If placed into a difficult situation, what would be the kindest thing ...

... I could say or do, while drawing the line. It will make for the best course of action at that time and in those circumstances.

- Vigs

Learning to say 'no' to trivialties ...

... and leaving room to say 'yes' to the things that are important.

- Vigs

A zoological garden.

Our world sitting atop a volcano.

- Vigs

Some boundaries are better left untested

Possessing the ability, the opportunity, and the will to cross over, may not be the best reason to do so. For curiosity maybe. For kindness quite likely.

- Vigs

Channel the forces

... that cannot be reigned in.

- Vigs

Free the one that imprisons.

- Vigs

Shift the emphasis.

Any topic has multiple areas of emphasis. Redirect the conversation to gentler, more productive areas.

- Vigs

Puzzle or pleasure.

Include both.

- Vigs

Time to still time.

- Vigs

Butterflies and bears.

Us.

- Vigs

What a little of, can sweeten ...

... a lot of, may muddy. There are time of course when being all muddy is good.

- Vigs

The sound of restful breathing.

Any sound or sense that will rest the mind.

- Vigs

Recognize the chaos.

Own mine.

- Vigs

Breathe to nourish.

Gobble and slurp vs munch and sip.Pause to relish.

- Vigs

The right place and the right time to begin. Or begin again.

Are in the here and now.

- Vigs

The connection is what matters, not the trivia.

Though often the trivia, the minor details, obstruct the inner view.

- Vigs

A little bit at a time ...

... can often make a big difference.

- Vigs

From squares and circles to triangles.

Direction. Hierarchy. Layers. And all while maintaining structure and symmetry.

- Vigs

Not to waste is to save.

Every little bit adds up. Anything not wasted can often be used elsewhere or by someone else.

- Vigs

The right books - doorways to wonderland.

- Vigs

Old experiences, new insights.

Revisit, relive, and reflect the spectrum of ones experiences. Some events shine through illuminating the way ahead.

- Vigs

Small things add up.

Small changes can have a big impact.

- Vigs

Rest that which is used a lot.

Often.

- Vigs

Soothe the senses. Shoo troubles away.

Travel back to evoke powerful memories of something special once experienced - whether seen, heard, smelt, tasted, and touched. All of these in turn to reach a more perfect place anytime.

- Vigs

A buoyant extended weather forecast

Sunny skies inside.

- Vigs

"Keep right except to pass"

Road signs marking speed lanes and the merging ramps. Or the freedom of dirt roads and freeways. On which types roads and at what speeds do we usually enjoy spending our lives.

- Vigs

Take the extra step.

Do something more than what is necessary or required. The next time around it will be a bit easier and a bit more organized to do.

- Vigs

A glimpse of the future ...

... in those who seek to learn and to understand.

- Vigs

Allow goodness to shine through.

Feel the burden lighten when one finds it. Be inspired by the good work and the gentle words spoken by those selflessly doing important things.

- Vigs

Layer sophistication with simplicity.

Simple will quite often suffice very nicely.

- Vigs

To withdraw ones claim, to give away freely

... knowing that what truly belongs stays close.

- Vigs

Choosing to be a mirror, clear glass, lens, polarizer, or prism.

Some of life's optical metaphors.

- Vigs

It is in daily routine that life is made

... or gets unmade.

- Vigs

The elephant in the room could be ...

... a donkey.

- Vigs

Develop and use the position one holds responsibly.

- Vigs

Make each exchange a bi-directional one or better.

In kind or otherwise, involving giving and benefiting everyone involved to some degree.

- Vigs

Consider opposites from different perspectives and contexts.

Often a net gain may be achieved by increasing the positive and decreasing the negative. Working on just one dimension is often easier, indeed a lot of the effort is spent on doing just that. Consider other perspectives and contexts as well for a better understanding of what is being attempted. Encourage and reward what works. Acknowledge what doesn't so that with effort and time if possible its effects can be reduced.

- Vigs

Too much or too soon

... is about the same as it being too little, or coming too late.

- Vigs

At the center of silence.

