In the darkest hours just before the dawn this morning, I lay awake thinking. Ideas were floating around in my head. They came to me over and over again, some more powerful than others. I don’t know where the ideas came from, whether they are meaningful or just gobbledegook, or more likely a combination of both. When I got up , I quickly wrote them down.
The first thought was the one that recurred most often. If I have learned anything in life it is the power of love. It comes in many different forms from the way you feel and the things you do and why you do them. Not all of us are relaxed about using the word ‘love’. We find alternatives. Like, feel for, care for. It’s all the same thing. I didn’t tell my parents I loved them as often as I should have. I never told my grandparents. It wasn’t the done thing.
In the end, what came out, all within a matter of minutes, was a cacophony of random thoughts, posing as profundity. But I thought I would publish them, without explanation, with little to no editing. And let you make up your own mind.
Those you hold close to you, hug them, kiss them; always tell them that you love them and tell them you are always there for them.
For those you regard as ‘just’ friends, think where the line between like and love really is, if it exists at all. If in doubt, err on the side of love. Love is the answer.
If you have dreams about what you want to do tomorrow, then think about bringing them forward to today. This is life, not a trial run. Other than to procreate, we are not here on Earth for a reason. We are here only because of the accident of our birth. We have defied odds of four hundred trillion to one, just in order to be born at all. We are the lucky ones. Leaving everything until later can mean leaving it forever.
Be the best version of yourself you can be. No one is better than you. Wealth is not necessarily the sole indicator of success. There are plenty of people who will try to take you down, without you taking yourself down. Always believe.
Life is not fair. How can it be? No one is setting out our destiny, no one controls where we are headed. Some things we choose to do along the way, some things happen along the way that we cannot control. You can’t worry about what’s fair and what isn’t. It helps no one.
Ignore the extremes on the horseshoe of politics. They bring nothing but pain, sorrow and division. The extremes are normally where you will find the so-called populists, the culture warriors. These people can wear you down. Don’t let them. You are a better person than they are. Always argue for the things that bring you together.
Be kind. It’s better than being unkind. It only has to be a little thing, a smile on a moving stairway, giving up your seat on the bus, carrying someone’s shopping to their car. Buy a sandwich for a homeless person, making a regular donation to a charity that means something to you.
Stay humble. Remember where you came from and your struggles along the way. That will give you more empathy.
If you have ‘faith’, you may be expecting to survive your own death and, if you are lucky, to ascend to heaven. Faith is belief without evidence and I know it can bring great comfort when times are hard. Even if you are waiting to meet St Peter at the Pearly Gates, it’s worth having a Plan B. That Plan B would be my Plan A. Live each day as if it could be your last because you never know what tomorrow may bring.
Most people are good people. The trick is to work out who is good and who isn’t. You can still keep your defences up because while not everyone is on the make, a small minority are. It’s always been like this. Don’t think this is something new.