Bits and Pieces…Saturday Ramblings

A few months ago a good friend recommended I read a BLOG called “Margaret At Sixty and Me.” It arrives daily in my email and I usually find something that resonates. It is based out of the United Kingdom. If you are interested, you can find it at www.sixtyandme.com

Yesterday one of the articles was called 10 Ways to Help a Friend Who is a New Widow. I found the suggestions to be practical and would apply to anyone who is suffering from loneliness during this pandemic too. I will share a couple with you.

Send a Card even when you don’t know what to say is always a good way to connect with people. It lets them know you are thinking about them. And who doesn’t like a little surprise in their mailbox? I understand that letter writing is a thing of the past and yet we baby boomers certainly appreciate a hand-written note.

Suggest Ways to Help Rather than Ask …..be specific. Instead of saying something like call me if you need anything, you might like to say – when can we go on a walk together, or would Tuesday be a good day for me to come over and weed your garden. A comment such as call me if you need anything is usually unheeded. If you truly want to help, be specific and more than likely you will be taken up on your suggestion. When upset, it is really difficult to make any kind of decision so by being specific you take that away.

Do you have a favourite BLOG you think other readers would enjoy? Let me know.

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As this pandemic continues I thought it would be interesting to hear how you are coping. When things are going wrong or you are upset about our world, what is the first thing that pops into your head?

If it is is “woe is me” or “what a terrible world” your personal philosophy may be sabotaging you rather than saving you. While you may not have taken time to verbalize your personal philosophy before, now might be a good time.

I used to lead workshops called “Dealing With Difficult People Without Becoming One Yourself.” One exercise was to identify a personal philosophy. Some participants knew right away what theirs was, while others pondered the question.

As I was pulling materials together for the workshop I began to think about my own philosophy. Did I have one? Yes I did because many years ago when faxes were the “best technology” available mine began to spit out a message late one Friday afternoon.

As I plucked that shiny, curled piece of fax paper off the machine I laughed out loud….it simply said “Blessed are the Flexible for They Shall Not be Bent Out of Shape.”

The same good friend who told me about the BLOG sent me that gem too. I immediately transferred it to a piece of cardboard and it hung on my home office wall until we moved. Whenever my life felt unhinged I would silently chant that saying. I still try to live by that philosophy today.

Take time over the next few days to come up with your own personal philosophy. Even if you haven’t formally written one down, I bet most of you have one.

While giving the workshops here are some examples I heard:

• Focus on What’s Right With The World Instead of What’s Wrong
• Do Onto Others As You Would Have Them Do Onto You
• Time is Limited So Think Big
• Look For Opportunities to Leave The World A Better Place
• You Never See A Hearse Pulling a U-Haul
• Your Strongest Muscle and Worst Enemy is Your Mind. Train It Well.
• Make improvements, not excuses
• Life Has No Remote, Get Up and Change It Yourself
• Seek Respect, not Attention
• The Mind is a Flexible Mirror. Adjust It To See A Better World
• The Serenity Prayer…God Grant Me the Serenity to accept…..

Identifying a personal philosophy might just help you navigate these uncertain times.