Brave New World is Here

"People never are alone now... We make them hate solitude, and we arrange their lives so that it's almost impossible for them ever to have it." --Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, 1932

Tranquility is Subjective

Two monks are walking along, and one says, "Life is a beautiful fountain." Ten years later the same two monks are walking together and the second one says, "A fountain?" The first monk says, "Yes."

Fifteen years later the two monks are walking along. The second one says, "Don't you mean a river?" The first monk says, "You're always arguing."

Quotable and Notable

Good things come to those who initiate.
Suzanne RoAnne

If a problem can be solved with money, it's no longer a problem. It's an expense.

Harvey MacKay

In order to have a friend, be one.
Anonymous

The two greatest causes of suffering are not loving, and not doing what you want to do.
John Gray

How to Get Lucky

Richard Wiseman writing in the Skeptical Enquirer advises readers to:
"Open your mind: consider chance opportunities. Lucky People regularly have them, unlucky people don't.... Unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too busy looking for something else. Lucky people see what is there rather than only what they are looking for."

Managing Space

In his book Democracy in America, French observer Alexis de Tocqueville remarks:

"Everything about the Americans, from their social conditions to their laws, is extraordinary; but the most extraordinary thing of all is the land that supports them. When the Creator handed the earth over to men, it was young and inexhaustible, but they were weak and ignorant; and by the time that they had learned to take advantage of the treasures it contained, they had already covered its face, and soon they were having to fight for the right to an asylum where they could rest in freedom."

"It was then that North America was discovered, as if God had held it in reserve and it had only just arisen above the waters of the flood.”

On Being Too Busy

“If you’re too busy to enjoy your life, you are way too busy.” Jeff Davidson

Nothing is Simple Anymore

Too true:
In our complex modern world, nothing is simple anymore, not even dying.
Lori Watt

Now Sit up Straight!

Trainer Luke Richesson quoted in Mens Health magazine says: "Your body adapts to the posture you most often assume. If you sit at a desk all day with your shoulders slumped and your neck protruding forward, then you'll inevitably have a posture that looks more like Neanderthal man than Superman. Want to be the best you can be...? Think about posture every waking minute.

Your mother was right, don't slouch.

Reflection for the Ages

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
--John Barrymore

The Book of Life

“Expectations are the ego's way of reminding us that the ego is very much alive inside of us. The most effective way to remove expectations and thus eliminate disappointments, shame, upsets and dissatisfaction is to remove or reduce one's focus on the future.

True, a goal, mission or vision can provide context and motivation for the present, but when the you NEED the future to be a certain way, you measure your quality of life against the future and often come up short. It's a radical idea to decrease your orientation on the future, but when done, you have a much richer present.” from The Book of Life by J. Krisnamurfi