At the core. A testing ground of doubts and reasons, fears and hopes, ...

- Vigs

When is equal, unequal?

- Vigs

Vision, ability and hope.

Transform reality.

- Vigs

Contentment is ...

... priceless.

- Vigs

See goodness and be drawn to it.

- Vigs

Test the boundaries of ones understanding

... ever seeking out news contexts and meanings.

- Vigs

Encapsulate the spectrum of feelings a topic evokes with gentleness . . .

... in word and tone. Something most everyone will acknowledge, whether reasonable or absurd. Especially the absurd.

- Vigs

Seek an education that dissolves prejudice.

Include others and grow strong.

- Vigs

To see the world as it could be ...

... one needs vision and insight. To step beyond what can be seen, into the realm of possibility and insight.

- Vigs

The way around is above.

- Vigs

A big change in the distant future, requires but a small change in the present.

- Vigs

Organize space and time.

Plan to file so that it is easy to retrieve, remember and repeat even when it is difficult to do so. Plan the calendar so that items of priority, urgency and routine are well accommodated.

- Vigs

The past is the foundation for the future.

As is the present. Strengthen the future, by strengthening what we have now.

- Vigs

The correct path may not be the shortest, the easiest, or the safest

It may not even be the correct one for somebody else, even though the destination is shared. Much depends on what the traveler knows and does.

- Vigs

An idea's longevity depends on the extent of its adoption or application.

As does that of a concept, a paradigm, an ideal.

- Vigs

What someone is hardly defined by what they are not.

If anything, allow for a broader, a more relaxed view. Include and accommodate those to whom it does not matter either way, rather than excluding them. While one may lean more heavily in one direction or the other, the reasonable conclusion may well lie somewhere in the middle. And including the reasonable in ones camp is most often good.

- Vigs

Speed matters when the heading is known.

- Vigs

Success is an attitude.

- Vigs

It is hard to reveal ones talents without exploring ones interests.

Wear many hats. Keep digging. And while this makes long hours inevitable, it reveals to ourselves the talents each of us have. Let fun find its way to and through work.

- Vigs

Change is seldom easy. Good things seldom are.

- Vigs

Not against is close to being for.

Include the neutral. Seek the window needed to convince others, and oneself too.

- Vigs

Looking back, from much later, would the view be the same as it appears today.

Make a future decision, looking back. Weight the options - the rewards, the regrets if a road is not explored when it could have, indeed should very well have been.

- Vigs

We share the world

... and the responsibility to act so that it is indeed shared.

- Vigs

Step back to move forward.

... making time for what is important, particularly when it feels like there isn't any.

- Vigs

Simple is serene.

- Vigs

When looking for answers that's often not all one will find.

And neither will the answers be quite what one imagined. For the big questions.

- Vigs

Observe and reveal multi-faceted information

Do more with a visual - add depth, express emotion, contrast size, show heading, emphasize shape, reveal shadows and illuminate, prompting action.

- Vigs

Without the trees the forest would not be.

- Vigs

Positive. Polite. Playful. Productive.

Filters through which one views, converses and guides.

- Vigs

Reasons are for the mind.

We need more than reason though. Inspiration to make our thoughts soar, understanding to guide, gentleness to ground us, ...

- Vigs

The secret ingredient is ...

... love

- Vigs

Flawed. Human.

A growing awareness of this shows us the need for, as well as, the way to, the spiritual.

- Vigs

Make big changes incrementally.

The overall progress is much more than incremental. Reduce big things incrementally as well. Make adjustments along the way, that build on previous ones.

- Vigs

Search for gaps in ones understanding.

That's often where new questions arise, seeking the answers to which brings us closer to the core, the key issues. Gradually remove underlying assumptions while trying to generalize the solution. Visualize, seek the counsel of others, and most of all actively engage in the challenge.

- Vigs

It works even when it doesn't.

The breathtaking beauty and serenity of a landscape, with towering mountains, impassable chasms, unfathomable depths, are there in part to remind us that life is all of those things as well. And it is more. Life is perfect for the challenges it offers, along with its unexpected juxtapositions. Our experiences, along with the influences of others and of the times we grew up in, often defines the questions we seek the answers to. Sweetened by hope for a better tomorrow. And in part brought to pass through ones dedicated effort in overcoming long odds.

