I asked my friends for any piece of advice or wisdom or a joke they would wish to pass on to their loved ones – here’s what they said.
Needs & emotions (including love)
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is to love and be loved in return.” (Nat King Cole “Nature Boy”)
“There is no love sincerer than the love of food”
“Being ‘in a mood’ has a profound effect on ones’s perception of the world – learning to recognise when one is in a mood takes time!”
“Taking the time to understand one’s needs reduces hurt to oneself and inadvertently hurting others. Finding out what one’s needs are and how to meet them can’t be done by thinking alone but doing and seeing what needs remain. Only when some needs are met will you discover other needs e.g. one must have the need to feel loved met before one discovers the need to love. This has been described rather (too) succinctly in the Greek maxim ‘Know thyself’ and Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of needs’ (though higher level needs can be met while lower level needs remain outstanding). “
Thoughts & ways of thinking
“Don’t worry” i.e. don’t dwell on potential future upsets.
“Stop moaning, life isn’t fair, just get used to it.”
“You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” (Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda)
“Live every day like it’s your last”
“Love with your heart but trust your grey matter to help you make wiser decisions in the years ahead”
“Have no regrets”
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”
“Never get to the point in life when you think you are too old to do anything you want to do”
“It’s not how old you are, it’s how you are old”
“You don’t need to be young to have fun! Continue to try new things, continue to be inspired by the world, and continue to grow. And that way, you’ll be ‘young’ your whole life.”
“If you look at the target as an enemy, you will never make progress. The target is your point of reference, not your opponent.” i.e. admire, take on board and make part of you the good in your competitors and opponents.
“A famous explorer once said, that the extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are.” (Lara Croft, Tomb Raider)
“Take it easy, but take it” (Woody Guthrie)
“Be Brave, Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience” (Paulo Coelho)
“Never be scared of trying something different”
“If” (Rudyard Kipling)
“You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watching. Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth”
“Never give up and always pursue your goals”
“Your story may not have such a happy beginning but that does not make you who you are, it is the rest of it — who you choose to be.” (Soothsayer, Kung Fu Panda)
“Be the change you want to see in the world” (Nelson Mandela)
“It always seems impossible until it’s done” (Nelson Mandela)
“Never go cheap on eggs or tomatoes”
People
“Treasure the time you have with those closest to you”
Work & the environment
“Make the most of even the smallest of opportunities”
“Less is definitely more”
“Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do”
“Work to live, not the other way around”
“Do what you love”
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” (Hippocrates) i.e. even ordinary foods have drug-like effects and can profoundly affect our well being
In the context of trying to game the stock market: “Most good buy signals mean just that – good bye (to your money)”.
“Hold the handrail when descending stairs and remember to floss!”
“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” (Benjamin Franklin)
Funnies
“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” (Douglas Adams “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”)
Everyone’s a pilot or a passenger – which are you? Probably best to find out before the plane takes off.
Never judge anyone unless you are prepared to be judged. Unless you’re a judge.
Don’t be a glass-is-half-empty kind of person. If you can’t finish a drink, don’t start it.
People who live in glass houses should pull the blinds when removing their trousers (Spike Milligan)
If at first you don’t succeed, cheat!
The great thing about being a psychopath is that everything is a victimless crime (Dogbert)
Whatever a man’s age may be he can reduce it by several years by putting a bright coloured flower in his buttonhole.
Once upon a time, there was a non-conforming sparrow..
Today imagine you’re a star shining brightly in the infinite universe. It’ll give you something to do while you walk round the garden centre.
Thank you all for your contributions!
Altoft, Axe, Brown, Clark, Creasy, Dehm, Fair, Gerlach, Heard, Heyden, Ilukkumbure, Lewis, Loffman, Odlin, Prytherch-Odlin, Rubinato, Stanoevska, Tilling, Yates
(35 adults 40-78 and 10 children)
