Positive Thoughts, Well Not Always.

 Somebody said to me yesterday, “There you go again nothing but positive words of encouragement. Do you never feel like just telling somebody to get lost?”

It was a strange experience; I was walking along the shore front a large broad promenade that stretched for about two miles. I ended up caught in the midst of a large group of runners getting ready for the gun to set them off on a 10k race. Had I known it was taking place I might well have been one of them. As they sped off past me I was left walking beside an old couple. The wife was walking; the man was riding a shining new three wheeled bicycle. I joked, asking him if he could give me a lift on the back of it. The wife started to speak to me as he cycled ahead. She told me he had loved cycling but because of his hips no longer could. he just had to spend money on this bike. I said to her that I thought it was wonderful that she had gone along with the idea and did not mind. He really did seem to be enjoying being able to be with her. It turns out they had used to walk together along this way. As we left she thanked me for letting her see it all in a new light.

My friend repeated his words, asking me if I ever just told somebody what I really thought. I said yes and because of it I have learned to look for the good.

I saw a person once who I had to tell I really did not like the sight of. Everything about them was negative. He looked permanently unkempt. He did not look after his health. When he was sick I did not care. He did not eat a proper diet, he drank too much alcohol and he smoked far too much tobacco. When he did well at work I never praised him, I constantly told him he could do better. I told him he needed to get his act together and give himself a good shake.

“I cannot believe you were so nasty, that was a terrible way to treat a person.”

I agreed I was a horrible person. I was cruel towards him. And I could see the effect of my words on him. He was depressed most of the time, tried to drown his sorrows by drinking too much and calling in sick when ever he could.

Well he said he just could not believe me being like that.

I assured him I had been and told him that one day it had all changed. He asked me what had happened.

I stood there in front of the bathroom mirror one morning. I saw the dark circles under his eyes, I saw the excess weight. I saw the hair that needed cutting. And I saw the eyes that once had looked at the world eagerly. Now they were so sad and tired. And there and then I realized he deserved better. I knew the time had come to start finding good things about myself. So I told the man whom I had disliked so many years that he was a good person after all. I decided to like every likeable thing about myself and tell it to myself too.

Once I learned to like myself even though I was this bad it was simple to see the good in other people.



We all know the, “Golden Rule.” Every leader of a world religion has expressed it in one way or another.



You cannot learn to love others until you first truly learn to love yourself. The important word there is TRULLY. More of that another day.



This is the way of the Tao.

This blog is linked to my other.   Self Portrait

I Am Alive and it is a Good Day

I have said many times that we have to continually make choices in life and the choices we make effect everything that follows. I have also said more than once that we should always be making positive choices. I was asked a very interesting question yesterday while talking to somebody about this very subject. It had all begun when the person looked at the artwork I have included today. More of that elsewhere on my other blog.


One way or another, the two people I was chatting to were sure, that there were many situations in which it was impossible to be positive. One of the two has been unemployed for some length of time. He said that it was impossible to stay positive in such a situation. He has applied for many jobs and keeps getting letters telling him his application has been unsuccessful. How can you be positive? I am aware that there are for all of us difficult times life is such that it is impossible to go through it without.

The truth is still the same, making positive choices each day are the way to face all things. This brings me to a true story.

A friend owned a restaurant which was always very busy. More than that he had kept the same staff with one or two small changes for most of the years he had the restaurant. He was a very positive thinking person and he always taught his staff to be the same. The result was that the customers attended not only for the food. They came because they knew they would leave feeling well fed and feeling good about themselves.

He heard me say one day that I had been invited to feel miserable but I had refused the invitation, and today was, as Jerry keeps on saying, a good day. He took this saying on board and I heard him share it with customers often.

It is all about choices and I will not be moved from that spot.

To continue with the story about the restaurant owner. There was one night just after closing time. He and one of the other members of staff were doing a final check of the takings and getting it ready for banking. Two men broke in through the back door brandishing guns. The female member of staff was terrified and reacted. It seems the men though she was going to press an alarm or something and they panicked. A shot was fired as they ran for the door. The owner was hit in the chest.

