It’s been a little too long since the last one of these !
I do like these posts, they’re inspired from a lovely book (I will link it at the end this time). It’s well past time for another and today it’ll be K and L.
What’s first ?
K is for Karma.
Karma is Sanskrit for “deed” or “act”. I’m a firm believer in the “what goes around, comes around” theory. The theory that if you do a kind act, it’ll mean something good for someone, something good will happen to you. It’s why I send happy or kind messages to people who … quite probably ignore them (I’m talking about the internet people there).
The reverse also seems to ring true. I’m hearing from the Twitters that someone on the Eurostar train tonight decided that he needed a sneaky fix of his e-cig while on the train and the resulting stoppage has resulted in at least a 3 hour delay, cancellation of that train, cancellation of subsequent trains. All for a sneaky hit of the e-cig. That guy’s got a lot of karma to work off now. (It may come to get him when the other passengers find him)
Oh ! Perfect pic to illustrate.
Be good to people. It’s a great investment.
K is also for Knowledge – pass it on.
The worst thing in our world is ignorance and everything that flows from it. Like not realising you have hurt someone with your words. Not realising the consequences of your actions. Not helping someone out when you could have made something much easier for them. Seeing mistakes made because you withheld that crucial piece of knowledge.
Passing on knowledge is tricky though. It has to be done in just the right way. You can hit people with knowledge like hitting them on the head with a hammer. They don’t appreciate it and it scares them away. I’ve seen cricketers who had the potential to be extremely good but there were basic flaws in their technique that let them down. Gently guiding them down the path they were going was far more effective at getting the best out of them than “You’re doing it wrong, do this instead”.
It was far more satisfying to see people come back and learn new and better skills than see them walk away from the game because over zealous coaching made it Not Fun.
There’s another case from a year or so ago which is especially poignant today. It’s from Nick Hancock of Longest Stay On Rockall Rock Fame. He had been contacted by an individual who wanted to use his Rockpod in an attempt at breaking his record. I advised him to not allow use of the Rockpod (don’t enable idiots by making things too easy for them to hurt themselves) but to support them with knowledge. Because he’d have felt absolutely rotten if something bad had happened to the individual if he’d withheld information that later led to Bad Things. Besides, that Rockpod had had a hard time up on that rock, I doubt whether it would have been a good idea to use it again anyway.
(It’s poignant due to the death of an explorer who was attempting to cross Antarctica unaided – very sad)
L is for Lisa Miskovsky who has a wonderful voice and I really must get more of her albums. Restless Heart just started purring away in the background.
L is also for Lies.
Lies are horrible. “They toss and they turn inside us, trying to escape, tearing us away from our own deepest truth. If you lie, ask yourself why.” “Lies often cover our deepest fears, of being discovered, found out, unmasked; of being seen for who we really are. To be all you can be, tell the truth. It might hurt at first to admit it, but it will truly set you free.”
Given that, there is such a thing as too much truth. The truth can really hurt people as much as a lie can. But is truth kinder in the long run ?
I try to avoid lies. They wrap you up in Bad Stuff which is guaranteed to catch you out at some point. Be honest with yourself and others, it’s always the best way.
What’s worst though are the lies that we tell ourselves. Like me telling myself that my shoulder was ok and I could still play cricket despite crying out in pain when I tried to pick anything up with that arm. (This is way back when the injury originally happened). That probably led to more recovery time (as it happened, I had recovery time due to not having teams to play for).
I used to memorise the letter chart that opticians use, this led to me getting glasses that weren’t strong enough. I was honest the last time, said which letters were sharp and which were not and … these glasses are over ten years old and I’m just about on the verge of needing new ones.
L is for … you guessed it … Love.
Yep. Been looking for a chance to use that pic. There’s a certain relationship with dogs. They love their people and return all the love you give them. They are very adoring individuals. Cats have their moments too.
True.
Love ? “In life, we lose our youth, our strength, our influence, our memory, even our bladder control. In the end, all we have and all we will be remembered for is the love that we give; not just to one person, but to everyone we meet. Remember this – and you will be remembered.”
“What is there to say about love that has not been said before, except : I LOVE YOU”.
Yep. You. Reading this post. Those lovely people who stay with me, reading what random thoughts have escaped from my head and fingers today.
I love you all. And you return that love by keeping coming back. Every page-hit that Google tells me about makes me smile. It means people care, it means they (to some degree!) love what I write.
The world is a much better place when we show our love for each other.
PS Oops – forgot something. Here’s the book link …