More Confidence ~ Sunday Quotes

“Low self-confidence isn’t a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered–just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better.” 

says Barrie Davenport. I wonder if Barrie has ever had problems with confidence himself? It is not easy for everyone to just ‘do confidence.’

Photo by Moose Photos on Pexels.com

But then Eleanor offers us her wisdom with a very grounding quote:

“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

Andre Dubus, American writer of short stories, novels, and essays, thinks personality quirks and introversion contributes to how confidence a person might be.

“Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people.” ~ Andre Dubus

I know some shy people who would be horrified to think that they might be considered narcissist, but I do see what Andre means. In some cases, people who are shy are more internally focused than others. They may want to be accepted, included and to avoid social rejection, but falsely believe everything must be perfect in order to avoid a negative judgement. Accepting who they are can be incredibly empowering and inadvertantly increase self-confidence.

Having said all of that, if someone is content being shy and happy the way life is, that’s no problem at all.

Self-confidence can be crucial in professional sports as Arthur Ashe, Tennis pro points out:

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” –Arthur Ashe

The final comment comes from Eker, a motivational speaker. While somewhat inclusive it seeks to normalizes a lack of confidence alluding to attitude as being crucial. It offers some insight into combating and overcoming difficult emotions.

Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them.” –T. Harv Eker

Do any of these quotes speak to you?

Quotes and Wisdom from the Past

“How much more anger and grief do than the things that cause them.”

“For you can’t lose either the past or the future; how could you lose what you don’t have?

“The impediment to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Sayings and sageful words uttered in past centuries bear poignant relevance for modern communities across the world. Their timeless interpretation a general fit for a multitude of circumstances. Make of them what you will. Thanks to fermincazares for highlighting Marcus Aurelius’ wisdom.

Wisdoms and Words of Inspiration

Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall.
Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, for one day ~
Robert L. Stevenson

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Author Dale Carnegie commented on the high rate of hospital in-patients admitted for mental illness – almost half of all patients.

He noted:

…Too many people allow themselves to collapse under the crushing burdens of accumulated yesterdays and fearful tomorrows.

Dale Carnegie

Dale believed the cause of those crushing burdens to be the lack of awareness of living the ‘present moment.’ That is where we are living this very second you are reading this post.

It is but a small moment of time – an intersection between the millennia of the past and the future yet to be experienced.

Both Carnegie and Stevenson warn us we should accept life does not happen in the past so we cannot live there, nor can we live in the future. To attempt to do so causes anxiety and problems, which Dale believes causes issues physically and mentally.

He urges us to dispel worry about any blunders we made yesterday; to not spend those precious moments of time in a physical and mental hell by fretting about the future.

All we have is this precise moment before it slips through our fingers and is gone forever.

According to Dale, if we concentrate on living in the moment today, then better tomorrows will inevitably follow.

By all means, plan for tomorrow, he says, but do so without panic or regret.

Get the facts and push on from there.

Enjoy the good times for they never last.

Enjoy the bad times for they never last.

Thanks to Yvette from Priorhouse Blog for connecting me with the above wisdom.

Wordless Wednesday

Proverbial Friday – Hate

Bringing back the old Proverbial Friday post – this quote is on hate and was prompted by the short story on the Discussion Group I posted.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Hate is a feeling that can only exist where there is no understanding ~

Tennessee Williams

We Don’t Say Hooroo Anymore

My adult kids laugh when they use a slang word, and we look quizzically at them frowning and repeating the word slowly back, raising an eyebrow. Usually, its a new word or an abbreviation derived from social media.

Recently, I read a tourist website advocating visitors to Australia use the vernacular slang word ‘Hooroo,’ to say ‘Goodbye.’

Yeh, nah!

‘Hooroo,’ is almost obsolete as a farewell greeting in Australia and fast disappearing from common use, much like the word ‘Cheerio.’ Both these words stem from old British slang – and Brits, do correct me if that is wrong. The last person I heard say, ‘Hooroo’ or ‘Cheerio,’ was a 93-year-old resident who has been dead for over 10 years.

While the meaning of ‘No Worries,’ said to be our national motto, is absolutely clear to foreigners, we no longer say Hooroo. These days when Australians say goodbye, it is more like ‘seeya, see-ya-later,’ or ‘bye now.’

Goodbye seems terribly formal, but its still used on the phone, especially during a business transaction.

But I haven’t heard ‘Hooroo’ for yonks. [N.B. yonks is more slang meaning: a long time]

Yonks is defined as an informal British word. But do the British use it? I will have to defer to British readers.

