Elementary Weekend Thoughts.
The Four Elements: Earth. Air. Water. Fire. We have each in us. And one will most often dominate a personality. Which is yours?
Fire people are passionate. Earth people are solid workers. Water people flow forth to nurture. Air people convey new things. Which are you?
We need friends who range across the elements - fire people to inspire us, earth people to help us get things done, air people to bring us new insights, and water people to nurture and encourage us.
Nothing enriches us like good friends. Aristotle would say virtuous friends, because only the virtuous can be a true friend, and not a user.
If we pay attention, what we read and hear and observe changes us, however slightly, whether we can later recall it or not. We are moulded and grow.
Education doesn't depend wholly on conscious recall. It's about drawing out the best in us (that's the etymology of the word). It's alchemy.
I try to learn something new every day. New perspectives and insights build up my ability to think creatively and well.
Nice can be a superficial facade, a patina or laminate of manners hiding the ugly truth. But the currency of kind is accepted everywhere.
Wisdom brings compassion. Kindness brings wisdom. The end of the stick easiest to pick up is kindness. So be kind to become wise. It works.
There are two kinds of simplicity - the obtuse sort and the sagacious sort. Sagacious simplicity is one of the greatest powers on earth.
Forgiveness is a form of moral and spiritual judo that disarms negativity and renders it inert.
Danger comes in many forms and a multitude of disguises. The wise see it as what it is. The courageous know how to handle it.
How often do you have a new idea, an insight that's never before entered your mind? It can make your day. A relaxed consciousness allows it.
When you stay on your proper path, others will join you for the adventure. Stray off it, and you're often on your own.
The most wonderful things most often happen at the most unexpected times and in the most unanticipated ways. Be open. Be receptive.
Difficulty can lead to ease, defeats to victories. Life offers us a profusion of such turnarounds, if we keep the faith and move forward.
Wisdom is like anything else of substance. Small acorns can grow great oaks.
** More on The Four Elements and their application to life is to be found in my book The Oasis Within.