- Vigs

Work for creating a lasting peace - within and for the World around.

If needed sacrifice justice on the alter of peace. Not the other way around.

- Vigs

Figure out things for oneself.

Life's questions are hard to answer, and the answers we obtain often are just meant to lead to even deeper questions. As they should, for just by being part of the process itself, our understanding about ourself, others, and the broader situation deepens. Layers of doubt we didn't know existed are peeled back revealing glimpses of what feels right when we probe more intently. The solutions we work out for ourselves will stay longer than something than those dropped in our laps. Seek the counsel of others, but that should not be where it ends - link the information to what one has already figured out and dig deeper. Time is often at a premium, making it difficult to pursue varied questions and interests. Inevitably the relative importance of what matters needs to be determined itself, even as we seek the answers and offer solutions.

Agree at the level possible ...

... even if not about the specifics.

- Vigs

Link arms and lives.

- Vigs

Offer much. Steadily. Including the option to back out.

- Vigs

Every day. A new year's day.

Each day brings with it the opportunity for renewal.

- Vigs

Being aware. A taste of paradise.

- Vigs

Does the light need the darkness?

As much as the seed need a place to sprout and grow?

- Vigs

Accept with understanding and kindness that which is freely offered.

A compliment or criticism. A portion. Less than ones expectations of others. Offer what one can in return.

- Vigs

A geyser turning into a fine, gentle mist.

- Vigs

Try to act sensibly, especially when vulnerable.

There are times when a firm resolve by itself may not be quite enough. Yielding in part so that progress can be made towards the larger goal will suffice. Find a practical, healthier, ..., alternative, even while progressing towards ones dreams.

- Vigs

Try to start the day right, even if it is an uphill battle from there.

And go for it again. And again.

- Vigs

Offer and ask for a share, not by far all of it.

- Vigs

Simplify or classify for understanding after prioritizing.

Invariably, following a grouping, the richness of individual detail is lost, but not entirely if the parts create a larger picture which offers clarity at another level or the ability to be handled effectively.

- Vigs

When something does not work it is the opportunity to learn something new.

- Vigs

Chirping birds, an orchestra.

Such a melodious way to start off each new day. The flowering buds, a masterpiece theater. Being perfected by nature, time and circumstance. As are we.

- Vigs

Feel compassion well up.

The human condition, the inevitability of events, the flow of time. Compassion connecting us. And isolating us.

- Vigs

Use the senses, grapple with inner vistas to wonder and witness.

- Vigs

The wish for something new grows wild ...

..., left unchecked enticing the senses, unless met with love.

- Vigs

Context free words and phrases.

Timeless. Moving. Ever relevant.

- Vigs

Reflections and opinions in shades of grey ...

... rather than in black and white.

- Vigs

Kindness, ...

... reaching out to others when accompanied by a growing understanding of being in someone else's position, makes us as one. Reaching back into one's own thoughts, stepping the same events with older, gentler, eyes. Perhaps growing wiser too, using the part lens and part mirror of time.

- Vigs

Steer the conversation to a gentler place.

To be more about interests leading into learning experiences, inspiration, insights, shared solutions, laughter.

- Vigs

Soft grasses grow where once stood a fiery volcano.

Over time rainforests turn to deserts, and ocean beds to mountain tops. Change is always upon us, clearer to see in the spring and fall, the changing seasons offering a time for renewal, of growth and discovery. Seek the promise beneath the rocky exterior, the potential that everyone, especially those in the process of discovering their talents have. Help it bloom.

- Vigs

What thoughts and feelings encircle us when the world around sleeps.

And in surprising contrast how much of ones waking hours are spent over things that aren't even there at the close of the day.

- Vigs

Contradictions reveal the truth.

Reveal reality. Reveal ourselves.

- Vigs

Respond with understanding, with acceptance.