Language is Dynamic

And anyway – what’s the point of all this?

It shows that language is a dynamic force. Never static, it is a living concept that waxes and wanes according to social mores, popular TV shows and local lingo.

Fascinating. At least for me.

In 1902, Gelett Burgess also thought slang words were a transient beast remarking:

Like the eggs of the codfish, one survives and matures, while a million perish.

In fact, some Australian linguists are worried about the prognosis for the word ‘mate’ – the use of which clearly identifies you as an Australian wherever you go. They fear it will be replaced by ‘Dude,’ – Thanks, Homer S….

Exporting Australian Slang Words

And yet linguistic bartering is in place. I hear that the iconic Australian word, ‘mozzie,’ has been exported to the world!!

Could this be true?

I don’t know where, but if you have heard the word ‘mozzie,’ used outside of Australia, I’d love to know exactly where.

Do let me know in the comments who has pinched the word ‘Mozzie!’

While you’re here, some other sayings or slang no longer in regular use that were formerly synonymous with Australia include:

• Strewth – an expression of surprise
• Off his kadoova – mentally ill
• Pash off – to kiss passionately
• Rack off – more vitriolic variations are used now to ask someone to leave
• Boomahs – Kangaroos not to be confused with (baby) Boomers
• Grouse – really great
• Spunky – sexy
• Nuddy – to be naked
• The cheese and kisses – the missus or your female spouse

More Aussie slang here

and for a laugh:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/246137518281472?s=yWDuG2&fs=e&mibextid=Nif5oz

Easter Aphorism

Aphorism
– a pithy observation which contains a general truth.

 “The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with.
It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself. As if the things we’d done were less real and important than they had been hours before.” 

-John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

Yet then there is this:

“You are creating the emotional pain that you feel.

You cannot control what others do”

Don’t compare yourself to others.
Nearly everyone is winging it.
Life, itself, is an experiment

Satisfaction with Creative Imperfection and A.I.

It happens a lot.

It’s a default piece of small talk and an opening social gambit.

Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

When meeting someone new, you are invariably asked:

“And what do you do?”

Our job, or the work we do, comprises part of our identity. When it comes to hobbies or the leisure activities, it is similarly topical to ask such things, when getting to know someone.

I don’t know about you, but many Australians are self-deprecating concerning the value of their hobbies and their proficiency. They’ll answer a question enquiring about their talents or leisure pursuits in a very casual and imprecise way:

Oh – I play a little guitar /I paint a little. Or, I do a bit of fishing/play footy/ride around motorbikes etc.

Satisfaction and Enjoyment

When an archeologist praised a young Kurt Vonnegut for replying that he played musical instruments and was in the school choir and theatre, Kurt responded as most teens do: devaluing his abilities saying he was no good at ANY of them.

The wise archeologist told Kurt something that changed his whole mindset:

“I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.” [honeycopy.com]

Should we try new activities with the intention of perfecting them? Or simply because they are enjoyable?

Do you give up if you don’t like or cannot do an activity well enough?

Do you lose interest and perhaps move on to something else?

I wonder if we gain satisfaction and fun in the completion of a task/project/creation or during the act of doing/creating that thing?

For me, it depends on the project.

The doing and the completion might both give me satisfaction in different ways. There is a certain amount of exhilaration in completion – a feeling of accomplishment. If it is a really pleasurable activity, there may even be disappointment that it is over.

That being said, those of us with a strong sense of needing to excel at something, need things to be perfect, or they are considered worthless. As blogger Margiran alluded some parents might be apt to do in regards to their children.

If it is your work/hobby, it’s a piece of you, along with all its potential imperfections and individual beauty. If it makes you happy in the doing, where is the problem with anything less than perfect?

As Margiran posted our hobbies are not meant to be stressful. Enjoy them no matter your skill level.

For it is the act of creating or doing that thing that we grow, learn and make connections in our brain, no matter our age.

Right?

Do you feel enjoyment and an endorphin release upon a sense of creation or productive pursuit or achievement?

Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Arts in the Future

Artificial Intelligence is carving out a new direction in creative pursuits.

Not only can you get a chatbot to write you a blog post, article, story or book, you can generate any kind of image from words (text) using free software through popular apps, such as Canva. Generally it is sub par quality compared to human endeavour.

But in time, will the quality improve?

Will graphic designers, artists and we as writers fade into obscurity in time?

I do hope not.