Efficiency is intelligent laziness.

Is it now, David Dunham? Or not.

"This quotation is attributed to David Dunham on many web sites, but when contacted David said "I believe I first ran into the saying in the early 1980s, but I didn't remember or record the original source."

Hmmmm. I'm not really intelligently lazy, if you must know. Sure I work LONG and it feels like HARD but what I produce doesn't equate to the time spent.

I do the work of two women. Unfortunately, both of them are inefficient. The trouble is...

Must be more efficient. Must be more efficient.

To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.

No, the quote's not from a 21st Century happy-clappy positive-thought motivational evangelist - but Robert Louis Stevenson.

I was thinking about my new found assertiveness (which sometimes may come across as aggression because I'm just a beginner) and wondering whether or not it was completely at odds with New Kadampa Buddhism, the basis of my meditation classes.

SURELY we're not expected to accept mistreatment and bad behaviour and abuse and disrespect?

SO - I Googled 'Buddhism Assertiveness' just to see what came up, and was fascinated. And of course, distracted for ages when I should have been working!

First, an article on tinybuddha.com by Matt Ramos on how to become more assertive so opportunities don't pass you by.

Then, a link that led me to an idea I'd not heard of before called Rejection Therapy.

Click on the links, if you're interested.

 

The idea is to make requests of people every day or even do something as simple as smile at a stranger. Your day is not successful unless someone has rejected you, either by saying “No” or by not smiling back.

If you're NOT rejected then your requests aren't big enough. It's meant to take away fear and is a means to learn that no matter how much it hurts, rejection is better than the alternative, which is to live without putting yourself out there.

Hmmmm, there's a 30 Day Challenge. What do you reckon?

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mrs.Hyde

Me, that is.

Sasuke

(By the way, I can't remember which is which from the story.)

For most of the time, I'm quite a nice person! I won't go into details because that would sound like vanity rather than pride. - as discussed yesterday.

I used to be a doormat. Seriously. People could walk all over me and I wouldn't do a thing (except cry in private)

Not any more!

Lately, some people have been thinking I'm fair game to be treated with disrespect...

BUT

It feels a little strange to me. Not entirely comfortable.

But certainly more powerful...

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously.

 A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.

Jane Austen from...guess which novel!

Pride and Prejudice

It's something I struggle with - being proud of a piece of work, but thinking it is vain to think so and not an appealing way of being. In fact, on occasions if I have openly said 'I'm proud of this,' I have had comments from Peter such as 'Blow your own trumpet, why don't you?' It's the British in us...self-effacing to the point of inauthenticity.

However, I completed a challenging briefing paper recently - which, if you must know, was entitled "Relational and physical security: generating a culture of hope and recovery in secure settings." I am proud of it. And for once, I didn't need anyone else to say anything to know it was a good piece of work.

It was the icing on the cake when people were complimentary though!

But I didn't NEED that, where in the past I wouldn't believe anything was any good until someone else had said so.

Perhaps I'm growing up?

Finally...

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play...

...his labour and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation.

He hardly knows which is which.

He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing.

To himself, he always appears to be doing both.

From L.P. Jacks, English philosopher, died the year I was born.

I'm going to give it a go!

I had such fun last week, so now I'm going to bring the same to my work, my writing, my life. I think that would be...courage...

...cheerfulness

and...determination.

Welcome to my desk, one and all!

“We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries everyday with new experience and character”

And holidays, Thoreau. And holidays.

A tremendous week. Lovely people in our chalet (apart from us!)

Just imagine how dire it could have been, confined in close proximity with people we didn't get on with for a whole week. But I think we have some lifelong friends, so thank you, Rachel and John, Philippa and Paul. Not to mention Tom and Angie, chalet host and rep.

There are holidays where you lie in the sun and don't do a thing. There are holidays where you stretch yourself to the limits, physically and mentally. This holiday was one of those.

I feel refreshed and invigorated,  I suspect far more so than if I'd been sunbathing, sipping Pina Colada by the pool and reading chick lit. 

My over-active work-worrying issue-tussling brain has had a complete rest. It was too busy thinking up survival tactics in treacherous circumstances, and making sure I was still smiling even though sometimes I could have cried.

"Mont Gele? Pah! EASY."..she says loudly, to convince herself more than anyone else.

 And we had SUCH FUN!

I don't deserve this award, but I have a sore throat and I don't deserve that either...

(Adapted from Jack Benny)

Awards ceremony, last night.

And the winners were:

Geoffrey - The Faff-Meister of the Week. (Nobody, but nobody can take longer to adjust his clothing, his rucksack straps, his goggles (oh no, let's change to sunglasses shall we?) his ski binding and his boots...)

Peter - The Snow Is Always Whiter Award. (Everywhere we went, almost, Peter thought it might have been better in another valley or on a a different slope, or if he had been wearing different clothes, or if the weather had been hotter/colder/less windy/duller brighter.)

David - The Unfortunate Quote Of The Week - "I think I'll buy my partner a cow bell so I can hear when she's coming."

Caroline - Weeble Woman of the Week. Oh how many times she fell over but she always got up. David's description of her skiing - "Completely out of control but always with a huge smile on her face."