Tag Archives: thoughtfulness

Muddy water is best cleaned by leaving it alone

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“Muddy water is best cleaned by leaving it alone.”

—Alan Watts, English writer who interpreted Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience

Image from Unsplash by Josh Calabrese

Where in your life are you experiencing muddy waters and can’t see your way forward?

Where have things become turbulent with diverse issues and heated emotions where things are murky and messy?

If you were a scuba diver, heading to the surface to see the light of day and gain some perspective would be a reasonable first step.

Pausing and letting things settle before diving back in seems wise as well.

When you and others finally do dive back in, how would slower and more thoughtful efforts help you see more clearly to swim to the other side of your issues?

EXERCISE:

Where in your life would leaving things alone help clear things up to see a new way forward?

A thoughtful gift is a manifestation of love

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“When it comes to gifts, it’s hard to overstate the value of thoughtfulness. A thoughtful gift is a manifestation of love.”

—Stephen St. Amant, artist and writer

Image from Unsplash by Hamish Duncan

I have been reading Stephen St. Amant’s daily Savenwood blog for over three years. It amazes me how he consistently comes up with thought provoking and engaging posts seven days a week.

I’ve reached out to him numerous times over the years to acknowledge his efforts and we even had a couple of zoom calls to get to know one another better. He is indeed a very thoughtful man whose daily gifts contribute greatly to those of us who look forward to his many nuggets of wisdom and insight.

EXERCISE:

I encourage you to check out and subscribe to Stephen’s blog and other creative works at savenwood.com.

When You Take Your TIme, You Save Time

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“When you take your time, you save time.”

—Author Unknown

Image of a watch in a glass bottle

Image from Stepping Stones

How are your investments doing these days? This past year? Since you began your personal investment plans?

What has been the return on your investments?

Given the tangibility and objectivity of money and its ability to be exchanged for products and services, you probably know this number reasonably well.

Time, on the other hand, is a bit more elusive, in that it is often far more difficult to determine exactly how well we spend it. One of my other favorite quotes on this topic is Time is the Coin of Life, suggesting its great importance to our overall success and satisfaction.

Today’s quote coaches us to be far more intentional and thoughtful in our decisions to allocate our time and energies. In doing so, it suggests, we will actually save time by not making poor decisions, false starts, or initiatives that may not optimally serve our visions and values.

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways can and will you slow down and spend your time more wisely, in order to save time for those most prized and valued activities in your life?