Have a look at the video. Good luck.
Turning Over Sliced Tomatoes in a Frying Pan
Have a look at the video. Good luck.
Sensible Advice
Balance in life
Something to think about.
The busier we are in the affairs of the world, the more time we need to spend alone with God. If we don’t get this balance right we will burn out.
The Salutation of the Dawn
This is a repeat post. I am repeating it because of the number of people who have looked at it. I hope Kalidasa’s poem helps you as it has helped me. John 7 October 2021
No, this is not a recently discovered painting by Turner! It is a photo taken by our friend, artist Professor Estelle Marais. The picture is of sunrise over the harbour in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 7 June 2020.
Silhouetted against the rising sun is a harbour crane, affectionately described by Estelle as “The Harbour Giraffe walking into the sun this morning”.
Estelle always finds the welcoming dawn encouraging and inspiring.
This wonderful photograph is a powerful reminder of Kalidasa’s greatly loved poem “Look to this Day”:
Scroll down below the picture to read the famous poem:
Look To This Day
Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement
Are but experiences of time.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!
Thank you Kalidasa and Estelle
Why is our level of training important?
In a crisis we depend on the level of training we have mastered. Ask a sailor.
.
Good Manners and Forks
Good manners is much more than knowing what fork to use. Good manners is listening to the other person and showing them respect.
Based on a comment during an interview with George Will
How to navigate Impossible Conversations
Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Do you have difficulty having conversations with people who strongly disagree with you? There are plenty of subjects these days that lead to very unpleasant arguments. I don’t have to tell you what these subjects are.
The good news is that there is an excellent book that can teach you how to navigate difficult conversations. I am a retired lawyer. I wish I had read book like this decades ago..
This is not just another self help book. It is essential reading discussions in today’s world. It is practical and full of helpful examples.
Here is a link to the book. Click on the link. Have a look. You don’t have to buy it. It is the book called “How to Have Imposssible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide” by Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay.
The commission? Amazon will pay it to me. You don’t pay the commission.
Here is a beautiful and interesting blog
I just discovered this blog. It looks looks like a real winner with a promise of being very helpful.
Click here: https://shortwisdom.wordpress.com/
There is treasure here!
Realising the great unknown
The importance of realising how much we do not know.
Questions to think about (3): Love now
“One day, you are going to hug your last hug, kiss your last kiss and hear someone’s voice for the last time, but you never know when the last time will be. Live every day as if it were the last time you will be with the person you love.”
Does this quote speak to you? Is the message prompting you to do something, right now?
Author of quote unknown to me
Rule based answering 1.1
When answering a question identify a general rule that can guide you.
Example
Q: Your Bank phones saying they are checking their records. They ask you to confirm your account number. How should you respond?
Note. As a general rule Banks do not communicate this way. For this reason a “red flag” should go up and you should not give the information. It is quite probably a scam.
So. bearing in mind this general rule, you might answer as follows:
A: Thank you for calling. As a general rule I do not give this information over the phone. Goodbye.
This is a very simple example but it has wide application. I hope to expand on it in 1.2. which will explain the important role of context in some answers.
Hot tip: Watch how White House Press Secretary Jennifer Psaki answers difficult questions from the press. It is a master class.
johnbartels.com 