The WISE way to a happy life

Extract from book about Marcus Aurelius*, which looks at his philosophy on living in the world:


Marcus Aurelius's teacher, Epictetus, said the aim of Stoicism was to become like the wise man or sage.  Living your life in a philosophical way, you could make a great deal of progress in the development of your character.
Against Nature
Begin each day by saying: 'Today I shall meet people who are interfering, ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious and selfish.  They are made this way because of their ignorance of what is good and evil.
'But I, who have seen the nature of good and its beauty, and of evil and its ugliness, know the inner nature of the man who does evil is the same nature as mine; therefore I can't be harmed by any of these men, for no one can impose on me what is degrading.

'I shouldn't be angry with my brother or hate him. For we are made to work in harmony, like a man's two feet or hands, eyelids, or the rows of upper and lower teeth.  To work against one another is against nature: and it is acting against nature to be angry and to turn away.'
Taking Aim
Are you distracted by the things of the world? Give yourself some quiet time to discover something new, and learn how to stop this restlessness.  And be aware that you don't fall into another kind of error: the folly of those who wear out their lives in ceaseless business, but have no aim on which their every action or thought is focused.
Seeing Wealth for What It Is
Accept prosperity without pride, and always be ready to let it go.
Meeting Challenges
Just because you find something difficult to do, don't think it's impossible.  If something is humanly possible and appropriate, believe that it can be attained.
The Fruit of Ignorance
People who do wrong, wrong themselves. People who act unjustly, act unjustly to themselves, injuring their nature and making themselves evil.
Life & Destiny
Adapt yourself to the life you have been given, and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you.
Forgetfulness
If you feel annoyed, you've forgotten that everything happens in obedience to universal nature, and that another person's stupidity has nothing to do with you.
You've also forgotten that things happen, have always happened, and will happen again just like this everywhere.
You've forgotten how close is the bond between an individual and the whole human race, for it's a community, not of a little blood or seed, but of mind: and each individual mind is a god, an emanation of the divine intelligence.
You've also forgotten that nothing belongs to us, but that our children, our bodies and our souls come from that divine source.  You've forgotten that everything depends on judgement. And finally, you've forgotten that every person lives only in the present moment, and can lose only this.
The Bad Return
When you have done a good deed which another benefit from, why do you need - as fools do - praise for having done well or the need for a favour in return?
Tolerance
People were created for the sake of one another. Either teach them, or bear with them.
Real Time
You don't have time to read.  But you do have time to restrain your arrogance, you have time to rise above pleasure and pain: to be superior to the love of fame, and not be annoyed by foolish and ungrateful people, but even to care for them.

The Virtues of Family and Friends
When you want to cheer yourself up, think of the good qualities of those you live with.  For instance, the energy of one, the modesty of another, the generosity of a third, and so on.  For nothing gives us as much pleasure as the virtues presented by those who live among us.
Talking and Being
Stop talking about what the good person should be, and just be that person.
Needs and Rules
Since you are part of and governed by nature, observe and accept what your physical nature needs.  Act on these needs, provided your living being does not become degraded by them. Observe also what your individual nature requires of you as a compassionate being.  This you must also do provided your rational and social nature is not made worse by it.  If you use these rules, there is no need to worry about anything else.
Firmness and Gentleness
Though people may try to stop you from following the correct path, they can never divert you from correct behaviour.  Just make sure they don't force you to lose compassion towards them.
You need to be prepared for the firm decisions and action, without losing gentleness towards those who obstruct or abuse you.  It's as great a weakness to be angry with them as it is to abandon your plan of action and give up through fear.

The Eyes Are the Window of the Soul
How empty and insincere is the person who says: 'I've decided to be fair with you'.  What nonsense.  There's no need to say this.  The intention will reveal itself.
A person's character immediately shines in the eyes, just as one who is loved reads everything in the gaze of the beloved.  Good, sincere, and kind people show their character in their faces for all to see.


And finally:
The Best Revenge
Not becoming like your enemy is the best revenge.


(From The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius by Mark Forstater, pub Hodder & Stoughton, 1999)
* (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius)

Ministry of Animals

Did you know that the Ministry of Defence employs animals? Apparently, 995 dogs, 501 horses, 13 falcons, three mountain goats, two Shetland ponies and a Swaledale ram have been recorded in their stocktake.

from : http://www.wfrmuseum.org.uk/mascot.htm

The 'military menagerie' includes guard dogs, sniffer dogs and falcons used to clear runways.  Most of the other animals are regimental mascots.

