Fate and fortune

fate and fortune

You can never predict what may happen in your life.  It’s probably a good thing though, what can be worse than anticipating good things are coming only to have bad things turn up.  We should focus on the stuff that we can control: meeting friends, learning skills, having fun, taking care of ourselves.  We need to learn to handle the unexpected with a big pinch of pragmatism.

But sometimes we expect bad things are coming only to have good things turn up and what could be better than that?

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

It’s behind you!

it’s behind you

I guess it’s tempting to live in the past.  Life seems like it was better back then.  Maybe it’s just that our perspective is softened around the edges by the passage of time.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Where is heaven?

Maybe not everyone can look out of their window and see a heaven on earth.  Maybe not everyone is free to travel a short way to see a heaven on earth.  Maybe those of us who can do these things should feel a little more empathy for those of who can’t.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Fit for purpose

fit for purpose

The human body is a frail structure.  It doesn’t take much to break it.   The human spirit is something else though.  It can bend to the most difficult circumstances and then spring back.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Be bold

be bold

You can be brave, daring, fearless, heroic, enterprising and confident in life. Or you can be a bit brash, shameless, insolent and in-your-face.  It’s all about boldness but some boldness may be usefully positive and some uselessly negative.

When it comes to being bold in your creativity, think distinctive, vivid, conspicuous, colourful, bright and flamboyant.

I wish you boldness and good fortune.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

The way we were

There are times when we would like to be doing something different to what we are doing: the company we keep, the job we do, the way we dress, the destinations we are heading for. There are also times when opportunities to change aspects of our lives beckon and temp us.

If we could look into the future, following opportunities to change our lives and habits would be easy but the future is a foreign place.   We all know people who just leap onto new opportunities without so much as a glance back.  Those of us who are merely mortal may think that following new opportunities may be difficult or risky.

If we are a bit risk-averse we can just change our lives incrementally so the impacts are subtle and low risk. Incremental change can add up to big outcomes and incremental change provides us with opportunities to change direction.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

State your aim

state your aim

Apparently you can take a Lions dinner from under its nose but only if the Lion knows that you are one hundred percent committed to taking it – it’s a and body language thing.    While I would never recommend anyone to try to rob the Lion of its dinner, it’s useful to be confident about the direction you are taking in life – it’s also a body language thing.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Internal conflict

Anxiety is the internal voice that questions our actions past, present and future. It’s not usually concerned with trivia but with the important stuff that can have significant consequences: relationships, health, work and the environments we live in. Anxiety tempers and constrains the decisions we make and the actions we take for good or ill.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

After you

after you

Taking care of yourself is no selfish act – it is the priority which keeps you fit to help others.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

 

When opportunity knocks

It’s important to pursue opportunities in life.  It’s how we discover who we are.  Start a business, go on a jungle adventure, change career, start a new relationship, learn to juggle, eat Sushi.

Following opportunities is how we find our place in life.  Some people have opportunity radar to seek out new ventures.  The rest of us just bump into opportunities when they pop-up.   Opportunities come and go.  They can be elusive and uncertain, risky or trivial.

When faced with uncertain opportunities, we rate our personal aptitude for risk somewhere on a scale between the gung-ho and the hyper-cautious.  The former will leap onto opportunities with little concern, while the latter will stand back and ponder the consequences to infinity and beyond.

We’re all different and the differences are unimportant.  What is important is that when your opportunities knock, pursue the ones that you want, take as much care as you need and apply as much enthusiasm as you can muster.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson