(#143-1) February 22 2015. Words and their timing.

THE ENCAPSULATION OF AN IDEA IN A QUOTE IS A WONDERFUL THING

YET AGAIN, THE VALUE OF WORDS

"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

-- Nido Qubein,
businessman and motivational speaker

"Our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."

-- M. Scott Peck,
American psychiatrist

"[I]f one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

-- Henry David Thoreau,
writer and naturalist

The past five years have been especially difficult for me—but also the most rewarding of my life (something I did not expect, but which encourages me greatly). I don’t want to over-praise the value of adversity—I aspire to a comfortable stress-free life as much as anybody (as long as it includes adventures) but the fact is that I have found the period to be personally enriching to a degree that I hadn’t thought possible.

In essence, I have been trying to change my life in a number of significant ways—and the transition, though largely successful so far, has certainly not proven to be easy. In fact, an observer—when seeing me confronted by setback after setback—might well wonder why I continue along this particular path.

It is not sheer bloody-mindedness—though I am aware that some think so. I do so because it feels like the right one to me—morally, creatively, operationally—and I tend to be inner-voice directed. Obviously, external factors influence me too, and sometimes force me to make a detour or otherwise cause me to deviate from my course, but I work hard at getting back on track. I also fall on occasions—or my courage fails at some crucial moment. So far, I have been able to come up with no better solution than to pick myself up, endeavor to recover some dignity, and continue.

My friend, Tim, a practical and successful man, who copes rather better with life than I do in many ways, likes to send me quotes from time to time to both cheer me up and stiffen my resolve. He succeeds on both counts—and his efforts are deeply appreciated.

In response to my reflections on Death With Dignity recently—and my recollections of Jo Curran taking her own life legally back in December 2010, he sent the following.

"There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct. There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world even though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind."

-- Hannah Szenes,

Hungarian soldier

Tim’s skill lies not just in his choice of the right words—but in their timing.

VOR Words c.255.

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