Category: The Shrink and The Sage

Say of some people “they’re never satisfied” and you mean that they are miserable no matter what happens and are unable to make the most of the good things they have. Say this of an artist, however, and you need make no assumptions at all about how jolly they are – you simply understand that they always strive to be better. Sometimes it is precisely because there is more that can be done, improvements that could be made, that people remain in love with their work and rise at each new dawn with fresh enthusiasm.

Many battles are not worth fighting, even though our cause is just and our enemies in the wrong. The world is unfair and, if we cannot accept that fact, we will often end up further disturbing the peace of ourselves and others.

Sometimes intentions don’t count for much, but they almost always count for something. We’re likely to be angrier at a person who meant harm and succeeded than one who meant well but failed. However, it seems we’re not consistent in how we decide what people intended…