Exaggerating, Imagining, Anticipating

There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us;  we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.  What I advise you to do is, not to be unhappy before the crisis comes.  Accordingly, some things torment us more than they ought;  some torment us before they ought;  and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all.  We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.  We shall consider later whether these evils derive their power from their own strength, or from our own weakness.
—     Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Known as:  Seneca the Younger
From:  “On Groundless Fear” (Letter 13 of the “Moral Letters to Lucilius“)
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On This Day In:
2021	Creation Without Reservation
	From The Tiniest Embers
2020	Listening To The Trees
	Your Mind’s Made Up?
2019	In Silence
	Not Much Light Here
2018	A Gift
2017	Unless You Genuinely Are Small
2016	B1
2015	Five Things
2014	Have Faith
2013	Found In A Mine
2012	Two-Sided Coin
2011	Passionately Scorned Rules

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Somebody Should Have Warned Putin About Ukraine

He who licks knives will soon cut his tongue.
—     Ukrainian proverb
We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.
—     Isabel Allende
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On This Day In:
2021	No Plan And Less Sand
	It Might Sound Strange
2020	Why #45 Is In The Dark
	180 Day Health / Weight Update (Mar 2020)
2019	Tonight I Am All Blacks
	In All Its Messy Complexity
2018	Danger = Opportunity
2017	True And Great
	Sand At The Beach
2016	There Is A Difference Between Dangerous And Frightening
2015	Always A Goal
2014	Standing Strong
2013	Shaken And Stirred
	The Bird With The Broken Wing
2012	Friends In High Places
2011	Objective Independence

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Prayers For Ukraine

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.
—    Samuel Johnson
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On This Day In:
2021	Be Your Own Hero
	Another Frog King
2020	Still Trying To…
2019	Press Freedom
2018	Or Loyalty To An Unqualified And Incompetent President
2017	A Bad Sale
2016	Be Happy!
2015	Are You Feeling Cold?
2014	Never Asked
2013	In Praise Of Change
2012	John Carter Of Mars
	Circular
2011	How Much And When

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First Ask For Courage

If you are not strong, ask for troubles to make you so.
—    Leo Tolstoy
[Which reminds me of:
The Para’s Prayer
Give me, God, what you still have, Give me what no one asks for; I do not ask for wealth Nor for success, nor even health — People ask you so often, God, for all that That you cannot have any left. Give me, God, what you still have; Give me what people refuse to accept from you. I want insecurity and disquietude, I want turmoil and brawl, And if you should give them to me, my God, Once and for all Let me be sure to have them always, For I will not always have the courage To ask you for them.      –    Attributed to André Zirnheld [Aspirant (Second Lieutenant) André Zirnheld was the first Free French SAS officer to fall in Libya in a gun jeep raid on Nazi airfields deep behind enemy lines on July 27, 1942.  Hurriedly buried in a desert sand dune;  his friends found in his officer’s note book a prayer (above) he had written in Tunis in 1938.]
I carried a hand-written copy of this in my wallet for years…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2021	First Ask For Courage
	Shadows And Darkness
2020	My 2 Cents
	You Do It
	Must Be Why I Like Dreamin’
2019	The Opening Step
	Day 17/18: That Didn’t Take Long
2018	I’ll Trade You…
2017	Luv Me Some Meat Loaf
2016	Unless Your Name Is #AmnestyDon
2015	A Tentative First Step
2014	Making People
2013	On Reading Books
2012	On America
2011	Shiver, Me Timbers!
2010	Fiduciary Breakdown

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You Really Are

You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.
—    Christopher Robin
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On This Day In:
2021	You Really Are
	What You Want
2020	So Far The Only Burden Shifted Has Been The Cost
	Rockin’ The Hammond
2019	The Powers Of Mind
	Day 10: Into Double Digits
2018	Up For Progress
	Day 1.5: Done (For Now)
2017	And Second By Second
2016	Bakeries And Coffee Shops
2015	Spirit Not Form
2014	Sometimes Even Kneeling Seems Insufficient
2013	Hobgoblins
2012	Got Sleep?
2011	Not Another Barren Corner

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Born Again

The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this:  weakness, fear and hopelessness died.  Strength, power and courage were born.
—     Malala Yousafzai
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On This Day In:
2020	Nah… I’m Still Chuckling
	Squeaking By With “C’s”
2019	Consider Me A Phony
2018	Last
	Day 10: Double Digits
2017	Could You Repeat The Question?
2016	Still Busy?
2015	Why, Just This Morning…
2014	Just Kindness
2013	Now Shaking
2012	Absurdity, n.
2011	Minor Changes
	Things I’ve Learned From Life – Nana Carter
	Acting Out

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Choose Strength

You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.
—    Bob Marley
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On This Day In:
2020	No Fear
2019	Propaganda vs. Art
2018	What Did You Bring Up?
2017	Waiting For My First Strike
2016	Mostly Just Masticating
2015	Don’t Mess With Mosa
	How Long Is This Run?
2014	The Importance Of Being Forgetful
2013	Anyway
2012	Habit Forming
2011	And In The Other Hand(ful)
	In Love With Words
	Boundless Naïveté
	Who Did You Say Signed Off On This Treason, Pat?