Little-Altered Edwardian Cinema

Few local communities contain such a major opportunity as the former Picture House, Torbay Road, Paignton. Bringing this important building back into life featured very clearly as one of the wishes expressed by all who attended the public meeting of the Paignton Town Community Partnership in November last year.  Spontaneous feelings like this are important to take note of, especially when they have the potential to appeal to a much wider community going to national and international level.

http://www.cinema-theatre.org.uk/atrisk/torbay_paignton.htm

Why the interest in this building?  Because when it closed as a cinema in 1999 it was the oldest purpose-built cinema in the world.  Add to this the regular use by made of it by the famous author Agatha Christie (seehttp://agathachristie.com/about-christie/christies-life/) and the building's incredibly well located position next to the railway stations plus bus and coach connections and instantly it is possible to see that here there is the opportunity for a major international tourist attraction.

Over the coming months there will be an appraisal of options, which could include a cinema, small film industry museum, cafe, shop and conference facilities.  

The Devon Historic Buildings Trust and National Trust would restore the building at a projected cost of about £1.5 million and applications made for grants from the Historic Buildings Trust from English Heritage the Heritage Lottery Fund, plus the launch of a public appeal.

How will the local community be involved? Discussions in January, exploring the uses that might be made of the building, including how to improve the range of facilities for the local community will be taking place and the next public meeting will be on 1 February 2012.

See also:

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/22124;    

http://www.torbay.gov.uk/paignton_cons_man_proposals.pdf; 

http://www.lynnpearson.co.uk/palaces7.pdf and 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4453024501/

(Taken from an article in The Beach Hut local monthly magazine written by David Watts, Chairman of Paignton Town Community Partnership)

When does 'old' start?

On the eve of my 35th birthday, Older Daughter piped up with 'oh, you'll be middle aged tomorrow' - as 35 was half of our supposed allotted 70 (being the Biblical three score years and 10).  Now that she's reached that grand old age, she maintains that 'middle age' starts at 45. Ho hum.


If that's the case then when does 'old age' start?  


Well, I've just seen an article in the paper
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9010770/Age-discrimination-rooted-in-society-Government-finds.html) which says that, according to young people 'old age' starts at 54 (when I was young I thought 'old' was anyone over 30!) and that youth ends at 32.


A survey of over two thousand people by the Department for Work and Pensions found that, on average, Britons believe that old age starts at 59, whilst youth ends at 41.  However, people over 80 believe that youth ends at 52 and old age starts at 68.  I do remember an article in the local paper once which said 'an elderly man of 61 . . .' - must have been written by a 'young' person!

The article goes on to say that with the retirement age approaching 66, people must alter their perceptions of when people become 'old'.  People today are living longer, working longer and contributing more in their later lives.  This is great news and it is important that our perceptions of age keep up with the reality of increasing longevity.

According to the research, about one-third of people had experienced some form of prejudice in the past year because of their age.  However, this is not just older people, younger people are stereotyped even more often.

Another interesting attitude which came out of this survey was that men believe that old age comes sooner than women do.  Something to do with retiring and putting their feet up, rather than still getting on with the housework, washing and cooking?

Stop abusing that apostrophe!

A couple of years ago there was a shop here in Paignton called 'Lot's of Bargains'. As an apostrophe pedant I couldn't bear to go in there, the venture failed - was it due to many like me who couldn't stand that unnecessary apostrophe?  I doubt it, but never mind.  
Apart from the ubiquitous apostrophes greengrocers insert everywhere on their price tags, here are a few more bloomers, which we see all around us:

It’s not tattoo’s unless you’re saying, “The tattoo’s color faded.”

It’s not you’re unless you mean you are.

It’s not visitor’s unless you’re saying “It’s because of my visitor’s loyalty that I remain motivated to blog.”

It’s not taco’s and burrito’s. It’s not “kid’s have fun on the weekend.”

It’s not pizza’s or computer’s or banana’s.

Just because it has an “s” at the end, doesn’t mean the word needs the little twiddly icon.

Typos happen. I get it.

But in most cases, incorrect usage has more to do with ignorance or confusion than mistakenly inserting or deleting an apostrophe!

From: http://www.mansibhatia.com/2010/04/apostrophe/
and this site gives the rules of apostrophes.


To reiterate what Sir George Bernard Shaw, the famous playwright, said: 'if in doubt - leave it out'.