And work to make the changes we can, with the understanding and acceptance that the outcome isn't entirely in our control.

- Vigs

That which makes us vulnerable, leaves us helpless, ...

... can also show us what we must not be or do ourselves.

- Vigs

Find comfort.

In heartfelt prayers, words, wonder, thoughts, actions, the daily routine, clearing up things, simplicity, ...

- Vigs

Exploring the unknown.

What will make most everything seem like minutia. Seeking the depths of the ocean or the expanse of space, has nothing on the mysteries we hold within us yet to be revealed. Reach inside to reach beyond.

- Vigs

Find time to feel rested

- Vigs

Find time to feel inspired ...

... to be amazed, to be delighted, to wander, to wonder.

- Vigs

Breath is a constant companion.

That which accompanies us through time. Drink of it deeply when one can.

- Vigs

Seek contentment.

Content in knowing that we are and will make the changes needed to make ourselves better persons, and this a better world as well.

- Vigs

Is paradise a destination, or just another experience, ...

... and what does this say about any other state one has experienced, is in, or may experience some day.

- Vigs

If the path leads us back, attend to the journey closely.

- Vigs

Experience a timeless moment ...

... one that makes other things fade away by several orders of magnitude in a special way. Revisit the experience. Transcend time and space in thought. Let it be a gushing spring of renewal.

- Vigs

Listen for the smile.

Savor the sweetness of a word, reveal the essence, touch the sunshine, and see the promise in all.

- Vigs

Every word a rainbow ...

..., and every heart an oasis.

- Vigs

Choose a gentler way for conveying the message.

There usually is a kinder way to say the same thing. The distinction between the message and the tone in which it is delivered isn't always easy to discern. Adjusting ones present course of action for improving in the future is as important a message as any. Improvement is possible is the message.

- Vigs

In a cycle there is no one source, nor one destination.

We can see it this in nature, more readily so in the seasons, in the water cycle, and in entire life cycles. Ours. Perhaps even those occurring on an planetary or astronomical time scale. The cyclic nature of things makes it possible for the efforts of even a handful of people to have an impact on the world. Every act matters in an interconnected and cyclic system. The time frame for it be perceived may be longer, maybe several generations or more. But down the road, and indeed back up the road, it will or did matter. The impact of every thoughtful act which is intended to make the world a better place will be felt by someone or something.

- Vigs

All interactions should at least be as cordial as the professional ones we maintain ...

These include interactions which fall anywhere between the personal and the professional. Without a baseline of some sort, it is difficult to see the context within which our interactions occur. To draw and maintain the boundaries within which are comfortable.

- Vigs

While providing information anticipate needs ...

... and include solutions or suggestions which are likely to be needed. It goes towards building a more collegial and productive workplace.

- Vigs

Essential but often not enough ...

Hard work. Ideals. Imagination. Aptitude. Communication. Failure. Success. The right conditions are needed within ourselves to savor the outcome.

- Vigs

The things we are called to give, nobody can give for us.

Even while in desperate straits, or in circumstances beyond our control, or under orders, some things still remain ours. Only ours to give. And if given up always ours to reclaim.

- Vigs

Resolution is a more realistic word than promise.

It reminds us that though as easy to make, some may turn out to be just too hard to keep. Let others off the same way we would ourself for not being able to keep say a new-year's resolution. Then again, even a resolution may be too strong a word. Ask of others and ourselves only what we can reasonably do over an extended period of time.

- Vigs

The one thing we can always do for others ...

... is to wish them well, as they overcome obstacles, realize their dreams and become who they are meant to be.

- Vigs

A free fall of ones hopes has its benefits ...

Even if nothing particular comes to mind, there must be something. Perhaps it is the experience of zero gravity, learning to cope being without strong attachments to anyone or anything.

- Vigs

If something moves us with emotion and to action, it is meant for us.

But not for us alone. If something touches us, sparks an idea, influences our actions, draws a smile, or a tear; it is surely also meant for anyone else who feels its affects same as we do. The call we hear is for us.

- Vigs

Decisions to be made today based on information which will arrive the day after.

