Demands

When I ask someone to do or stop doing something but have already decided I won't accept "No," or "Maybe," for an answer, it's not a question; it's a command.

It might be a polite one...or not. Depends on how big the implicit threat is.

Lot's of Practice

One great thing about forgiveness: you'll get lot's of chances to practice.

Irritation and Forgiveness

If you practice getting irritated
You'll get so good at it
Everything will irritate you
You'll be a master at irritation

If you practice forgiving
You'll get so good at it
You can forgive anything--even yourself
You'll be a master of forgiveness

To Have It All

The only thing you can do with everything is lose it.

The more I watch people, the more I watch my own heart, the more I'm convinced I know exactly what we want: everything.

We want it all. I've talked to students, CEO's, doctors, and drunks. I haven't met one that doesn't hope for something, get exactly that, then immediately want The Next Thing. And after they or I or you or we get That Next Thing, there's very soon another Next Thing. You keep on adding Next Things to Next Things and the conclusion is obvious: we're insatiable. There's not enough stuff in the world to make one of us content.

I hope there are some exceptions out there, but if you take the way most of our minds work most of the time, we  want It All. Whether to have it all, eat it all, know it all, control it all, fix it all, change it all, revenge it all, explain it all, own it all--pick your flavor; it's still the same thing. Everything.

But Everything has a problem. There's only one thing you can do with everything: lose it.

There is a different path. Takes courage, though--sometimes more courage than I have.