 1988 - Villard Books