Not too many options: flip a coin, wait, project, predict based on the past, or what. With too much at stake to let chance have so much of a say in something important to us. Learn about the conditions under which the decision is being made, so that the next time around, and usually there is going to be a next time, we is more control over the situation, and sooner too. Note the conditions or constrains under which the present decision is being made, so that others who need to base their decisions off ours have a better view of the situation. When everyone is better informed, it is easier to arrive at a better decision too. If the decision has to be made, make it.

- Vigs

Offer what one needs much of.

To feel strengthened, offer ones strength to others' efforts. Stand alongside, support and link arms. Someday, someone may choose to do the same for us, for what we so generously offer in the here and now.

- Vigs

Beyond the exuberance of words, behind the embankment of silence ...

... is the real us. Whom do we let down our guard for and invite to step inside. To stay, comfortable in getting to know us for who we are, and could be.

- Vigs

Do something a bit nutty and something just a little bit kind every day.

It's the way to stay sane.

- Vigs

Look beyond the present, to the promise that each of us has.

- Vigs

Labels make it easier to classify objects, not people.

To associate labels with people would be placing a bounding box around their unbounded potential, imagination, feelings, ideas and ideals. Give others, everyone, a second chance, then the third, as many times or more of what we wish others would give us too. Especially when we stumble over our words or actions.

- Vigs

Some of the best answers in life are questions.

Questions and reflections that fill the mind, broadening our perceptions about the world, like few answers ever can.

- Vigs

Our abilities are the treasures we are meant to enrich the world with.

Find the fabulous gifts waiting to be discovered - within us. Help others find theirs, especially the children, here and those in far-away lands.

- Vigs

Life is a preparation for learning to love ever more deeply.

For seeing the potential of the heavens under seemingly impervious exteriors. Feel connected and concerned with the world, its creatures, its present and future. Love, feeling or emotion in action.

- Vigs

Let hope sweeten anticipation.

Tune out the chill of anxiety with the warmth of acceptance.

- Vigs

Leave space for oneself and for others to grow ...

... to change, even if it in directions that we may not have anticipated, or may even oppose rationally while still being drawn to it. The surprises and pleasures of going where ones interests take us, helps us accept that others may grow out and away.

- Vigs

Balance is needed for more than walking.

- Vigs

The stream of time flows through ones mind.

Distance, especially that though time, helps blends old memories with new ideas, feelings and experiences.

- Vigs

The good books of ones' faith tell us many things ...

... not the least among them, about how to deepen our understanding of what we believe by building bridges of compassion.

- Vigs

Are ideas of value set in stone or meant to be lamposts for guiding the way.

- Vigs

What is one's life's work - what are we called to do, ...

... well into the night, and in the early morning hours. For the satisfaction of shaping a part of the future.

- Vigs

Nothing like a storm, a revealation about what's really needed, ...

..., and what one can very well do without. The gifts of technology, layers separating us from the essentials, creating new cravings, substitutes which lay claim over real needs.

- Vigs

It's not the answers to the whys and wherefores we need when feelings are in play.

Answers, justifications, reasoning work on a different level than what is needed to soothe turbulent thoughts.

- Vigs

Build a holiday resort - in ones mind.

- Vigs

The cheer of spring and the beauty of colorful fall avenues are revealed well before their time ...

... in the somber leafless trees we see during the winter. That is just the framework within and beyond which life will bloom soon. Aspire to do work along the patterns nature has perfected.

- Vigs

Do the kind thing even when it is awkward or otherwise difficult.

Anyone, including those who benefit from it, need not know. Hold the memory close to keep oneself warm.

- Vigs

If this isn't Bizarro world already, many of its inhabitants are here visiting.

Quite possibly starting with number one.

- Vigs

The answers are important in part for the new questions they raise.

Hence, the need for solving problems we find difficult but enjoy and love too much not to work on. Find a way, even if is the long way around.

- Vigs

Gentleness sent out, returns.

- Vigs

Hold close with open arms.

- Vigs

Spending time thinking through ones doubts usually leads to clarity.