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Core Strength

The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.
—    Max Lerner
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On This Day In:
2020	Rising Danger
	210 Day Health / Weight Update (Apr 2020)
2019	Never Let ‘Em See You Sweat
2018	Just Two?
2017	Living Without Love
	Good News!
2016	At This Moment
2015	Still Dreaming
2014	Good Wins
2013	Before
2012	Look To This Day
2011	One View Of Man

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In Pursuit

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.  ’Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
—    Thomas Paine
[While I agree with Paine – in general – on the admirable traits required to accomplish great things.  I am equally reminded of the saying (I made up based on the title of a Star Trek – Original Series episode): “there is no truth in beauty, although there is a beauty in truth“.    Anyway, I would caution readers the above quote is equally valid for many mass murderers and terrorists – maybe even more so.     —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Close, Sustained And Careful
2019	#45: Spread The Fear
	Fear The Beards
2018	Slice, Nick, Cut, Bled
2017	Like Most Blogs
2016	The Window Left Open
	Free Experience
2015	Reality == Perception / (Times Reported * 10)
2014	Tear Da Roof Off Da Sucka
2013	Exposed Spirits
2012	Ow-ow
2011	Focused Relatives

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You Decide

Strength does not come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strengths.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
––     Arnold Schwarzenegger
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On This Day In:
2020	Making Me
2019	Inside Your Head
2018	Lingering Curiosity
2017	Just Kidding
2016	The Danger Of Walls
2015	Protection
2014	Let It Go
2013	Don’t Know And Not Telling
2012	A Challenge For Progress
2011	Dependent Difficulty

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I Hope Not

As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is a mere flattery or platitude.  It is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength at all.  Like all the Christian virtues, it is as unreasonable as it is indispensable.
—    Gilbert K. Chesterton
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On This Day In:
2020	Organized Skepticism
2019	An Interest In Life
2018	Two: A Current President With Both
2017	Watch This Space
2016	Beyond The Foundation
2015	Become An Affliction
2014	Just Setting Out
2013	Scott’s Inscription
2012	Good Knowledge
2011	Social Safety Nets

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Step By Step Find Strength

We do not have to become heroes overnight.  Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.
—   Eleanor Roosevelt
[Sarah, Happy Birthday!!
Congrats on your recent certificate!  Keep taking your steps.  We are proud of you!!
Love Always,
Mum & Dad]
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On This Day In:
2020	Giving Thanks
2019	One A Day
2018	Try
2017	You’re Starting To Make Us Feel Old
2016	Focus
2015	Challenging Legacy
2014	Happy 21st Birthday!
2013	Expectations
2012	Trust Him Smile
2011	Why Change?

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Be Your Own Hero

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
—    Christopher Reeve
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On This Day In:
2020	Still Trying To…
2019	Press Freedom
2018	Or Loyalty To An Unqualified And Incompetent President
2017	A Bad Sale
2016	Be Happy!
2015	Are You Feeling Cold?
2014	Never Asked
2013	In Praise Of Change
2012	John Carter Of Mars
	Circular
2011	How Much And When

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The Republican Party Can Survive Trumpism (If It Wants To)

The world breaks everyone, and afterwards many are strong in the broken places.
—    Ernest Hemingway
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On This Day In:
2020	Art Work
	One Person (Republican) Can Make A Majority
2019	Hopefully, Closer To Noon
	Can You See The Bottom?
2018	Stock Market Sets Another Record Under #DumbDonald
	#LyingDonald: About That Special Prosecutor Testimony
2017	We Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
2016	But You Have To Learn It Feels Good
2015	Never Stop
2014	Caution
2013	Treat Her Like A Lady
2012	Build New Worlds
2011	I Grok Elegance
	Standing Relish

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Waiting For 20 January 2021

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror.  I can take the next thing that comes along.’  You MUST do the thing that you think you cannot do.
—     Eleanor Roosevelt
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On This Day In:
2021	My Thoughts On Global Climate Change
	And Never Understand
2020	Waiting For 20 January 2021
	#45: You Would Cry Too…
2019	#Corrupt45 Fails Another Great Test
2018	Where The Economy Is Headed Thanks To #IncompetentDonald
2017	Time For More Research, Too
2016	Original Thoughts
2015	If They’re Good Enough
2014	Three…
2013	Uncle Joe’s Song
	Live, Then, As If…
2012	Still Trying
2011	Not Deserving

 

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