"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." - Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)
Herm Albright? Personally, I’ve never heard of him. Doing numerous types of searches I was only able to find a very small bit of information on him. To sum up what I found – He is a German immigrant who studied art, music and philosophy. Though his life story may not be easily available to learn, this quote is one that is in many books on famous quotes… as it should be.
Isn’t this quote so true?! Not necessarily that annoying people is a good reason to be positive – but that it does, in fact, annoy people. Staying positive is a GOOD thing, and I think that people that get annoyed are envious that one is able to have a positive outlook, despite the problems that are surrounding them. Not everyone can do that. I know I try to always see the silver lining – but it isn’t always that easy. Hmmm…. Maybe thinking about how many people I will annoy in the process will help me continue to stay positive? Or maybe it will just give me a little chuckle when I might desperately need one.
I want to go a little beyond the quote and explore the benefits of having a positive attitude. I will be the first to admit, that as soon as I hear bad news, or find out something happened that is disrupting my plans – whether it be trivial or serious – I am instantly put in a woe-is-me mood. However, after giving myself time to analyze the seriousness of the issue, I always try to find the silver lining. Sometimes this is easy, and sometimes it isn’t.
In a serious, life-altering type of bad news – I think the silver lining is near impossible to find, but the likely-hood of their being a hidden lesson in there is likely. For example, a loved-one finds out he/she has cancer... having been in that situation I can tell you I have still never found a silver-lining… even with my loved one giving it a good ass-kicking. The lesson I learned through this ongoing battle is to live life the fullest everyday, and to stop putting things off for tomorrow, or next week, or next year. Even if you can’t logistically achieve a goal or a desire (like travel the world)… you can still accomplish plenty of other life-satisfying things; learn new things, be more adventurous/spontaneous, etc.
I know I am getting off track a little, but the point is…. You HAVE to find a positive outlook on things, because life’s problems – the minor and the major ones – are never going to go away or stop coming. No one is immune to them, so what is the point in always being negative and being in a bad mood? So, going forward, if you are having trouble staying positive for the true benefits, think of this quote, and maybe gain some pleasure in annoying other people around you…
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Words of Wisdom
“It is indeed hard for the strong to be just to the weak, but acting justly always has its rewards” – Eamon De Valera (1882 – 1975)
De Valera said this during his 1945 speech he made regarding Ireland’s neutrality in WWII. These specific words were directed towards Winston Churchill of Britain, who despite his dislike of Ireland’s neutrality, did not abuse Britain’s power by forcing Ireland to help British fleets in the port’s of Ireland.
While this statement was strong when directed towards Churchill, it is also great words of wisdom for us to always keep in mind today. The original context of these words were regarding the powerful and the weak countries, but I think we should look at it on a much smaller scale. We can reflect back on these words when dealing with a minority group, or minority individual; or even merely someone that is weaker-willed. It is easy to be unjust to someone or some group that may be considered weaker, but it shows a great deal of character to treat them fairly – especially when you don’t necessarily have to.
If one has a sense of power or strength over someone else, they tend to abuse that power by treating that person with less respect. This can be found in many situations that we all face. One example is the work force: Assume John has been with Company X for 5 years, and Tim has only been there for a year. John may show some sort of arrogance towards or around Tim…. Keep in mind this is not necessarily out of cruelty, but out of habit or simply human nature. I interpret the difficulty for the strong to be just to the weak as having to be human nature – because other wise it wouldn’t be hard.
As I said, we should all remember these words of wisdom given to us by De Valera, because no matter if you play the role of the weak or the strong, it is a good message: the strong to have awareness and to be humbled once and awhile; the weak to remember that it isn’t always personal, but a flaw in human nature.
De Valera said this during his 1945 speech he made regarding Ireland’s neutrality in WWII. These specific words were directed towards Winston Churchill of Britain, who despite his dislike of Ireland’s neutrality, did not abuse Britain’s power by forcing Ireland to help British fleets in the port’s of Ireland.
While this statement was strong when directed towards Churchill, it is also great words of wisdom for us to always keep in mind today. The original context of these words were regarding the powerful and the weak countries, but I think we should look at it on a much smaller scale. We can reflect back on these words when dealing with a minority group, or minority individual; or even merely someone that is weaker-willed. It is easy to be unjust to someone or some group that may be considered weaker, but it shows a great deal of character to treat them fairly – especially when you don’t necessarily have to.
If one has a sense of power or strength over someone else, they tend to abuse that power by treating that person with less respect. This can be found in many situations that we all face. One example is the work force: Assume John has been with Company X for 5 years, and Tim has only been there for a year. John may show some sort of arrogance towards or around Tim…. Keep in mind this is not necessarily out of cruelty, but out of habit or simply human nature. I interpret the difficulty for the strong to be just to the weak as having to be human nature – because other wise it wouldn’t be hard.
As I said, we should all remember these words of wisdom given to us by De Valera, because no matter if you play the role of the weak or the strong, it is a good message: the strong to have awareness and to be humbled once and awhile; the weak to remember that it isn’t always personal, but a flaw in human nature.
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