... and it usually raises more doubts too. As with many other things, the way to the other side may have its special moments, its challenges and rewards.

- Vigs

Sharpen the mind, not the tongue.

Even though a keen mind is evidenced in the words one uses, know where its cutting edge lies.

- Vigs

Share freely with others the things one values.

Often the things that matter cannot be hoarded, nor given away - they may be shared though.

- Vigs

It is easy for sweeping statments to cause angry reactions ...

... retaliating in kind - letting the anger cause us to make counter-generalizations about the topic at hand, or about the person, just perpetuates the cycle. Let something positive emerge, even if is is but a gentle inner smile, an armor that protects letting us do the things that are needed. Sometimes, actually quite a few sometimes, the evidence has to prove the truth, not just the words.

- Vigs

Support a not-for-profit that supports a cause we aspire to achieve ourselves.

Helping someone, those with whom we share the world, reach a modest goal that is of interest to us can be quite fulfilling.

- Vigs

The spider monkey of Madagascar ...

... the green turtle of the Americas, the orangutan of Asia, and so many others creatures in the world around, depend on the responsibility we bear to their habitat.

- Vigs

When always meets never ...

Time appears to stand still on one side and to move right along on the other.

- Vigs

Welcome the temptation, it is a way to find the divine.

Unless ones resolve is tested, the real strength of the solution that's supposed to work, really remains unknown. Test how much of what ones feels is need, and how much is the desire for something new. A need may be masked, but has to be met, one way or the other. For the rest the solution likely lies within, a source inextinguishable, meeting one type of fire from without with one from within.

- Vigs

Acknowledging a viewpoint isn't always the same as agreeing with it.

There are often strong emotions held on all sides of an issue, whether we choose to say them aloud or not. Others may not be as reluctant to do so, and in fact the loudest, the sharpest, the angriest words do usually dominate the conversation. Recognizing that there is merit in all viewpoints, even if only in very specific situations, helps one reexamine ones deeply held convictions. Attempts to expand it in all situations, seeking a single solution to a complex problem is likely to fall short. Changing the focus of the speaker's and also one's one words, casting it in a different context or broadening it in a way which makes it comically absurd, renders any sting the words may carry harmless.

- Vigs

Murmer the prayer that speaks to oneself.

It could be something learned or something that bubbles up unbidden.

- Vigs

When the correct answer does not seem to solve the problem.

Try later, or under different conditions, or from another angle, trying to get part of it to work at least some of the time. Learn more about the problem and about oneself in doing so.

- Vigs

Stop, stay awhile, to enjoy the special moments that keep passing by ...

... the concert in the park, the changing colors, viewing a happy smile on someone, the joy of working on or accomplishing something difficult. Stretch the moment. Often it is easier to hurry on to the next. Savor it. Feel the moment flood ones being.

- Vigs

Need or novelty

What is needed first, then the novelty. Unless it's novelty that is needed. Reversing the order may feel good, usually for a time.

- Vigs

What makes a day successful?

Can it be unsuccessful in the eyes of others and still bring one great joy. And can it be successful to others, but feel hollow. Certainly. Define it as making progress towards ones higher priorities, the big ones. Even if incrementally. It might take time. A lot of time. Achieving big things often does.

- Vigs

Be a part of something special.

... whether it be something large that needs many hands and minds; or something that needs working away in solitude. That some day more things that matter will be possible by our efforts.

- Vigs

Proverbs can and can't capture the reality of the moment.

Contradictions abound. Black and white; love and indifference; all at once, around and within us. While precision or repeatability may be a desirable requirement for equipment, we aren't quite made the same way now, are we? Predictable yes, but probably no more than that. What or how we think or feel or do or react may change over time. The words from a song or a proverb that rang true once may be replaced by just their opposite. Making us more human, a puzzle and a contradiction. Not so much to be solved, as to be experienced. The opposites indicate the range of our experiences, its depths and heights.

- Vigs

Take the conversation to a different place.

A warmer, funnier one.

- Vigs

Truth is more than mere fact.