He remembers the being in the ambulance and being told he was going to be fine. He certainly did not feel he was going to be fine and the sight of the faces of the doctors and nurses at the hospital did nothing to confirm the paramedics message. He says from the look on their faces I was already a dead man.

One of the nurses asked him if he was allergic to anything. He said that he was. There was a moment of silence and a doctor asked what. He said he was allergic to bullets. he then went on to say I am choosing to live though so please treat me like a man alive not a dead man.

He still has his restaurant and all his staff are still working for him. Each day he chooses to have a good day.

I hope you have a great day today.

This blog is linked to my other.  Lead Kindly Light

Making The Best Of What We Have

Good morning today is a new day and I am going to make the best of it, as a good friend of mine says often. I often joke about the man I meet every morning, the one who lives at the back of my mirror. He looks so much older than me and not at all the person I believe I am.


He invites me every morning to feel depressed, but I try my very best to decline the invitation. I had an old aunt who lived to the ripe old age of 103. I cannot remember a single time I met her that she was not positive and full of life, a message she handed on to myself and later my daughter. One of the most amazing things is that no matter how long she had lived she was still surrounded by friends, right up to her last day on earth. Her positive outlook was a magnet to others.

A very old lady looked in the mirror one morning. She had three remaining hairs on her head, and being a positive soul, she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she braided her three hairs, and she had a great day.

Some days later, looking in the mirror one morning, preparing for her day, she saw that she had only two hairs remaining. "Hmm, two hairs. I fancy a centre parting today." She duly parted her two hairs, and as ever, she had a great day.

A week or so later, she saw that she had just one hair left on her head. "One hair huh," she mused, "I know, a pony-tail will be perfect." And again she had a great day.

The next morning she looked in the mirror. She was completely bald.

"Finally bald huh," she said to herself, "How wonderful! I won't have to waste time doing my hair any more.”

Now is that not the way to start your day? Making the very best of what we have and thinking positive.

This blog is linked to my other where today I will apologise for the art used here. The Positive Man

It Is All In The Mind

I am certain that every one of us can remember a teacher from our youth who inspired us to achieve great things. Equally I am sure we can all remember the ones who turned our interest from their subject, for at least the duration of their teaching period or sadly longer.


I remember four such teachers, two excellent ones and two that can be described as nothing short of horror. On reflection they probably had more influence than they ever realised. I had an art teacher who was very quick to show that a drawing was not up to scratch and therefore had to be done again, and again. I went through most of my life believing I was hopeless at art. Then there was “caveman” the mathematics teacher. He held the record for giving the tawse. (A leather belt with two tongues on the end used to administer discipline). He never praised a pupil for the five problems solved, he always pointed out the one that was wrong. I had the pleasure of his teaching for the entire period of my secondary education. I dreaded the days when I had lessons with him on my timetable. It is not at all surprising that I am still pretty hopeless at mathematics.

I remember with great fondness two teachers who inspired me to write. My love of poetry came from those lunchtime poetry reading sessions with one of them. It was during my tenure with this teacher that I, for the only time in my life, had the number one position on the annual report cards. Also not at all surprising that it was to one of those to whom I went when I wanted advice about further education in later years.

There is a story of a momentous battle, where a great leader under attack decided it was time to take the battle to the enemy, although greatly outnumbered, he felt sure victory could be theirs. His men were filled with doubt and fear. On the way to the battle he stopped his army at a small roadside shrine. He stood quietly for a moment then addressed his men. He told them that at this place he would be able to find out the outcome of the battle. Here like no other place the toss of a coin was true in its message. He told them he would toss a coin and if it came up heads they would win, if it came up tails they would lose. He tossed the coin. He watched anxiously as it hit the ground. “It is heads!” he declared. The men were filled with confidence and went off to win the battle against all the odds.

At the end of the battle one of his lieutenants approached him and said, “Nobody has the ability to change destiny.” “You are correct,” said the general and showed him the coin with heads on both sides.

To always be positive and to always inspire is the way of Tao.


This blog is linked to another which I consider to be a small addition to this blog where I look at the artwork and  why the chosen artwork was used. I did not wish to clutter this blog with that inforamtion Maybe I was wrong?  It can be seen at :- Carnival Jazz