January 2012 London Excursion

A weekend away - yipee! - and London too... haven't been there for ages.  Further excitement would be to travel there by train: very sophisticated, leisurely and again something I haven't done for a while. It'll be January but who cares if it's cold, we'll still have a great time.

Well, I set off from home to walk down the hill to the station but a few yards down the hill the suitcase handle broke, so ran back home to change to a (much larger) suitcase, slipped and cut my knee and incidentally broke the camera, only just catching the train.

Ah well, it was Friday the 13th!

Had a good journey up to London and when I arrived at Paddington Station (complete with stall selling Paddington Bear memorabilia), we took a turn around the Serpentine, then wandered over to the Charles Dickens Museum (http://www.dickensmuseum.com/). 


In the basement, we watched an informative film about Dickens life, and on hearing his story, it was easy to see where he got many of his ideas for his atmospheric, sometimes harrowing, tales.


The house contains much furniture of the period, including the actual desk where Dickens sat and worked when he was a clerk, engraved with many names, perhaps even the great man himself.  

(part of the cellar of Dickens' house, complete with rat)

This is a very interesting house, crammed full with editions of stories by Dickens.  It has a super cafe which serves tasty snacks and, as it's set on four floors, is about to have alterations to make it accessible to the disabled.




The next day we rendezvoused at the British Museum.  Since I was last there the British Museum Courtyard has gained a new, circular building and the gap between that and the main building has been covered over (rather like the roof coverings at the Eden Project).

It gives a marvellous feeling of space and light and of course means there's much more display space and room for the public to mooch around.


We had a good look around, seeing the Elgin Marbles (http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/w/what_are_the_elgin_marbles.aspx): 

Then the Chinese Section:

It's a baby's feeding cup, in the shape of a rat - something not likely to catch on these days!


And then we looked at the horology department (clocks to you and me).  This is the equivalent of an early teasmade, although it doesn't actually make tea.  When the alarm goes off the lid of the box opens, the candle flips up and the mechanism from the flintlock pistol lights the candle!



Lastly, we visited the exhibition of the potter Grayson Perry- Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman where photos were not allowed so this link is the next best thing:(http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx).  


On our last day we (along with many other people) decided to visit Covent Garden Market.  On the way I saw these unusual dark grey phone boxes (possibly they belong to a BT competitor?):

These flats look interesting, especially juxtaposed with the more traditional architecture.

What we bought at the market has to remain a secret as it's birthday presents ...


Over the weekend we enjoyed: picnics; a sushi bar; pizza restaurant; tasty teashop fare and a noodle bar, so fairly cosmopolitan eating.


As always, the journey back took a long, long time (and the train was freezing, why do train companies want their passengers to freeze?) and it was great to eventually get home and have a nice cup of coffee!


Well, where shall we go next year?

Bowling Trip to Bournemouth

When we went on the Bowling Club Weekend Trip 

to Berkshire in June we had a great fun, I took lots 

of photos - and then mislaid the camera.  

It has never reappeared, so we invested in a new camera in the middle of the summer.  Here are photos taken on the subsequent Bowling Club Trip to Bournemouth, at the end of October.

Here are some flowers and wildlife in the local park, which runs from the shopping centre right down to the sea front.

 

Two photos taken from underneath the pier, as 

you can see it was a very windy day : 

 Sunset on the way home:

Plugsters - Ian the Inventor's latest ...

The Plugster™ 
is a low cost promotional product that has been given by the fire brigade, Councils, the NHS, the police, housing associations, electricians, hotels, Arthritis Care, Age Concern, building companies etc.
See this site: http://www.iantheinventor.co.uk/page5.htm for a youtube clip.

My husband David is a member of the Lions Club of Paignton and the Lions here are helping to sponsor the Plugster in this area, see: http://www.lions105sw.org.uk/assets/PR/Plugster/The%20Plugster%20Flyer.pdf

PInterest

I have joined pinterest: http://pinterest.com/shushab/, so far I've started six boards and posted 40 pins (pictures). - this may become addictive!

Why pinterest is 2012's hottest website: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/web/pinterest-website-cashmore/index.html

New Year is a time to look forward and to look back and many people make their New Year Resolutions.  Personally, I prefer the beginning of the Autumn as it's a less stressful time to change long-ingrained habits.