Facts firmly establish the truth regarding events which have occurred. However they do not always reveal the truth behind the facts, such as the details regarding the human elements which are often in play, the reasons, the emotions, the role of chance or of the past. Without denying the facts, one must judiciously choose to reveal as much truth as possible about the facts, without inadvertently painting oneself into a corner.

- Vigs

Listen for the sound of the ocean in the singer's voice.

Or whatever it is that takes one to a place of happiness, harmony and contentment within.

- Vigs

Create opportunities for others to shine.

Clear paths, remove obstructions, clarify ideas, begin and continue building bridges over terrain impassable for me, that others may someday complete the journey.

- Vigs

Keep some part of ones life less than perfectly organized.

Some place and some time where it's okay to paint outside the lines.

- Vigs

There are important things that need to be done.

... and when done, it won't matter which person or group did it, just that it was done. We call on the ideas of great minds of ages past to guide us, the heartwarming children's stories, and the gadgets that make everyday that much easier; often without knowing the author. And even if we did, the idea might just be more important than the individual. It lives.

- Vigs

When things that matter begin to fall apart and it seems easy to give in to worrying ...

... instead choose to work on other things. Items that once accomplished would have moved something else forward at least by a bit. Something which is important to us too. In the meantime, the time spent working on something else would have also given time for turning things over subconsciously in ones mind. Alternate paths often emerge.

- Vigs

Use the words that move us.

Words which help build and give expression to the depth of our experiences. Rephrase the retort and the manner that will wound. Find words that heal and move us towards a happier place.

- Vigs

A working solution is often better than a stalled situation.

Taking on difficult problems. Uncertainty abounds. With strong emotions involved on all sides. Action is needed but none which offer a free and clear path. Find some way, question and simplify assumptions, develop a pragmatic solution even if it is not the most efficient one. It will do for the moment. To know if the course of important actions is consistent with ones reasoning and beliefs, test it repeatedly, in a variety of situations, not just the current one, and see how the results turn out. Expect results which in turn tests what we think, feel and believe.

- Vigs

Staying busy in itself may not be a good measure of a day well spent.

On the other hand staying busy doing for the most part what takes us in the direction of our plans and dreams, will help us stay in control, despite inevitable detours. Experience the worry dissolve away which is about half of the way there, even when the journey may just be beginning. Choosing activities which form part of a larger plan, so even when we cannot quite see what's on the horizon, we can direct our paths to places on distant shores only our imagination shows us.

- Vigs

Putting off what's tedious and difficult to do is unlikely to make it go away

Doing something, anything reasonable, about it would be a good start though. Reading what others have done in similar situations, thinking and planning about how to solve the problem, involving others is likely to be helpful. If nothing else, it would have been just another way which does not work as intended. In some distant future, part of what didn't work now could mesh with something else that did, and provide the solution that we have been seeking.

- Vigs

Chip away at the right place.

Something really big and important can seldom be completed in one pass. Being big and all, the task often contains interlinked parts, some of which are more important than others. Even amongst the important parts, some more accessible than others. Begin and continue working at the places which will have a positive and increasing impact on the overall project - the parts that are crucial to the whole. It can be dressed up later once the core is in place.

- Vigs

The losing battle that must be fought within ...

... so that some day reaching an abiding peace, an inspiring place, the land of promise within and without will be possible.

- Vigs

Time puts many things to the test - especially ideals.

It takes the ideas and efforts of many to test the importance of what we each value. Seek the opinions of both those who agree and those who disagree. The fans and the naysayers. Seek the underlying principles that guides each, to understand and learn about oneself. While our philosophical differences may be strong, proceed in good faith, assuming the intentions of those who differ from ours, are as good as we hope ours are. Time will tell. Again maybe.

- Vigs

Where would one go if every place feels about the same.

What can never be taken away.
Whom can one turn to always.
When is it time to draw the line.
How playfulness can replace cynicism.

- Vigs

While waiting for inspiration to work out the big questions ...

... do the things that one would feel happy to have done over the year, especially at the start of the next new year. The present will soon be the past. To feel happy about the past work on making the present better.

- Vigs