I've been reading this book by David Richo, "The Five Things We Cannot Change."  It's not specifically about us of course, but there's enough in it that anyone who reads it will, I think, find something that applies. These are simple truths that we forget too easily in the sound and fury of daily life.

The Five Things We Cannot Change
David Richo, author (2006)

1. Everything changes - nothing lasts forever.
Everything ends. Every beginning is also the start of something that will eventually come to an end. Relationships end. People die. Seasons turn, things change. Get used to it. Learn to let go gracefully. You yourself are changing. Change and grow yourself.

2. Things do not always go according to plan
The best laid plans often go astray. No plan survives contact with reality. Adapt. Be flexible. Improvise. Flex and bend. Innovate. Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out. Plans are useless if they aren't adjustable or correctable. Planning is invaluable, but it's that - a plan, it is not an end result in itself.

3. Life is not always fair
Some wrongs do cry out to be made right. Distinguish between those and the wrongs that are best left behind so that you can move on. Choose the battles where you have the better chance of winning, but ask yourself first if this is the hill you are willing to die on, should you lose.

4. Pain is part of life
Everything comes with a cost. Pain is not necessarily a punishment; pleasure is not necessarily a reward. Growth can be painful. Pain can create growth. That doesn't mean you should seek pain, it will come to you in its own time. Be prepared for it.

5. People are not always loving and loyal
We are human. Inevitably we let others down, and others let us down. Learn the difference between danger and fear. A healthy person runs from danger, but challenges fear, deals with it and learns from it. To run from fear is to give it power, and when it comes back, as it surely will, it will be stronger than it was before.

I really want to re-plug this video, too, which remains the best TED talk I've seen.
The Transformative Power of Music

https://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion?language=en

It's only twenty minutes long, but if you watch it, commit to the whole 20 minutes. Do the listening exercise when he asks you to do it. Stay with him all the way to the end; the story he tells in the last two minutes says everything.

"Shining eyes..."

Last edited by BryonM (August 29, 2016 2:22 am)