Interesting Sayings

Oh, my goodness, once I started to write things under this title, it took on a life of its own. I realized I was starting to pay attention to little sayings, some I have never heard before, others are now my favorite. So here goes with a few of them!

1."You never learn anything from success". There are many aspects of being successful, I am going to use business for my example. I believe successful businesspeople get up every day to make a dime. To them being successful means working every day to be more successful. It is the path to success where the lesson is learned. I think we can equate this to people that are handed a business as opposed to building a business. Not always, but we have seen it happen where a son/daughter take over a family business and it fails or as we like to say, "it is never the same". These people have grown up with privilege and haven't had to work in the business like their parents. They didn't realize the work that was involved to grow and maintain a successful business. 

2. "Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes progress". How many times have you said, "Practice makes Perfect". Perfection is way too big of a word for anyone. I do think perfection is achievable and is necessary in many aspects of some people's jobs, such as a heart surgeon. I am going to use knitting for an example. Often someone will say to me, "I wish I could knit like that". My reply is always the same, when you are learning to knit, you have to knit every day. When you see someone knitting and talking at the same time, they have been knitting for years. Practice makes progress, and I believe you have to do something every day to make that progress. Athletes train every day; they never take a day off. I will never achieve perfection in knitting. It seems every single thing I knit has a mistake in it. I like to think of it as my signature like on a painting.  

3. "Listen to the people that love you, that is all that matters". This quote came from a famous person that had shared her mental health issues on social media.  Of course, as social media likes to do, she got some backlash. For some reason some people love to share their wisdom in a negative way and think that will help in a difficult situation. They believe it is what others need to hear. Nope, that is wrong. People need to hear encouragement and support for being honest and forthcoming. I really love this saying, listening to the people that love you is your best bet. It seems we can receive dozens of encouraging comments, but it is that one negative comment that burns permanently into our mind. 

  

4. "The solution is within". Oh my, why can't we get this concept. There are problem solvers and there are people who think they are problem solvers. There are also people that have no intention of ever solving anything themselves, it is just easier to ask someone else. When I had student groups I would tell them, "Come to me with the solution not the problem". I would follow up with, "it may not be the right solution, but I am interested to know how you are going to figure it out". I don't think we put enough effort into solving our own problems. Often, we know the answer or solution to our problems, but we don't like it. In my world, intuition, self-realization or whatever you want to call it, will give you a solution. 

5. "Do the right thing". We have all been faced with having to do something we don't want to do. Usually, it is because it is uncomfortable for us, or we feel we don't have the time. In other words, doing the right thing can be one of the hardest things to do or inconvenient. By doing the right thing we quickly realize it was more than doing the right thing, it was the only thing to do. 

6. "They are really nice". I have noticed that people will write, "they are really nice" when they describe hospital staff. Has it gotten to the point where "being nice" is an unusual behavior. There seems to be a huge difference between people that are just doing their jobs and the people that are doing their job and are nice about it. The guys that filled my car up with gas, and worked the till were certainly nice. The people working in the Coop grocery store are always nice. A clerk at the self-checkouts that helped me with a gift certificate would be someone I wouldn't describe as nice. She did her job, but clearly didn't like her job. I have a couple of thoughts here; if you have a job, it is part of your job to be nice. If you are a human being it is your responsibility to be nice. 

I had one of the nicest things happen to me recently. I was going into a hockey rink and as I was walking towards the door, I noticed a young man around 16, waiting outside. Just as I was getting close to the door, he walked across and opened it for me. I thought he was going inside but no he wasn't, he was being nice. Call me old-fashioned but I hope his parents know, they did a great job of teaching manners to this young man.  

 7. "It's not my story to tell". As women I think we love to hear gossip and share gossip. Men are also gossipers. When I heard my friend say, "it's not my story to tell", I loved it. There are times when we really need to share something. When I am in that position, I usually start the conversation with, "it's not my story to tell but I need to talk about it". I will share with a friend that understands the confidentiality of our conversation. Sharing someone else's story must be done with respect and permission. 

8. "Does it need to be said?". We all know those people that get on a roll and the things that spill out of their mouths are astonishing. A student once told me she had been told, "does that need to be said". She was one of those people, that if in her head, it was out of her mouth. I loved the insight the person had that advised her with a saying, and how the student was embracing it.

9. "It doesn't really matter". I find myself saying, "it doesn't matter" more now that I am in retirement. I have already written about my poor sleeping habits, like a colicky baby is how I describe it. I refuse to let lack of sleep ruin a good day for me. It doesn't matter how many hours of sleep a person gets, it is about how you feel. A friend of mine says, "you don't know how much longer you have, so why not just get up and enjoy the day". When asked if they have time a retiree will say, "I don't have to work anymore, so it doesn't matter, I have nothing but time". 

10. "I speak two languages, good english and bad english".  This line came out of the mouth of Reba while judging on the Voice. Reba and I are the same in that we both admire people that are bilingual. I just love to listen to someone speak another language. I'm not understanding one single word, but I am captivated. I thought Reba described my language ability very well, good english and bad english.

11. "Fear is a reaction, Courage is a decision". The best example for me is someone that is faced with the difficult decision of having surgery or taking treatments for a serious illness such as Cancer. Fear is the only reaction for receiving a life-threatening news. It seems with time; courage takes over to determine a decision moving forward. No one is spared being fearful of something, usually the unknown. Thankfully, the decision to rid ourselves of fear takes Courage.

                                                  

12. "People like to see good people do good things". Always remind yourself of the good you do for others. Good things don't go unnoticed. You may not know they are being noticed, but they are. When we do something good to inspire one other person to do something good, is all that we can hope for. 

                                        

13. "Bad things happen to good people". Many years ago, during a Palliative Care conference, a member of the clergy, said, "bad things happen to good people". There is an understanding, if we do good, it will come back to us. It would be wonderful if that were true, but every now and again, bad things do happen to good people. When I sit back and watch the strength that some people have to face adversity, I am humbled by it. Facing adversity is the way of life for many, yet they continue to be good people. 

                                       

14. "Stay Positive". This is how I like to think. My line is, "you have to give to receive". A new year is near, staying positive in a negative world is hard. We quickly adapt to negative behavior; it seems more work to maintain a positive outlook. Maybe, it is purging time, limiting the negative people in your life may be a healthy move for you. 

15. "Once you start to control the situation, the situation controls you". This is one of my many Fayisms. I see it in myself, when I want something badly, I start to control everything about it, and I start to spiral. There is a difference between going for it and controlling it. Controlling a situation will turn on you, and at that point you have to let it go. Letting go of control is as simple as just not thinking about it. We have all had those experiences where we just accept something as it is, and poof the very thing you wanted happens. Or, if out of the blue a solution appears to an issue, you have given up control by not thinking about it.  

This has been an interesting post for me to write. Next time you say one of your favorite sayings, think about how that may impact someone. I doubt they will run home and blog about it, but you will be surprised how many will embrace it. I am pretty sure after reading this, you will notice more sayings. In closing I am sharing the quote that I am embracing going into a new year.