According to someone in the US, many people make New Year Resolutions,and here are the most un-followed resolutions:

1. Spend more time with family and friends.
2. Fit in regular fitness.
3. Tame the bulge.
4. Quit smoking.
5. Enjoy life more.
6. Cut down on alcohol.
7. Get out of debt.
8. Learn something new.
9. Help others.
10. Get organised - perhaps one of the most difficult resolutions to keep.

The first step in breaking a bad habit is to look at why you find this action so compelling. In other words, what's the payoff for doing this seemingly negative thing? 

Since you've already classified this as a "bad" habit you may be tempted to say there isn't one. But look closer. There is always a payoff. Let's say your bad habit is yelling at your kids. What's in it for you? You let off some steam and feel a little better for the moment. Or you have a bad habit of leaving the dishes unwashed? The payoff could be that you get to spend more time on the Internet!

http://www.swensonfunnies.com/widescreen_toons/new-years-resolutions-cartoon.php

The beginning of a New Year brings with it expectations that the coming year will be a bit different than the present year. And at many times we’re not happy with what has happened therefore, wish for the coming year to be better and plan to make it better by setting goals. 
Therefore, it can be said that resolutions help us to reflect on our past experiences to make our new plans and goals so the same mistakes won’t happen again. Also, it isn’t necessary that one repels oneself from making the same mistakes again but rather feels they should do something more than what they are already doing for example, many people plan on volunteering or helping the poor by giving more charity. Some of the most popular resolutions are as the following:

• Spend More Time With Family And Friends

Apparently about 50% of the population promises themselves to spend more time with family and loved ones. The world nowadays is moving so fast that not many people have the time to spend with their loved ones and therefore, by promising themselves that they will take some time out assures them that family is still important no matter what comes and goes in life.

• Fit In Fitness

People who exercise regularly stay healthy and live longer than those who don’t. Therefore, those people who like to enjoy every bit of life should definitely exercise to stay in shape. Many people in the world are gaining weight due to the amount of fast food eaten. And in order for one to be good to others it is a must to be good to yourself and to your health the most.

• Tame The Bulge

About two-thirds of people promise themselves to lose those extra pounds they gained over the year. Obesity is increasing daily, which can only be controlled when people start taking care of themselves. Not only does losing weight keep you healthy but it also makes you look good!

• Quit Smoking

Smoking is a big issue that seriously needs to be resolved and many people are fighting to stop it. Therefore, when one makes a resolution to end smoking they make a promise to themselves that, no matter what, I will let go.

• Enjoy Life More

Life can get very stressful at times and so we forget to enjoy it. But one should not forget that no matter what life has to offer if it weren’t for these ups and downs how would one ever learn to appreciate what they have. Therefore, one should promise that, no matter what the circumstance be, I need to enjoy my life in every situation.

• Cut down on Alcohol

Many people find it hard to stop drinking because they are heavy drinkers but if one decides to stop drinking then an ample amount of support is available.

• Get Out Of Debt

Getting into debt can be very easy but getting out of it can be very difficult. Therefore, plan it out and promise yourself that no matter how much time it takes you will get out of it and will not fall into more debt.

• Learn Something New

Learning something new is important for all of us. When we learn something new we feel worthwhile, whereas when we sit around and never learn anything new we feel like we’re wasting ourselves. As humans we are social animals whose aim is to learn every step of the way to improve us.

• Help Others

How many of us help others without any reason? Not many. But as humans it is our moral right to help others in need of it. Helping others does not just benefit the one gaining your help but satisfies you deep down. A real human being is one who accomplishes their goals when they stand up to their rights as a good human being.

• Get Organized

Organization is an important resolution which everyone makes every year but finds it hard to maintain. However, an important step in maintaining your organization is to either gain help from professional organizers or keep reminders that will help you in remembering what needs to be done when. Organization is a technique that comes with practice the more you practice the better it gets.

Overall, New Year resolutions are like promises made to the self which one tries to accomplish with the beginning of the New Year. New Year is like a ray of hope and resolutions are techniques in promoting the enthusiasm.

http://www.jlcgroup.com/html/profile.html

And now my resolutions for 2012:

*  See more of family and friends, even if it's only a telephone call or email.

*  Fit in fitness, stairs, walking up the hill, toning tablets, Wii, swimming - how exhausting!

*  Tame the bulge, see above, and less eating between meals.

*  Enjoy life more, now that we're both 'on the mend' this will be easier to manage.

*  Make time for hobbies.

*  Get more organised, don't leave stuff for others to sort out.