Twenty-five Clever Aphorisms of My Own

By

Bill Cottringer 

“Whitty quotations are a good way to remind yourself of some of the most important things in life worth remembering.” ~The Author.

     Or, cheches if you prefer. I have always been a fan of collecting profound proverbs and applicable adages of wisdom as a convenient way to remember what I have forgotten as to what matters most. I have even started my own list and I just hope others didn’t own any of these sayings before I claimed them, because after all, there is no “us” other than an accumulation of what we’ve learned from others and our experiences in life.

1.   Beliefs are a lazy brain’s shortcuts to: Simplifying complex things artificially, filling in the blanks with unverified details, linking two unrelated things, and assuming causes and effects when none exist, all to produce a sense of certainty about an uncertain thing we want to be certain about. By that time the beliefs have become impervious to changing despite compelling evidence proving them untrue.

2.   The best solutions to our biggest problems often create bigger problems to solve.

3.   Serendipity is when our timing gets in sync with life’s timing, or in other words, where effort meets opportunity, often called “luck.”

4.   Conflict is a constant in life and accepting that reality is part of the resolution.

5.   A few seconds of puppy breath is worth more than several years of psychotherapy.

6.   We always want more of what we don’t have, rather than wanting what we do have and appreciating it more.

7.   It makes most sense to lean towards expecting optimistic outcomes, but always having a Plan B in your back pocket just in case Murphy’s Law turns out to be truer than not.

8.   The pursuit of happiness is a folly of a never-ending chase for more, when what you really want to do is to be able to enjoy some reasonable success in solving the problems and conflicts at hand so you can have a period of peace from the perpetual turmoil.

9.   The hardest thing to do in life is to love another unconditionally, because that can only occur when we take on another difficult thing of doing away with our bad habit of judging the whole world into this or that condition. Oddly though, we can do this very easily with children, friends, and pets.

10. We originally invented words to represent objects we wanted to show and tell about, but today, there is so much space in between the objects and the words we use to represent them, that meaning is completely lost in outer space. No wonder poor communication is the norm.

11. The best way to improve communication is to practice two-eared listening—listening twice and talking once, listening to both what is said and how it is being said, and listening to both what is and what isn’t being said. By then you may not even have to respond.

12. The best way to succeed is to study your failures closely for all the clues on succeeding the next time you get the opportunity.

13. There are only two kinds of feelings—positive and negative. Positive feelings are green lights to let you know you should probably continue on, where negative feelings are red lights trying to warn you that you may need to stop and rethink your approach to the choice before you.   

14. Real self-improvement occurs when you start becoming the person you have always pretended to be.

15. The early bird gets the first worm, but the early work gets eaten.

16. When you are in a deep dark hole, the first thing you need to do is quit digging deeper. The second thing you need to do is own what you did to get pushed into the hole. And the third thing is to look for a way out of the hole.

17. The best way to plan for how to deal with danger is not when it is all around you but when you are in a safe place away from danger, so you can think straight.

18. It is a good idea to know when the point of no return comes in something, before it comes and goes.

19. You can’t think or feel your way out of a situation you behaved yourself into, only a new experience can break-up that vicious circle.   

20. If you spend too much time in the present moment remembering the past or anticipating the future, you will find yourself far from where you want to be.

21. You can get to the finish line quicker in two ways. You can run faster, or you can move the finish line closer. Or you could do both at the same time.

22. What you want and what you need are two entirely different things and the sooner your learn that lesson, the better.

23. How you define something like happiness, success and truth, determines how much or how little of it you have. And of course, what you see is always determined by where you are doing the looking in time and place. Redefining things and changing perspectives will always get big results.

24. Personal growth and improvements is mainly about finding the things you can control, doing so, and letting go of all the rest.

25. There are two halves to our lives. First, we take things apart to study the differences. Then we put things back together again where they belong. It seems like too many people are getting stuck somewhere in between.

“You can see a lot by observing and hear a lot by listening.” ~Yogi Berra