Changing Weather

As the weather changes according to the seasons, so does your way of perceiving the world. If you think for a moment about when you were a teenager, you will easily realize that the way you considered the environment around you was very different from your present perception. Even when you were not a teenager any more, but still younger than you are now, you used to see circumstances and people from a different perspective. According to your present age, why don't you try to discover how your general view of the world has changed through the years? It is a useful exercise that will show you how nothing is forever. Not even your own "self" (i.e. how and what you believe you are). 

Hasty Judgement

Ask yourself how many of your beliefs give you problems. What beliefs? you may ask. All the pre-conceived ideas you have about people, things or situations. When you get an impression about something or someone, you tend to create a "belief" around it. You decide "how" such a thing or such a person is. You "label" it as good or bad according to the pleasure or the dis-pleasure you get from it. You seldom take the time to examine the situation more deeply. This hasty judgment is often wrong and it can easily be the cause of misunderstandings, unfairness, even unhappiness.

Unfairness?

A question that no-one can avoid asking (some do it more often, others seldom) is: Why is Life unfair? An immediate sub-question arises: Is Life truly unfair or does it only seem so? Very difficult to answer. Probably impossible. Still we all - and you, too - wonder about this puzzle. If you are totally honest with yourself, you will admit that in most cases all the situations you have found yourself in are the consequence of something you, yourself, have done. In such cases, the apparent unfairness is only a logical consequence. In a few cases, though, it's impossible to detect a reason, from an intellectual point of view. We cannot see a "logical" reason. Could there be another kind of reason? 

Too Much or Too Little

You may have noticed that, at times, nothing happens in your life and so you tend to feel bored. Other times too many things happen all at once, and you can't help feeling overwhelmed. A consideration comes to mind: why isn't Life more balanced? It seems a contradiction with Nature's usual poise and harmony. Everything should happen at the right time and in the correct measure. In fact, you see the alternation between day and night, or among the seasons. Everything seems to follow a perfect order. But don't forget that - every now and then - a sudden storm or a long period of drought happen: too much or too little rain. This can only mean that, in spite of the perfect rhythm of Nature, unforeseeable events take place because they all have a hidden reason, a cause of necessity. They "must" happen.

Think!

A good piece of advice: never be too outspoken with people. Later you might regret it. There are things that should be kept unsaid, words that should not be uttered. The need to share your feelings might bring you to disclose parts of yourself that had better remain "personal". You might in fact be disappointed because others do not always react the way you expected or behaved the way you would have liked. Do not forget that others are "not" you. In fact, they are not even to blame for your disappointment. As usual, the responsibility is yours.

Therefore next time... think before you open your mouth and, possibly, choose not to!

Generation Gap

Generation gap is a well known topic  which everybody is aware of. There is nothing mysterious about it because it is a natural thing. So, why am I reflecting upon it? Well, the fact is that, although all human beings must accept that their children - once they become adults - see the world in a totally different way, it is a bit sad to realize how big such gap can become. Parents and their offspring may grow so far apart that - although affection still exists between them - they are turned into virtual strangers. There is very little sharing because the young generation feels the need to affirm its total independence, does not want to be bothered by situations that do not concern them directly any more, loathe the idea of being told anything that might sound like advice or, worse, criticism. So, parents and children love each other ... while living on different galaxies.

Mysterious Brain

It happens that some people, whom you know to be normally intelligent, are unable to grasp certain specific notions. I wonder why. Such notions are neither particularly difficult nor are they expressed in a cryptic way. Yet...they just don't get it!

It is as if those individuals, although they can easily climb any hill with no effort, are unable to climb one specific hill - for no apparent reason. I keep being fascinated by the mysterious ways in which the human brain works. One person is excellent in cooking and can solve math problems, yet they cannot understand a simple grammar rule. Another  can speak three foreign languages or lift heavy weights but is unable to sew a stitch or hammer a nail. It is not a matter of intelligence and no special skills are required. So, what is it?