Wednesday, 30 August 2017

Doubt

Doubt is a self-imposed speed limit. 
- James McCrae

Monday, 28 August 2017

Mirror

Running from a problem is like running from a mirror
 because we don't like the unhappy face in the reflection. 
We can run to a different mirror but will continue to see 
the same face until we stop running and choose to smile. 
The mirror changes when we do.
 - James McCrae

Friday, 25 August 2017

Answers

From the outside, the answer is simple: 
just shut up and do it...
Questions are funny because the answer
 appears difficult to anyone who has them 
and appears easy to anyone who does not. 
- Mark Manson

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Fail

If someone is better than you at something, 
then it is likely because she has failed at it more than you have.
 If someone is worse than you,
 it's likely because he hasn't been through all 
of the painful learning experiences you have...
We can be truly successful only at something 
we are willing to fail at. 
If we're unwilling to fail,
 then we're unwilling to succeed. 
- Mark Manson

Monday, 21 August 2017

Wrong

For any change to happen in your life,
 you must be wrong about something.
 - Mark Manson

Friday, 18 August 2017

August 18, 2017 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   I once had a friend express that she was glad to know I got angry after I’d totally erupted in a public venue.  I, on the other hand, was surprised that she would even consider that I DIDN’T get angry, because I most certainly do, and I definitely express it, though not always publicly, yet just often enough to get me into trouble.

   As well, I found some of the reactions to my recent makeover to be in that same category.  One person actually said they were surprised to see me wearing a dress?!?!  Now, THAT should NOT have been a surprise to anyone who knows me in the slightest!

   So, why these reactions?  It seems to be a case of people only seeing me, or interacting with me, in a particular setting or circumstance.  Or, else they just aren’t paying attention.

   Just because you, in particular, have never seen me angry, doesn’t automatically mean I don’t get angry.  Just because you, in particular, haven’t seen me wearing a specific item of clothing, doesn’t automatically mean that I don’t.  And, more important, just because you, in particular, have seen me act or dress in a certain way, doesn’t automatically mean I ONLY act or dress that way.

  While we humans are multi-faceted, our interactions with the people around aren’t always.  We tend to make assumptions about what we think we know about others, and then it is so easy, and very tempting, to look at them as equivalent to cardboard cut-outs - in a static state, never changing. We often do this with people we have limited contact with, but we can even do this with close family members.

   But, life doesn’t work that way.  We have many sides and aspects to our personalities that may, or may not, be expressed depending on the situations we find ourselves in.  As well, we are always changing - even if we don’t think we are - and we bring those cumulating changes into each and every interaction we have with the people around us.  


   As much as we think we know the various people in our lives, we may not know them as well as we think we do.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua22/home/August%2018%2C%202017%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

Life

Life is about not knowing 
and then doing something anyway. 
- Mark Manson

Monday, 14 August 2017

You versus

If it feels like it's you versus the world, 
chances are it's really just you versus yourself.
 - Mark Manson

Friday, 11 August 2017

Problems

Life is essentially an endless series of problems...
The solution to one problem
 is merely the creation of the next one...
hope for a life full of good problems.
 - Mark Manson

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

Despite

[Move] lightly despite your heavy burdens,
 [rest] easier with your greatest fears,
 [laugh] at your tears as you cry them. 
- Mark Manson

Monday, 7 August 2017

Chaos

Chaos is not a bad thing. 
Chaos stirs things up like wind...
it helps things move along. 
- Colette Baron-Reid

Friday, 4 August 2017

August 4, 2017 Chautauqua

 
Beth's Ponderings

   What side are you on?  Are you sure?  Do you even know?

   There as been a lot, and I mean a LOT of media coverage of late surrounding Omar Khadr, who, let me remind you, is a Canadian citizen who, as a minor, ended up in a war situation and survived.  Truly, that is his ONLY crime - he survived the war.

   Now, no matter what your personal feelings are about him and his situation, I would also like to remind you that there was a war going on, and Omar was fighting for the wrong side...or was he?

   That is where things get tricky, and we don’t like to admit that life isn’t as black and white as we portray it, because that REALLY shakes up our sense of right and wrong.

   A war means there are two (at least) sides fighting each other.  So who is the enemy?  We say it was the other side.  But….

   Not so fast.  The Canadians, Americans, and British were not fighting on home soil, so they were foreigners.  We were interlopers in a conflict that was already in progress.  Plus, how many local civilians did our armies end up killing, even by accident, because it was a war situation? 

   Hmmmm, that almost sounds like it could be a definition of an enemy, doesn’t it?  Because it doesn’t matter what side the soldiers are fighting for, or what justifications are used (fighting to impose our values on others doesn’t mean our values are right, or are even wanted by others), to a local civilian, the soldiers are the enemy if they endanger the civilian’s life, the lives of family and neighbours, home, and livelihood.

   In a war situation, which is horrific beyond belief, there are too many casualties, and untold destruction, caused by both sides.  Soldiers on all sides are merely doing their job, and fighting as they are trained to do.  One side is no more completely innocent than the other side is completely guilty.

   So, either EVERY single soldier, of every rank, on BOTH sides is punished because they are ALL guilty of fighting, or...none are. 


   Because, at the end of the day, there are no winners in a war.

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua22/home/August%204%2C%202017%20Chautauqua.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday, 2 August 2017

Uncertain

Attempt things you are not sure you can accomplish: 
if you are certain you can do a thing,
 this means that there is little to no point in actually doing it. 
The reason you're sure you can do it is
 that you or someone else has already done it...
It is much more exciting, thus creatively energizing
 if you are attempting something where you are 
uncertain of its outcome, where you don't know
 if it will work or not.
 - Alan Moore

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