ENDING TO BEGIN AGAIN

"Amidst the worldly comings and goings, observe how endings become beginnings."

Laozi (Lao Tzu), 5th century BCE Chinese philosopher.

I began Business Wisdom, Friday September 26, 2008, not certain what I expected to come of it, how long I would do it, or when it would end.

And now, some 8+ years later with this the 2,119th weekday entry, I still don't know what I expected of it. But I do know the end.

Today is the last of daily posts, an ending of sorts that will, as Lao Tzu suggested 2,500 years ago, allow me to observe a new beginning.

I've (most days, not all) enjoyed doing it, in retrospect, even more so if you've read even one post you feel benefited you in some way.

My wish for you is many endings as satisfying as this one is for me, with many more successful beginnings for us all.

OK IF YOU TRY, NOT IF YOU DON'T

"It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done."

Samuel Johnson, 18th century English writer.

The important question is, why have you not done more than you have?

If your effort was all it could have been you should have few to no regrets.

But if you didn't do all you could, or worse, never tried, your fate is the "mortifying reflection" suggested by Mr. Johnson.

TIME IS THE SAME, WHAT WE DO WITH IT IS NOT

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see."

John Burroughs, late 19th/early 20th century American naturalist/essayist.

The musing of a truly rich and fortunate man.

You may believe you have more time than you need, possibly more time than you want. If so rethink how you spend the time you have.

We all have the same time in each day we live with the wise spending theirs more wisely than the unwise.

Доверяй, но проверяй (see below)

"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."

Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States.

Misinformation, disinformation, or fake news in today's parlance, is not new, it's been around as long as people have.

Does it really matter? It does really matter.

Acting on, re-posting, or just claiming something to be true you are not certain is true, suggests you are lazy.

Doing any of those things knowing the basis for your claim is not true, suggests you are a liar.

As President Ronald Reagan repeatedly said, "Trust but verify"

("Trust but verify" is an English translation of the Russian proverb Доверяй, но проверяй taught to Reagan by Suzanne Massie, American author of the book Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia, and advisor to President Reagan regarding his negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev, then President of the Soviet Union.)

TIME FOR THOUGHTFUL REFLECTION

"Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it."

Søren Kierkegaard, 19th century Danish philosopher/poet.

Very true and not just as it pertains to pleasure.

We hurry past way too much we should spend more time contemplating. 

Grief, love, happiness, relationships, challenges, successes, failures; all part of the one life we've all been blessed to live.

All worthy of thoughtful consideration before moving onto whatever is next.

Don't hurry past your life.

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT MEAN KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT EXIST

"They are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea."

Francis Bacon, 16th century English statesman/philosopher.

The absence of evidence to the contrary does not prove true that you want to be true.

The more at stake the more time you must take to verify what you believe to be true, actually is.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

"Open your eyes, look within; are you satisfied with the life you're living?"

Bob Marley, 20th century Jamaican singer/songwriter/musician.

If not, make plans to change to a life you will be satisfied living.

And should you find yourself saying "that's not possible", know it is not, only if you listen to yourself.

Don't do that.

THINK WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE WITH THE TIME YOU DID NOTHING

"There's time enough, but none to spare."

Charles W. Chesnutt, late 19th/early 20th century author/political activist/lawyer.

Waste not want not.

You have all the time you need and none to waste.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

"Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others."

Buddha, 6th century BC founder of Buddhism.

If you see this as largely or purely a political statement you miss the point.

Self-reliance is the first step toward self-preservation; it is in your own best interest.

AS IT WAS IT STILL IS

"The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings. In the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem; what to say and how to say it."

Edward R. Murrow, 20th century American broadcast journalist.

All the technology you use has little or nothing to do with communication.

You can be as misunderstood using one as another.

To lessen the chance of that happening, whenever possible, talking to and (of greater importance) listening to the other person, gives you the best possibility for real communication.

GIVE UP TO MOVE UP

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves. We must die to one life before we can enter another."

Anatole France, late 19th/early 20th century French poet/journalist/novelist.

More often than not doors must close before new ones can open.

What is must cease to be to make room for what will be.

Make certain what you want is worthy of replacing what you have.

Then, when you are certain, work hard, plan and execute your plan, move on to a new and hopefully better future.

STRONG TEMPTATION

"We gain the strength of the temptation we resist."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 19th century American essayist/lecturer/poet.

(You think this pup would agree?)

Temptation comes in many forms and is generally attributable to things not good for us.

(Did you ever hear of anyone resisting the temptation to eat broccoli?)

I'm not certain I've ever gained strength from resisting something I knew I really shouldn't have, but I do know I've later felt better when I did, with the reverse true when I didn't.

WELL LET ME TELL YOU A THING OR TWO!

"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish."

Albert Einstein, 20th century German-born theoretical physicist.

Always good to remember, particularly the next time you decide you must answer some other fool's social media comment with which you don't agree.

Emphasis on "other" intended.

WHAT IT IS, NOT WHOSE FAULT IT IS

"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people; to focus your energies on answers - not excuses."

William Arthur Ward, 20th century American writer.

While easy to get angry with the person(s) you believe caused the problem, that's just a distraction.

Identify the issue(s) that need correction and move on to the solution. 

If that involves people, so be it, but don't start with that or end with assigning blame.

That's not a solution.

THIS IS US

"I claim that human mind or human society is not divided into watertight compartments called social, political and religious. All act and react upon one another."

Mahatma Gandhi, late 19th/early 20th century leader of Indian independence.

You can think of yourself as not being political, religious, business oriented; in short, anyway you believe others define themselves you don't want defining you.

You could but you would be wrong doing so.

The "compartments" Gandhi refers to are not only not watertight, they don't exist.

We are all, all of this and more and you ignore the impact of what that is on your own life to your own detriment.

DO YOU REALLY NEED (FILL IN THE BLANK)?

"I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive."

Henry Miller, 20th century American writer.

This stretches things a bit but there is truth nonetheless.

Beyond the basics necessary for reasonable survival our wants are optional.

Pursue wealth and all that buys as much as you like, but not to where it impacts your happiness.

The Rolling Stones were right.

USELESS UNLESS USED

"Information is not knowledge."

Albert Einstein, 20th century German-born theoretical physicist.

It can lead to knowledge, even action once put to use.

However, not learned and applied once learned, there is little value.